The book "Girls on Wings" by Anna Rudnicka-Litwinek is a story about eleven extraordinary women who, against all odds, decided to fulfill their dreams and ... grow their own wings.
On November 12, 2020, the Znak Horyzont publishing house released the book by Anna Rudnicka-Litwinek "Girls on wings. Polish aviators who conquered the sky ”. It is an extraordinary book because it was written for 20 years and is the result of the author's great passion.
It is a story about eleven exceptional women who, on a par with men, have won and are still conquering heaven. It is the story of their struggle with stereotypes and human reluctance in the pursuit of dreams and freedom. Finally, it is also a change in the attitude towards women, which proves that aviation is not exactly a "male profession" as it might seem.
Today, when mainly men are proud of the aviator uniform, they, contrary to stereotypes, also use it. This is the fate of the girls who grew wings.
Girls on Wings has been divided into two parts - historical and contemporary. The first one introduces the reader to the beginnings of aviation and pioneers in this field. It is based on scrupulous archival research . In those days it was customary for men to write diaries where only short memoirs can be read about female aviators. Women, on the other hand, did not write down their memories of their achievements, which is a pity! Because their stories are definitely worth knowing and making public.
The second part of the book is based on interviews with living airmen. The form of storytelling is also changing to be first-person and much more personal.
By plane through the glass ceiling
Anna Rudnicka-Litwinek comprehensively presents the biographies of eleven extraordinary aviation women. We get to know them already in childhood and adolescence, when their hearts were freezing about flying. We accompany them in the following years and thanks to this we can observe how their passion for flying was born and how it took real shape and changed into a way of life.
And although in the 1920s the aviation community was not so prejudiced against the fair sex, the first women had to pierce the glass ceiling to get where men. The situation became even more difficult during the war, when our aviators wanted to fight as much as men. Apart from the general attitude towards women in the military, they often had to contend with such mundane things as a toilet or a bed.
The book by Anna Rudnicka-Litwinek describes, inter alia, stories of Polish women who served in ATA alongside Lettice Curtis, Jenny Broad, Wendy Sale Barker, Gabrielle Patterson and Pauline Gower (pictured).
Many of these brave women, however, despite obstacles, sat at the controls of Polish and foreign machines and performed enslaving deeds. They served, inter alia, in the British ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary) - a paramilitary organization during the Second World War, which dealt with the distribution of aircraft between airports, repair plants and factories, as well as technical maintenance.
One might think that a book about aviation may be difficult to read - the reader is accompanied by the names and technical data of airplanes, gliders and parachutes. Nothing could be more wrong! Even a person for whom terms such as RWD-5, Consolidated B-24 Liberator or SZD-10 Czapla are foreign, will easily find their way into the stories presented here. Additionally, the book is illustrated with many archival photos and press clippings. Thanks to this, the reader can look into the eyes of these extraordinary women.
Unfinished history
What can you expect from the book "Girls on Wings"? Interesting stories from the life of extraordinary, strong women. Family memories from the war, the fight against prejudices that "boys should deal with aviation".
We will meet Karolina Iwaszkiewicz - the first Polish pilot, Hanna Henneberg - the first Warsaw pilot, Anna Jeska, Jadwiga Piłsudska and Stefania Wojtulanis - three brave pilots during the war. We will also accompany Lt. Col. pil. Zofia Dziewiszek-Andrychowska, who conquered the skies in a military uniform, as well as many others. The protagonists of Anna Rudnicka-Litwinek's book can and should be seen as role models for self-confident and goal-driven women who know what they want - and reach for it.
The ending is something the reader might miss in the book "Girls on Wings". The story ends with the last interview, which is a pity, because the whole thing asks for a summary and some last thought of the author. Maybe even an announcement of the continuation of this topic?