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Freely I Served
The memoirs of this well known Polish airborne General of WW 2, the author was born in Poland and saw service in the Austrian Army in World War I. He joined the newly created Polish Army in 1918 and served in a variety of command and staff positions during the inter-war period. In September 1939, he commanded the 21st Infantry Regiment in the battle of Warsaw. Taken prisoner, he escaped to rejoin the Polish Army in France and later in England. In 1941, he raised and led the famed Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade (attached to the British First Airborne Division) in England 1941-45, and led them into combat during the airborne drop at Arnhem during Operation Market-Garden. Although the operation was unsuccessful, the Brigade fulfilled its missions with extreme valour. After commanding the Parachute Brigade for three years, he resigned due to differences with British officials on the use of his unit.
220 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1957
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About the author
Stanisław Sosabowski
2 books2 followersStanisław Franciszek Sosabowski was born in Stanisławów* - Polish general of a brigade. In 1940 He started building a first Parachute brigade in Polish Army. In 1942 the brigade was ready and named the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade. In 1944 it took part in Operation Market - Garden. He died in 1967 casue of heart attack.
Author of Najkrótszą drogą, Wychowanie żołnierza-obywatela, Droga wiodła ugorem. Wspomnienia, Freely I served
* The city til 1939 belonged to Poland,
1939 - 1941 to Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
1941 - 1944 to Distrikt Galizien, Generalgouvernement
1944 - 1991 to Ukrainian SSR (in 1962 renamed to Ivano - Frankivisk)
Posr 1991 to independent Ukraine
Author of Najkrótszą drogą, Wychowanie żołnierza-obywatela, Droga wiodła ugorem. Wspomnienia, Freely I served
* The city til 1939 belonged to Poland,
1939 - 1941 to Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
1941 - 1944 to Distrikt Galizien, Generalgouvernement
1944 - 1991 to Ukrainian SSR (in 1962 renamed to Ivano - Frankivisk)
Posr 1991 to independent Ukraine
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 30, 2019
A word of caution: there is relatively little Arnhem in here, and as CO of a brigade which arrived in the middle of events, he comes off as a man on the sidelines*.
He knows this, to some extent, since he refuses to put the habitual blame to Urquhart. XXX Corps, which snailed on even after an advance troop of Household Cavalry linked up with the Poles, gets no such respite. Neither do the rush to plan MARKET GARDEN in 5 days or the assessment of the enemy as "a few beaten-up tank regiments, reforming" (instead of two Waffen-SS Panzer divisions with freshly delivered tanks). To justify towards his government-in-exile why eventually only 1310 out of 1700 Poles would retreat out from Arnhem alive, he demanded to have orders in writing..
yet afterwards, handles Montgomery with gloves:
"Monty's estimation of what he needed to win this battle was as follows:
1) the 1st Allied Airborne Army consisting of 82nd, 101st U.S. Airborne Divisions, 1st British Airborne Division and the Polish Independent Parachute Brigade.
2) A daily supply of 1.000 tons.
3) the covering of the right flank by 1st U.S. Army
4) Sufficient transport aircraft for the paratroopers.
Of these 4 main requirements , Montgomery only received the first in full [..] The maximum daily air supply ever received was 500 tons; the right flank was never covered by 1st U.S. Army" ...and that the lack of aircraft made an all-at-once drop into the MARKET GARDEN LZ's impossible is history.
That being said, there are a lot of lesser-known tableaux here. The Wehrmacht got its first taste of Rattenkrieg in Warsaw, where the Polish regular army always found a basement or alley up the rear. Sosabowski served with the two Polish infantry divisions reassembled in France, leaving the usual picture of a slovenly French army. Polish parachute training believed in a limited number of jumps compared to the high British training casualty rate.
His fate, to be relieved from command in order to facilitate the integration of the Polish brigade into the British 1st Airborne Division, is a bitter lesson in the realities of being a minor player in a wartime alliance.
*Landing in the thick of it, however, he saw nauseating things that didn't make it into the movie:
"Gliders came down at all angles & from every direction. Some were on fire before they landed; jeeps with punctured petrol tanks flooded the wooden aircraft & red hot flak turned them into flaming infernos. Several gliders swooped into the trees, breaking off their wings, but the passengers and equipment remained unharmed.
