Speaking of Polish uniforms, otherwise not everyone can imagine, at least roughly, what the Poles wore there after WWI. I myself am not a big connoisseur of Polish uniforms, but there is quite enough information about this on the Internet. So please consider everything below not as an overview of the topic, but just a brief illustration.

Austria
In short, the Poles from WWI and the first years after that wore the uniform where they were formed. The Polish legion in the Austrian army, for example, wore the Austrian uniform.

On the right - the uniform of a lancer of the Polish Legion, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian army

In 1917, a uniform was developed for the Legion, in which in 1918 he went to his comrades in Ukraine and wore it until the uniform of 1919.
Not to mention the fact that after the collapse of the Dual Monarchy, the Poles immediately dressed from Austrian warehouses.

Germany
Part of the Polish army, after the collapse of the German Empire, quickly changed into converted German uniforms with their gray overcoats, steelhelms and fieldgray. Here is what, for example, the Soviet intelligence officer Ravich saw in the occupied Bobruisk in 1919.

Approaching some square, I heard drumming and the monotonous hum of pipes. On either side of the wide square stood horses with grooms between them. Well-groomed, large, bay Poznan horses, snorting, beat with their hooves. Soldiers lined up in a straight line in front of them, decorated with stripes, badges, piping and something else. For some reason, this reminded me of bringing horses to the circus arena by groomsmen. The Poznań column marched across the square. Twelve drummers and twelve flutists beat out and played a monotonous melody. Soldier's boots, short German boots, shod, struck in time. On the side, sticking out their chests, sergeants walked with dead, stony faces. In front, flashing the glass of a monocle, throwing out straight, unbending legs, an officer marched. Only officers and sergeants wore confederates - high square hats, all the rest were in German iron helmets.

N.A. Ravich. Youth of the century. M., 1960. s.159-160

But the coolest thing here was the Polish cavalry, which shamelessly altered the uniforms of the German horsemen. Something has been fantastic.

The return of the Greater Poland Cavalry Regiment to the barracks after the solemn greeting of the Entente mission, Poznań, March 1, 1919, st. Entrance (now St. Martin)

Ulanka (uniform jacket) of a senior lieutenant of the Wielkopolska Cavalry Regiment in 1919, irregular uniform, from an altered Ulanka of a Prussian regiment. Worn only during evening receptions. Collection of the National Museum in Poznań - Wielkopolska War Museum.

But that's not the most amazing thing. The most amazing thing is this hell.

Russia

It is clear that while in Russia, the Poles were also supplied with Russian uniforms. Some of them were even given their own distinctions in the form of a privilege.

I put on a dark blue uniform with a purple insert on the chest, blue breeches and a bright red lancer (cap). It took less than an hour to prepare. The orderlies were already waiting for us with horses."
Boleslavsky R. Way of Lancers. Memoirs of a Polish officer 1916-1918. / Translation by L. Igorevsky. -- M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2008.

In 1917-1918, the uniform of the Polish units in the Russian army was rather motley - the Polish regiments in Odessa differed only in red and white armbands, for example. For units located in Ukraine, their own system of differences was developed in the form of corner chevrons. Their own form was also introduced - for infantry and artillery, amaranth (raspberry) stripes on trousers, raspberry edging along the lower edge of the collar and on the cuffs of the sleeves (like the Russian guard). For the infantry, artillery and engineering troops, a cap-"matseivka" (with a soft top) was introduced. Infantry units did not wear buttonholes, artillery and engineering troops wore black rectangular banners on the collar. The cavalry introduced English khaki caps with an amaranth band and blue edging along it, as well as a silver piping on the visor. On the trousers there is a double amaranth stripe with a white piping in the middle. Double amaranth-blue banners were placed on the collar (with two tongues, like the Polish cavalry buttonholes of the interwar period), on the cuffs - amaranth piping. For officers, it was planned to introduce English-style ammunition (a belt and a belt over the right shoulder), for Russian soldiers. The same insignia were to be used on overcoats as on uniforms.

Headquarters of the Inspector General of the Polish Forces in Ukraine. Vinnitsa, 1918
(From left to right) Lieutenant M. Mezheevsky, Lieutenant Y. Dunin-Golelsky, Lieutenant General Y. Lesnevsky, Lieutenant General E. where Genning-Mikhaelis, Colonel A. Kovalevsky, Pilot Master Count G. Tarlo. The photograph clearly shows the insignia (on the left sleeve) in the form of corners, caps with silver eagle cockades and white piping and visor. Staff officers use conventional Russian aiguillettes. In gen. E. Michaelis - two gold chevrons of a lieutenant general (lieutenant general of the Russian army) with a "hussar" zigzag on the forearm, two stripes for wounds above the cuff and the Order of St. George 4 tbsp. on the chest.

France
The 6th Army of Haller, which was formed in France, was completely dressed in French colonial blue uniforms with confederates, helmets, notched buttonholes, etc. They were easily recognized because of this.
The units that ended up on the territory of the whites during the years of the civil war wore Russian, and then French blue uniforms, since they were also supplied by the French.

Senior officers in Novonikolaevsk, 1919

Parade on the occasion of the anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald in Novonikolaevsk, 1919

Polish officers in Vladivostok

Polish officers in Arkhangelsk

Details - here: http://kolchakiya.narod.ru/uniformology/Poles.htm

During the Polish-Soviet War of 1920, the French sent additional supplies, due to which some elements of the French supply (Adrian's helmets, for example) became more common.

