air victories over Rouen. Skalski left for a tour of duty in the US in September 1944, returning in February 1945 to a staff position at No. 11 Group. Return to Poland and arrest After the war Skalski returned to Poland in 1947 and joined the Air Force of the Polish Army. In 1948 however he was arrested under the false charge of espionage. Sentenced to death, he spent three years awaiting the execution, after which his sentence was changed to life imprisonment in Wronki Prison. After the end of Stalinism in Poland, in 1956 he was released, rehabilitated, and allowed to join the military. He served at various posts in the Headquarters of the Polish Air Force. He wrote memoires of the 1939 campaign Czarne krzyże nad Polską ("Black crosses over Poland", 1957). On 20 May 1968 he was nominated the secretary general of the Aeroklub Polski and on 10 April 1972 he retired. On 15 September 1988 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1990 he met with the German pilot he had rescued on the first day of the war. Stanisław Skalski died in Warsaw on 12 November 2004. Awards Virtuti Militari, Golden Cross Virtuti Militari, Silver Cross Cross of Valour (Poland), four times Order of Polonia Restituta, Knight's Cross Order of the Cross of Grunwald, 3rd class Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) and two bars 1939-1945 Star with Battle of Britain clasp Italy Star References Notes Bibliography Cynk, Jerzy Bogdam. Polskie lotnictwo myśliwskie w boju wrześniowym (in Polish). Gdańsk, Poland: AJ-Press, 2000. Cynk, Jerzy Bogdam. Polskie Siły Powietrzne w wojnie tom 1: 1939–43 (Polish Air Force in War pt. 1: 1939–43) (in Polish). Gdańsk, Poland: AJ-Press, 2001. (Updated and revised edition of The Polish Air Force at War: The Official History, Vol.2 1939–1943. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Books, 1998. .) Cynk, Jerzy Bogdam. Polskie Siły Powietrzne w wojnie tom 2: 1943–45 (Polish Air Force in War pt. 2: 1943–45) (In Polish). Gdańsk, Poland: AJ-Press, 2002. (Updated and revised edition of The Polish Air Force at War: The Official History, Vol.2 1943–1945. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Books, 1998. .) Grabowski, Franciszek. Gen. bryg. pil. Stanisław Skalski. in: "Militaria i Fakty" 2/2005 (Polish) Grabowski, Franciszek. Stanisław Skalski. Sandomierz, Poland/Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2007. . Gretzyngier, Robert. Poles in Defence of Britain: A Day-by-day Chronology of Polish Day and Night Fighter Pilot Operations –