From out of these engineless planes swarmed the Poles, who blew off the tails with explosive charges and hustled away with the guns and ehicles which had been stowed inside. The Germans who had previously concentrated on the aircraft now turned their artillery and machine guns on to the troops. They all had to run a gauntlet of fire to get off the exposed landing area; in some cases they had to fight their way against marauding enemy infantry"
He knows this, to some extent, since he refuses to put the habitual blame to Urquhart. XXX Corps, which snailed on even after an advance troop of Household Cavalry linked up with the Poles, gets no such respite. Neither do the rush to plan MARKET GARDEN in 5 days or the assessment of the enemy as "a few beaten-up tank regiments, reforming" (instead of two Waffen-SS Panzer divisions with freshly delivered tanks). To justify towards his government-in-exile why eventually only 1310 out of 1700 Poles would retreat out from Arnhem alive, he demanded to have orders in writing..
yet afterwards, handles Montgomery with gloves:
"Monty's estimation of what he needed to win this battle was as follows:
1) the 1st Allied Airborne Army consisting of 82nd, 101st U.S. Airborne Divisions, 1st British Airborne Division and the Polish Independent Parachute Brigade.
2) A daily supply of 1.000 tons.
3) the covering of the right flank by 1st U.S. Army
4) Sufficient transport aircraft for the paratroopers.
Of these 4 main requirements , Montgomery only received the first in full [..] The maximum daily air supply ever received was 500 tons; the right flank was never covered by 1st U.S. Army" ...and that the lack of aircraft made an all-at-once drop into the MARKET GARDEN LZ's impossible is history.
That being said, there are a lot of lesser-known tableaux here. The Wehrmacht got its first taste of Rattenkrieg in Warsaw, where the Polish regular army always found a basement or alley up the rear. Sosabowski served with the two Polish infantry divisions reassembled in France, leaving the usual picture of a slovenly French army. Polish parachute training believed in a limited number of jumps compared to the high British training casualty rate.
His fate, to be relieved from command in order to facilitate the integration of the Polish brigade into the British 1st Airborne Division, is a bitter lesson in the realities of being a minor player in a wartime alliance.
*Landing in the thick of it, however, he saw nauseating things that didn't make it into the movie:
"Gliders came down at all angles & from every direction. Some were on fire before they landed; jeeps with punctured petrol tanks flooded the wooden aircraft & red hot flak turned them into flaming infernos. Several gliders swooped into the trees, breaking off their wings, but the passengers and equipment remained unharmed.
From out of these engineless planes swarmed the Poles, who blew off the tails with explosive charges and hustled away with the guns and ehicles which had been stowed inside. The Germans who had previously concentrated on the aircraft now turned their artillery and machine guns on to the troops. They all had to run a gauntlet of fire to get off the exposed landing area; in some cases they had to fight their way against marauding enemy infantry"
December 16, 2013
Freely he served and I thank you.
Freely I Served is the memoirs of Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski who was the commander of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade who jumped at Arnhem and who was unfairly blamed for the debacle by Monty and General Browning. Hence the reason why most Polish soldiers, and especially the paratrooper veterans, held no respect for Monty after the war. My Grandfather like Stanislaw Sosabowski was from Eastern Poland, the Kresy, which underwent ethnic cleansing twice by the Russians who removed the Poles and the Nazis who wiped out the Jewish communities.
I have a confession to make before I continue with my review, my Grandfather served as a Sergeant in the Polish Paratroopers and jumped at Arnhem and had similar tails to tell as his former commanding officer. A commanding officer who he greatly admired as he too had escaped capture and took a similar to that of Sosabowski all except he came across Yugoslavia to France. His stories and dislike of the French I now understand from this book, the only difference Sosabowski never held a grudge even when he had every right to do so.
You feel the horror of being on the receiving end of the Panzer Blitzkrieg and the Stuka dive bombers and how the Poles were fighting against a massive military machine. How through sheer grit and determination managed to delay the capture of Warsaw and the eventual surrender and his work for the Underground Army. How he managed to escape through the Nazi and Soviet zones in to Hungry and eventually Paris. How the French blamed the Poles for not defending better and that they should have used trenches to dig in and fight like the First World War. The French showed that they had no concept of what the Poles had faced until it was too late and they were being brought under the jackboot. How the French often refused to arm the Polish soldiers and when they did gave them rifles that had been used in the Franco-Prussian War in the 1870s.
