Bohdan Arct (born 27 May 1914 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

– 14 May 1973 in

Siedlce Siedlce [] ( yi, שעדליץ ) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship (1975–1998). The city is situated b ...

, Poland) was a Polish

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

of the Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and writer. Bohdan Arct ASP

Arct fought in the Polish armed forces until the fall of Poland at the beginning of World War II. He escaped to France and served as a flight instructor with the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

French North Africa French North Africa (french: Afrique du Nord française, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is the term often applied to the territories controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. In ...

. After France capitulated in June 1940, Arct flew to Great Britain and became a fighter pilot at the beginning of 1941, attending

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF) Operational Training Unit 61, and then joined the

No. 306 Polish Fighter Squadron No. 306 "Toruń" Polish Fighter Squadron ( pl, 306 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Toruński") was one of several Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. It was formed as part of an agreement between the Polish Governmen ...

(RAF) in October 1941. During mid-1943, Arct flew missions in North Africa with the Polish Fighting Team, which was attached as "C" Flight to

No. 145 Squadron RAF No. 145 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron that operated during World War I, World War II and the Cold War. History The Squadron formed on 15 May 1918. Equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 fighters, it supported the final offensives ...

. He claimed one

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

, one probable, and two damaged at this time. In July 1943 he returned to No. 306 as a flight commander, and in August was posted to Polish

No. 303 Squadron RAF No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron, was one of two Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain, Polish squadrons that fought during the Battle of Britain along with No. 302 Polish Fight ...

, claiming a FW 190 on 17 August. In June 1944, Arct took command of the

No. 316 Polish Fighter Squadron No. 316 "City of Warsaw" Polish Fighter Squadron ( pl, 316 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski") was a Polish fighter squadron formed in Great Britain as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom in 1941. It ...

(RAF). He shot down two

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...

s in mid 1944, and a Bf 109 on 14 August 1944. On 6 September 1944 he was forced to bail out over the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

due to his

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

suffering engine failure. He was

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

Stalag Luft I Stalag Luft I was a German World War II prisoner-of-war (POW) camp near Barth, Western Pomerania, Germany, for captured Allied airmen. The presence of the prison camp is said to have shielded the town of Barth from Allied bombing. About 9,000 ...

. When Arct was released from internment in 1945 he returned to England. In 1947, Arct moved with his English wife Beryl and their daughter to Communist Poland, first to

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

, then

and finally Dobrzanów, where he joined his mother. Like many other Poles who had fought in the armed forces of the Western Allies, he suffered repression from the new government of the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

until the 1956

Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw ( rus, хрущёвская о́ттепель, r=khrushchovskaya ottepel, p=xrʊˈɕːɵfskəjə ˈotʲ:ɪpʲɪlʲ or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period ...

and

De-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...

. Between 1944 and 1973 he wrote forty four books, mostly on wartime aviation, including his memoirs, with four million copies sold overall. Arct died suddenly in 1973 at the age of 58.

Awards

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...

, Silver Cross
POL Krzyż Walecznych (1940) 4r BAR

Krzyż Walecznych (Cross of Valour), and three bars

Works (partial)

* ''W pogoni za Luftwaffe'' (1946) * ''Messerschmitty w słońcu'' (1947) * ''Cyrk Skalskiego'' (1957) * ''W pościgu za V-1'' (1957) * ''Wielki dzien dywizjonu 303'' (1957) * ''W podniebnej chwale'' (1958) * ''Rycerze biało-czerwonej szachownicy'' * ''Kamikadze – Boski Wiatr'' (1961) * ''Cena życia'' (1964) * ''Skrzydła nad Warszawą'' (1964) * ''Polacy w bitwie o Anglie'' (1967) * ''Niebo w ogniu'' (1970) * ''Alarm w Saint Omer'' (1971) * ''Obce niebo'' (1971) * ''Polacy w walce z bronią V'' (1972) * ''Jeniec wojenny'' (2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arct, Bohdan 1914 births 1973 deaths Writers from Warsaw Polish male writers Polish military aviators Polish Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Polish World War II pilots Polish prisoners of war in World War II Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland)