Military history of Poland during World War II

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Polish contribution to World War II
Pilots of No. 303 (Polish) Squadron RAF with one of their Hawker Hurricanes, October 1940. CH1535.jpg
Pilots of the No. 303 Squadron, from left: P/O Ferić, Flt Lt Kent, F/O Grzeszczak, P/O Radomski, P/O Zumbach, P/O Łokuciewski, F/O Henneberg, Sgt. Rogowski, Sgt. Szaposznikow
Polish Enigma double.jpg
One of the four Polish Enigma doubles assembled eight years after Poland was first to crack the German machine, in 1932
ORP Dragon.jpg
ORP Dragon, in Polish Navy service from January 1943
10Dyw.JPG
Canadian Tripe Polsten AA Carriage.jpg
Anti-aircraft mounting with three Polish Polsten cannons
Zaloga ORP Sokol w Gibraltarze.jpg
Crew of submarine ORP Sokół with Jolly Roger marking number of sunk or damaged enemy ships
Zygalski sheets (perforated sheets).jpg
Demonstration of Zygalski sheets (perforated sheets)

In World War II, the Polish armed forces were the fourth largest Allied forces in Europe, after those of the Soviet Union, United States, and Britain. [a] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Poles made substantial contributions to the Allied effort throughout the war, fighting on land, sea, and in the air.

Contents

Polish forces in the east, fighting alongside the Red army and under Soviet high command, took part in the Soviet offensives across Belarus and Ukraine into Poland and across the Vistula and Oder Rivers to the Battle of Berlin.

In the west, Polish paratroopers from the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade fought in the Battle of Arnhem / Operation Market Garden; [8] while ground troops were present in the North Africa Campaign (siege of Tobruk); the Italian campaign (including the capture of the monastery hill at the Battle of Monte Cassino); and in battles following the invasion of France (the battle of the Falaise pocket; and an armored division in the Western Allied invasion of Germany).

Particularly well-documented was the service of 145 Polish pilots flying British planes under British Command during the Battle of Britain, 79 in mixed squadrons under the RAF after July 1940, 32 in wholly Polish Squadron 303 after 31 August 1940 and 34 in entirely Polish Squadron 302. [9] Other instances of service flying French planes[ clarification needed ] in the Polish Air Force took place during the Battle of Britain at the same time, and from 1944 the Polish Air Force (also with British planes) was established in Britain.

Some Polish contributions were less visible, notably the prewar and wartime decrypting of German Enigma-machine ciphers by cryptologists Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski, and Jerzy Różycki. An extensive Polish intelligence network also proved of great value to Allied intelligence.

The European Theatre of World War II opened with the German invasion of Poland on Friday September 1, 1939, followed by the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, 1939. On 6 October, following the Polish defeat at the Battle of Kock, German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic, though Poland never formally surrendered. A Polish Underground State with a government-in-exile that would eventually set up headquarters in London resumed the struggle against the occupying powers. The Polish forces in the West, as well as in the East and an intelligence service were established outside of Poland, and contributed to the Allied effort throughout the war.

Invasion of Poland

The invasion of Polish Second Republic by the military forces of Nazi Germany marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. The Soviets invaded Poland on September 17 German-allied Slovakia invaded also

British poster designed by Marek Zulawski, London 1939 Poland First To Fight.jpg
British poster designed by Marek Żuławski, London 1939
Polish Army soldier showing last remaining part of destroyed German bomber Heinkel He 111 in Warsaw 1939. Polish Army Warsaw 1939.jpg
Polish Army soldier showing last remaining part of destroyed German bomber Heinkel He 111 in Warsaw 1939.

In keeping with the terms of the Secret Additional Protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact Germany informed the Soviet Union that its forces were nearing the Soviet interest zone in Poland and so urged the Soviet Union to move into its zone. The Soviets had been taken by surprise by the speed of the German advance as they had expected to have several weeks to prepare for an invasion rather than merely a few days. They did promise to move as quickly as possible. [10] On September 17 the Soviets invaded eastern Poland, forcing the Polish government and military to abandon their plans for a long-term defense in the Romanian bridgehead area. The last remaining Polish Army units capitulated in early October.

In accordance with their treaty obligations, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany on September 3. Hitler had gambled, incorrectly, that France and Britain would allow him to annex parts of Poland without military reaction. The campaign began on September 1, 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact containing a secret protocol for the division of Northern and Central Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence. It ended on October 6, 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland.

German losses included about 16,000 killed in action, 28,000 wounded, 3,500 missing, over 200 aircraft, and 30% of their armored vehicles. The Polish casualties were about 66,000 dead and 694,000 captured.

