Bohdan Arct

Bohdan Arct (b. May 27, 1914 in Warsaw - May 14, 1973 in Siedlce, Poland) was a Polish fighter pilot of the Polish Air Force in World War II and writer.

Until the fall of Poland at the Beginning of World War II, Arct fought in the Polish Armed forces. Then he escaped to France, and served as a flight instructor in North Africa. After the French capitulation he flew to Great Britain and became a fighter pilot at the beginning of 1941. His training finished, he flew missions in North Africa and England. Promoted to the rank of Squadron Leader of the Royal Air Force in 1944, he took command of the Polish No. 315 Squadron. Later this year he was forced to bail out over Holland due to engine failure. He was interned as a Prisoner of war in the German town of Barth.

After his release from internment in 1945 he went back to England. In 1947 he moved with his English wife Beryl and his daughter to the east of Poland. Like many other Poles that had fought in the armed forces of the Allies of World War II, he had to suffer under repressions from the new (Moscow-controlled) Polish government until 1956.

Between 1944 and 1973 he wrote forty four books, mostly on wartime aviation, including his memories, with four million copies overall. Bohdan Arct died all of a sudden in 1973 in the age of 59.

His most important book is considered to be "Kamikadze – Boski Wiatr", a novel about a Kamikaze-pilot.

Awards

* Virtuti Militari, Silver Cross
* Krzyż Walecznych, four times

Works

* "W pogoni za Luftwaffe"
* "Messerschmitty w słońcu"
* "Cyrk Skalskiego"
* "W podniebnej chwale"
* "Rycerze biało-czerwonej szachownicy"
* "W pościgu za V-1"
* "Cena życia"
* "Kamikadze – Boski Wiatr"
* "Skrzydła nad Warszawą"
* "Polacy w walce z bronią V"
* "Polacy w bitwie o Anglie"
* "Niebo w ogniu"
* "Alarm w Saint Omer"
* "Obce niebo"
* "Wielki dzien dywizjonu 303"
* "Jeniec wojenny"