Silent Unseen

The Silent Unseen (Polish: Cichociemni, Polish pronunciation: [t͡ɕixɔˈt͡ɕɛmɲi]) were elite special-operations paratroopers of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, created in Great Britain during World War II to operate in occupied Poland (Cichociemni Spadochroniarze Armii Krajowej). A total of 2,613 Polish Army soldiers volunteered for training by Polish and British SOE operatives. Only 606 people completed the training, and eventually 316 of them were secretly parachuted into occupied Poland. The first operation ("air bridge") took place on 15 February 1941. This operation was conducted by Captain Józef Zabielski, Major Stanisław Krzymowski and political courier Czesław Raczkowski. 91 Cichociemni operatives took part in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Further operations were discontinued after 27 December 1944, as by then most of Poland had been occupied by the Red Army. Of the 316 Cichociemni, 103 perished during the war, either in combat with the Germans, in Gestapo executions, or in airplane crashes. A further nine were executed after the war by the communist regime of the Polish People's Republic, who considered the Cichociemni to be infiltrators under the influences of British ideology.