Volunteer unit from Lviv during the Polish-Soviet war, the so-called. 2nd Death Squad (August 1920)

Your native

In 1917, for the Polish legions, the "matiuevka" and the quadrangular confederate were born. The latter became the most famous distinction of the Poles.

At the beginning of 1919, new uniforms were approved. For Polish units in France, French light blue uniforms were left, and for Polish units in other territories, gray-green uniforms (taking into account the peculiarities of the cut of the German and Russian uniforms). All ranks received a slingshot with a leather visor and a metal eagle in the form of a cockade. Colored buttonholes were installed on the collar, piping on the cuffs and along the seam of the trousers and trousers. Dark blue cloth emblems of military branches were sewn onto the buttonholes, infantry and field guards had green and white cloth buttonholes, respectively. Infantrymen relied on green piping on buttonholes and slingshots; the piping on the trousers was yellow. The gunners had scarlet piping on their trousers and hats. The officer's lace was silver in the infantry, cavalry and gendarmerie, and gold in the artillery and other units and services.
The insignia of the lower ranks up to the senior sergeant was installed from dark red (actually black) braid and was worn on the sleeve above the cuff. Officer distinctions were made of a narrow galloon on the device and were worn over the cuffs and on the band of the slingshot. For the generals, traditional “snakes” made of silver galloon and five-pointed stars of the color opposite to the device were installed. "Snakes" also relied on the officers of the General Staff, who also wore double aiguillettes.

Well, of course, such a diverse outfit, which could not be canceled immediately, often gave out chic samples.

Stephen Zaloga

Title: Buy the book "Polish Army 1939–1945": feed_id: 5296 pattern_id: 2266 book_

Poland was the first country to fall victim to German aggression during World War II. Despite this, her army continued to fight on different fronts throughout the five years of carnage. By the end of the war, the Polish army was the fourth largest among the armies of the allied powers, second only to the ground forces of the Soviet Union, the United States and Great Britain. Polish soldiers participated in almost all major campaigns in the European theater of operations, and the story of them is difficult and tragic. The courage of the Polish soldiers often turned into senseless losses as a result of the activities of unscrupulous politicians. Fate has been cruel to the Poles during all these years, and especially cruel to the soldiers of Poland.

* * *

On the eve of the war, Pride of Poland: cavalry parade in Warsaw. Headwear - peaked caps with a rigid square crown and crimson band of equestrian shooters.

The Polish army of 1939 was in many ways the brainchild of its founder, Marshal Jozef Pilsudski. A socialist and revolutionary, Piłsudski formed and in 1918 led the first ragged units of the Polish Army into the battle for independence. After 125 years of foreign domination, a free Poland was recreated by decision of the Versailles Peace Conference. Although the exact boundaries were not specified, the armed uprising in Germany naturally determined the western outlines of the state. In the east, the situation was different: both Poland and Bolshevik Russia sought to acquire the territories of the former Russian Empire lying between them and populated by Poles, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Jews. In 1920, the Polish army, led by Pilsudski, seized the initiative and laid siege to Kyiv, located deep in Ukraine. However, the Polish troops soon had to retreat under the blows of the First Cavalry Army and formations of the Red Cossacks. The fate of Poland hung in the balance, but at the moment when the victory of the Bolsheviks already seemed imminent, the southern wing of the Red Army, under the leadership of Stalin, stopped the advance and did not provide assistance to Tukhachevsky's red-Cossack northern flank, although they were already almost at the suburbs of Warsaw. Pilsudski made excellent use of the situation, and the Red Army was forced to withdraw. The euphoria from success for some time overshadowed the most difficult economic, political and social problems of the new state. Poland found itself sandwiched between two temporarily weakened but not broken neighbors who wanted revenge.

Polish infantry company on the march (photo taken shortly before the war). The soldiers are wearing old French RSC gas masks. High windings will soon be replaced by short ones. Stripes of applied infantry colors (yellow and blue) on the collars are barely visible.

The victorious Polish Army emerged from the 1920 war proud and confident. Piłsudski at first refused proposals to take power into his own hands, but painful attempts to establish parliamentary democracy in the country forced him in 1926 to decide on a coup d'état. Without holding an official post, he ruled the country until his death in 1936, and then his successors established the "regime of colonels", which continued the same policy without much success until 1939. The army was Pilsudski's pride, and the grateful Poles did not spare funds for the maintenance of the armed forces. The share of military spending in the national budget was a noticeably larger share than in other European states, but in absolute terms, the Polish military budget could not be compared with the military budget of Germany or the Soviet Union. To equip at least one armored division, an amount was required that exceeded the entire military budget of Poland - an agrarian country with a poorly developed industry. Pilsudski managed to recruit officers from the disintegrated armies of Austria-Hungary, Prussia and Russia into the Polish army. Its equipment was an incredible mixture of obsolete weapons from the arsenals of almost all European armies. Piłsudski himself was not a career officer, and the Polish Army as a whole became a reflection not only of his strengths, but also of his weaknesses. The training of senior officers and coordination at the level of higher headquarters were in their infancy, the main emphasis was on "improvisation". Technical innovations such as automobiles, aircraft, and tanks were greeted without enthusiasm.

