O.R.P. Orzeł
Available in the UK at Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, as Paperback.
Available in the UK at Amazon, as Paperback.
Soon to be released as an eBook
Very few people know that Poland had a navy in World War 2, even fewer knew that they had submarines. This is my novel about the Orzeł or ‘Eagle’. A modern submarine for its time.
Note that the letter ł (Ł upper case) is pronounced in Polish like the letter W would be in English. ORP stands for “Okret Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej“, in English translates to Ship of the Republic of Poland.
O.R.P. Orzeł: She leaves her home port of Gdynia on September 1st 1939, at the outbreak of World War 2. She has to evade the Nazi onslaught while defending her nation’s coastline.
After leaving her ailing captain in Estonia, she escapes internment before sneaking through the narrow straights past Denmark, to join the British fleet.
The exploits of the Orzeł, was described by Winston Churchill as “The greatest adventure story to come out of the war“.
This is not just a true story, it is a parable of the spirit of Poland.
Although Poland is completely overrun by Nazi and Soviet armies in WW2, many Poles fled to help the western allies in their struggle to contain Nazi domination.
- Polish soldiers fled to join the British Army.
- Polish pilots fled to join the RAF – they were the largest foreign contingent of fighter pilots.
- Polish ships, including the ORP Orzeł head to Britain to join the Royal Navy
This is Bernard’s second novel and has required extensive research into the history of this vessel. There is great intrigue and mystery surrounding the adventures of the Orzel. It is not without controversy. Bernard has not drawn judgment in this novel, instead he portrays the events, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions.
If you want to know what this intrigue and mystery is all about, you will have to read this book!
Although this is a war story, it is not about blood and guts. It is about human spirit. In particular, the Spirit of Poland.