German losses in the Polish campaign amounted to 50% of all casualties they would suffer until their invasion of USSR in 1941; and the campaign that lasted about a month consumed eight months worth of supplies. [11]

Aid to Jews

Jewish prisoners liberated by Polish Home Army from German Gesiowka camp in 1944 Warsaw Uprising Jewish prisones of KZGesiowka liberated by Polish Soldiers of Home Army Warsaw1944.jpg
Jewish prisoners liberated by Polish Home Army from German Gęsiówka camp in 1944 Warsaw Uprising

A substantial number of Poles risked their lives in the German occupation to save Jews. German-occupied Poland was the only European territory where the Germans punished any kind of help to Jews with death for the helper and his entire family. Even so, Poland was also the only German-occupied country to establish an organization specifically to aid Jews. Known by the cryptonym Żegota , it provided food, shelter, medical care, money, and false documents to Jews. Most of Żegota's funds came directly from the Polish Government-in-Exile in Great Britain. [12]

Most Jews who survived the German occupation of Poland were saved by Poles unconnected with Żegota. Estimates of Jewish survivors in Poland range from 40,000 to 50,000 to 100,000–120,000. Scholars estimate that it took the work of ten people to save the life of one Polish Jew. [13] Of the individuals awarded medals of Righteous among the Nations (given by the State of Israel to non-Jews who saved Jews from extermination in the Holocaust) those who were Polish citizens number the greatest. [14] There are 6,339 [15] Polish men and women recognized as "Righteous" to this day, amounting to over 25 percent of the total number of 22,765 honorary titles awarded already. [16]

Polish resistance

The main resistance force in German-occupied Poland was the Armia Krajowa ("Home Army"; abbreviated "AK"), which numbered some 400,000 fighters at its peak as well as many more sympathizers. [17] Throughout most of the war, AK was one of the three largest resistance movements in the war. [b] The AK coordinated its operations with the exiled Polish Government in London and its activity concentrated on sabotage, diversion and intelligence gathering. [18] Its combat activity was low until 1943 [17] [19] as the army was avoiding suicidal warfare and preserved its very limited resources for later conflicts that sharply increased when the Nazi war machine started to crumble in the wake of the successes of the Red Army in the Eastern Front. Then the AK started a nationwide uprising (Operation Tempest) against Nazi forces. [18] Before that, AK units carried out thousands of raids, intelligence operations, bombed hundreds of railway shipments, participated in many clashes and battles with the German police and Wehrmacht units and conducted tens of thousands of acts of sabotage against German industry [20] The AK also conducted "punitive" operations to assassinate Gestapo officials responsible for Nazi terror. Following the 1941 German attack on the USSR, the AK assisted the Soviet Union's war effort by sabotaging the German advance into Soviet territory and provided intelligence on the deployment and movement of German forces. [18] After 1943, its direct combat activity increased sharply. German losses to the Polish partisans averaged 850–1,700 per month in early 1944 compared to about 250–320 per month in 1942.[ citation needed ]

Polish forest partisan Zdzislaw de Ville "Zdzich", member of AK "Jedrusie" with Browning wz.1928 Zdzislaw de Ville.jpg
Polish forest partisan Zdzisław de Ville "Zdzich", member of AK "Jędrusie" with Browning wz.1928

In addition to the Home Army, there was an underground ultra-nationalist [17] resistance force called Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (NSZ or "National Armed Forces"), with a fiercely anti-communist stance. It participated in fighting German units, winning many skirmishes. From 1943 onwards, some units took part in battling the Gwardia Ludowa and the Polish People's Army PAL, both communist resistance movement. From 1944, the advancing Red Army was also seen as a foreign occupation force, prompting skirmishes with the Soviets as well as Soviet-backed partisans. In the later part of the war, when Soviet partisans started attacking Polish partisans, sympathizers and civilians, all non-communist Polish formations were (to an increasing extent) becoming involved in actions against the Soviets. [21]

The Armia Ludowa , a Soviet proxy fighting force [22] was another resistance group that was unrelated to the Polish Government in Exile, allied instead to the Soviet Union. As of July, 1944 it incorporated a similar organization, the Gwardia Ludowa and the Polish People's Army PAL, and numbered about 6,000 soldiers (although estimates vary). [22]

There were separate resistance groups organized by Polish Jews: [17] the right-wing Żydowski Związek Walki ("Jewish Fighting Union") (ŻZW) and the more Soviet-leaning Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa ("Jewish Combat Organization") (ŻOB). These organisations cooperated little with each other and their relationship with the Polish resistance varied between occasional cooperation (mainly between ZZW and AK) to armed confrontations (mostly between ŻOB and NZS).

