Destiny Can Wait - The Polish Air Force’s Presentation Copy to Lord Portal, with Polish Pilots’ Memorial Speech

LISIEWICZ, M., et al. Destiny Can Wait: The Polish Air Force in the Second World War. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1949.

A deeply significant presentation copy from the Polish Airmen to Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford, from Portal’s personal collection, specially bound in full black leather with gilt spine lettering and Polish Air Force emblem. Inscribed on the half-title: “To Marshal of the Royal Air Force / The Viscount Portal of Hungerford / with gratitude / from / Polish Airmen. / 30th November 1949.”

This is an exceptionally meaningful copy. Portal was not merely a distinguished recipient: he contributes the foreword, and during the war he was Chief of the Air Staff, the senior professional head of the RAF. The Polish Air Force in Britain served within the wider RAF command structure, with Polish squadrons making a celebrated contribution to the Battle of Britain, the bomber offensive, Coastal Command, fighter operations, and the wider Allied air war. In this context the inscription “with gratitude from Polish Airmen” has real force. It reads as a collective act of remembrance and thanks from the Polish airmen whose wartime service the book preserves.

First edition, first impression. Thick octavo, specially bound in black leather, gilt to spine, marbled or plain endpapers not present from images, illustrated throughout with photographs, maps, diagrams and striking colour plates. Foreword by Portal. The book includes the editorial note explaining that it was designed as a preliminary account rather than a final official history, making it one of the earliest substantial English-language memorial histories of the Polish Air Force in the Second World War.

Condition: near fine. Binding firm, leather fresh and bright, gilt strong, contents clean with only light natural toning. A distinguished copy in a superior special binding, with an inscription of major cultural and historical significance.

A remarkable association copy: the Polish Air Force’s own wartime history, presented by Polish airmen to the RAF commander who wrote its foreword and under whose wartime command structure they served.

Offered together with an original draft speech for the unveiling of the Polish Pilots’ Memorial, 3rd November 1948

Accompanying the book is a remarkable two-page typed and heavily manuscript-corrected first draft of a speech delivered, or prepared for delivery, at the unveiling of the Polish Pilots’ Memorial on 3rd November 1948.

Headed in typescript: “First Draft / Speech at the unveiling of the Polish Pilots’ Memorial / 3rd November 1948.” The address honours the 1,243 members of the Polish Air Force who, after Poland and France had been overrun, gave their lives in the cause of freedom. It refers directly to the Polish pilots’ famous role in the Battle of Britain, noting that over 200 enemy aircraft were confirmed destroyed by Polish pilots in that battle alone, and that 33 Polish pilots gave their lives.

The draft continues by recalling the formation in Britain of Polish squadrons and training schools, their fighter and bomber operations, their part in the Battle of the Atlantic, and their service with the Tactical Air Forces on the Continent. In manuscript, the speech is substantially revised throughout, with numerous corrections, insertions, deletions, and rewritten passages. Particularly evocative is the added closing language, offering “our true sympathy” to those relations “who mourn their loss.”

The speech has a strong contextual relationship with Destiny Can Wait. Both the book and the speech belong to the immediate post-war moment in which the Polish Air Force’s sacrifice was being formally recorded, commemorated, and publicly honoured in Britain. The book preserves that history in published form, while this draft speech captures the act of remembrance in process, with the language of tribute still being shaped on the page.

Together, they form an unusually resonant pairing: the Polish Air Force’s early published wartime history, specially presented by Polish Airmen to Lord Portal, accompanied by a contemporary draft speech for one of the most significant British memorial acts honouring Polish airmen who served and died under the wider RAF command structure.

Condition of speech: two typed leaves, folded, with age toning, handling creases, small marginal wear and manuscript corrections throughout. Preserved as a working draft, with all the immediacy and historical interest such a document conveys.