Władysław Anders
Second World War
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Władysław Albert Anders (11 August 1892 – 12 May 1970) was a general in the Polish Army and later in life a politician and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London.[1]
Born in Krośniewice-Błonie, then part of the
Biography
Before World War II
Anders was born on 11 August 1892 to his father Albert Anders and mother Elizabeth (maiden name Tauchert)
Anders attended a technical high school in Warsaw and later studied at Riga Technical University,[5] where he became a member of the Polish student fraternity Arkonia .[6] After graduation Anders was accepted into the Russian Military School for reserve officers. As a young officer, he served in the 1st Krechowiecki Lancers Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I.[7]
When Poland regained its independence in November 1918, Anders joined the newly formed
Anders opposed Józef Piłsudski's May Coup in Poland in 1926, but unlike Jordan-Rozwadowski, he avoided persecution by the Sanation regime that assumed power after the coup. Piłsudski made him the commander of a cavalry brigade in 1931 and he was promoted to the rank of general three years later.[8]
World War II
Anders commanded the
Anders was initially jailed in Lwów and subsequently transferred to the
After the launch of
The Polish II Corps became a major tactical and operational unit of the
The morale of the Polish forces was weakened by the outcome of the
After World War II
After the war, the Soviet-installed communist government of Poland deprived him of Polish citizenship and of his military rank. Anders had, however, always been unwilling to return to a Soviet-dominated Poland where he probably would have been jailed and possibly executed, and remained in Britain. He was prominent in the Polish Government in Exile in London and became General Inspector of the Armed Forces, as well as working on behalf of various charities and welfare organisations. His book about his experiences during the Second World War, An Army in Exile, was first published by MacMillan & Co, London, in 1949.
Anders died in London on 12 May 1970, where his body
Many personal effects which once belonged to Anders are on display in the
Private life
Anders was married twice. He had two children with his first wife Irena Maria Jordan-Krąkowska (born 1894, died 1981) – a daughter, Anna (born 1919, died 2006) and a son, George (born 1927, died 1983).[17]
In 1948, he married the actress and singer Irena Jarosiewicz,[18] better known under her stage name Renata Bogdańska, with whom he had a daughter, Anna Maria (born in 1950).
Medals
Anders received numerous awards and decorations:[19]
Poland
- Order of the White Eagle (awarded posthumously on 11 November 1995 by Lech Wałęsa)
- Virtuti Militari
- Order of Polonia Restituta
- Cross of Independence
- Cross of Valour (four times: Polish–Soviet War (3) & Invasion of Poland)
- Gold Cross of Merit with Swords (four times)
- Army Medal (four times)
- Commemorative Medal for War 1918–1921
- Medal of the 10th Anniversary of Independence
- Medal of 3rd May
- Medal for Long Service
- Home Army Cross
- Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross
- Wound Decoration, (eight times)
Foreign
- Czechoslovakia
- France
- Légion d'honneur
- Croix de Guerre avec Palme
- Médaille Interalliée de la Victoire 1914–1918
- Italy
- Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1st class)
- War Cross for Military Valor
- Grand Cross of Merit
- Persia
- Order of Homayoun (1st class)
- Imperial Russia
- Order of St. George (4th class, 1915)
- Order of St. Vladimirwith Swords (4th class, 1915)
- Order of St. Annawith Swords (2nd, 3rd (1918) and 4th class)
- Order of Saint Stanislaswith Swords (2nd and 3rd classes, 1918)
- United Kingdom
- Companion of the Order of the Bath
- 1939–1945 Star
- Italy Star
- Defence Medal
- War Medal
- United States of America
- Commander of the Legion of Merit
- Order of Lafayette
- Commander of the Order of St. Sava
See also
- List of Poles
- Anders' Army
- Anders (tank)
- History of Poland (1939–45)
- Polish Armed Forces in the East
- Polish Armed Forces in the West
- Polish contribution to World War II
- Polish government-in-exile
- Western betrayal
Notes
- ^ "Władysław Anders | Polish officer | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 8 May 2023.
- ^ "Generał Broni Władysław Anders". Rzeszów University of Technology (in Polish). 2007. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ Bogusz Szymański (28 October 2010). "Władysław Anders". Gazeta.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 6 November 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
- ^ "Wyższa Szkoła Informatyki i Zarządzania w Rzeszowie". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
- ^ "Anders Władysław - Encyklopedia PWN - źródło wiarygodnej i rzetelnej wiedzy". encyklopedia.pwn.pl.
- ^ "Księga Pamiątkowa Arkonii 1879–1979". www.arkonia.pl (in Polish). –
- ISBN 1-888521-13-9.
- ISBN 1-888521-13-9.
- ^ Anders, Władysław (1949). An Army in Exile. MacMillan & Co. pp. 1–12.
- ISBN 1-888521-13-9.
- Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-4728-1605-4.
- ^ a b Zbigniew Wawer, Zdobycie Bolonii, p.8
- ^
- ^ "Bust of World War II hero General Anders unveiled in historic ceremony at London's National Army Museum". Retrieved 26 June 2021.
- ^ "Irena Maria Anders (Jordan-Krąkowska)". 22 July 1894.
- ^ Irena Anders buried at Monte Cassino
- ^ "Odznaczenia Gen. Broni Władysława Andersa" [Medals of Lt. Gen. Władysław Anders]. Rzeszów University of Technology (in Polish). 2007. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
External links
- Media related to Władysław Anders at Wikimedia Commons
- Władysław Anders Collection at the Hoover Institution Archives
- Newspaper clippings about Władysław Anders in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
- Professor Norman Davies on his forthcoming book Trail of Hope and Anders' exodus from the USSR