by
4thskorpion
. . . That other great book about the cichociemni exploits The unseen and silent : adventures from the underground movement narrated by paratroops of the Polish Home Army by George Iraneck-Osmecki and published by Sheed and Ward, London 1954 had several adventures of its own.
A special edition was published for the US Army which shipped copies out to its troops fighting in the Korean war; the book was used as a morale raiser.
Another specaial edition of The Unseen and Silent was printed on light-weight bible paper for the CIA in West Germany who sent hundreds of copies to be dropped over Poland by balloon! CIA propaganda balloon drops were new to me until I got interested in this book.
cc. Adolf Pilch also said that the book was almost ready to go to print when pressure was put on the cichociemni association's publisher Sheed and Ward in London to stop publication as it contained 'true' stories of the Soviet occupation and repression of Poland which HMG thought could damage its relations with USSR at the time. So the cichociemni association turned to Sheed and Ward division in N.Y. (who could not be silenced by British gov. pressure) to publish the book, which they did. Interestingly the head of Polish affairs in the British government at this time was none other than Kim Philby!
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