Military history of Poland during World War II
Polish contribution to World War II | |
---|---|
In World War II, the Polish armed forces were the fourth largest Allied forces in Europe, after those of the Soviet Union, United States, and Britain.[a][1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Poles made substantial contributions to the Allied effort throughout the war, fighting on land, sea, and in the air.
Polish forces in the east, fighting alongside the
In the west, Polish paratroopers from the
Particularly well-documented was the service of 145 Polish
Some Polish contributions were less visible, notably the prewar and wartime
The
Invasion of Poland
The invasion of
In keeping with the terms of the
In accordance with their treaty obligations, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany on September 3. Hitler had gambled, incorrectly, that France and Britain would allow him to annex parts of Poland without military reaction. The campaign began on September 1, 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact containing a secret protocol for the division of Northern and Central Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. It ended on October 6, 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland.
German losses included approximately 16,000
German losses during the Polish campaign amounted to 50% of all casualties they would suffer until their invasion of USSR in 1941; and the campaign that lasted about a month consumed eight months worth of supplies.[11]
Aid to Jews
There was a substantial group of Poles who risked their lives during the German occupation to save Jews. German-occupied Poland was the only European territory where the Germans punished any kind of
Most Jews who survived the German occupation of Poland were saved by Poles unconnected with Żegota. Estimates of Jewish survivors in Poland range from 40,000 to 50,000 to 100,000–120,000. Scholars estimate that it took the work of ten people to save the life of one Polish Jew.
Polish resistance
Part of a series on the |
Polish Underground State |
---|
The main resistance force in
In addition to the Home Army, there was an underground ultra-nationalist
The
There were separate resistance groups organized by Polish Jews:
Other notable Polish resistance organizations included the
Throughout the war the German state was forced to divert a substantial part of its military forces to keep control over Poland:
Period | Wehrmacht | Police and SS
(German forces only) |
Total |
---|---|---|---|
October 1939 | 550,000 | 80,000 | 630,000 |
April 1940 | 400,000 | 70,000 | 470,000 |
June 1941 | 2,000,000
(invasion of the Soviet Union) |
50.000 | 2,050,000 |
February 1942 | 300,000 | 50,000 | 350,000 |
April 1943 | 450,000 | 60,000 | 510,000 |
November 1943 | 550,000 | 70,000 | 620,000 |
April 1944 | 500,000 | 70,000 | 570,000 |
September 1944 | 1,000,000 | 80,000 | 1,080,000 |
Action type | Action totals |
---|---|
Damaged locomotives | 6,930 |
Delayed repairs to locomotives | 803 |
Derailed transports | 732 |
Transports set on fire | 443 |
Damage to railway wagons | 19,058 |
Blown up railway bridges | 38 |
Disruptions to electricity supplies in the Warsaw grid | 638 |
Army vehicles damaged or destroyed | 4,326 |
Damaged aeroplanes | 28 |
Fuel tanks destroyed | 1,167 |
Fuel destroyed (in tonnes) | 4,674 |
Blocked oil wells | 5 |
Wagons of wood wool destroyed | 150 |
Military stores burned down | 130 |
Disruptions of production in factories | 7 |
Built-in faults in parts for aircraft engines | 4,710 |
Built-in faults into cannon muzzles | 203 |
Built-in faults into artillery projectiles | 92,000 |
Built-in faults into air traffic radio stations | 107 |
Built-in faults into condensers | 70,000 |
Built-in faults into (electro-industrial) lathes | 1,700 |
Damage to important factory machinery | 2,872 |
Various acts of sabotage performed | 25,145 |
Planned assassinations of Germans | 5,733 |
Intelligence
Polish intelligence supplied valuable
Western Allies had limited intelligence assets in Central and Eastern Europe, and extensive Polish intelligence network in place proved to be a major asset, even described as "the only allied intelligence assets on the Continent" following the French capitulation.[28][29][30] According to Marek Ney-Krwawicz , for the Western Allies, the intelligence provided by the Home Army was considered to be the best source of information on the Eastern Front.[31]
During a period of over six and a half years, from late December 1932 to the outbreak of World War II, three mathematician-cryptologists (
As early as 1940, Polish agents (including
Operations of the II Bureau, the intelligence service of the Polish government in exile, extended beyond Poland and even beyond Europe. Polish agents provided reports on German war production, morale and troop movements, including information on German submarine operations.