Polish infantry on parade, soldiers in full field uniform, model 1936. Dark blue buttonholes trimmed with yellow piping along the trailing edge and decorated with a traditional silver zigzag. There are no other insignia on the buttonholes. The infantrymen are armed with a Polish-made Mauser 98 rifle. The soldier second from the left in the front line is armed with an rkm wz.28 light machine gun, a slightly modified version of the Browning automatic rifle produced in Poland.

The organization and tactics of the Polish army were greatly influenced by the Soviet-Polish war of 1920. In contrast to the First World War, the 1920 war was very mobile. But this dynamism was caused, first of all, by the lack of modern weapons. Of course, airplanes, machine guns and armored cars gave this war a "modern" look, but they were too few to have a noticeable effect on the course of the campaign. In 1914, in the West, machine guns put an end to the history of cavalry, but in 1920 there were too few automatic weapons in Poland, and here the cavalry continued to dominate the battlefield. The Polish cavalry came out of the war crowned with glory and remained the most prestigious branch of the military. Of course, some changes on the battlefield were taken into account. Attacks in the equestrian ranks were gradually abandoned, and in 1934 the pike was officially withdrawn from service with the cavalry. Nevertheless, the cavalry regiments continued to be the elite of the Polish army, attracting the best soldiers and officers into their ranks.

If the cavalry was the elite of the Polish army, then the horse artillery was the elite of the elites. During the exercises of 1939, the deployment of a battery of 75-mm field guns of the 02/26 model - Putilov's three-inch divisional guns, converted to French 75-mm ammunition, is being worked out. This old weapon turned out to be a formidable opponent of German tanks, and the high training of crews also played a significant role.

The nightmares of trench warfare led the likes of Martel, Liddell Hart, de Gaulle and Guderian to seek a mechanized antidote to machine guns and breech-loading howitzers. But the Polish military leaders did not know the hardships of trench warfare and could not understand this European craving for mechanization. Therefore, the Polish army remained, in fact, the army of the beginning of the First World War. Poland had 30 infantry divisions and 11 cavalry brigades - the cavalry made up about a tenth of the entire army. The army was distinguished by a very low level of motorization, communications remained at a primitive level. Artillery was almost exclusively horse-drawn, with virtually all guns left over from World War I, but often falling short of those old standards. In response to the formation of a new army in Germany after Hitler came to power in 1936, Poland began to modernize its armed forces. Given the weakness of the Polish industrial base, it was decided to mechanize four cavalry brigades by 1942. Great efforts were made to saturate the troops with anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. By the start of the war in 1939, the program was far from complete. Only one mechanized brigade was formed, the second was in the process of being formed. The tank troops had three battalions of good light tanks, as well as several hundred light tankettes, scattered between the reconnaissance units of the cavalry brigades and infantry divisions. The army adopted the excellent Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun, as well as the Polish-designed anti-tank rifle, which caused a lot of trouble for the Germans in 1939.

A soldier of the 1st light cavalry regiment in a peacetime uniform with buttonholes. The caps of the light cavalry had round crowns and dark red bands. The collar is sheathed with a characteristic "Polish" zigzag of sewn silver braid for privates and corporals. Ranks above corporals relied on zigzags embroidered with silver thread. The zigzag borders the regimental pennant, in this case silver with a dark red stripe down the center. On the muffs of shoulder straps is the monogram "JP" - "1st Regiment of the Light Cavalry of Jozef Piłsudski".

With the approach of the war, the Polish command developed a plan " Z"(from Zachod- West), focused on protecting Poland from Germany. The Polish military leadership was skeptical about the possible prospects for such a conflict. At best, it hoped to hold out for six months, waiting for help from the Western allies - France and Great Britain. The Poles believed that France would launch a major offensive two weeks after the declaration of war on Germany. The Polish command was quite well aware of the German plans and the state of the German army. Back in 1933, they managed to decipher the code of the Enigma cipher machine ( Enigma), but in 1938 the Germans changed all the encryption equipment, and this source of information dried up. Unfortunately, the Polish command continued to consider itself sufficiently informed, and as a result underestimated the power of the Wehrmacht. But it is much worse that the ability of German armored and motorized divisions to perform a maneuver was underestimated - however, this was typical not only for the Poles. Their own limited experience in using weak tankettes led to skepticism about the capabilities of armored units and the absence of serious theoretical developments. The Poles "overlooked" also the incredible opportunities provided by the interaction of artillery and air support.

Officers of the 10th Mechanized Brigade during a meeting, 1939. In the center, in berets, Colonel S. Maczek and his adjutant F. Skibinski. By the start of the war it was the only Polish mechanized brigade; she was nicknamed "Black" for the characteristic leather jackets worn by some tankers. A characteristic feature of the equipment of its soldiers was also the old German helmets of the 1916 model.

The strategic opportunities available to the Polish army were unenviable. On three sides the country was surrounded by Germany and its allies, on the fourth was the Soviet Union. The Poles believed that the political differences between Germany and the USSR could not be overcome, and therefore left the eastern part of the country practically defenseless, concentrating all forces on the western border. Poland is a plain without major natural barriers, except for the mountains in the south. The center of the country is crossed by rivers that can be used as natural barriers, but at the end of summer the water level is low and they can be forced in many places. In addition, a withdrawal across these rivers at the very beginning of the campaign would have meant the loss of densely populated industrial areas, in which, in addition, the main military depots were located. Consequently, it was impossible to surrender these territories either for political or military reasons. The only alternative was to concentrate troops in the border areas and then slowly retreat with fighting. It was this plan that was adopted by the Polish command: the Polish forces were too stretched, but there was hope that during the organized retreat, the Polish troops would be increasingly concentrated. It was a weak strategic decision, completely powerless against mobile German formations, both in terms of the number of troops and their equipment. This murderous strategy was based only on the hope that France would enter the war.

