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The part played by the Poles in the air during the Second World War and the colourful stories of their doings have become part of British folklore.

But very few people have any idea of the extent of their involvement, or how they came to be in Britain in the first place.

More than 150 Polish pilots took part in the decisive phase of the Battle of Britain in 1940.

By the begiunning of 1941, there was a fully fledged Polish Air Force operating alongside the RAF. With 14 squadrons and support services, it was larger than the air forces of the Free French, Dutch, Belgians and all the other European Allies operating from Britain put together. Some 17,000 men and women passed through its ranks while it was stationed on British soil. They not only played a crucial part in the Battle of Britain, they also contributed significantly to the Allied war effort in the air overall, and took part in virtually every type of RAF operation, including the bombing of Germany, the Battle of the Atlantic and Special Operations.

This book is not intended as a full history of the Polish Air Force. Nor does it pretend to assess the exact contriubtion of these men and women to the Allied cause. The intention is to give a picture of who they were, where they came from, how they got here and what they did. Also to take a look at their, at times, strained but ultimately successful collaboration with the RAF and their sometimes difficult, often notorious, but ultimately happy relationship with the British people.

A final chapter recounts the fate of those who returned to Poland, where many faced Communist firing-squads, and of those who stayed behind to build a new life for themselves in Britian and other Western countries.