Some Poles also served in other Allied intelligence services, including the celebrated
The researchers who produced the first Polish-British in-depth monograph on Home Army intelligence (Intelligence Co-operation Between Poland and Great Britain During World War II: Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee of 2005) and who described contributions of Polish intelligence to Allied victory as "disproportionally large"[42] have also argued that "the work performed by Home Army intelligence undoubtedly supported the Allied armed effort much more effectively than subversive and guerilla activities."[43]
Polish Forces (West)
Army
Deserters from the German Wehrmacht | 90,000 |
Evacuees from the USSR | 83,000 |
Evacuees from France in 1940 | 35,000 |
Liberated POWs
|
21,750 |
Escapees from occupied Europe | 14,210 |
Recruits in liberated France | 7,000 |
Polonia from Argentina, Brazil and Canada | 2,290 |
Polonia from the United Kingdom | 1,780 |
Total | 254,830 |
By July 1945, when recruitment was halted, some 26,830 Polish soldiers were declared KIA or MIA or had died of wounds. After that date, an additional 21,000 former Polish POWs were recruited. |
After the country's defeat in the 1939 campaign, the
By the fall of France, numerous Polish personnel had died in the fighting (some 6,000) or had been interned in
The Polish Armed Forces in the West fought under British command and numbered 195,000 in March 1944 and 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. At the end of World War II, the Polish Armed Forces in the west numbered 195,000 and by July 1945 had increased to 228,000, most of the newcomers being released prisoners of war and ex-labor camp inmates.
Air force
The Polish Air Force first fought in the 1939 Invasion of Poland. Significantly outnumbered and with its fighters outmatched by more advanced German fighters, remained active up to the second week of the campaign, inflicting significant damage on the Luftwaffe.[50] The Luftwaffe lost, to all operational causes, 285 aircraft, with 279 more damaged, while the Poles lost 333 aircraft.[51]
After the fall of Poland many Polish pilots escaped via Hungary to France. The Polish Air Force fought in the Battle of France as one fighter squadron GC 1/145, several small units detached to French squadrons, and numerous flights of industry defence (in total, 133 pilots, who achieved 53–57 victories for a loss of 8 men in combat, what was 7.93% of allied victories).[52]
Later, Polish pilots fought in the
The Polish Air Force also fought in 1943 in Tunisia—the Polish Fighting Team (nicknamed "Skalski's Circus")—and in raids on Germany (1940–45). In the second half of 1941 and early 1942, Polish bomber squadrons formed a sixth of the forces available to RAF Bomber Command but later they suffered heavy losses, with little replenishment possibilities. Polish aircrew losses serving with Bomber Command from 1940 to 1945 were 929 killed. Ultimately eight Polish fighter squadrons were formed within the RAF and had claimed 629 Axis aircraft destroyed by May 1945. By the end of the war, around 19,400 Poles were serving in the RAF.[54]
Polish squadrons in the United Kingdom:
- No. 300 "Masovia" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Mazowieckiej)
- No. 301 "Pomerania" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Pomorskiej)
- No. 302 "City of Poznań" 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 "Czerwien" 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 Gdansk" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron (Gdański)
- No. 663 Polish Artillery Observation Squadron– flying in support of Polish artillery units
- Polish Fighting Team (Skalski's Circus) – attached to No. 145 Squadron RAF
- No. 138 Special Duty Squadron Polish Flight "C"
- No. 1586 Polish Special Duty Flight
1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
destroyed | 266 1/6 | 202 | 90 | 114¾ | 103 | 38½ | 769 5/12 |
probable | 38 | 52 | 36 | 42 | 10 | 2 | 177 |
damaged | 43⅔ + 3/5 | 60½ | 43 | 66 | 27 | 18 | 252 1/6 |
