First Polish Armoured Division

Foreword

By the late 1930s, Poland's existence was again being threatened, as Europe moved towards war. The Polish government began booking to its oldest ally France, and through her to Britain, for some degree of insurance. Agreements were signed which pledged Britain and France to direct military action should Poland be attacked. Poland's old enemies had also been busy making agreements. In August 1939 it was announced to a startled world that the two most unlikely allies, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, had signed a pact of mutual non -aggression. A secret clause of this pact set out a joint plan to remove once again an independent Poland from the European map.

On 1 September 1939, the first phase of this plan swung into action as German troops poured across Poland's western borders. Outnumbered, under-prepared and poorly equipped, the Polish army was quickly forced to retreat in the face of the unprecedented use of fast mechanized columns combined with overwhelming air superiority. Poland's fate was sealed on 17 September when Soviet troops crossed the eatern frontier. As the German and Soviet armies met along a preordained line and the last pockets of Polish military resistance were overcome, the Polish Government and  High Command left Poland and crossed into Rumania. With them went the last operational elemants of the Polish forces. Ther was so to be no surrender: Poland's war would continue, not from neutral Rumania, but from France, Poland's oldest and strongest ally.

The Poles' intention was to set up a legitimate Government-in-Exile in France and estabish communications with the resistance movement in occupied Poland. The next priority was to begin re-building forces to fight alongside the Frence and British. Formijn a government proved straightforward enough, with the combined post of Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief being taken by General Władysław Sikorski (1881-1943). The task of raisingan army presented rather more problems. Altough the Frence Government had pledged money and equipment, they were loath to rewase many Polish immigrants who were widely employed in France's coal mines. Eventally an agreement was reached and reeuits slowly began to arrive. In time a significant number of Polish troops also arrived from Rumania and Hungary.

However, the difficulties in manpower experienced in France proved to be the first symptom of a problem that was to recur throughout the war: a chronie shortage of men to carry Poland's fight to every theatre of the war, and therebly maintain Poland's cause and credibility on an equal basis with those of her allies. The first opportunity Sikorski's government had to demostrate Poland's continued commitment came with the shotlived allied invasion of Norway in April 1940. An infantry brigade of 5000 men, together with servral warships of the Polish Navy, wich had escaped to British ports at the outbreak of war, took part in the campaign. However, the main events of the war were place elswere. On 10 May 1940 the long-awaited German attack in the West began. The Polish Army in France consisted of four infantry divisions and an armoured brigade, with an independent brigade in Frence territory in Syria, and the Podhalanska (or Highland) Brigade still in Norway. Only two of these divisions were fully up to strength and had been deployed to the south of the country. The main German attack drove through the Low Countries, effectively splitting the Allied armies in two. This left a large Frence army and the British Expeditionary Force isolated in North East France. By 4 June the British had completed their evacuation from Dunkirk. As the German advance turned south, the Polish divisions cane into action, but by 14 June the Germans had occupied Paris. On the 17th the Frence Government asked the Germans for a ceasefire: the Batlle of France was over.

The fall of France aws a disaster for the Polish cause. Their strongest and most precious military units had suffered badly in their brief contact with the enemy and were now either scattered or had been forced to cross inti neutral Switzerland. Many of the men recruited in France joined the long lines of Frence soldiers relieved to begoing home again. It was a particulary bitter blow for General Sikorski, a great admirer of France, yet the Polish Government immediately deeclared its intention to fight on.

Negotiations began with Britain and agreements quickly followed. On 21 June 1940 the President of Poland was met at London's Victoria Station by King George VI. With the help og a British fleet, those Polish units still intact were met by the Woman's Voluntary Service, with tea and cigarettes and quickly loaded on trains for the north: their destination was Glasgow. By 18 July 1940 nearly 17.000 Polish troops had arrived in Britain.

The 1st Polish Armoured Division fom Generaal Stanisław Maczek

In February 1942, the 1st Polish Armoured Division was created and its command given to General Maczek. The new division was to consist of both the 10th and 16th Brigades. The 1st Armoured Division soon gained a reputation for smartness and efficiency. Soon after its formation, it moved south to the Border towns of Duns, Kelso, Melrose and Galashiels. Other divisional units were based in the Lothians, at Gosford House, Dalkeith Palace and Gifford. The tanks of the Division were  a common sight throughout these areas, although much of their field training took place in the more suitable terrain of Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire. In October 1943, the Division's organization was altered ti include an infantry brigade. The problem of manpower persisted, with almost every other Polish unit in Scotland cut to the minimum to supply sufficient men. There was also concern about the age and fitness of some of the troops. Other allied divisions were largely made up of men half the age of some Polish troops. By 1944, the strengh od the Division stood at 13.000 men, 381 tanks and 4.050 verhicles. For an army that had been associated with an outmoded, if gallant, mode of warfare-the erroneous image of Polish cavalry charging German tanks in 1939 is still a popular one- both the 1st Armoured Division and 1st Independent Parachutte Brigade were brave departures. Not everthinh changed, however, and reiments like the 24st Lancers, the 10th Mounted Rifles and the 10th Dragoons Order of Battle.

