Elzbieta Zawacka Polish Soldier And Courier During World War Two

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Elzbieta Zawacka joined the Women's Battalion of the Home Army and worked as an instructor and courier, taking money, messages and reports to members of the Polish resistance in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark. In November 1942 she was given a mission to take valuable intelligence via France and Spain to Britain. Succeeding in that task, she was parachuted back into Poland to help the resistance for the rest of the war. This book provides a detailed account of her wartime experiences.

'Deeply researched and written with verve... thoughtful as well as action packed' The Times 'Gripping, moving and important' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'Clare Mulley tells the tale of the remarkable Elzbieta Zawacka with flare, passion and insight' James Holland 'Agent Zo is a triumph. Absolutely essential reading' Hallie Rubenhold This is the incredible story of Elzbieta Zawacka, the WW2 female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo, told here for the very first time. Agent Zo was the only woman to reach London from Warsaw during the Second World War as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command, and then in Britain she became the only woman to join the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the 'Silent Unseen'. She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then the only female member of these SOE affiliated forces to be parachuted back behind enemy lines to Nazi-occupied Poland. There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo who arrested her entire family, she took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising and the liberation of Poland. After the war she was demobbed as one of the most highly decorated women in Polish history. Yet the Soviet-backed post-war Communist regime not only imprisoned her, but also ensured that her remarkable story remained hidden for over forty years. Now, through new archival research and exclusive interviews with people who knew and fought alongside Zo, Clare Mulley brings this forgotten heroine back to life, and also transforms how we see the history of women's agency in the Second World War.

Over 15,000 pigeons were dropped into occupied Europe during WW2. Some were used by secret agents to send messages back to headquarters. Others were dropped by parachute into France, Belgium, Holland and Denmark in the hope that people would complete the attached questionnaire and provided military, political, economic or other intelligence of value for the Allies. Photographic negatives could be sent. Bletchley Park had its own loft for its pigeon spies. This book investigates the work of MI14, known as the Colomba Service, and for the first time sheds light on conditions in Occupied Europe described by extremely brave men and women who risked execution if found in possession of a pigeon. MI14 staff, decoded or translated messages and forwarded copies to SOE, SIS, MI19, RAF, RN, Ministry of Economic Warfare, BBC, Churchill, de Gaulle and President Benes of Czechoslovakia.

Some captured German and Austrian personnel were brought to Britain as prisoners of war. Those who were identified as anti-Nazi were 'turned' and, codenamed 'Bonzos', were trained in paramilitary and clandestine warfare to be sent back into occupied Europe on top secret missions. The British Special Operations Executive arranged the infiltration of four Austrians, Albrecht Gaiswinkler, Joseph Grafl, Karl Standhartinger and Karl Lzicar, into the Salzkammergut area of northwestern Austria. This book tells the story of Operation EBENSBURG, their mission to kidnap or assassinate Joseph Goebbels, the Reich's Minister of Propaganda, to organise resistance groups before the arrival of American forces and to protect the looted works of art hidden in the Altaussee salt mine.

History paints war out to be a man's business, but there is an army of women warriors who stand between the lines of history books, waiting to be seen. This biographical dictionary tells the story of the females who armed themselves against threats to self, family, home and country. Spanning 17 periods of world history, it compiles the daring deeds of 1,622 female fighters, from Bronze Age archers and Viking raiders, to helicopter pilots and commanders of aircraft carriers. Entries summarize heroes such as the Old Testament judge Deborah, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, Aisha, Mary Spencer-Churchill, Calamity Jane, Cleopatra VII, Molly Pitcher, Aung San Suu Kyi and-- surprisingly-- Julia Child. Included are the famous stands the unheralded scrappers and risk-takers took up in fierce crises.

If the Walls Could Speak focuses on the lives of women in prison in postwar communist Poland and how they took on different roles and personalities to protect themselves and create a semblance of normality, despite abuses and prison confinement, and reveals how life in a Stalinist prison adds to our understanding of coercion and resistance under totalitarian regimes. (source : éditeur).

One of the darkest days in modern history was September 1, 1939, when the German war machine rolled into Poland. After a five-week struggle against a ruthless enemy far superior in equipment and personnel, Poland succumbed. But in their hearts, the Poles refused to admit defeat. Although the regular fighting on Polish soil came to an end, it continued underground, and carried into foreign lands. Polish officers and men, risking their lives, made their way to France to join the new Polish Army being organized there, then to Great Britain and the Middle East. Time and again, the Polish Armed Forces were a major influence on the course of the Second World War. Beset by invaders throughout history, they had become a tough and resolute people, determined to restore their independence and their country's freedom. This book is a tribute to those who fought the battle for a free Poland.