Skalski Against All Odds

A brilliant account of an extraordinary character and a daring fighter pilot; Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 October 2017. As a professional researcher, you would expect Grabowski to have done an excellent job at locating every possible source of information about Skalski, and you would be right. This book is crammed with detail about Skalski’s flying career first with the Polish Air Force during the first weeks of WW2, later with the RAF where he created the legend of an extremely aggressive and courageous flyer in RAF squadrons and later Polish Air Force squadrons attached to the RAF, including his creation and leadership of the famous ‘Skalski’s Circus’ (or Polish Fighting Team) in the Western Desert. You get insights into the somewhat prickly character of this astonishing man, but only later when Grabowski details the suffering Skalski suffered at the hands of the Communist government after his return to Poland, do we get to appreciate the depths of Skalski’s personal courage in the face of years of imprisonment and torture. How anyone could pass through this and emerge sufficiently intact to rejoin the Polish Air Force and serve in high office is sensitively described by Grabowski. We at aircrewremembered.com have a special affinity for the Poles who served in the RAF and have been greatly looking forward to this book, which is long overdue in honouring a great man, a great pilot, and a loyal servant of Poland.

Franciszek Grabowski is a researcher of Polish Aviation, with a number of articles published. He puts his emphasis on the wartime and post-war activities of Polish airmen, including various covert and intelligence actions.