Polish 2nd Corp
- Thread starter hnachaj
- Start date
A must read. "For Your Freedom And Ours" byMararet Brodniewicz-Stawicki. It's an eye opener for anybody. The Poles were the only country on the allied side that lost the war. My dad was a Pole with the Brits. He never went back to Poland till the 80s.
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And that is why WW2 never really ended until the 80's, the whole reason that England and France went to war was their alliance with Poland to keep them free. Yes I know I'm over-simplifying it but I like my theory, WW2 lasted almost 50 years.
What I just wrote was in semi-jest, Poland was never free until the disintegration of the USSR, only Churchill saw the future.
I had quite a few Polish officers working for me in in UN in the middle east back in the bad old Cold War days when they were dirty pinko commies and we were the good guys. This was never an issue at the time as we had to work together to get the job done. I made a trip to Normandy on leave in 1988 and visited a lot of the battlefields including Mount Ormel where the Polish 1st Armd Div , as part of the 1st Cdn Army, was the cork in the bottle to plug the Falaise Gap.
I took a lot of photos, incl quite a few of the Polish Monument with inscriptions in Polish, which I showed my guys when I got back from leave. Their education had minimized this and had emphasized their "fraternal co-operation" with the Russians on the eastern front instead. They were quite fascinated with all of this unknown part of their history to say the least. How things have changed for them over the past 25 years.
I took a lot of photos, incl quite a few of the Polish Monument with inscriptions in Polish, which I showed my guys when I got back from leave. Their education had minimized this and had emphasized their "fraternal co-operation" with the Russians on the eastern front instead. They were quite fascinated with all of this unknown part of their history to say the least. How things have changed for them over the past 25 years.
Besides the poles that got out to the UK and France by 1940, a vast number were held by the USSR. At least those not murdered in Katyn wood.
The UK and the Polish government in exile made a deal to get enough out to start their own units in the Mediterranean and the west.
Only problem was, that for every one that went to the west, the Red Army made so many stay behind in a "Polish Army" unit under soviet command and control on the eastern front.
Despite this, the number that escaped soviet 'labour camps' in Siberia to Iran is staggering.
The staging place to build that army was the middle east.
I don't think that relations between Poland and Russia have improved too much despite seventy odd years.
The UK and the Polish government in exile made a deal to get enough out to start their own units in the Mediterranean and the west.
Only problem was, that for every one that went to the west, the Red Army made so many stay behind in a "Polish Army" unit under soviet command and control on the eastern front.
Despite this, the number that escaped soviet 'labour camps' in Siberia to Iran is staggering.
The staging place to build that army was the middle east.
I don't think that relations between Poland and Russia have improved too much despite seventy odd years.
The Americans now show up Bishop Gawlina speaks to Generals Duch and Sulik befor General Anders reception of the Companionship of the Bath award
The Brigade goes back for a rest Awards for bravery
Thanks for posting, hnachaj. I only learned about the Poles in WW II in 2003 when I worked with a Polish guy in Fort Mac. His father was at Monte Cassino. Then I worked with another Pole five years ago. His father was at Monte Cassino also. After the war, his father emigrated to Argentina and then to Canada. The Poles didn't get to go back to Poland after winning the war as a poster above noted.
I'm surprised there hasn't been a documentary about the Poles in WW II.