The Polish army was twice as large as the German one, and the gap in tanks, aircraft and artillery was even greater. The only weapon in which the Poles had an undeniable advantage was the saber. At the end of August, the situation was aggravated by diplomatic pressure from France and Great Britain, who demanded that mobilization not begin, so as not to provoke Germany. In the last week of August 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Non-Aggression Pact, which contained a secret protocol defining the plan for partitioning Poland between them. In the early morning of September 1, 1939, the Wehrmacht went on the offensive; The bloodiest war in the history of mankind began. The old battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the small Westerplatte garrison in Danzig (Gdansk).

SEPTEMBER CAMPAIGN 1939

The Polish army was still in a state of mobilization when the first waves of German dive bombers began to destroy warehouses, roads and lines of communication. The conventional wisdom that the Polish Air Force was burned to the ground on the first day is not correct. By the beginning of the war, the Polish squadrons were dispersed over secret airfields, so they suffered the first strikes relatively painlessly. Although the Polish pilots were well trained, the P-11s were “yesterday” compared to the Luftwaffe, and their numbers were very small. Light bomber "Karas" ( Karas) was a kind of hybrid of the Lysander army reconnaissance aircraft ( Lysander) and the Fireray Battle bomber ( Fairey Battle). It proved to be ineffective due to the air superiority of German fighters. Polish fighters and anti-aircraft gunners were able to shoot down unexpectedly many German aircraft, but air supremacy was firmly held by the Germans. Only in the skies over Warsaw did they meet a serious rebuff.

Infantry platoon of the 10th mechanized brigade in soft-crowned slingshots. The Ursus truck is equipped with a ckm wz.30 anti-aircraft machine gun, produced under license by an American water-cooled 30 caliber Browning machine gun.

The German army delivered the first blow in three main directions: in the north through the Pomeranian corridor, in the center to Lodz, and in the south to Krakow. The first German attacks were repulsed in many places, but they continued to storm the positions of the Polish troops and were successful. The Wehrmacht was not yet at the zenith of its power, but even at that time the German army was undoubtedly one of the strongest in Europe.

The captain of the 1st light tank battalion sets the task for the tank commander. The officer is dressed in a black tank jacket, and the soldiers are in simple khaki overalls. A small bag on the soldier's chest is a Polish gas mask WSR wz.32, which replaced the old French gas mask. Instead of slingshots, tankers were given black berets.

The September campaign is often associated with the idea of ​​the brave Polish lancers, with lances attacking German tanks. There were no such attacks in reality, but such stories can be found not only in popular, but also in serious historical literature. The story of a horse attack on tanks was the creation of Italian war correspondents stationed on the Pomeranian front. The story was picked up by German propaganda, which greatly embellished it. The events on the basis of which this legend was created took place on the evening of September 1 during a skirmish in the area of ​​the Krojanty farm. Positions in the area of ​​the Pomeranian Corridor were held by several Polish infantry divisions and the Pomeranian Cavalry Brigade. It was impossible to organize a reliable defense here, but troops were advanced to prevent the Germans from annexing the corridor, as happened in the Sudetes. After the outbreak of hostilities, the Polish troops were immediately withdrawn to the south. The withdrawal was covered by the 18th Lancers Regiment of Colonel Mastelarzh and several infantry regiments. On the morning of September 1, the 2nd and 20th motorized infantry divisions of General Guderian attacked the Polish forces in the Tuchola forest area. The infantry and cavalry held the line until noon, but then the Germans began to push them back. By evening, the Poles retreated to the railway crossing, and Mastelarzh ordered to push the enemy back at any cost. In addition to the Uhlan regiment, Mastelarzh had a certain amount of infantry and TK tankettes that were part of the brigade. However, the old tankettes were practically incapable of combat, so they, along with some units of the regiment, were left on defensive lines. And two squadrons of lancers in cavalry attempted to bypass the Germans from the flank, in order to then hit them in the rear.

By evening, the Poles discovered a German infantry battalion, located in a clearing. The lancers were only a few hundred meters from the enemy; a saber attack seemed the best solution. In a few moments, two squadrons with drawn sabers flew out from behind the trees and scattered the Germans, hardly inflicting significant damage on them. But when the lancers lined up after the attack, several German armored vehicles appeared in the clearing, armed with 20-mm automatic cannons and machine guns. The Germans immediately opened fire. The Poles, suffering losses, tried to gallop over the nearest hills. Mastelarge and his staff officers died, the losses of the cavalrymen were terrible. The next day, Italian war correspondents visited the battlefield. They were told about the Polish cavalry attack on the tanks, and thus the legend was born. True, the Italians "forgot" to mention that that evening Guderian had to make a lot of efforts to prevent the retreat of his 2nd motorized infantry division "under heavy pressure from the enemy cavalry." "Strong pressure" was provided by the uhlan regiment, which lost more than half of its personnel and amounted to no more than ten percent of the strength of the 2nd motorized infantry division.

