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Beginning the World War II, Poland was invaded and occupied in the Polish September Campaign by the German forces. Poland managed to establish an exile government, an intelligence service and an army outside Poland, contributing to the side of the Allies throughout the war. Poland was also the only country that did not have a puppet government collaborating with the Nazis.
After the defeat in the 1939 campaign, the Polish government in exile immediately organised a new army in France. A mountain brigade took part in the Battle of Narvik. In 1940 two divisions (First Grenadier Division and Second Infantry Fusiliers Division) took part in the defense of France, with a motorized brigade and two infantry divisions were in the process of formation. The Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade was formed in Syria (a French protectorate at that time), where many Polish soldiers had fled from Romania. The Polish air force in France consisted of eighty-six aircraft in four squadrons with one and a half squadrons fully operational, and the rest in various stages of training.
After the fall of France, a large contingent of personnel were either interned in Switzerland or died during the fighting; nevertheless Władysław Sikorski was able to evacuate many Polish soldiers to England. In 1941, after an agreement with Stalin, the Soviets released many former Polish citizens, from which a 75,000-strong army was formed in the Middle East under General Wladyslaw Anders, (the so-called Anders' Army).
The Polish army in the west numbered in total 165,000 at the end at the 1944 - including about 20,000 in Polish air forces and 3,000 in the navy. At the end of WWII, the Polish army in the west numbered 195,000 soldiers and increased to 225,000 by July 1945, most of newcomers being released prisoners of war and from labour camps. The communist government organised its own army, the Polish People's Army, which at the end of the war numbered close to 500,000 soldiers. In addition, the Armia Krajowa ("Home Army"; abbreviated "AK"), the Polish resistance forces in Poland itself, at their peak numbered around 200,000 regular soldiers and many more conspirators and sympathizers.
Polish air forces fought in the Battle of France (133 pilots - they achieved 55 victories and lost 15 men). Later Polish pilots fought in the Battle of Britain where the Polish 303 Fighter Squadron would have the highest number of kills of any Allied squadron; the Polish Air Force fought also in Tunisia (Skalski circus), and during raids on Germany. At the end at the war there were about 12,000 Polish airmen in the RAF (15 squadrons in total) and USAAF.
Polish army units on the Eastern Front included the 1st Polish Army and the 2nd Polish Army, with 10 infantry divisions and 5 armoured brigades.
A large portion of the Polish Navy was destroyed during the September campaign. However, the majority of large ships in the Polish Navy continued to fight in cooperation with the British Fleet. At different stages of the war, it consisted of 2 cruisers and large number of smaller ships, including 3 destroyers and 2 submarines, that escaped from the Baltic Sea in 1939.
This list does not include several other minor ships, transport ships, merchant marine auxiliary vessels and reconnaissance boats.
The Polish navy fought alongside the allied navies, including fighting against the Bismarck.
Polish cryptographers were able to decrypt early versions of Enigma and gave the results of their work to British.
As early as 1940 Polish agents (see Witold Pilecki) have penetrated many concentration camps (including Auschwitz) and informed the rest of the world about Nazi atrocities.
Armia Krajowa intelligence was vital in localising and destroying the rocket factory at Peenemunde (on 18th August 1943), and gathering information about V-1 and V-2 rockets, including delivery of a complete V-2 rocket via an air bridge from occupied Poland, when a V-2 test rocket fired on 30th May 1944 crashed near the test facility at Sarnaki nad Bugiem and was recovered and secured by the (Polish Home Army). On the night of 25/26 July 1944 it was successfully transported to UK from occupied Poland by a RAF plane together with detailed plans of the parts that were too big to fit in the aeroplane and one of the Polish technicians who were working on the rocket (see: Operation III Most). Analysis of the captured equipment proved vital in improving the Allies anti-V-2 defences.
Polish intelligence services cooperated with the Allies in every European country and they operated one of the largest intelligence networks in Nazi Germany. Many Polish exiles also served in Allied intelligence services, one of the most famous ones being Christine Granville in the British Special Operations Executive.
| This article is part of the series: Polish Secret State |
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27th Home Army Infantry Division
Major battles and campaigns in which Polish regular soldiers fought:
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