How in England he trained and built up the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade to a fighting force all who wanted to fight and win the peace for their beloved Poland. How they trained and were willing to join their comrades at arms during the Warsaw Rising and how that was refused and they were used at Arnhem. We get the full description of training and the jump at Arnhem and the battle after. Here he gives us the details of the battle and how it felt as he saw his men fight and die how the Germans rained down hell and that the intelligence reports had not quite told them about the divisions that were now in Arnhem. You feel his loss when he points out that 1700 Polish troops either parachuted or glided in to battle and 1310 marched out.
After Arnhem he explains the politics that came in to force and how General Browning slighted Sosabowski by putting him and the paratroopers under the command of a British brigadier. When the Polish Government conferred the Star of the Order Polonia Restituta on General Browning how he told Sosabowski that he wished they had not done that in light of recent events. It was at this time that the Polish Commander in Chief was dismissed due to pressure from the Russians and by accident the newspapers used a picture of Sosabowski which under the circumstances amused him. Sosabowski does note that General Browning held the notion, that was prevalent amongst the officer corps that all foreigners are fools and should be treated accordingly. He also notes that even General Urquhart miss understood the role of Sosabowski referring him as a political leader of men when he was clearly a military man not a politician.
This memoir also covers Sosabowski’s life in the army from the First World War where he was under the Austrian colours, due to the 18th century partition of Poland and was fighting other Poles who were forced to be under the Russian flag. His years at the Staff College post war and his commission in to the infantry as a colonel and his pride at being appointed in January 1939 the commanding officer of the prestigious 21st “Children of Warsaw” Infantry Regiment.
This book was written before Sosabowski’s death in 1967 while Poland was occupied by the Soviets and some of the names of the Underground Army contacts full names were not given as he understood this would have meant their arrest even then. Like his many comrades he was unable to return to Poland when demobbed in 1948 as he would have faced immediate arrest and probable execution as an enemy of the state – according to the Communists. He worked in an electrical factory until before his death and never spoke of what he did during the war his colleagues were shocked when they attended his funeral which was given full military honours.
Even in death the Officer Corps of the UK Army and the Foreign Office fought against Sosabowski receiving in 2006 the Bronze Lion Award for Bravery which his family received from Queen Beatrix in Driel. His body now rests in Poland in the country would not allow him home after the war, but at least he is back in the country he defended till the end.
Freely I Served is the memoirs of Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski who was the commander of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade who jumped at Arnhem and who was unfairly blamed for the debacle by Monty and General Browning. Hence the reason why most Polish soldiers, and especially the paratrooper veterans, held no respect for Monty after the war. My Grandfather like Stanislaw Sosabowski was from Eastern Poland, the Kresy, which underwent ethnic cleansing twice by the Russians who removed the Poles and the Nazis who wiped out the Jewish communities.
I have a confession to make before I continue with my review, my Grandfather served as a Sergeant in the Polish Paratroopers and jumped at Arnhem and had similar tails to tell as his former commanding officer. A commanding officer who he greatly admired as he too had escaped capture and took a similar to that of Sosabowski all except he came across Yugoslavia to France. His stories and dislike of the French I now understand from this book, the only difference Sosabowski never held a grudge even when he had every right to do so.
You feel the horror of being on the receiving end of the Panzer Blitzkrieg and the Stuka dive bombers and how the Poles were fighting against a massive military machine. How through sheer grit and determination managed to delay the capture of Warsaw and the eventual surrender and his work for the Underground Army. How he managed to escape through the Nazi and Soviet zones in to Hungry and eventually Paris. How the French blamed the Poles for not defending better and that they should have used trenches to dig in and fight like the First World War. The French showed that they had no concept of what the Poles had faced until it was too late and they were being brought under the jackboot. How the French often refused to arm the Polish soldiers and when they did gave them rifles that had been used in the Franco-Prussian War in the 1870s.
