Publisher's Synopsis
These are the memoirs of a Polish schoolteacher conscripted into the Russian Red Army. His girlfriend and village fade away into the distance as he is taken by cattle train deep into the Soviet Union where he goes through mortar and tank training, stays in peasant huts and a lepers' village, and endures hard labour on the frozen steppe before escaping a work brigade with a six inch map, a bag of onions and three companions. Together, they cover thousands of miles by ship and train before reaching Anders' Army and leaving the Soviet Union behind. After crossing the Caspian Sea, and recovering from hunger and disease, Roman volunteers for pilot training in Britain's Royal Air Force and another long journey begins through Iran, India and around Africa by ship to Scotland. In England and Canada, Roman describes the effect that the war is having on the Poles as they engage in air force training, learn a new language, and date the local girls.
