First Kills: The Illustrated Biography of Fighter Pilot WlAdyslAw Gnys

Polish pilot Wladek Gnys was credited with shooting down the first two German aircraft of World War II on September 1, 1939. On 2 September 1939, as Gnys’ squadron took off near Krakow to intercept the German invaders, German Stuka pilot Frank Neubert attacked, killing the captain. Wladek, who barely survived himself, evaded the pursuing Stukas and went on to make the first Allied kills, while Neubert was credited with the first aerial kill of the war. An experienced fighter pilot, Gnys fought in the Battle of Poland with the Polish Air Force, the Battle of France with the French Air Force and the Battle of Britain and beyond with the Royal Air Force. During Operation Overlord in June 1944, Wladek was shot down over France and crash landed. Wounded, he was taken prisoner but then escaped, his life spared by the enemy on more than one occasion. Fifty years after the invasion of Poland, in the summer of 1989, Gnys and Neubert met and shook hands, making news around the world. They reconciled their differences and remained friends until their deaths. This event symbolized the prevailing friendly coexistence between Poland and Germany.Written by his son Stefan and drawing from his logbooks, this highly illustrated biography of Wladek Gnys is the most in-depth account of the Polish hero’s life. It tells Wladek’s story from his childhood in rural Poland, through his time flying in three Allied air forces during World War II, to his reconciliation with Neubert and his commemoration as a national war hero in Poland. AUTHOR: Stefan Gnys is the son of pilot Wladek Gnys and has spent many years tracing his father’s war through the archives of the air forces he served with. He was a teacher for four decades, and is a singer-songwiter-performer.