Other notable Polish resistance organizations included the Bataliony Chłopskie (BCh), a mostly peasant-based organization allied to the AK. At its height the BCh included 115,543 members (1944; with additional LSB and PKB-AK Guard, for the estimated total of 150,250 men, not confirmed). [23] [ better source needed ]

Throughout the war the German state was forced to divert a substantial part of its military forces to keep control over Poland:

Henryk Dobrzanski "Hubal"'s Detached Unit of the Polish Army - first partisan of World War II and his partisan unit - winter 1940 Hubal3.png
Henryk Dobrzański "Hubal"'s Detached Unit of the Polish Army – first partisan of World War II and his partisan unit – winter 1940
Captured German Panther tank - armored platoon of batalion Zoska under command of Waclaw Micuta Warsaw Uprising by Deczkowki - Wacek Platoon - 15911.jpg
Captured German Panther tank – armored platoon of batalion Zośka under command of Wacław Micuta
Members of AK "Wiklina" entering Zamosc 1944 Wiklina Zamosc 1944.JPG
Members of AK "Wiklina" entering Zamość 1944
Cyprian Odorkiewicz commander of "Krybar" Regiment (second from left) inspects ammunition for PIAT anti-tank weapon belonging to "Rafalki" unit in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising Warsaw Uprising - Cyprian Odorkiewicz and Rafalki.jpg
Cyprian Odorkiewicz commander of "Krybar" Regiment (second from left) inspects ammunition for PIAT anti-tank weapon belonging to "Rafałki" unit in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising
1944 Warsaw Uprising - Patrol of Lieut. Stanislaw Jankowski ("Agaton") from Batalion Piesc, 1 August 1944: "W-hour" (17:00) Powstanie warszawskie patrol.jpg
1944 Warsaw Uprising – Patrol of Lieut. Stanisław Jankowski ("Agaton") from Batalion Pięść, 1 August 1944: "W-hour" (17:00)
Number of Wehrmacht and police formations stationed in General Government
(does not include annexed territories of Poland and parts of Kresy) [24]
Period Wehrmacht Police and SS

(German forces only)

Total
October 1939550,00080,000630,000
April 1940400,00070,000470,000
June 19412,000,000

(invasion of the Soviet Union)

50.0002,050,000
February 1942300,00050,000350,000
April 1943450,00060,000510,000
November 1943550,00070,000620,000
April 1944500,00070,000570,000
September 19441,000,00080,0001,080,000
Sabotage and diversionary actions of the Union of Armed Combat (ZWZ) and Home Army (AK) from 1 January 1941 to 30 June 1944 [25]
Action typeAction totals
Damaged locomotives6,930
Delayed repairs to locomotives803
Derailed transports732
Transports set on fire443
Damage to railway wagons19,058
Blown up railway bridges38
Disruptions to electricity supplies in the Warsaw grid             638
Army vehicles damaged or destroyed4,326
Damaged aeroplanes28
Fuel tanks destroyed1,167
Fuel destroyed (in tonnes)4,674
Blocked oil wells5
Wagons of wood wool destroyed150
Military stores burned down130
Disruptions of production in factories7
Built-in faults in parts for aircraft engines4,710
Built-in faults into cannon muzzles203
Built-in faults into artillery projectiles92,000
Built-in faults into air traffic radio stations107
Built-in faults into condensers70,000
Built-in faults into (electro-industrial) lathes1,700
Damage to important factory machinery2,872
Various acts of sabotage performed25,145
Planned assassinations of Germans5,733

Intelligence

General Jacob Devers with Major Mieczyslaw Slowikowski, on awarding him the Legion of Merit for his invaluable contributions to the Allied North African campaign. Major Mieczyslaw Rygor Slowikowski.jpg
General Jacob Devers with Major Mieczysław Słowikowski, on awarding him the Legion of Merit for his invaluable contributions to the Allied North African campaign.
Witold Pilecki, a Polish Army officer and intelligence agent in World War II, the author of Witold's Report, the first detailed Allied intelligence report on Auschwitz concentration camp and the Holocaust Witold Pilecki in color.jpg
Witold Pilecki, a Polish Army officer and intelligence agent in World War II, the author of Witold's Report, the first detailed Allied intelligence report on Auschwitz concentration camp and the Holocaust

Polish intelligence supplied valuable intelligence to the Allies; 48% of all reports received by the British secret services from continental Europe in between 1939 and 1945 came from Polish sources. [26] The total number of those reports is estimated at 80,000, and 85% of them were deemed high or better quality. [27] Despite Poland becoming occupied, the Polish intelligence network not only survived but grew rapidly, and near the end of the war had over 1,600 registered agents [26] (Another estimate gave about 3,500[ citation needed ]).