Just on the eve of war, three destroyers—representing most of the major Polish Navy ships—had been sent for safety to the United Kingdom (Operation Peking). There they fought alongside the Royal Navy. At various stages of the war, the Polish Navy comprised two cruisers and a large number of smaller ships. The Polish navy was given a number of British ships and submarines which would otherwise have been unused due to the lack of trained British crews. 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.[57] During the war the Polish Navy, which comprised a total of 27 ships (2 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 5 submarines and 11 torpedo boats), sailed a total of 1.2 million nautical miles, 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. 450 seamen out of the over 4,000 who served with the Navy lost their lives in action.[58][59]
- Cruisers:
- ORP Dragon Dragoon – (British Danae class)
- ORP Conrad(British Danae class)
- Destroyers:
- ORP Wicher – Gale (Wicher class) sunk September 1939
- ORP Burza – Storm (Wicher class)
- ORP Grom – Thunder (Grom class) sunk 1940
- ORP Błyskawica – Lightning (Grom class)
- ORP Garland (British G class)
- ORP Orkan – Windstorm (British M-class destroyer Myrmidion) sunk 1943
- ORP Ouragan, sometimes called Huragan– Hurricane (French Bourrasque class)
- ORP Piorun – Thunderbolt (British N class)
- Escort destroyers:
- ORP Krakowiak – Cracovian (British Hunt class) 1941–1946
- ORP Kujawiak – Kujawian (British Hunt class)
- ORP Ślązak – Silesian (British Hunt class)
- Submarines:
- ORP Orzeł – Eagle (Orzeł class) lost 1940
- ORP Sęp – Vulture (Orzeł class) interned Sweden
- ORP Jastrząb – Hawk (USN S class)
- ORP Wilk – Wolf (Wilk class) to reserve 1942
- ORP Ryś – Lynx (Wilk class) interned Sweden
- ORP Żbik – Wildcat (Wilk class) interned Sweden
- ORP Dzik – Boar (British U class) 1942–1946
- ORP Sokół – Falcon (British U class) 1941–1945
- Heavy minelayers:
- ORP Gryf – Griffin sunk 1939
- Light minelayers ("ptaszki"– "Birds"):
- ORP Jaskółka – Swallow, sunk 1939
- ORP Mewa – Seagull
- ORP Rybitwa – Tern
- ORP Czajka – Lapwing
- ORP Żuraw – Crane
- ORP Czapla – Heron
- Polish River Fleet
This does not include a number of minor ships, transports,
Polish Forces (East)
After the
The Polish First Army was integrated in the
Poles in the German Armed Forces
Hundreds of thousands of former Polish citizens, particularly residents of
On the Western Front, German military personnel of Polish ethnicity, held in prisoner-of-war camps, became a substantial source of manpower for the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Nearly 90,000 former German military personnel were eventually recruited into the Polish Armed Forces in the West. By Victory Day (9 May) in 1945, a third of Polish service members in the West were former members of the German Armed Forces.[63]
Battles
Major battles and campaigns in which Polish regular forces took part:
Technology
- Józef Kosacki invented the Polish mine detector, which would be used by the Allies throughout the war.
- The Vickers Tank Periscope MK.IV was invented by engineer Rudolf Gundlach and patented in 1936 as the Gundlach Peryskop obrotowy.[65] Initially it was mounted in Polish tanks such as the 7TP and TKS. Subsequently, the design patent was bought by the British and used in most tanks of World War II, including the Soviet T-34, the British Crusader, Churchill, Valentine and Cromwell tanks, and the American M4 Sherman. The main advantage of the periscope was that the tank commander no longer had to turn his head in order to look backwards. The design was also later used extensively by the Germans.
- pistolet wz. 35 Vis, often simply called the "Radom" in English sources, is a 9 mm caliber, single-action, semi-automatic pistol. It was adopted in 1935 as the standard handgun of the Polish Army. The design was appropriated by the Germans and from 1939 to 1945, 312,000–380,000 VIS pistols were produced and used by the German paratroopers and police as the 9 mm Pistole 35(p).
