What few people realize is the during WWII, the Polish Air Force was operating from the UK. Though they flew British aircraft and often had British airmen either as maintenance types or as pilots, they were not part of the RAF, but had their own distinct chain of command.

It is fortunate for the British that these men were available as they helped to fill a man-power shortage. It also helped that they were excellent war fighters and quite successful in their task of helping to defeat the Germans.

During 1942, the British planned a pair of 'practice' invasions of France at Dieppe. The idea was to test things out under actual combat. The plan was to land ashore, go on the offensive for a day or so, then get out. Sort of a very large commando raid. The first one, called 'Rutter' was cancelled due to a number of factors, including weather. It is for this operation that the while bands were applied on the noses of planes. These were removed for the raid at Dieppe, an operation that did not go at all well and ended up being a disaster.

This edition covers PAF Spitfire operations during this time period as they were heavily involved in providing fighter cover for both operations. Thes book follows a tried and true format with an introduction to both the PAF in the UK and the two operations of the time. Then it goes into a unit by unit breakdown with lots of photos and accompanying profiles, features for which this series is well known. It makes for another superlative addition to the Polish Wings series and is very much worth picking up and reading.

November 2022

Review book courtesy of Casemate Publishers. You can get yours today from this link.

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