Polish pilots in Ilmavoimat during Winter War

[Rapo]

1 I'm also interesting in airplanes and airfield / air base of T-LentoR 4 in late February / early March 1940.

T-LentoR 4 operated from only from Luonetjärvi during the Winter War. The map below is from a Finnish Air Force pre-war index containing information of each aerodrome, in this case of Parola.

I see that you are one of the best informed guys here - so is there posibility to ask you for help with polish pilots in archives in Finland? Maybe you could send me a PM? (I need every document about polish pilots in Finland I can get, but I can't visit Finland and I don't know

General Rayski decision to join Finish AF was expression of his desperation. He was pilot in Turkish Air Force during WWI, and commander of polish air force since 1926. In march 1939 he decided to submit his resignation, because polish AF wasn't strong enough to stop Luftwaffe. Rayski want's to start production of new polish fighters like PZL P.50 Jastrzab (Hawk), but his superiors didn't agree to give more money for polish aviation. During the semptember campaign he was trying to get some assignation as regular pilot, but polish government doesn't agree. When polish aviatiors went to France, new goverment, created by general Sikorski decided to accuse Rayski. Nothing really happend but Rayski decided to leave France and find new war. After winter war he came back to France, and after fall of France he joined RAF. He was too old for operational duty, so they put him in Air Transport Auxiliary. He was one of best pilots there. In 1944 he made few operational flights in Polish 318th 'City of Gdansk' Fighter - Recon Squadron. During Uprising in Warsaw (August 1944) he take part in flights with air drops for soliders of polish underground in Warsaw.

[CF Geust]

The book In the Shadow of the Soviet Empire - Poland and Finland, two Borderlands (edited by Marek Kornat), Warsaw 2016 (ISBN 978-83-66883-20-8) contains the papers presented at the joint Polish-Finnish Historians Conference in Warsaw in October 2021 including my paper Polish assistance to the Finnish Air Force during the Winter War 1939-40 (pages 171-192, with lists of identified pilots of the Polish "Finnish Squadron" being prepared in Lyon in February 1940 for departure to Finland, Polish volunteer aviation specialist already serving in Finland etc.

[mars]

The book In the Shadow of the Soviet Empire - Poland and Finland, two Borderlands (edited by Marek Kornat), Warsaw 2016 (ISBN 978-83-66883-20-8) contains the papers presented at the joint Polish-Finnish Historians Conference in Warsaw in October 2021 including my paper Polish assistance to the Finnish Air Force during the Winter War 1939-40 (pages 171-192, with lists of identified pilots of the Polish "Finnish Squadron" being prepared in Lyon in February 1940 for departure to Finland, Polish volunteer aviation specialist already serving in Finland etc.

I cannot find this book on amazon, was it published in English ?

[CF Geust]

The book (in English) was published by the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding, www.cprdip.pl. ISBN 978-83-66883-20-8. Hope that this information will help you to find the book.

[korup]

The CPRDIP sells the books in Poland only (no abroad sales). They say the book is available in "bigger bookstores, both stationary and virtual", but it seems to be not exactly correct. Or I have checked the bookstores not big enough to have this book?

[CF Geust]

However, the book is referred to on the publisher´s home page:

http://www.cprdip.pl/en,publications,bo ... mpire.html

[mars]

The book (in English) was published by the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding, www.cprdip.pl. ISBN 978-83-66883-20-8. Hope that this information will help you to find the book.

Thank you !