- PZL.37 Łoś was a Polish twin-engine medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at the PZL factory in Warsaw by Jerzy Dąbrowski, and used operationally in the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Thanks to the laminar-flow wing it was one of the most modern bombers in the world before World War II.
- B-17 Flying Fortress.[68]
- LT-38) at 100 meters.
- In World War II, there was an important need to take bearings on the high frequency radio transmissions used by the German Kriegsmarine. The engineering of such high frequency direction finding systems for operation on ships presented severe technical problems, mainly due to the effects of the superstructure on the wavefront of arriving radio signals. However, solutions to these problems were proposed by the Polish engineer Waclaw Struszynski, who also led the team which developed the first practical system at the Admiralty Signal Establishment, England. These systems were installed on convoy escort ships, and were very effective against the U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic.[69] The father of Wacław Struszyński was Professor Marceli Struszyński, a member of the Polish resistance, who analysed the fuel used in the V2 rocket, the formula being subsequently sent to England.
- A Józef Hofmann.[citation needed]
- Henryk Magnuski, a Polish engineer working for Motorola, co-designed the SCR-300 radio in 1940. It was the first small radio receiver/transmitter to have manually set frequencies.[citation needed] It was used extensively by the American Army and was nicknamed the walkie-talkie.
Weapons
Polish engineers who escaped German-occupied Poland contributed to weapon developments during the war. A Polish/Czech/British team brought the 20 mm Polsten to fruition as a simpler and cheaper to produce but as effective derivative of the 20 mm Oerlikon gun.
The Polish Home Army was probably the only World War II resistance movement to manufacture large quantities of weaponry and munitions. In addition to production of pre-war designs they developed and produced during the war the
See also
- History of Poland (1939–1945)
- List of Polish armies in World War II
- List of Polish divisions in World War II
- Polish resistance movement in World War II
- Western betrayal
Notes
a
b
References
- ISBN 978-0-8156-2440-0.
Poland had the fourth largest Allied army in the war (after the USSR , the U.S. , and Britain)
- ISBN 978-1-317-79951-1.)
Inside Poland there were large resistance forces, the Polish Home Army (AK) being the fourth largest fighting force on the allied side, ranking behind the Soviet, American and British but before the French.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link - ISBN 978-1-68409-043-3.
... the Polish Army made up the fourth largest fighting force among all Allied ...
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... veterans of the Polish army, air force, and navy—in total the fourth largest manpower contribution to the Allied war ...
- ISBN 978-1-134-71221-2.
...making it the fourth largest of the allied armies after the Soviet, American, ...
- ISBN 978-1-5017-5720-4.
.. Polish forces constituted the fourth largest Allied army ..
- ISBN 978-1-000-30559-3.
..it was then the fourth largest allied army in Europe (after the Soviet, U.S., and British armies).
- ISBN 978-1399045919.
- ^ Gasior, Mariusz. "The Polish Pilots Who Flew In The Battle Of Britain". Imperial War Museum.
- ^ "The Avalon Project : Nazi-Soviet Relations 1939–1941". Yale.edu. Archived from the original on 2009-11-07. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ISBN 978-1-135-81249-2.
- ^ Richard Lukas, Forgotten Holocaust, 2d rev. ed. Hippocrene Books, 2005, Chapters V and VI. Also see Richard Lukas, Did the Children Cry? Hippocrene Books, 1994, Chapter VI.
- ^ "Righteous Among the Nations – per Country & Ethnic Origin January 1, 2008".
- ^ "Yad Vashem actual statistic by country".
- ^ “Righteous Among the Nations” by country at Jewish Virtual Library
- ^ ISBN 978-0-85045-417-8.
- ^ a b c "Encyklopedia PWN". Encyklopedia.pwn.pl. Archived from the original on May 16, 2006. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ISBN 978-0850454178. Retrieved 2009-10-23 – via Google Books.
- ^ "M. Ney—Krwawicz, The Polish Underground State and Home Army". Polishresistance-ak.org. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ^ "Sowjetische Partisanen in Weißrußland: SR, April 2006". Ruf.rice.edu. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ^ a b "Encyklopedia PWN". Encyklopedia.pwn.pl. Archived from the original on May 21, 2006. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ^ Radosław Butryk Butryński (2007). "Bataliony Chłopskie. Geneza rozwoju (Peasant Battalions. Genesis)". Polska Podziemna (Poland's Underground). Retrieved January 5, 2013.