How in England he trained and built up the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade to a fighting force all who wanted to fight and win the peace for their beloved Poland. How they trained and were willing to join their comrades at arms during the Warsaw Rising and how that was refused and they were used at Arnhem. We get the full description of training and the jump at Arnhem and the battle after. Here he gives us the details of the battle and how it felt as he saw his men fight and die how the Germans rained down hell and that the intelligence reports had not quite told them about the divisions that were now in Arnhem. You feel his loss when he points out that 1700 Polish troops either parachuted or glided in to battle and 1310 marched out.
After Arnhem he explains the politics that came in to force and how General Browning slighted Sosabowski by putting him and the paratroopers under the command of a British brigadier. When the Polish Government conferred the Star of the Order Polonia Restituta on General Browning how he told Sosabowski that he wished they had not done that in light of recent events. It was at this time that the Polish Commander in Chief was dismissed due to pressure from the Russians and by accident the newspapers used a picture of Sosabowski which under the circumstances amused him. Sosabowski does note that General Browning held the notion, that was prevalent amongst the officer corps that all foreigners are fools and should be treated accordingly. He also notes that even General Urquhart miss understood the role of Sosabowski referring him as a political leader of men when he was clearly a military man not a politician.
This memoir also covers Sosabowski’s life in the army from the First World War where he was under the Austrian colours, due to the 18th century partition of Poland and was fighting other Poles who were forced to be under the Russian flag. His years at the Staff College post war and his commission in to the infantry as a colonel and his pride at being appointed in January 1939 the commanding officer of the prestigious 21st “Children of Warsaw” Infantry Regiment.
This book was written before Sosabowski’s death in 1967 while Poland was occupied by the Soviets and some of the names of the Underground Army contacts full names were not given as he understood this would have meant their arrest even then. Like his many comrades he was unable to return to Poland when demobbed in 1948 as he would have faced immediate arrest and probable execution as an enemy of the state – according to the Communists. He worked in an electrical factory until before his death and never spoke of what he did during the war his colleagues were shocked when they attended his funeral which was given full military honours.
Even in death the Officer Corps of the UK Army and the Foreign Office fought against Sosabowski receiving in 2006 the Bronze Lion Award for Bravery which his family received from Queen Beatrix in Driel. His body now rests in Poland in the country would not allow him home after the war, but at least he is back in the country he defended till the end.
April 22, 2013
A first person view of the creation of the Polish Airborne Brigade during WWII by the individual that created it.
While some what light on details of some events it is quite a refreshing book.
Here is an individual that goes through major hardships, loss of country, loss of friends and soldiers under his command, long separation from his family and instead of wallowing in self pity he brushes it off as a cost of living his life. At least that is the way he writes about it. And while there is plenty of blame to throw around, he generally does it with a very light touch.
A book that shows a great deal of what is best in man at the worst of times.
While some what light on details of some events it is quite a refreshing book.
Here is an individual that goes through major hardships, loss of country, loss of friends and soldiers under his command, long separation from his family and instead of wallowing in self pity he brushes it off as a cost of living his life. At least that is the way he writes about it. And while there is plenty of blame to throw around, he generally does it with a very light touch.
A book that shows a great deal of what is best in man at the worst of times.
February 8, 2020
This is a remarkable story, and an autobiography well worth reading. General Stanislaw Sosabowski became the Commander during World War II of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade. This is his story, tracing his journey as a young Polish officer before World War II, to his being in the thick of battle during the Market Garden Operation in 1944, when the Allies tried to seize the bridges over the Rhine in Holland. At one level this is a military history book. At a deeper and more sophisticated level, this is an examination of Polish character, determination, and sense of nationhood that has been such a part of the Polish people during centuries of wars, occupation by foreign powers, and attempts at destroying the Polish identity as a people.
Stanislaw Sosabowski gives great insights into some of the senior commanding generals involved in the creation of Airborne forces during World War II. From this perspective, his book is a powerful and insightful lesson in leadership. His detailed chronicling of developing the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade is filled with powerful and insightful leadership behaviors and creative touches that result in the formation of a unique high-performance team, created and put together from average individuals, who discovered under his leadership that they could indeed become successful, special people.