Parts of the connection relied on black buttonholes with cornflower blue piping but on the trailing edge. Poles used shepherd dogs or dogs of other breeds to tow bobbins with telephone wire.

But there was hardly another battle in which the Polish cavalry demonstrated such miracles of heroism as the battle of Mokra on September 1. It was one of the few battles in which the Polish cavalry brigade was in full force. It is also interesting that here the Polish cavalry brigade was opposed by the German tank division. On the morning of September 1, the Volyn Cavalry Brigade under the command of Colonel Yulian Filipovich, which had three of its four cavalry regiments, occupied positions in the area of ​​the Mokry farm. The fourth regiment was still on its way. The Volyn brigade was more than twice as numerous as the German 4th Panzer Division, which had just crossed the Polish-German border, and the superiority of the Germans in firepower was even greater. The anti-tank arsenal of the brigade consisted of 18 37-mm Bofors guns, 60 anti-tank rifles and 16 old Putilov three-inch guns adapted for French 75-mm shells. The Germans had 295 tanks, about 50 armored vehicles and numerous artillery.

The positions of the Polish cavalrymen were strongly stretched, the horses were withdrawn from the front line by almost a kilometer. As in 90% of the actions of the Polish cavalry in 1939, the horsemen fought dismounted. Several German tanks managed to slip through gaps in the Polish defenses in the morning fog and launch an attack in the very center of the brigade's defenses in the early morning. The tanks came out just at the location of the horse-artillery units of the brigade. Obsolete or not, the old 3-inch tanks repulsed the tank attack. Only a few tanks managed to return to their own. The horse patrol, sent to observe the enemy, stumbled upon the advancing German column. The cavalrymen dismounted and took cover among a group of buildings. They fought off the attacks all day, only with the onset of darkness did the few survivors manage to escape from the ring. Meanwhile, the main German forces attacked the positions of the dug-in Poles.

Experiencing an acute shortage of anti-tank weapons, they met the German tanks with hand fans. The first attack was repulsed, as were several subsequent ones, but the losses of the cavalrymen grew at an alarming rate. In unsuccessful morning attacks, the Germans lost more than 30 tanks and armored vehicles, after which they changed tactics. In the afternoon, the attack began to be preceded by massive artillery preparation, and the tanks began to move, accompanied by infantry. This time the Germans almost succeeded. The situation was so dire that the brigade commander personally brought ammunition to the 37-mm anti-tank Bofors. The attempt of the Poles to counterattack with the available tankettes did not lead to success, but the Smyala armored train, which took up a firing position behind the Polish positions, on the other side of the river, provided great support to the defenders. By evening, the field near the positions of the Polish troops was littered with burning German tanks, tractors and armored vehicles. The Poles announced the destruction of 75 tanks and 75 pieces of other equipment; it is possible that these figures are exaggerated, but the 4th Panzer Division washed itself with blood that day. The Poles also suffered heavy losses, especially those in horses and convoy columns that came under attack from German dive bombers. The brigade was able to hold its positions for another day, but on September 3, a German infantry division entered its flank from the north, and the Poles had to retreat.

A company of TKS tankettes awaiting orders, Warsaw area, September 13, 1939. Tankers wear ordinary khaki overalls and French-style protective tank helmets. Tankettes TKS, the most numerous armored vehicles of the Polish army, were armed with only one Hotchkiss machine gun.

The situation was similar in other areas as well. The Poles were able to repel the first blows of the German army, while suffering heavy losses, and then began to withdraw. However, the Polish plan for a fighting retreat and subsequent regrouping in new defensive positions failed. The dominance of the Luftwaffe in the air made it impossible to travel on the roads during the day. The soldiers had to fight during the day and move at night, and as a result, the Polish soldiers were completely exhausted. Reinforcements could not arrive at the front line in time, as the roads were clogged with streams of refugees. The German minority in the western regions of Poland was pro-Nazi and acted as a fifth column.

By September 3, Guderian's troops were able to cut the Pomeranian corridor and were able to attack in a southerly direction on Warsaw, overcoming the weak defensive positions of the Poles. The Polish defenses were breached in several places, and there were no reserves to patch up the holes. Contact between the central command in Warsaw and the field headquarters was interrupted. France and Great Britain formally declared war on Germany, but there was no much consolation in that. German tank wedges entered the gaps of the Polish defense, and by September 7, the advanced units of the 4th Panzer Division reached the Warsaw suburbs. The Germans tried to enter the capital of Poland on the move, but stumbled upon a tough defense. On September 9 alone, the Poles reported 57 burnt German tanks.

Soldiers of the 1st Grenadier Division at the parade on the occasion of the presentation of the new banner of the regiment, Arras, France. Pay attention to the standard French uniform and equipment, as well as to the Lebel rifles of the 1886/96 model. The corporal (far left) has two stripes on his shoulder straps. In the center is a non-commissioned officer.