- ^ Czesław Madajczyk. Polityka III Rzeszy w okupowanej Polsce p. 242 volume 1, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa, 1970
- ^ Bohdan Kwiatkowski, Sabotaż i dywersja, Bellona, London 1949, vol. 1, p. 21; as cited by Marek Ney-Krwawicz, The Polish Underground State and The Home Army (1939–45). Translated from Polish by Antoni Bohdanowicz. Article on the pages of the London Branch of the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen Association. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-06816-2.
- ISSN 1059-5872.
- S2CID 161747036.
- S2CID 219626554.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-06816-2.
- ^ Ney-Krwawicz (2001), p. 98.
- ^ a b Władysław Kozaczuk, Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How It Was Read by the Allies in World War Two, edited and translated by Christopher Kasparek, passim.
- ^ Former Bletchley Park mathematician-cryptologist Gordon Welchman has written: "Ultra would never have gotten off the ground if we had not learned from the Poles, in the nick of time, the details both of the German military... Enigma machine, and of the operating procedures that were in use." Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story, 1st ed., 1982, p. 289.
- ^ Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park, edited by F.H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 12–13.
- JSTOR 4467201.
- ISBN 978-1-4616-4308-1.
- ^ Michał Wojewódzki, Akcja V-1, V-2 (Operation V-1, V-2), passim.
- ISBN 978-0-9501348-9-5.
- ^ Tessa Stirling et al., Intelligence Co-operation between Poland and Great Britain during World War II, vol. I: The Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee, London, Vallentine Mitchell, 2005
- M.R.D. Foot, London, The Windrush Press, 1988
- ISBN 978-1-250-03033-7.
- ISBN 978-0-85303-656-2.
This tendency influenced the unwillingness to recognize the disproportionally large contribution of Polish Intelligence to the Allied victory over Germany
- ISBN 978-0-85303-656-2.
- ^ Dr 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
- ^ ISBN 978-0-85045-417-8. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-84603-365-0. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7818-1004-3. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ Zaloga p. 17
- ^ General Wladyslaw Anders,Mémoires 1939–1946, La Jeune Parque, publ. Paris 1948
- ^ Overy, Richard J., The Air War: 1939–1945, London, Europa Publications, 1980. p. 28
- ISBN 978-83-916327-6-5
- No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron.
- ^ "WWII Behind Closed Doors". WWII Behind Closed Doors – PBS.
- ISBN 0-7643-0559-X
- ISBN 0-7643-0560-3
- ISBN 978-0-7818-0672-5.
- ^ 86 years of the Polish Navy Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 31 July 2007.
- ^ "Świat Polonii". Wspolnota-polska.org.pl. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ^ "Encyklopedia PWN". Encyklopedia.pwn.pl. Archived from the original on May 26, 2006. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-85045-417-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-96953-7.
- ISBN 3-486-64564-1.
- ^ "Periscope for armored vehicles" (PDF). www.freepatentsonline.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-24.
- ^ Cynk, Jerzy B. The P.Z.L. P-23 Karas (Aircraft in Profile number 104). Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications, 1966
- ISBN 83-206-0836-8
- ISBN 978-0-370-00085-5
- ^ "HF/DF An Allied Weapon used against German U-Boats 1939–1945 © Arthur O. Bauer" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ISBN 978-0-85045-417-8. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-313-26007-0. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-8156-2440-0. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- ^ Leonid D. Grenkevich in The Soviet Partisan Movement, 1941–44: A Critical Historiographical Analysis, p. 229 or Walter Laqueur in The Guerilla Reader: A Historical Anthology, New York, Charles Scribiner, 1990, p. 233.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84176-675-1. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
- ^ Anna M. Cienciala, The Coming of the War and Eastern Europe in World War II., History 557 Lecture Notes
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-89839-043-8.