Sosabowski's revelations about the British mindsets during World War II, towards other countries' military contributions, I found to be one of the most interesting and revealing aspects of this fine book. It is a permanent stain on British cultural character that their World War II leadership never fully identified and recognized the contributions made by Polish airmen and soldiers to the successful defeat of Nazi Germany.
I recommend this fine autobiography to anyone interested in the importance that values and character play in determining successful leadership and the achievements of seemingly difficult and impossible goals.
Stanislaw Sosabowski gives great insights into some of the senior commanding generals involved in the creation of Airborne forces during World War II. From this perspective, his book is a powerful and insightful lesson in leadership. His detailed chronicling of developing the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade is filled with powerful and insightful leadership behaviors and creative touches that result in the formation of a unique high-performance team, created and put together from average individuals, who discovered under his leadership that they could indeed become successful, special people.
Sosabowski's revelations about the British mindsets during World War II, towards other countries' military contributions, I found to be one of the most interesting and revealing aspects of this fine book. It is a permanent stain on British cultural character that their World War II leadership never fully identified and recognized the contributions made by Polish airmen and soldiers to the successful defeat of Nazi Germany.
I recommend this fine autobiography to anyone interested in the importance that values and character play in determining successful leadership and the achievements of seemingly difficult and impossible goals.
November 1, 2025
A gripping autobiography that primarily focuses on the formation of the the Independent Polish Airborne Brigade and its participation in the battle of Arnhem during Operation Market-Garden. In addition, it covers the opening of WW II in Poland and then General Sosabowski’s escape to the west. Tough to put down, this book provides some great insights into Poland’s contributions to the Allied war effort in WW II.
November 6, 2017
Left out in the cold
This book is a personal account of Major-General Sosabowski how as a born leader made his way up the ranks and the battle with his fellow Generals to understand his need to liberate Poland. The polish was treated so bad after the war.
He became another victim of his success.
This book is a personal account of Major-General Sosabowski how as a born leader made his way up the ranks and the battle with his fellow Generals to understand his need to liberate Poland. The polish was treated so bad after the war.
He became another victim of his success.
July 10, 2023
Excellent book on the Polish Airborne commander, who parachuted into the area near Arnhem to try and help the British. It is an honest open book about Allied relations or lack there of during the war. Good read
April 17, 2020
A must read.
October 2, 2024
A great review of Polish commitment to the West.
October 10, 2020
The memoires as written by Sosabowski, first published in English in 1982, show the life and military career of this brave man and soldier.
At an early age he was responsible to earn the necessary funds for the family to stay alive. He was inventive and eager to learn, which allowed him to help fellow students with their studies. He became a soldier and during the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 he tried to counter the German army as best as he could, while keeping his men together and alive (as far as possible during wartime). Once Poland had to capitulate he joined the Polish underground, but in the end he had to flee the country. Ending up in France, he had to run again after the German invasion of France and went to England. There he was instrumental in raising the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade.
Plan was to use the unit in Poland, but in the end it was dropped in The Netherlands during Operation Market-Garden. Desperate to help his fellow British soldiers, surrounded at Oosterbeek, Sosabowski tried his best to reinforce the soldiers of the 1st British Airborne Division. He had been critical during the preparations of this daring airborne plan, something that did not sit well with his British superiors. In the end he paid the price for this.
The books describes his life in detail and makes for a fascinating read of this brave man.
At an early age he was responsible to earn the necessary funds for the family to stay alive. He was inventive and eager to learn, which allowed him to help fellow students with their studies. He became a soldier and during the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 he tried to counter the German army as best as he could, while keeping his men together and alive (as far as possible during wartime). Once Poland had to capitulate he joined the Polish underground, but in the end he had to flee the country. Ending up in France, he had to run again after the German invasion of France and went to England. There he was instrumental in raising the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade.
Plan was to use the unit in Poland, but in the end it was dropped in The Netherlands during Operation Market-Garden. Desperate to help his fellow British soldiers, surrounded at Oosterbeek, Sosabowski tried his best to reinforce the soldiers of the 1st British Airborne Division. He had been critical during the preparations of this daring airborne plan, something that did not sit well with his British superiors. In the end he paid the price for this.
The books describes his life in detail and makes for a fascinating read of this brave man.
March 20, 2016
Generał Sosabowski o swojej służbie
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