The second week of the war was even harder. After Marshal Eduard Smigly Rydz became supreme commander and head of state, the Polish government chose to leave the capital so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy. The country's leadership was located near the Romanian border, issuing an order to collect the remaining troops for the defense and protection of the so-called "Romanian foothold". It was an unfortunate decision: communication with the border areas was very poor, and as a result, the Polish Army lost even that unstable connection with the command that it had previously. The only bright spot was the Poznan army of General Tadeusz Kutsheba. This grouping was cut off from the main forces, but was able to retreat in an organized manner to the Kutno area. Kutsheba's troops posed a serious threat to the flank of the German 8th Army, and from September 9 they even began to attack across the Bzura River in a southerly direction, crowding out the Wehrmacht's 30th Infantry Division, which was not prepared for defense. The Bzur counterattack of the Poles was completely unexpected for the enemy and cost the commander of the marshal's baton German troops Blaskowitz. The Wehrmacht had to weaken the onslaught on Warsaw and transfer significant forces from the eastern direction against the Kutsheba grouping. The battle lasted a week and ended with the complete encirclement of eight Polish divisions. In a crazy fight, some Polish cavalry and infantry units managed to slip out of the trap and break through to Warsaw.

Two soldiers from the communications unit of the Polish Separate Mountain Brigade rest on a hillside, Borkenes region, Norway. They wear standard French field uniforms and motorcycle jackets. On the helmets, you can see the image of the Polish eagle, applied with grayish-white paint.

Stefan Stazhinsky announced surrender, hoping thereby to save the surviving townspeople. The small garrison of the Hel Peninsula on the Baltic coast continued to fight until 1 October. On the day when German troops were parading through the streets of Warsaw, fighting continued between the Polesie tactical group and the German 13th and 29th motorized infantry divisions. The fire did not stop until 5 October.

The Polish General Staff in the interwar period was not optimistic, but no one expected that the campaign would end so quickly and lead to complete destruction. The Poles underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Wehrmacht and hoped too much for the help of France, and also placed too many hopes on their hopelessly outdated army. The entry of the Red Army into the war brought the defeat of Wormwood closer for several weeks. Soviet troops cut off part of the Polish troops that could retreat to the territory of Romania and Hungary, which accelerated the fall of the "Romanian bridgehead". The only thing that cannot be doubted is the determination and courage of the Polish soldiers. Field Marshal Hertz von Rundstedt, who commanded Army Group South in 1939, wrote: “The Polish cavalry attacked heroically; On the whole, the courage and heroism of the Polish Army are worthy of the greatest respect. However, the High Command failed to adequately respond to the demands of the situation.”

POLISH ARMY IN EXILE

France, 1940

There was not the slightest doubt that the struggle would continue. Even before the fall of Warsaw, plans were made to organize underground resistance, and a number of orders called for Polish units to break into France. Poles were brought up from infancy on stories about the heroic past of their people. Disasters were familiar to Poland. Throughout the 19th century each of the Polish uprisings was invariably suppressed, but each successive generation was ready to shed blood for freedom. The history of Poland also knew an example of the existence of an army in exile: thousands of Poles stood under the banner of Napoleon, hoping with his help to return Poland to the map of Europe. During the First World War, Polish units operated in France and eventually achieved the revival of the country. In 1939, Polish soldiers felt they needed to restore their reputation in the eyes of the French, not to mention their own people. There was no doubt that the fate of Poland depended on the good will of France and Great Britain. Few doubted the idea that France and Britain would win the war. The Poles hoped to convince the French government that after the September defeat they had enough will left to continue the fight.

Among the tasks assigned to the Polish units that ended up in England after the fall of France was the maintenance of armored trains guarding the coastal zone. The crew of this armored train is formed from "supernumerary" Polish officers. In total, 12 such armored trains operated on the British coast.

The task of transporting tens of thousands of Polish soldiers from Romania and Hungary to France proved to be more difficult than initially thought. The German government exerted strong pressure on these countries, trying to achieve the internment of Polish soldiers until the end of the war. Nevertheless, Poland's relations with Hungary and Romania were benevolent, and both of these states saw their possible fate in the fate of Poland. Camps for Polish soldiers were indeed created, but it was not difficult to leave them, and everyone who wanted to could escape from them.

Many officials, including Smigly-Rydz himself, were also interned, and it was impossible for them to escape to France. Therefore, the Polish government in exile was formed from relatively random people. To a certain extent, the fact that the pre-war leaders of Poland could not get into France turned out to be even a positive moment: Polish soldiers could not forgive them for their defeat in 1939. This, as well as pressure from French diplomats, led to the fact that the posts of head of government and supreme commander General Wladyslaw Sikorsky was appointed by the Polish army. In many ways, this was the best candidate. Starting from 1920, Sikorski made a brilliant military career, but after the death of Pilsudski, during the period of the "regime of colonels", he fell out of favor, was removed from business and did not participate in the September campaign. He occupied a centrist position, therefore he was equally acceptable to both the right and the left. In addition, Sikorsky had a reputation as a Francophile, so it was easier for him than anyone else to establish trusting ties with the French government.

General W. Sikorski, leader of the Polish government in exile, presenting awards to two privates after a field exercise, Scotland, 1941. The general wears a slingshot with three stars and a silver zigzag on the band. Stars and a zigzag are repeated on the shoulder straps of the uniform. Also visible are the general's buttonholes made of dark blue velvet with a silver eagle and carmine-red edging along the upper edge. Two soldiers wear French Mle armored helmets. 1935 worn by Polish units in Britain before the introduction of British helmets. Such protective headgear was most often equipped with reconnaissance units.

