First Kills

Polish pilot W³adek Gnyœ 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. W³adek, 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, Gnyœ 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, W³adek 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, Gnyœ 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 W³adek Gnyœ 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.