Western Allies had limited intelligence assets in Central and Eastern Europe, and extensive Polish intelligence network in place proved to be a major asset, even described as "the only allied intelligence assets on the Continent" following the French capitulation. [28] [29] [30] According to Marek Ney-Krwawicz  [ pl ], for the Western Allies, the intelligence provided by the Home Army was considered to be the best source of information on the Eastern Front. [31]

In a period of more than six and a half years, from late December 1932 to the outbreak of World War II, three mathematician-cryptologists (Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki) at the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau in Warsaw had developed a number of techniques and devices including the "grill" method, Różycki's "clock", Rejewski's "cyclometer" and "card catalog", Zygalski's "perforated sheets", and Rejewski's "cryptologic bomb" (in Polish, "bomba", precursor to the later British "Bombe", named after its Polish predecessor) to facilitate decryption of messages produced on the German "Enigma" cipher machine. Just five weeks before the outbreak of World War II, on July 25, 1939, near Pyry in the Kabaty Woods south of Warsaw, Poland disclosed her achievements to France and the United Kingdom, which had, up to that time, failed in all their own efforts to crack the German military Enigma cipher. [32] Had Poland not shared her Enigma-decryption results at Pyry, the United Kingdom might have been unable to read Enigma ciphers. [33] In the event, intelligence gained from this source, codenamed Ultra, was extremely valuable to the Allied prosecution of the war. While ULTRA's precise influence on its course remains a subject of debate, ULTRA undoubtedly altered the course of the war. [34]

As early as 1940, Polish agents (including Witold Pilecki) penetrated German concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and informed the world about Nazi atrocities. Jan Karski is another important Polish resistance fighter who reported to the Polish government in exile and the Western Allies on the situation in German-occupied Poland, especially the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, and the secretive German-Nazi extermination camps. [35] [36]

Home Army intelligence report with V1 and V2 schematic drawings. Home Army intelligence on V1 and V2.JPG
Home Army intelligence report with V1 and V2 schematic drawings.
Polish Home Army recovers a V-2 from the Bug River. V-2 Bug.jpg
Polish Home Army recovers a V-2 from the Bug River.

Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK) intelligence was vital to locating and destroying (18 August 1943) the German rocket facility at Peenemünde and to gathering information about Germany's V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket. The Home Army delivered to the United Kingdom key V-2 parts after a rocket, fired on 30 May 1944, crashed near a German test facility at Sarnaki on the Bug River and was recovered by the Home Army. On the night of 25–26 July 1944 the crucial parts were flown from occupied Poland to the United Kingdom in an RAF plane, along with detailed drawings of parts too large to fit in the plane (see Home Army and V1 and V2 ). Analysis of the German rocket became vital to improving Allied anti-V-2 defenses (see Operation Most III). [37]

Operations of the II Bureau, the intelligence service of the Polish government in exile, extended beyond Poland and even beyond Europe. Polish agents provided reports on German war production, morale and troop movements, including information on German submarine operations. [30] [38] The II Bureau is reported to have had two agents in the upper levels of the German high command. [30] Polish intelligence monitored the French fleet at Toulon. [30] Mieczysław Zygfryd Słowikowski has been described as "the only allied agent with a network in North Africa". [30] In July 1941 Mieczysław Słowikowski (codenamed "Rygor"—Polish for "Rigor") set up "Agency Africa", one of World War II's most successful intelligence organizations. [39] His Polish allies in these endeavors included Lt. Col. Gwido Langer and Major Maksymilian Ciężki (prewar heads, respectively, of Poland's Biuro Szyfrów , Cipher Bureau, and of its German section, B.S.-4, which broke Germany's Enigma ciphers). [32] The information gathered by the Agency was used by the Americans and British in planning the amphibious November 1942 Operation Torch [40] [ better source needed ] landings in North Africa. These were the first large-scale Allied landings of the war, and their success in turn paved the way for the Allies' Italian campaign.[ citation needed ]

Some Poles also served in other Allied intelligence services, including the celebrated Krystyna Skarbek ("Christine Granville") in the United Kingdom's Special Operations Executive. [41]

The researchers who produced the first Polish-British in-depth monograph on Home Army intelligence (Intelligence Co-operation Between Poland and Great Britain During World War II: Report of the Anglo-Polish Historical Committee of 2005) and who described contributions of Polish intelligence to Allied victory as "disproportionally large" [42] have also argued that "the work performed by Home Army intelligence undoubtedly supported the Allied armed effort much more effectively than subversive and guerilla activities." [43]


Polish Forces (West)

Army

Polish Armed Forces in the West
at the height of their power [44]
Deserters from the German Wehrmacht 90,000
Evacuees from the USSR 83,000
Evacuees from France in 194035,000
Liberated POWs 21,750
Escapees from occupied Europe14,210
Recruits in liberated France7,000
Polonia from Argentina, Brazil and Canada2,290
Polonia from the United Kingdom1,780
Total254,830
By July 1945, when recruitment was halted, some 26,830 Polish soldiers were declared KIA or MIA or had died of wounds. After that date, an additional 21,000 former Polish POWs were recruited.

