Poles were war heroes

Growing up, I heard many socalled “Polak jokes.” They mostly depicted Polish people as moronic or slow-witted at the least. Well, the Poles were anything but that.

Prior to World War II, the Germans had invented an encoding machine they called Enigma, an extremely complicated machine using a superfluous method of encryption for their military messages. Just before the invasion of Poland by the Nazis, Polish patriots duplicated an exact copy of Enigma which was shipped to London. In addition, they were able to break the codes used, an almost impossible task from the German viewpoint. They had broken the ciphers even before Bletchley Park, staffed by such notables as Alan Turing, the inventor of the modern computer.

As hostilities further commenced, Poles formed an elaborate underground which harassed the Nazis on all fronts. They, more than any other nation on the European continent, resisted the German occupation, providing London with invaluable intelligence.

During the Battle of Britain, the Polish 303 Squadron in the Royal Air Force distinguished itself by shooting down more German planes than any other RAF squadron. Winston Churchill acknowledged that they were indispensable in defending England during its “finest hour.”

Later, in the assault on Monte Cassino in Italy, after many failed attempts by Allied forces to take it, the Poles were the ones to finally take it from the Germans.

Their contribution to the success of the Allied victory was exemplified by their never-ending dedication to the cause of freedom.

LES BLEDSOE North Little Rock