After negotiations, the French agreed to help in the formation of a separate Polish army on their territory. The French felt guilty for their inaction during the September events in Poland, but still public opinion considered the Poles completely incompetent, and the whole undertaking a waste of time and money. However, the more fully the French military experts analyzed the course of the campaign, the less critical statements they allowed. In the end, an agreement was reached to form four infantry divisions: the ideas of that period about the Slavs as good infantrymen had an effect. The number of corps of soldiers who were able to escape from Poland was to be 35,000 people. However, in addition to the soldiers who arrived in France, Polish emigrants who had lived in the country earlier expressed their desire to join the army. As a result, there were about 45,000 volunteers. Throughout the autumn and winter of 1939/40. the Poles were held in French camps, having received from the French government only blue French uniforms and small arms, outdated even by Polish standards.

Further events developed rapidly. The Soviet Union attacked Finland, and France and Great Britain decided to provide military assistance to the staunch Finns. Sikorsky offered the services of the Polish units, which were glad to clash with the Red Army, which occupied part of their homeland. In January 1940, the French began to supply equipment for the 1st separate Polish mountain brigade "Podhale" ( Podhale). However, before this and other parts of the allies were prepared, Finland began negotiations with the USSR. Spring came, and the Poles were still forced to beg the French for weapons and equipment. Two divisions were almost ready: the 1st Grenadier and the 2nd Rifle. Finally, the French issued something more substantial, in particular the equipment for two battalions of R-35 tanks, which equipped the resurgent 10th mechanized cavalry brigade. The 10th mechanized brigade, nicknamed the "Black Brigade" for its specific black overcoats, was the only fully mechanized unit of the Polish Army in September 1939. It fought gloriously. Its commander, Colonel Stanislav Maczek, taking advantage of the fact that the unit was fighting near the Romanian border, was able to withdraw almost the entire personnel to Romania, and then to France.

By the beginning of the fighting in 1940 in France, two Polish divisions were practically formed, and two more (3rd and 4th) were in training camps. The mountain brigade was the first to enter the battle. At the end of April, a brigade under the command of General Sigmund Bohus-Szyszko was transferred by sea to Anken (Norway), along with a brigade of French Alpine riflemen. The Poles took the first battle on May 14, when they had to knock out the Germans, who had fortified themselves on a hilltop above the village. During the hard and bloody battle in the mountains, the French realized that the Poles can be relied upon. However, due to the fact that on May 10 the Germans occupied the Netherlands, on May 26 it was decided to evacuate the Norwegian Expeditionary Force. The Polish Mountain Brigade disembarked at Brest on June 14 and was soon involved in fierce fighting in Brittany.

Fire control section of a battery of 75 mm anti-aircraft guns WZ.36AA in anticipation of a raid by Luftwaffe bombers near Warsaw, September 2, 1939. Anti-aircraft gunners wear khaki overalls and helmets of the 1931 model, worn backwards so that the visor does not interfere with the use of optical devices. The buttonholes on the officer's uniform (in the center, wearing glasses) are green with a yellow piping along the trailing edge and a silver zigzag.

Ironically, the 1st Polish Grenadier Division was deployed in the small Saar pocket, which the French captured in September 1939, demonstrating "help" to the Poles when they were attacked by Germany. The 2nd Infantry Division was stationed in the Belfort area on the Swiss border. The French army was in dire need of tanks, so the 10th mechanized brigade of Colonel Maczek was thrown into battle not yet fully equipped. The 1st Division entered the battle only at the end of the campaign: it covered the retreat of the French XX Army Corps. At the same time, the division commander, General Bronislaw Duh, was put in a very difficult position: in mid-June, Sikorsky, seeing that France was doomed, ordered all Polish units to evacuate to England. However, General Spirit decided to continue fighting in France in order to avoid being accused of cowardice. The decision cost the soldiers dearly: from 17 to 21 June, the division lost 45% of its personnel. After the surrender of France, the Spirit ordered his soldiers to get to England as best they could, but only a few were able to carry out this order.

The 2nd Rifle Division also saw little action and on June 17, together with the French 45th Army Group, left for Switzerland, where it was interned. The 3rd Division, which had not yet completed its formation and training, took part in the bloody battles in Breton, where it was completely defeated. The 4th Division never entered the battle and was evacuated through the Bay of Biscay to England. Maczek's tankers saw some of the fiercest fighting during the retreat of the VII Army Corps towards Dijon in Champagne. Polish tankers acted jointly with the Senegalese units. By June 19, the brigade had lost three-quarters of its personnel and all its tanks. Maczek ordered the survivors to look for ways to get to England.

A Polish sergeant prepares a charge for a 3.7-inch British anti-aircraft gun. This photograph clearly shows the changes that the Poles made to the British uniforms issued to them. The epaulettes of the British khaki field jacket with white or silver galloon and thin red piping indicate military rank. The Polish Army patch at the top of both sleeves was dark red with white lettering, below it was a red patch with a black image of a bow and arrow: the badge of British anti-aircraft gunners. There are Polish buttonholes on the collar: green with yellow edging on the back edge. Polish soldiers stationed in England painted the image of an eagle on their helmets with yellow paint.

