Tribute to Polish pilots in Pakistan

It traces the history of Polish pilots in Pakistan, its publication coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the arrival a group of Polish pilots to that country.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Poland Shafqat Ali Khan has told Polish Radio that his nation will never forget “the role that Polish pilots played in the creation of the Pakistan Air Force.”

“We shall always remember those wonderful heroes from your country, their professionalism and their selflessness,” he said.

Freedom under the Pakistani Sky also tells of Polish sailors who for a short period were commanders of the Pakistani Navy and about Polish wartime refugees who had been saved from their exile in Siberia by Gen. Władysław Anders’ Army and settled temporarily in the towns of Karachi and Quetta in Pakistan.

One of the central figures portrayed in Freedom under the Pakistani Sky is Władysław Turowicz. He arrived in Karachi on December 28, 1948, with a group of 45 Polish airmen and technicians who previously served in the British Royal Air Force.

The author of the book has said that Turowicz, who joined the Pakistan Air Force and later climbed up the ladder to become an air commodore and an assistant chief of air staff, is treated in Pakistan as a national hero. He died in 1980.

Pietraszek’s book is based on documents from the archives of the Pakistan Air Force.

(mk/gs)