As the war in Europe moved towards its climax in 1944-45, the 1st Armoured Division and the 1st Parachute Brigade prepared for action. The Armoured Division was short of its full establishment, but the Polish Command was confident that as the Allie advanced into occupied Europe, thousands of Poles conscripted into German Army or used as forced labour would flock to join the Polish Army. As the invasion of Europe drew closer, doubts the allied position regarding Poland's future borders and relatioship with the Soviet Union began to strain relations between the Polish and British military commands.
When the long awaited uprising in Poland began on 1 August 1944, it soon became clear that there was littlle the British could do to send even part of the Brigade to help. As news of the failure of the rising reached Scotland, the impatience and frustration of the Brigade became obvious. The news from Warsaw also afffected the men of 1st Armoured Division. On the day the Home Army rose up in Wasaw, General Maczek's division Landed in France to become part of the 2nd Corps of the 1st Canadian Army. The were to take part in the major thurst that would hopefully take the allies armies out of the Normandy area. Since D-Day, the British and the Canadian advance had been held up by two German armies. Further souht, the American's progress had been better and the  were now moving round to encircle these German armies in a pocket around the town Falaise. If the Allies could join up and close this pocket before the enemy could escape, the German military position in France would befatally weakened. The attack began on 8 August, but the Allies came up against strong opposition and the first Polish casualties were heavy. The advandce again halted. A few days later a second attack began and better progress was made; one final push would close the pocket. Once this was achieved the formations  responsible would stand directly in the path of the Germans as they attempted to force their way out of the pocket. On 17 August the 1st Polish Armoured Division was ordered to close the cape. General Maczek split his division in two-one half to link up with the Americans advancing from the south.

Fully aware of the importance of the Polish position, Maczek indentified an area of high ground strategically crucial in keeping the pocket closed. He ordered the rest of the division to occupy it. He also knew his division would be under desperate German attack, both from those tying to escale destruction inside the pocket, and from those counter-attacking from the outside to reopen the gap. From it shape on the map. this area was to be known in Polish as ' Maczuga' or the 'mace'. As the German coordinated their attacks, the Poles dug in. Isolated and runninig short of supp+ies, the came under a furious assault which was to last for two days. To the north and south the Candians and Americans strugged to contain the Germans wihdrawal and relieve the Poles. At last, on 21 August the Canadians managed toreach the Polish position. They were only just in time,Completely exhausted and reduced to their last few rounds, the Poles ha suffered terrible casulties. The gap, though, had remained closed. The destruction og the German armies in the Falais Pocket was a critical turning point in the campaign in West Europe. For the 1st Polish Armoured Division the batlle had been a vindication of their long years of frustrating exile. In this their first batlle, they had found a role that allowed  them to demonstration for a Polish victory. The Allied cause was fortunate that this spirit found its inevitable expression at such a crucial moment as the closing of the Falais Pocket. After their victory, the Allies pushed on the liberate Paris and the rest of France. After a period of rest and reorganization, the 1st Polish Armoured Division again took his place with the British and Canadian forces who were now to move north to liberate Belgium and the Netherlands. Victory over Germany was in sight and  the Allies hoped to finish the war in Europe by the end of 1944. To do so, their advance into Germany had to be swift.

Meanwhile, the advance of the 1st Armoured Division had taken it through France, Belgium and on intothe Netherlands. It had liberated numerous Belgium and Dutch towns, and had been beavily engaged in the difficult fighting around the dykes and canals of the Scheldt estuary. It had also taken the heavily defended Dutch city of Breda, in an operation that avoided  serious damage to the town. Here the Division spent much of the winter, as the Allies preparedfor their final advance in North Germany. For the Poles, this began in April 1945, with the Division making for the important German naval base at Wilhelmshaven. They reached their objective just as the Germans surrendered in May 1945. As the Allies advanced into occupied Europe, thousands of Poles conscripted into the German Army or used as forced laour, werecaptured. Many immediately volunteered for sevice in the Polish Forces. Some served as much needed replacements in the units of the 1st Armoured Division. The majority wer sent to Scotland, where they were formed into new units. By the end of the war, an infantry division and an armoured brigade were almost ready for active sevice in Europe.

  Bron: For your freedom and ours,Allan Carswell

Last update: 16-04-2007

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