Polish Armed Forces in the West

After Poland's defeat in September–October 1939, the Polish government-in-exile quickly organized in France a new fighting force originally of about 80,000 men. 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. Under this agreement, Polish sailors were permitted to don Polish uniforms, and their commanding officers were Polish; however, the ships used were of British manufacture. Despite having flown for years, most of them were posted either to RAF bomber squadrons or the RAF Volunteer Reserve. This was due to lack of understanding in the face of Polish defeat by the Germans, as well as language barriers and British commanders' opinion of Polish attitudes. On 11 June 1940, the Polish Government in Exile signed an agreement with the British Government to form a Polish Air Force in the UK, and in July 1940 the RAF announced that it would form two Polish fighter squadrons equipped with British planes: 302 "Poznański" Squadron and 303 "Kościuszko" Squadron. The squadrons were composed of Polish pilots and ground crews, although their flight commanders and commanding officers were British. Once given the opportunity to fly, it did not take long for their British counterparts to appreciate the tenacity of the Poles. Even Air Officer Commanding Hugh Dowding, who had been one of the first to voice his doubt of the Poles, said: "I must confess that I had been a little doubtful of the effect which their experience in their own countries and in France might have had upon the Polish and Czech pilots, but my doubts were laid to rest, because all three squadrons swung into the fight with a dash and enthusiasm which is beyond praise. They were inspired by a burning hatred for the Germans which made them very deadly opponents." Dowding later stated further that "had it not been for the magnificent [work of] the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle would have been the same." 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 Mediterranean and Middle East and European theatres: the North African Campaign, the Italian Campaign (with the Battle of Monte Cassino being one of the most notable), the Western European Campaign (from Dieppe Raid and D-Day through Battle of Normandy and latter operations, especially Operation Market Garden). After the German Instrument of Surrender, Polish troops took part in occupation duties in the Western Allied Occupation Zones in Germany. A Polish town was created: it was first named Lwow, then Maczkow. 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, relations between the British government and its exiled Polish counterpart were increasingly tense. Britain's Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, prioritized relations with the Soviet Union over the Polish government-in-exile as a way of prevent unrest among the pro-Soviet British working class, in particular its trade unions. Bevin and other British officials persuaded the Polish Armed Forces in the West to return to Poland, although none were forcibly returned. At the same time, there was British and American concern about a police state being built in Poland. 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. 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. It is often said that the Polish Armed Forces in the West were not invited to the London Victory Parade of 1946. At first the British government invited representatives of the newly recognised Polish People's Republic to march in the parade, but their delegation never arrived, with the reason never being adequately explained; the most likely explanation was Soviet pressure. Following criticism of the absence of a Polish delegation, 25 Polish RAF pilots were invited to march together with other foreign detachments as part of the parade of the Royal Air Force. They, in turn, refused to attend in protest over similar invitations not being extended to Polish army and navy personnel. The only Polish representative at the parade was Colonel Józef Kuropieska, the military attaché of the Polish People's Republic, who attended as a diplomatic courtesy. ==Disbandment and resettlement==

The formation was disbanded in 1947, many of its soldiers choosing to remain in exile rather than to return to communist-controlled Poland, where they were often seen by the Polish communists as "enemies of the state", influenced by the Western ideas, loyal to the Polish government in exile, and thus meeting with persecution and imprisonment (in extreme cases, death). Failure of allied Western governments to keep their promise to Poland, which now fell under the Soviet sphere of influence, became known as the "Western betrayal." 114,000 Polish soldiers went through that organization. Since many Poles had been stationed in the United Kingdom and served alongside British units in the war, the Polish Resettlement Act 1947 permitted all of them to settle in the United Kingdom after the war, multiplying the size of the Polish minority in the UK. Many also joined the Polish Canadian and Polish Australian communities. After the United States Congress passed a 1948 law, amended in 1950, which allowed the immigration of Polish soldiers who were demobilized in Great Britain, a number of them moved to the U.S. where, in 1952, they organized the association Polish Veterans of World War II. ==History by formation==

Army , Netherlands, 1944 of the Polish Armed Forces in the West (reenacting) The Polish Army in France, which began to be organized soon after the fall of Poland in 1939, was composed of about 85,000 men. The Polish I Corps was formed from these soldiers and came to comprise the Polish 1st Armoured Division (which later became attached to the First Canadian Army) and the Polish Independent Parachute Brigade, Some came from the 13,000 Polish personnel who were interned by the Swiss government, but who managed to escape Swiss custody and make their way to Great Britain via the British consulates in Switzerland. In 1941, following an agreement between the Polish government in exile and Joseph Stalin, the Soviets released Polish citizens, from whom a 75,000-strong army was formed in the Soviet Union under General Władysław Anders (Anders' Army). This army, successively gathered in Bouzoulouk, Samarkand, was later ferried from Krasnovodsk to the Middle East (Iran) through the Caspian Sea (in March and August 1942). The Polish units later formed the Polish II Corps. It was composed of Polish 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division, Polish 5th Kresowa Infantry Division, Polish 2nd Armoured Brigade and other units. From the very beginning of the war, the Royal Air Force (RAF) had welcomed foreign pilots to supplement the dwindling pool of British pilots. On 11 June 1940, the Polish government in exile signed an agreement with the British government to form a Polish army and Polish air force in the United Kingdom. The first two (of an eventual ten) Polish fighter squadrons went into action in August 1940. Four Polish squadrons eventually took part in the Battle of Britain (300 and 301 Bomber Squadrons; 302 and 303 fighter squadrons), with 89 Polish pilots. Together with more than 50 Poles fighting in British squadrons, about 145 Polish pilots defended British skies. during the Battle of Britain. Painted on a Hurricane. 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). 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'') Navy 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, . 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. • Cruisers: • ORP Dragon () • ORP Conrad (Danae class) • Destroyers: • ORP Burza ("Storm") () • ORP Grom ("Thunder") () – 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) () - 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: • ORP Orzeł ("Eagle") () – lost 1940 • ORP Jastrząb ("Hawk") (American S-class) – lost 1942 • ORP Wilk ("Wolf") () • 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, merchant-marine auxiliary vessels, and patrol boats. 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 European country and operated one of the largest intelligence networks in Nazi Germany. Many Poles also served in other Allied intelligence services, including the celebrated Krystyna Skarbek ("Christine Granville") in the United Kingdom's Special Operations Executive. Forty-three percent of all the reports received by the British secret services from continental Europe in 1939-45 came from Polish sources.); while in the West supplies were gathered for the resistance, and elite commandos, the Cichociemni, were trained. The Polish government also wanted to use the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade in Poland, particularly during Operation Tempest, but the request was denied by the Allies. ==See also==