Interesting look at Poland's contribution during World War 2. ( )

No county suffered more than Poland. And, they never surrendered. France and England threw Poland under the bus and the Germans, then the Russians drove it over them. Churchill had the vision but Roosevelt had the power, so the Poles were abandoned again at the conclusion of WW2. ( )

“No Greater Ally”, a first book, written by Ken K. Koskodan (KKK) is a great read for all history buffs. The comprehensive overview of the extensive Polish contribution to the victors of WW2 in the European and North African campaigns is extremely well presented. The extent of the 200,000 Polish troops and airmen who escaped from the Germans to fight in new arenas far from their home country is truly remarkable. The Polish combatants made incredible journeys to fight again and again significantly supporting the Allies not only in the well known Italian campaign at Monte Casino but also in Normandy and beyond. The Poles first escaped Poland and congregated in mass in France. The Poles were greatly disappointed that the Brits and especially that the French were slow to respond to the Polish dilemma at the time of the initial German invasion of Poland and worse that the French were reluctant and un-prepared to even defend themselves in May 1940.

This was a tale that needed to be well established before the passage of time fogged out a true appreciation of the valiant Polish contribution to the overall allied war efforts. Moreover this book published as recently as 2011, has captured many first hand accounts that shortly will be longer be available. Poland suffered proportionally more than any other nation, not only from the Nazi forces but also very much more so from the Russians. The invasion of Poland from four sides was gallantly defended and the country had the least resources and stood very much alone and still managed to hold off the foes for six weeks in September and the early days of October 1939. The book continues to relate Polish activity through to the final days of the war in Europe. The detail provided in the early days of the invasion of Poland is however somewhat overwhelming.

The sequence of events detailed in the opening chapter could have been made much clearer if a better map had been provided by the publisher, Osprey Publishing. This was also true for the 1944, Polish Home Guard Warsaw uprising chronicled in great detail in the pen-ultimate chapter. This uprising lasted 63 days in anticipation of support from the Red Army who although within ten miles of the city center were ordered by Stalin to wait out the defeat of the Polish defenders before resuming their advance. Moreover the Germans managed to completely destroy Warsaw before the Russians finally arrived.

Moreover the 250 pages of narrative would have been far easier to read if a 12 or greater font size had been employed. The first hand eye witnessed narratives were differentiated from the writer’s narrative by use of a size 6 font or smaller.

Fortunately KKK’s writing reads well with clarity and fluidity and the narrative was not only easy to comprehend but the chronological order was well maintained; KKK while at Michigan State University has produced a scholarly work that will serve the history of both WW2 and Poland well. The footnotes listed in the back of the book are extensive and the recommended reading list is of a good but at the same time of a most manageable length. The ravages of both the Germans and the Russians onto the remaining resident population are clearly revealed without resort to dramatic unwholesome details. Poland suffered two double invasions and occupation by both the Germans and the Russians throughout the entire six years of the WW2 conflict. ( )

The title of this book says everything: the U.S., Britain, and France had no greater ally than Poland during WWII and yet the story of the Poles’ fierce loyalty to the Allie cause during that war has been, up till now, almost completely untold.

Why is that? Why do history books always paint a pathetic picture of Poland’s mounted cavalry defense against the blitzkrieg, inferring by that image that the invasion was over in a matter of days because the Polish defense was apparently laughable? Why does no one ever mention that nearly 20 percent of the RAF airmen were Poles? Why does no one seem to know that Polish servicemen supported the Allies in nearly every major conflict during WWII?

It is very possible that stories of the major Polish contributions to the Allied cause were swept under the rug out of sheer embarrassment. If the stories got out, the obvious question would be, “why then did the Allies hand over Poland to the Soviet Union at the end of the war? Why didn’t we fight for their freedom as they had fought for ours?”

As one reads through the extremely well-written, well-researched, and well-organized text of Kenneth Koskodan’s book, that heartbreaking question, though not actually posed by the author, comes to mind again and again.

Koskodan’s narrative – which focuses on military specifics while remaining immensely readable – generally follows the timeline of the war and clearly delineates the contributions of the Polish armed services along that timeline. For instance, in chapter two– “French Misfortunes -- Koskodan reveals how Polish troops, having escaped to France during the invasion of Poland, and waiting through the “Drole de Guerre,” were shocked at the naïvety of the French military leaders (who ignored the Poles’ hard-earned advice regarding the nature of the new German lightening war) and at the slack unpreparedness of the French troops.

Nevertheless, Polish troops assisted in the French during the Battle of France -- incredulous at the quick French surrender -- and after the evacuation at Dunkirk, many of them ended up in Britain. In chapter four – “On Wings of Eagles: The Polish Air Force” – Koskodan gives details regarding air war between the German Luftwaffe and the Polish air force during the Polish invasion. He relates how Britain recruited hundreds of already-trained Polish airmen to fly with the RAF where the air-borne Poles gained almost celebrity status because of their incredible courage in the air.

Some military Poles remained in Poland and fought in the “Armia Krajowa” (Home Army, or AK). Chapter three – “Everything was in Secret” – discusses in detail, the organization and military activities of this impressively large and well-organized underground army which worked against Poland’s enemies, both Germans and the Soviets.

But in the end, the real enemies of Poland turned out to be their supposed friends, the Allies who had accepted and benefited greatly from their help but then in the end, betrayed them into the hands of the Soviets, which act Koskodan points out very simply but eloquently at the end of chapter nine, “Glory and Heartbreak: The Warsaw Uprising, 1944”: “This time, the invasion had come with the consent of the rest of the free world. There was no hope of an ally coming to Poland’s aid, and there was not even talk of the Polish Army returning to free its countrymen. This time, the AK harbored no illusion of harassing the enemy while biding its time until it could fight for liberation. This time, the invaders, with their mighty army and their mightier politics, had won. The world would not fight for Poland.”

Koskodan spent years researching his subject, which included many hours of interviews with Polish veterans, and his immensely readable book is a giant leap towards an increased understanding of the incredible and heartbreaking story of the Polish contributions to the Allied cause during WWII. ( )