After the country's defeat in the 1939 campaign, the Polish government in exile quickly organized in France a new army of about 75,000 men. [45] In 1940 a Polish Highland Brigade took part in the Battle of Narvik (Norway), and two Polish divisions (First Grenadier Division, and Second Infantry Fusiliers Division) took part in the defense of France, while a Polish motorized brigade and two infantry divisions were in process of forming. [46] A Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade was formed in French Mandate Syria, to which many Polish troops had escaped from Romania. [47] The Polish Air Force in France had 86 aircraft with one and a half of the squadrons fully operational, and the remaining two and a half in various stages of training. [47]

By the fall of France, numerous Polish personnel had died in the fighting (some 6,000) or had been interned in Switzerland (some 13,000). Nevertheless, about 19,000 Polish—about 25% of which were aircrew—were evacuated from France, most alongside other troops transported from western France to the United Kingdom. [45] 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 USSR under General Władysław Anders. Without any support from the Soviets to train, equip and maintain this army, the Polish government in exile followed Anders' advice for a transfer of some 80,000 (and about 20,000 civilians), in March and August 1942, across the Caspian Sea to Iran permitting Soviet divisions in occupation there to be released for action. [48] In the Middle East, this "Anders' Army" joined the British Eighth Army, where it formed Polish II Corps. [49]

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reviewing Polish troops in England, 1943. Winston Churchill reviewing Polish troops in England.PNG
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reviewing Polish troops in England, 1943.

The Polish Armed Forces in the West fought under British command and numbered 195,000 in March 1944 and 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. At the end of World War II, the Polish Armed Forces in the west numbered 195,000 and by July 1945 had increased to 228,000, most of the newcomers being released prisoners of war and ex-labor camp inmates.

Air force

The Polish Air Force first fought in the 1939 Invasion of Poland. Significantly outnumbered and with its fighters outmatched by more advanced German fighters, remained active up to the second week of the campaign, inflicting significant damage on the Luftwaffe. [50] The Luftwaffe lost, to all operational causes, 285 aircraft, with 279 more damaged, while the Poles lost 333 aircraft. [51]

After the fall of Poland many Polish pilots escaped via Hungary to France. The Polish Air Force fought in the Battle of France as one fighter squadron GC 1/145, several small units detached to French squadrons, and numerous flights of industry defence (in total, 133 pilots, who achieved 53–57 victories for a loss of 8 men in combat, what was 7.93% of allied victories). [52]

Later, Polish pilots fought in the Battle of Britain, where the Polish 303 Fighter Squadron claimed the highest number of kills of any Allied squadron. 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, a total of 145 Polish pilots defended British skies. Polish pilots were among the most experienced in the battle, most of them having already fought in the 1939 September Campaign in Poland and the 1940 Battle of France. Additionally, prewar Poland had set a very high standard of pilot training. The 303 Squadron, named after the Polish–American hero, General Tadeusz Kościuszko, claimed the highest number of kills (126) of all fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it only joined the combat on August 30, 1940 [53] These Polish pilots, constituting 5% of the pilots active in the Battle of Britain, were responsible for 12% of total victories in the Battle.

The Polish Air Force also fought in 1943 in Tunisia—the Polish Fighting Team (nicknamed "Skalski's Circus")—and in raids on Germany (1940–45). In the second half of 1941 and early 1942, Polish bomber squadrons formed a sixth of the forces available to RAF Bomber Command but later they suffered heavy losses, with little replenishment possibilities. Polish aircrew losses serving with Bomber Command from 1940 to 1945 were 929 killed. Ultimately eight Polish fighter squadrons were formed within the RAF and had claimed 629 Axis aircraft destroyed by May 1945. By the end of the war, about 19,400 Poles were serving in the RAF. [54]

126 German aeroplanes shot down by the 303 squadron in the Battle of Britain. Painted on a Hurricane. Dywizjon 303 4.jpg
126 German aeroplanes shot down by the 303 squadron in the Battle of Britain. Painted on a Hurricane.
Polish flag flying over the ruins of conquered Monte Cassino monastery, May 1944. Polish Flag Monte Cassino3.jpg
Polish flag flying over the ruins of conquered Monte Cassino monastery, May 1944.
The Polish 1st Armoured Division in the Normandy Campaign, 1944. The 1st Polish Armoured Division in the Normandy Campaign 1944 B8826.jpg
The Polish 1st Armoured Division in the Normandy Campaign, 1944.

