In December 1939, three months after the
invasion of Poland, the Polish Commander-in-chief,
General Władysław Sikorski, decided that a Polish unit be created in the
French territory of
Levant . On 12 April 1940 the
brigade was officially formed in
Syria, with Colonel Kopański as its commander. The main base of the brigade was established in
Homs and the new unit instantly entered the ranks of the French
Armée du Levant. As a unit specializing in
mountain warfare, the brigade was thought of as a Polish addition to
Allied plans for landings in the
Balkans. It was modelled after the standard French mountain infantry brigade, with 2 infantry regiments (of 2 battalions each),
artillery regiment,
reconnaissance regiment (mounted and motorized), signals, engineers and staff. Although new recruits arrived on a daily basis (mostly evacuated from Poland through Romania, Hungary, Greece and Yugoslavia), the brigade did not reach the planned numbers of 208 officers and 6840 soldiers and NCOs. After the capitulation of France and the annulment of all of its pacts with
Poland and the
United Kingdom, the commander of the
Armée du Levant General
Eugène Mittelhauser decided to support the new
Vichy government of
Philippe Pétain, and Sikorski ordered the Poles to leave French territory. On 30 June 1940, the brigade defected to British-controlled
Palestine, where it joined the British forces stationed there. Initially composed of 319 officers and 3,437 soldiers, it was soon reinforced to roughly 5,000 men. Among the distinctive features of the unit was the high morale of the soldiers, all of whom were volunteers. In addition, roughly 25% were well-educated, a thing uncommon in European armies of the time. Based in
Latrun, the brigade was equipped with British weapons, reinforced and trained. In October 1940 it was moved to
Egypt, where it undertook garrison duties. Among other tasks, it guarded
prisoner-of-war camps and prepared the fortification of
Alexandria. However, as Poland was still formally at peace with
Italy, it could not be sent to the front. On 12 January 1941, the reorganization of the brigade in keeping with British regulations was completed and the unit was renamed the
Polish Independent Brigade Group. It was modelled on a British
motorized infantry brigade and was then moved to the port of
Haifa, from where it was to be transported to
Greece. However, before the first of the detachments had been embarked on the ships, the
Battle of Greece ended as the Germans overran that country. On 30 April 1941, during the offensive of
Erwin Rommel's
Afrika Korps, the brigade was moved near to the front at the fort of
Mersa Matruh, where it spent the next 10 weeks strengthening defensive positions. It was then withdrawn to the
El Amiriya camp near Alexandria, and on 18 August 1941 the first convoy of the brigade's units left for besieged
Tobruk. Transported in seven convoys, between 21 August and 28 August, the brigade took over the westernmost perimeter, relieving Australian troops in the process. Fighting alongside the
British 70th Infantry Division, the brigade took part in the
Siege of Tobruk. Overnight on 9 December, during the
British Eighth Army's offensive,
Operation Crusader, which was to raise the siege, the Polish brigade seized the strategically important
Madauar Hill, the town of
Acroma and broke through to the Eighth Army. Due to their impact on the battle, the Polish soldiers were awarded the prestigious title of the
Rats of Tobruk by their
Australian comrades in arms. On 13 December the Carpathian Uhlan Regiment was detached while the remainder of the brigade was attached to
XIII Corps of the Eighth Army and took part in the attack on the
Axis Gazala defensive line on 15 December. Rommel made a fighting withdrawal to defensive positions around
El Agheila but his counterattack on 21 January 1942 led to the armies once more facing each other at the Gazala position by early February. On 17 March 1942, the brigade was withdrawn from the front to the El Amiriya camp and then back to Palestine. There it was joined by the Polish forces of General
Władysław Anders evacuated from the
Soviet Union and was reformed into the
3rd Carpathian Rifle Division. The brigade officially ceased to exist on 3 May 1942. Throughout its existence the brigade lost 156
killed in action (including 127 in the Siege of Tobruk), 467
wounded and 15
missing. ==Order of battle==