Polish Armed Forces in the West
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2012) |
The Polish Armed Forces in the West (Polish: Polskie Siły Zbrojne na Zachodzie) refers to the Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II. Polish forces were also raised within Soviet territories; these were the Polish Armed Forces in the East.
The formations, loyal to the
General history
After
Deserters from forced conscription in the German Wehrmacht | 89,300 | (35.8%) |
Evacuees from the USSR in 1942 | 83,000 | (33.7%) |
Evacuees from France in 1940 | 35,000 | (14.0%) |
Liberated POWs | 21,750 | (8.7%) |
Escapees from occupied Europe
|
14,210 | (5.7%) |
Recruits in liberated France | 7,000 | (2.8%) |
Polish diaspora from Argentina, Brazil and Canada | 2,290 | (0.9%) |
Polish diaspora from the United Kingdom | 1,780 | (0.7%) |
Total | 249,000 | |
Note: Until July 1945, when recruitment was halted, some 26,830 Polish soldiers were declared killed in action or missing in action or had died of wounds. After that date, an additional 21,000 former Polish POWs were inducted. |
At the capitulation of France, General Władysław Sikorski (the Polish commander-in-chief and prime minister) was able to evacuate many Polish troops—probably over 20,000—to the United Kingdom.[2]
The
After being evacuated after the defeat of France, Polish fliers had an important role in the
As for ground troops, some Polish ground units regrouped in southern Scotland.
By March 1944, the Polish Armed Forces in the West, fighting under British command, numbered 165,000 at the end of that year, including about 20,000 personnel in the Polish Air Force and 3,000 in the Polish Navy. By the end of the Second World War, they were 195,000 strong, and by July 1945 had increased to 228,000, most of the newcomers being released prisoners-of-war and ex-labor camp inmates.
The Polish Armed Forces in the West fought in most Allied operations against Nazi Germany in the
After the
Polish troops were factored into the British 1945 top secret contingency plan, Operation Unthinkable, which considered a possible attack on the Soviet Union in order to enforce an independent Poland.
Denouncement
By 1945, there was growing
In March 1945, Time reported on Polish "Surplus Heroes", stating that Bevin
promised Anders that those of his soldiers who did not want to return to the new Poland could find asylum in the British Empire. Argentina and Brazil were also reported ready to offer them homes. But Britain thought the best solution would be for them to return to Poland, and Britain was circulating an appeal through the Polish Army containing the Polish Government's pledge to treat the soldier exiles fairly. Anders argued that he could not advise the soldiers to return to Poland unless the Polish Government promised elections this spring. Bevin, too, wanted immediate Polish elections, but both men knew that the chances were becoming slimmer. In Poland the split between the Communist-Socialist groups and shrewd Stanislaw Mikolajczyk's Polish Peasant Party was deepening. Security Police raids on Peasant Party headquarters were reported last week. If efforts to smash the Mikolajczyk forces failed, then the Communist-Socialist groups would fight for a late fall election, when the popularity of the Polish Peasant Party, sure winner of an election now, might have waned. Nevertheless, Bevin argued that, elections or no, the Poles in Anders' army should go home.[14]
In January 1946, Bevin protested against killings by the Polish provisional government, which defended its actions saying it was fighting terrorists loyal to Anders and funded by the British.[13] In February 1946, Time reported "Britain's Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin told a tense House of Commons last week that terror had become an instrument of national policy in the new Poland. Many members of Vice Premier Stanislaw Mikolajczyk's Polish Peasant Party who opposed the Communist-dominated Warsaw Government had been murdered. "Circumstances in many cases appear to point to the complicity of the Polish Security Police. ... I regard it as imperative that the Polish Provisional Government should put an immediate stop to these crimes in order that free and unfettered elections may be held as soon as possible, in accordance with the Crimea decision. ... I am looking forward to the end of these police states ...", while the Polish government blamed Anders and his British backers for the bloodshed there.[15]
It is often said that the Polish Armed Forces in the West were not invited to the
Disbandment and resettlement
The formation was disbanded in 1947, many of its soldiers choosing to remain in exile rather than to return to
History by formation
Army
The
Four Polish
After the
In 1941, following an agreement between the Polish government in exile and
Air force
The
From the very beginning of the war, the
The Polish Air Force also fought in 1943 in Tunisia (the Polish Fighting Team, known as "Skalski's Circus") and in raids on Germany (1940–45).[4][19] In the second half of 1941 and early 1942, Polish bomber squadrons were the sixth part of forces available to RAF Bomber Command (later they suffered heavy losses, with little possibility of replenishment). Polish aircrew losses serving with Bomber Command 1940-45 were 929 killed; total Polish aircrew losses were 1,803 killed.[4] Ultimately eight Polish fighter squadrons were formed within the RAF and had claimed 621 Axis aircraft destroyed by May 1945.[20] By the end of the war, around 19,400 Poles were serving in the RAF.[21]
Polish squadrons in the United Kingdom:
- No. 300 "Masovia" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Mazowieckiej)
- No. 301 "Pomerania" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Pomorskiej) 1940 to 1943 when 301 Bomber Squadron merged with 300 Sqn.
