SADLOWSKA, Slawa. Album of Polish Airmen. Letchworth: Letchworth Printers Ltd., 1947. First edition.
A remarkable memorial volume devoted to the Polish airmen who fought within the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Sadlowska was a Polish civilian artist, not a serving combatant, and her own Artist’s Note states that she came to Britain in 1943 and, with RAF permission, travelled to operational stations to draw the Polish pilots and crewmen whose likenesses are reproduced here. Her portraits form both an artistic record and an act of cultural remembrance for men who fought far from an occupied homeland.
First edition, first impression. Quarto, publisher’s dark blue cloth lettered in red, 4 preliminary pages and 69 portrait plates with accompanying biographical text. Presentation inscription in blue ink from the artist: “With many thanks for your kind collaboration from the artist, Slawa Sadlowska.” From the private collection of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Portal of Hungerford.
The Portal provenance gives this copy exceptional significance. Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford, served in the First World War, transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, won the MC, DSO and Bar, and later became Chief of the Air Staff during the Second World War. Under Portal’s wartime command the RAF incorporated the exiled Polish Air Force, whose pilots became among the most celebrated Allied airmen of the conflict, especially in the Battle of Britain and later bomber and fighter operations. The printed foreword by Portal, combined with Sadlowska’s personal thanks for “collaboration,” creates a powerful link between the Polish artist preserving these men’s memory and the British air chief who publicly recognised their sacrifice.
Light wear to cloth extremities, internally clean and complete, a culturally important presentation copy with outstanding RAF and Polish exile provenance.