Polish squadrons in the United Kingdom:

Aircraft shot down by Polish squadrons in the West in World War II [55] [56]
194019411942194319441945total
destroyed266 1/620290114¾10338½769 5/12
probable38523642102177
damaged43⅔ + 3/560½43662718252 1/6

Just on the eve of war, three destroyers—representing most of the major Polish Navy ships—had been sent for safety to the United Kingdom (Operation Peking). There they fought alongside the Royal Navy. At various stages of the war, the Polish Navy comprised two cruisers and a large number of smaller ships. The Polish navy was given a number of British ships and submarines which would otherwise have been unused due to the lack of trained British crews. 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 Bismarck. [57] In the war the Polish Navy operated a total of 27 ships: 2 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 5 submarines and 11 torpedo boats. They sailed a total of 1.2 million nautical miles, 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. 450 seamen out of the over 4,000 who served with the Navy lost their lives in action. [58] [59]

ORP Grom, a destroyer in the Polish Navy ORP Grom.jpg
ORP Grom, a destroyer in the Polish Navy

This does not include a number of minor ships, transports, merchant-marine auxiliary vessels, and patrol boats. Polish Merchant Navy contributed about 137,000 BRT to Allied shipping; losing 18 ships (with capacity of 76,000 BRT) and over 200 sailors in the war. [60]

Polish Forces (East)

The "Piast eagle" (specimen 43) worn by the soldiers of the Polish 1st Tadeusz Kosciuszko Infantry Division of the Polish Armed Forces of the East. KURICA.png
The "Piast eagle" (specimen 43) worn by the soldiers of the Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division of the Polish Armed Forces of the East.
Polish flag raised on the top of Berlin Victory Column on May 2, 1945. Polish flag 1945 Berlin.jpg
Polish flag raised on the top of Berlin Victory Column on May 2, 1945.

After the Polish government-in-exile organized the Anders Army in 1941 in the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Operation Barbarossa and evacuated it to the West, Polish communists sought to create a new army, under communist control, out of the many ethnic Poles that remained in the Soviet Union. These were primarily citizens of the prewar Second Polish Republic that had been deported and often imprisoned by the Soviets following the Soviet annexation of Poland's eastern territories, as per the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Soviet Union created the Union of Polish Patriots (ZPP) in 1943, a communist Polish organization intended to represent the interest of Poles on Soviet soil and organize this new army. [61] [62] The relocated Poles, along with numbers of Byelorussians, Ukrainians, and Polish Jews, were organized into a division, the nucleus of a force known as the Polish People's Army (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie, LWP) but colloquially known as the Berling Army after its first commander, Zygmunt Berling. The division made its combat debut in October 1943 at the Battle of Lenino. Afterwards, it was rapidly expanded into the 1st Polish Corps, which in turn grew by 1944 into the 1st Polish Army. In 1945, 2nd Polish Army was added to the LWP. By the end of the war, the LWP numbered about 200,000 front-line soldiers. [62] The Polish communist guerilla force, the Armia Ludowa, was integrated with the Polish People's Army in January 1944.

The Polish First Army was integrated in the 1st Belorussian Front with which it entered Poland from Soviet territory in 1944. In the 1944 Warsaw Uprising it liberated the suburb of Praga, but otherwise sat out most of the battle, aside from a series of unsuccessful crossings of the Vistula in mid-September. It took part in battles for Bydgoszcz (Bromberg), Kolobrzeg (Kolberg), Gdańsk (Danzig) and Gdynia, losing about 17,500 killed in action over the course of the war. [62] In April–May 1945 the 1st Army fought in the final capture of Berlin. The Polish Second Army fought as part of the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front and took part in the Prague Offensive. In the final operations of the war the casualties of the two armies of the LWP amounted to about 67,000.

Poles in the German Armed Forces

Hundreds of thousands of former Polish citizens, particularly residents of parts of Poland annexed to Germany, were conscripted into the German Armed Forces. Also, a number of former Polish citizens, especially members of the prewar German minority in Poland (see Volksliste ), volunteered for service in the German Armed Forces. [63] These were mostly members of the German minority in Poland who were considered by the Nazi authorities to be ethnically German (Volksdeutsche). In 1939 in the Invasion of Poland they created the paramilitary organisation Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz, and actively supported German forces in occupied Poland. [64]

On the Western Front, German military personnel of Polish ethnicity, held in prisoner-of-war camps, became a substantial source of manpower for the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Nearly 90,000 former German military personnel were eventually recruited into the Polish Armed Forces in the West. By Victory Day (9 May) in 1945, a third of Polish service members in the West were former members of the German Armed Forces. [63]

Battles

Polish infantry, 1939 Polish infantry marching -2 1939.jpg
Polish infantry, 1939
Warsaw Uprising, 1944 Warsaw 1944.jpg
Warsaw Uprising, 1944

