The Brigade was originally trained close to
RAF Ringway and later in
Upper Largo in Scotland. It was finally based in Lincolnshire, close to
RAF Spitalgate (Grantham) where it continued training until its eventual departure for Europe after D-Day. , the brigade's commander The Brigade was formed by the Polish High Command in exile with the aim of its being used to support the
Polish resistance during the
nationwide uprising, a plan that encountered opposition from the British, who argued that a single brigade would be of no use against the entire German army stationed in Occupied Poland. The pressure of the British government eventually caused the Poles to give in and agree to let the Brigade be used on the
Western Front. This request was refused on the grounds of the aircraft used by the Brigade did not have enough fuel to reach Warsaw, along with the request to use Soviet airfields being denied. Eventually, the Brigade entered combat when it was dropped during
Operation Market Garden in September 1944. visiting troops of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade at Cupar, 20 April 1942. During the operation, the Brigade's
anti-tank battery went into
Arnhem on the third day of the battle (19 September), supporting the British paratroopers at
Oosterbeek. This left Sosabowski with only PIATs as anti-tank capability. The light artillery battery was left behind in England due to a shortage of gliders. Owing to bad weather and a shortage of transport planes, the drop into
Driel was delayed by two days, to 21 September. The British units which were supposed to cover the landing zone were in a bad situation and out of radio contact with the main Allied forces. Finally, the 2nd Battalion, and elements of the 3rd Battalion, with support troops from the Brigade's Medical Company, Engineer Company and HQ Company, were dropped under German fire east of Driel. They overran Driel, after it was realised that the Heveadorp ferry had been destroyed. In Driel, the Polish paratroopers set up a defensive "hedgehog" position, from which over the next two nights further attempts were made to cross the Rhine. The following day, the Poles were able to produce some makeshift boats and attempt a crossing. With great difficulty and under German fire from the heights of Westerbouwing on the north bank of the river, the 8th Parachute Company and, later, additional troops from 3rd Battalion, managed to cross the Rhine in two attempts. In total, about 200 Polish paratroopers made it across in two days, and were able to cover the subsequent withdrawal of the remnants of the British 1st Airborne Division. Not all of the paratroopers were able to withdraw back across the Rhine, due to the numbers involved and a shortage of boats. Those who were trapped on the German-controlled side were either captured by the Germans or, like Stanisław Kulik, were sheltered by the Dutch underground. They were hidden in various houses in the towns and villages, or in huts or makeshift dens in the woods, for about a month until they were rescued in
Operation Pegasus on 22 October 1944. On 26 September 1944, the members of the Brigade who were on the Allied side of the Rhine (now including the 1st Battalion and elements of the 3rd Battalion, who were parachuted near to Grave on 23 September) were ordered to march towards
Nijmegen. The Brigade had lost 25% of its fighting strength, amounting to 590 casualties. In 1945, the Brigade was attached to the
Polish 1st Armoured Division and undertook occupation duties in Northern Germany until it was disbanded on 30 June 1947. The majority of its soldiers chose to stay in exile rather than hazard returning to the
new communist Poland. ==Post-war honours==