Series
Polish Armed Forces in the West
1939–1945 · 13 articles · about 170 min of reading
After September 1939 tens of thousands of Polish soldiers made their way through Romania and Hungary to France and, after its fall, to Britain. General Sikorski’s government rebuilt an army, a navy and an air force in exile. Poles fought at Narvik, in the Battle of Britain and at Tobruk, and the army General Anders led out of the USSR took Monte Cassino. The series follows them to the last offensive in Italy in the spring of 1945.
1939
- 0114 October 1939Event5 minOrzeł reaches BritainThe starting point of the trail: Polish warships, “Orzeł” the last among them, reach Britain, where the navy rebuilds its command and keeps its own flag.On 14 October 1939, after six weeks at sea, with no charts and a damaged radio, ORP Orzeł reached Scotland. The British had given her up for lost.
- 0222 November 1939Event5 minThe Polish government moves to AngersThe state in exile gets a seat, and from Angers the army is rebuilt: by spring 1940 the force forming in France numbers over 80,000 men.In November 1939 Sikorski’s government moved from Paris to Angers on the Loire, where it got an extraterritorial seat. It reached London only in June 1940.
1940
- 039 April – 8 June 1940Battle17 minBattles of NarvikThe Podhale Rifles Brigade, formed in France, fights the Germans again for the first time since September 1939, and takes part in the Allies’ first land victory over the Wehrmacht.From 9 April to 8 June 1940 Dietl’s Germans fought British, Norwegians, French and Poles for the iron-ore port. The Allies retook Narvik on 28 May.
- 0410 July – 31 October 1940BattleKey moment16 minBattle of BritainWith France beaten, the fight falls to Britain, and the Polish airmen of No. 303 Squadron become one of the great symbols of the struggle in exile.From 10 July to 31 October 1940 the Luftwaffe tried to destroy the RAF ahead of an invasion of Britain. It failed, and Hitler postponed the landing.
- 0515 September 1940EventKey moment11 minBattle of Britain DayThe best-remembered day of the previous campaign, seen through the Polish airmen: on 15 September No. 303 Squadron claims 15 kills.On 15 September 1940 the RAF beat off two great daylight Luftwaffe raids on London. The day became the symbol of British victory in the Battle of Britain.
1941
- 0610 April – 27 November 1941BattleKey moment18 minSiege of TobrukThe first big land battle of the Polish Armed Forces since France’s defeat: the Carpathian Brigade holds the fortress and becomes the nucleus of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division.From 10 April to 27 November 1941 Australians, Britons, Poles and Czechoslovaks held Tobruk against Rommel. Supplied by sea, the fortress never fell.
- 074 December 1941Event11 minThe Sikorski–Stalin declarationStalin agrees to enlarge Anders’s army and move it south; that army, led out of the USSR, later fights at Monte Cassino as the Polish II Corps.On 4 December 1941 General Sikorski and Stalin signed a declaration of friendship and mutual aid at the Kremlin. Anders's army was to grow and move south.
1943
1944
- 0917 January – 18 May 1944BattleKey moment21 minBattle of Monte CassinoThe high point of the trail: the corps that came from the gulags and the Middle East, with Tobruk veterans in the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division, takes the abbey ruins on 18 May 1944.From 17 January to 18 May 1944 the Allies made four assaults on the Gustav Line at Cassino. On 18 May the Polish II Corps took the ruins of the abbey.
- 1018 May 1944EventKey moment10 minThe capture of Monte CassinoThe final hours of the battle up close, and its price of over 900 dead; “Red Poppies” preserves the memory of a victory that did not win a free homeland.On 18 May 1944 a patrol of the 12th Podolian Uhlans entered the ruins of the abbey, abandoned by the Germans overnight. The battle of Monte Cassino was over.
- 1114 August 1944EventKey moment11 minThe Falaise pocketIn the west, General Maczek’s 1st Armoured Division helps close the pocket, and the defence of the Mace becomes one of the great places of memory for the Polish Armed Forces in the West.On 14 August 1944 Canadians and Poles advanced on Falaise in Operation Tractable. The pocket was closed on 19–21 August at Chambois and on the Mace.
- 1217–25 September 1944BattleKey moment17 minOperation Market GardenSosabowski’s Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade fights at Arnhem; the British blame it in part for the failure, and it is officially honoured only in 2006.17–25 September 1944: Allied airborne troops and XXX Corps tried to seize the Dutch bridges up to the Rhine. They took Nijmegen but were defeated at Arnhem.