Major battles and campaigns in which Polish regular forces took part:

BattleDateLocationPoland and its alliesEnemiesResult
Invasion of Poland (1939)
Invasion of Poland 1 September – 6 October 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of Westerplatte 1–7 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of Mokra 1 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of the Border 1–4 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Raid on Fraustadt 2 September 1939 Germany Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Wizna 7–10 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of Warsaw 8–28 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of the Bzura 9–19 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of Lwów 12–22 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski 17–26 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of Wilno 18–19 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Defeat
Battle of Grodno 20–24 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Defeat
Battle of Szack 28 September 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Victory
Battle of Kock 2–5 October 1939 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Armed Forces in the West (1939–1945)
Battle of the Atlantic 3 September 1939 – 8 May 1945 Atlantic Ocean Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States (from 1941)
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada
Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium
Flag of France.svg France (until 1940)
Flag of Free France (1940-1944).svg  Free France (from 1940)
Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil (from 1942)
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Italy (until 1943)
Victory
Norwegian Campaign 9 April – 10 June 1940 Norway Flag of Norway.svg  Norway Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of Narvik 9 April – 8 June 1940 Norway Flag of Norway.svg  Norway Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of France 10 May – 25 June 1940 France Flag of France.svg France Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Italy
Defeat
Battle of Dunkirk 26 May – 4 June 1940 France Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Retreat
Battle of Britain 10 July – 31 October 1940 United Kingdom (airspace)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Italy
Victory
North African Campaign 10 June 1940 – 13 May 1943 North Africa Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Italy Victory
Battle of Tobruk 10 April – 27 November 1941 Libya Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Italy
Victory
Sinking of the Bismarck 26–27 May 1941 Atlantic Ocean Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Operation Crusader 18 November – 30 December 1941 Libya Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Italy
Victory
Dieppe Raid 19 August 1942 France Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Italian Campaign 10 July 1943 – 2 May 1945 Italy Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Italy (until September 1943)
Flag of the Italian Social Republic.png  Italian Social Republic (from September 1943)
Victory
Battle of Monte Cassino 17 January – 18 May 1944 Italy Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Normandy Landings 6 June 1944 France Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Invasion of Normandy 6 June – 30 August 1944 France Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Ancona 16 June – 18 July 1944 Italy Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Operation Totalize 8–9 August 1944 France Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Falaise 12–21 August 1944 France Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Operation Tractable 14–21 August 1944 France Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg  Canada Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Siegfried Line Campaign 25 August 1944 – 7 March 1945 France/Germany Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Hill 262 12–21 August 1944 France Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Operation Market Garden 17–25 September 1944 Netherlands/Germany Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of Arnhem 17–26 September 1944 Netherlands Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of the Scheldt 2 October – 8 November 1944 Belgium/Netherlands Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Gothic Line late August 1944 – early March 1945 Italy Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Indecisive
Western Allied invasion of Germany 22 March – 8 May 1945 Germany Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Spring 1945 offensive in Italy 6 April – 2 May 1945 Italy Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Bologna 9–21 April 1945 Italy Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Armed Forces in the East (1943–1945)
Battle of Lenino 12–13 October 1943 Soviet Union (Belarus)Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Indecisive
Operation Bagration 22 June – 19 August 1944 Soviet Union/Poland Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive 13 July – 29 August 1944 Ukraine/Poland Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union
Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Lublin-Brest Offensive 18 July – 2 August 1944 Belarus/Poland Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Studzianki 9–16 August 1944 Poland Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Vistula-Oder Offensive 12 January – 2 February 1945 Poland Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Poznań 24 January – 23 February 1945 Poland Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
East Pomeranian Offensive 24 February – 4 April 1945 Poland/Germany Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Kolberg 4–18 March 1945 Germany Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Berlin 16 April – 2 May 1945 Germany Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of the Seelow Heights 16–19 April 1945 Germany Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Bautzen 21–30 April 1945 Germany Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Indecisive
Prague Offensive 6 – 11 May 1945 Czechoslovakia Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Underground actions (1939–1945)
Detached Unit of the Polish Army (Hubal's partisans)October 1939 – 30 April 1940 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Polish resistance Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Czortków uprising 21–22 January 1940 Poland Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Anti-Soviet Polish studentsFlag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Defeat
Polish resistance in France 1940–1944 France Flag of Free France (1940-1944).svg French Resistance
Flaga PPP.svg Polish resistance
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Zamość uprising December 1942 – mid-1944 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State
supported by
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Operacja Główki 1943–1944 Poland Flaga PPP.svg Polish Underground State Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Partial success
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 19 April – 16 May 1943 Poland Flag of ZOB (Jewish Fighting Organization).svg Jewish Combat Organization Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Operation Belt 20–21 August 1943 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Operation Chainlate November 1943 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Operation Tempest January–October 1944 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Partial success
Battle of Murowana Oszmianka 13–14 May 1944 Poland/Belarus Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force Victory
Battle of Porytowe Wzgórze 14–15 June 1944 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Battle of Osuchy 25–26 June 1944 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Operation Ostra Brama 7 – 15 July 1944 Poland/Lithuania Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State
Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Tactical victory
Lwów Uprising 23–27 July 1944 Poland/Ukraine Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Victory
Warsaw Uprising 1 August – 2 October 1944 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State
Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Polish Army in the East
aerial supply only
Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Germany Defeat
Battle of Kuryłówka 7 May 1945 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Victory
Attack on the NKVD Camp in Rembertów 21 May 1945 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Victory
Augustów roundup 20–25 July 1945 Poland Flaga PPP.svg  Polish Underground State Flag of the Soviet Union (1936 - 1955).svg  Soviet Union Defeat