- No. 301 "Pomerania and Defenders of Warsaw" Polish Transport "Special Duties" Squadron (Ziemi Pomorskiej im Obrońców Warszawy) 1944 to 1946.
- No. 302 "City of Poznan" Polish Fighter Squadron (Poznański)
- No. 303 "Kościuszko" Polish Fighter Squadron (Warszawski imienia Tadeusza Kościuszki)
- No. 304 "Silesia" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Śląskiej imienia Ksiecia Józefa Poniatowskiego)
- No. 305 "Greater Poland" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Wielkopolskiej imienia Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego)
- No. 306 "City of Toruń" Polish Fighter Squadron (Toruński)
- No. 307 "City of Lwów" Polish Fighter Squadron (Lwowskich Puchaczy)
- No. 308 "City of Kraków" Polish Fighter Squadron (Krakowski)
- No. 309 "Czerwień" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron (Ziemi Czerwieńskiej)
- No. 315 "City of Dęblin" Polish Fighter Squadron (Dębliński)
- No. 316 "City of Warsaw" Polish Fighter Squadron (Warszawski)
- No. 317 "City of Wilno" Polish Fighter Squadron (Wileński)
- No. 318 "City of Gdańsk" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron (Gdański)
- No. 663 Polish Artillery Observation Squadron
- No. 145 Fighter Squadron Polish Fighting Team (Skalski's Circus)
Just on the eve of war, three destroyers—representing most of the major Polish Navy ships—had been sent for safety to the British Isles (Operation Peking). There they fought alongside the Royal Navy (RN). At various stages of the war, the Polish Navy comprised two cruisers and a large number of smaller ships; most were RN ships loaned to take advantage of availability of Polish crews at a time when the Royal Navy had insufficient manpower to crew all its ships. The Polish Navy fought with great distinction alongside the other Allied navies in many important and successful operations, including those conducted against the German battleship, Bismarck.[22] With their 26 ships (2 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 5 submarines and 11 torpedo boats), the Polish Navy sailed a total of 1.2 million nautical miles during the war, escorted 787 convoys, conducted 1,162 patrols and combat operations, sank 12 enemy ships (including 5 submarines) and 41 merchant vessels, damaged 24 more (including 8 submarines) and shot down 20 aircraft. The number of seamen who lost their lives in action was 450 out of over 4,000.[23][24]
- Cruisers:
- ORP Dragon (Danae class)
- ORP Conrad (Danae class)
- Destroyers:
- ORP Burza ("Storm") (Wicher class)
- ORP Grom ("Thunder") (Grom class) – lost 1940
- ORP Błyskawica ("Lightning") (Grom class)
- ORP Garland (G-class)
- ORP Orkan (M-class), - torpedoed October 1943
- OF Ouragan ("Hurricane", also known in some Polish sources as Huragan) (Bourrasque class) - returned to Free French in 1941
- ORP Piorun ("Thunderbolt") (N-class) - 1940 onwards
- Escort destroyers
- ORP Krakowiak ("Cracovian") (Hunt-class escort) - 1941 onwards
- ORP Kujawiak ("Kujawian") (Hunt class) - sunk 1942
- ORP Ślązak ("Silesian") (Hunt class) - 1942 onwards
- Submarines:
- Orzel class) – lost 1940
- ORP Jastrząb ("Hawk") (American S-class) – lost 1942
- ORP Wilk ("Wolf") (Wilk class)
- ORP Dzik ("Boar") (British U-class)
- ORP Sokół ("Falcon") (British U-class) - 1941 onwards
As well as the above, there were a number of minor ships, transports,
Intelligence and resistance
The Polish intelligence structure remained mostly intact following the fall of Poland in 1939 and continued to report to the Polish Government in Exile. Known as the 'Second Department', it cooperated with the other Allies in every
The majority of Polish resistance (particularly the dominant
See also
- Polish Armed Forces in the East
- Polish contribution to World War II
- Polish Armed Forces (Second Polish Republic)
- Armia Ludowa
- Gwardia Ludowa
- First Polish Army (1944–1945)
- Polish People's Army
- Polish Combatants' Association (United States)
- Western betrayal
- Polish British
- Civilian Labor Group
- Sikorski's tourists
- Bataliony Chłopskie
- 7 Regiment Royal logistic Corps (British Army)
References
- ^ a b c Kwan Yuk Pan, Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade Archived 18 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Financial Times, 5 July 2005. Last accessed on 31 March 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f g h (in Polish) Wojsko Polskie we Francji. Świat Polonii. Please note that various sources give estimates that can differ by few percent.