- Władysław Anders: Mémoires (1939–1946), 1948, Paris, La Jeune Parque.
- Margaret Brodniewicz-Stawicki: For Your Freedom and Ours: The Polish Armed Forces in the Second World War, Vanwell Publishing, 1999, ISBN 978-1-55125-035-9.
- ISBN 978-0-89839-082-7.
- George F. Cholewczynski (1993). Poles Apart. Sarpedon Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85367-165-4.
- George F. Cholewczynski (1990). De Polen Van Driel. Uitgeverij Lunet. ISBN 978-90-71743-10-8.
- Jerzy B. Cynk: The Polish Air Force at War: The Official History, 1939–1943, Schiffer Publishing, 1998, ISBN 978-0-7643-0559-7.
- Jerzy B. Cynk: The Polish Air Force at War: The Official History, 1943–1945, Schiffer Publishing, 1998, ISBN 978-0-7643-0560-3.
- ISBN 978-0-670-03284-6.
- Norman Davies, God's Playground, Oxford University Press, 1981.
- First to Fight: Poland's Contribution to Allied Victory in World War II, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9557824-4-2.
- ISBN 978-0-87052-372-4.
- Robert Gretzyngier: Poles in Defence of Britain, London, 2001, ISBN 978-1-904943-05-1.
- F.H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp, eds., Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park, Oxford University Press, 1993.
- ISBN 978-1-931541-39-8.
- Halik Kochanski: The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War, Harvard University Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0-674-06814-8.
- Jan Koniarek, Polish Air Force 1939–1945, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1994, ISBN 978-0-89747-324-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7818-1035-7.
- ISBN 978-0-89093-547-7. (This remains the standard reference on the Polish part in the Enigma-decryption epic.)
- Władysław Kozaczuk, Jerzy Straszak: ISBN 978-0-7818-0941-2.
- Richard Lukas: Did the Children Cry? Hippocrene Books, 1994.
- Richard Lukas: Forgotten Holocaust. Hippocrene Books, 2nd rev.ed., 2005.
- Richard Lukas: Forgotten Survivors. Univ. Press of Kansas, 2004.
- ISBN 978-0-375-41197-7.
- ISBN 978-0-88033-324-5.
- ISBN 978-0-7818-0672-5.
- Polish Air Force Association: Destiny Can Wait: The Polish Air Force in the Second World War, Battery Press, 1988, ISBN 978-0-89839-113-8.
- Polish Troops in Norway, a photographic record of the campaign at Narvik, published for the Polish Ministry of Information by M.I.Kolin (Publishers) Ltd., London July 1943.
- Harvey Sarner: Anders and the Soldiers of the Second Polish Corps, Brunswick Press, 1998, ISBN 978-1-888521-13-9.
- ISBN 978-0-89839-061-2.
- Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story: Breaking the Enigma Codes, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1982.
- Michał Wojewódzki, Akcja V-1, V-2 (Operation V-1, V-2), 3rd ed., rev., Warsaw, Pax, 1975.
- ISBN 978-0-471-14573-8.
- Steven J. Zaloga: Poland 1939: The Birth of Blitzkrieg, Osprey Publishing, 2004, ISBN 978-1-84176-408-5.
- Steven J. Zaloga: The Polish Army 1939–1945, Osprey Publishing, 1982, ISBN 978-0-85045-417-8.
- ISBN 978-1-84415-090-8.
Further reading
- Kinloch, Nicholas. From the Soviet Gulag to Arnhem: A Polish Paratrooper's Epic Wartime Journey. Pen and Sword. 2023. ISBN
External links
- Military contribution of Poland to World War II, Polish Ministry of Defence official page
- Poland's contribution to the Allied victory in the Second World War, Historical documents
- The Poles on the Fronts of WW2
- 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.
- World War 2 in Poland – the September Campaign and Poles on the fronts of WW2
- Polish contribution to World War II (Polish Underground State) Movie on YouTube
- Polish contribution to World War II (Regular Forces) Movie on YouTube
- Polish contribution to World War II (Intelligence Service) Movie on YouTube
- Poland in World War II
- Personnel of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain 1940–1947