Technology

360 degree tank periscope of Polish inventor Rudolf Gundlach was first used in Polish 7TP tank. Gundlach periscope.jpg
360 degree tank periscope of Polish inventor Rudolf Gundlach was first used in Polish 7TP tank.
Polish mine detector of Jozef Kosacki being used close to a Universal Carrier that has been destroyed by a mine, Tilly-sur-Seulles, France (June 1944) TillyBUC.jpg
Polish mine detector of Józef Kosacki being used close to a Universal Carrier that has been destroyed by a mine, Tilly-sur-Seulles, France (June 1944)

Weapons

Polish engineers who escaped German-occupied Poland contributed to weapon developments during the war. A Polish/Czech/British team brought the 20 mm Polsten to fruition as a simpler and cheaper to produce but as effective derivative of the Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.

The Polish Home Army was probably the only World War II resistance movement to manufacture large quantities of weaponry and munitions. In addition to production of pre-war designs they developed and produced in the war the Błyskawica submachine gun, Bechowiec, KIS and Polski Sten (from the British Sten) machine pistols as well as the filipinka and sidolówka hand grenades. In the Warsaw Uprising Polish engineers built several armoured cars, such as the Kubuś, which also took part in the fighting. The KIS was designed and made in the Jan Piwnik's "Ponury" ("Grim") guerrilla unit that was operating in Holy Cross Mountains region. It was probably the only kind of modern firearm that could be manufactured in the forest without the need for sophisticated tools and factory equipment in the Second World War.[ citation needed ]

See also

Notes

a ^ Numerous sources state that Polish Army was the fourth biggest Allied fighting contingent. Steven J. Zaloga wrote that "by the war's end the Polish Army was the fourth largest contingent of the Allied coalition after the armed forces of the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain." [70] Jerzy Jan Lerski writes "All in all, the Polish units, although divided and controlled by different political orientation, constituted the fourth largest Allied force, after the American, British and Soviet Armies." [71] M. K. Dziewanowski has noted that "if Polish forces fighting in the east and west were added to the resistance fighters, Poland had the fourth largest Allied army in the war (after the USSR, the U.S. and Britain)". [72]

b ^ Sources vary with regards to what was the largest resistance movement in World War II. As the war progressed, some resistance movements grew larger—and others diminished. Polish territories were mostly freed from Nazi German control in the years 1944–1945, eliminating the need for their respective (anti-Nazi) partisan forces in Poland (although the cursed soldiers continued to fight against the Soviets). Several sources note that Polish Armia Krajowa was the largest resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Europe. For example, Norman Davies wrote "Armia Krajowa (Home Army), the AK, which could fairly claim to be the largest of European resistance"; [73] Gregor Dallas wrote "Home Army (Armia Krajowa or AK) in late 1943 numbered about 400,000, making it the largest resistance organization in Europe"; [74] Mark Wyman wrote "Armia Krajowa was considered the largest underground resistance unit in wartime Europe". [75] Certainly, Polish resistance was the largest resistance until the German invasion of Yugoslavia and the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. After that point, the numbers of Soviet partisans and Yugoslav partisans grew rapidly. The number of Soviet partisans quickly caught up and were very similar to that of the Polish resistance. [76] [77] The number of Tito's Yugoslav partisans were roughly similar to those of the Polish and Soviet partisans in the first years of the war (1941–1942), but grew rapidly in the latter years, outnumbering the Polish and Soviet partisans by 2:1 or more (estimates give Yugoslavian forces about 800,000 in 1945, to Polish and Soviet forces of 400,000 in 1944). [77] [78]

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  33. Former Bletchley Park mathematician-cryptologist Gordon Welchman has written: "Ultra would never have gotten off the ground if we had not learned from the Poles, in the nick of time, the details both of the German military... Enigma machine, and of the operating procedures that were in use." Gordon Welchman, The Hut Six Story, 1st ed., 1982, p. 289.
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Bibliography

Further reading