- ^
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mark Ostrowski. To Return To Poland Or Not To Return" - The Dilemma Facing The Polish Armed Forces At The End Of The Second World War. Chapter 1 Retrieved on 31 July 2007.
- ^ a b Peszke, Michael Alfred (2011). "The British-Polish Agreement of August 1940". Journal of Slavic Military Studies: 654.
- ^ a b Olson, Lynne, & Stanley Cloud (2003). For Your Freedom and Ours. London: Heinemann. p. 128.
- ^ Grabowski, Franciszek (2017). Skalski Against All Odds: The First Allied Ace of the Second World War. Stroud: Fonthill Media. pp. 47–48.
- ^ Cynk, Jerzy (1972). History of the Polish Air Force. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 52–53.
- ^ Olson. Last Hope Island. p. 94.
- ^ ISBN 0-9535036-4-X
- ^ General Władysław Anders Mémoires 1939–1946, Paris 1948, ed. La Jeune Parque
- ISBN 978-0-7146-5562-8. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
- ^ a b "The Milwaukee Journal - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ^ "POLANb: Surplus Heroes". Time. 25 March 1946. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011.
- ^ "POLAND: Behind the Curtain". Time. 4 February 1946. Archived from the original on 27 June 2010.
- ^ a b Rudolf Falkowski, THE VICTORY PARADE. Last accessed on 31 March 2007.
- ^ .
- ^ "Poland in Exile - Polish Resettlement Corps". Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ^ a b The Poles in the Battle of Britain
- ^ a b Polish contribution to the Allied victory in World War 2 (1939-1945) Archived 17 October 2005 at the Wayback Machine, PDF at the site of Polish Embassy (Canada)
- ^ "WWII Behind Closed Doors". WWII Behind Closed Doors - PBS. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ISBN 0-7818-0672-0.
- ^ 86 years of the Polish Navy Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 31 July 2007.
- ^ Eastern Europe in World War II: October 1939-May 1945. Lecture notes of prof Anna M. Cienciala. Last accessed on 21 December 2006.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-1-4472-2565-2.
- ISBN 0-88033-324-3.
- ISBN 0-7818-0672-0.
- ISBN 0-7864-2009-X.
- Michael Alfred Peszke, "The Demise of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, 1945–1947," The Polish Review, vol. LV, no. 2, 2010, pp. 231–39.
- ISBN 978-1-60772-004-1, in The Polish Review, vol. LV, no. 4, 2010, pp. 467–68. Unique Identifier: 709924806.
- Taylor & Francis Group, no. 24, 2011, pp. 648–58.
- ISBN 978-1-908916-54-9.
External links
- Military contribution of Poland to World War II, Polish Ministry of Defence official page
- Polish contribution to the Allied victory in World War 2 (1939-1945), PDF at the site of Polish Embassy (Canada)
- The Poles on the Fronts of WW2 Archived 20 May 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- Polish units in defence of France, 1939-1940
- Personnel of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940-1947
- Polish Exile Forces in the West in World War II
- Polish Squadrons Remembered at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 October 2009)
- Gilbert J. Mros: This V-E Day say 'dziekuje' to the Poles
- Listen to Lynn Olsen & Stanley Cloud, authors of "A Question of Honor," speak about the "Kościuszko" Squadron and Polish contribution to World War II here.