Resurrected Phoenix

So, less than a year later, the Polish army suffered a second crushing defeat. Illusions about the invincibility of the French army, as well as hopes for an early victory and return home, were dispelled. New defeat meant new losses. Of the 75,000 Poles who reached France, about 19,000 people evacuated to England, a quarter of which were pilots. In addition, the Carpathian brigade of General Stanislav Kopansky, which was formed in the Middle East, withdrew to Palestine so as not to clash with troops subordinate to the Vichy government. Relations between the Poles and the British were not as cordial as with the French, but in the summer of 1940 there was no need to choose partners. Churchill sympathized with Sikorsky's plans for the formation of the Polish Army as an independent fighting unit, and the wandering soldiers ended up in the Glasgow area. There was little work for the Poles: protection of the coast and military training. At first, the Royal Air Force was reluctant to take Polish pilots into fighter squadrons, but the situation in the air became increasingly tense, and in August 1940 several Polish squadrons were formed, the 303rd Polish squadron proved to be the most productive during the "Battle of England". Although the squadron was equipped with obsolete types of aircraft, the level of combat training of the Poles turned out to be noticeably higher than that of inexperienced British pilots who had more modern Spitfires and Hurricanes. The successes of the Polish pilots in 1940 contributed to the warming of relations with the British, and as a result they managed to get some more modern military equipment. The Poles turned out to be the most determined army in exile that was in the territory of the United Kingdom, so the British quickly forgot their former dismissive attitude towards the Poles. The defeat of the backward Polish army in 1939 faded after the defeat of the well-equipped British and French armies. A big problem for the Polish Army in 1940 and 1941. there was a shortage of manpower. Volunteers arrived from Poland, literally walking to any neutral port, but the lack of qualified officers and diplomats did not allow even these troops to be brought into proper condition.

In 1941, the Poles and the British greeted with joy the news of the German attack on the Soviet Union. The British were glad that they had an ally in their fight against Hitler. The Poles, on the other hand, received painful satisfaction from the fact that the entire power of the Wehrmacht fell upon the Red Army. They hoped that the Russians and Germans would grind each other to powder, as they had done in 1914-1918, and this would give Poland a chance for rebirth again. The British government was not enthusiastic about such sentiments and insisted that the Polish government in exile restore diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, the Sikorsky government chose to comply, and in 1941 the corresponding treaty was signed. However, Stalin did not agree to cede the Polish territories captured in 1939, and this immediately led to the emergence of rather strained relations between the two new allies.

1. Private of the 18th Lancers. 1939

1. The field headdress “slingshot” with a quadrangular crown was introduced in 1937. Only one emblem was supposed to be worn on the slingshot - a Polish military eagle embroidered with gray whining (In 1939, in some parts, old caps similar to American ones were still worn with a eagle). The slingshot should not be confused with the Polish cap, which existed in the same period. The cap also had a traditional square tulle, but not soft, but hard. In addition, the cap was supplied with a black leather visor and a colored band with insignia under the eagle. The color of the cap band denoted the type of troops, with the exception of the cavalry, where each regiment had its own color. Officers' caps were sheathed with a silver edging along the edge of the bottom, and also had narrow galloons sewn on the bottom in the form of a cross. Regiments of light cavalry and parts of the border guards wore similar caps, but with a round, "English" crown.

Uniform reform in the early 1930s modernized and standardized the Polish uniform, and also eliminated differences in cut between the uniforms of officers and soldiers. The woolen uniform of the 1936 model was sewn from khaki fabric, a slightly greener hue than the English uniforms. The cut was the usual: four pockets, shoulder straps, turn-down collar. Buttons in oxidized silver. The summer uniform had the same cut, but was sewn from linen. The cavalrymen wore breeches, reinforced with leather harnesses, as well as cavalry boots with spurs. The figure shows a soldier of the 18th Lancers with peacetime buttonholes: a blue-and-white pennant with two braids with a scarlet central stripe between them. Along the edge of the collar is a traditional Polish galloon zigzag. In wartime, such buttonholes were not supposed to be worn.

Cavalry pattern brown leather waist belt and Y-shaped shoulder straps. Two three-section pouches for clips of the Mauser type, a carbine of the 1929 model, a bread bag of the 1933 model. A shovel and a bayonet on the waist belt. The gas mask bag is not visible. Horse equipment - a soldier's bridle and saddle of the 1925 model. The saddle is equipped on the left with a mount for a saber of the 1934 model. During the September 1939 campaign, older sabers of the French, Prussian or Russian model were also encountered. Overcoat model 1936 in a roll is fixed on the front pommel of the saddle. Saddlebags and a sack for oats are attached to the back of the saddle. The blanket was supposed to be laid under the saddlecloth.

Pike of the French type with a weather vane-badge of regimental colors. In 1939, lances were not supposed to be used in combat, but there was no uniformity here. Some units left pikes in the barracks, others took them with them, but for the most part they were carried in the wagon train. Peaks with regimental badges and badges of squadrons were supposed to be worn constantly.

2. The uniform is the same. Pay attention to the French helmet of Adrian - in 1939 it remained in almost all cavalry and horse artillery units, as well as in some artillery, reserve infantry and auxiliary units. In the field, of all the insignia, it was supposed to wear only stripes on shoulder straps according to military rank. The corporal was supposed to have two silver chevrons with a red edging. Encryption with a number or with a monogram according to the name of the regiment, as well as with the traditional designations that existed in some parts, were worn on shoulder straps only in peacetime. In the field, such ciphers were worn on muffs that could be easily removed from shoulder straps. The buttonhole pennant on the collar is ruby ​​red/blue with a white center stripe, surrounded by a silver non-commissioned officer's zigzag.

The corporal is armed with an rkm wz.28 light machine gun, which was a further development of the Belgian Browning automatic rifle of the 1928 model. The machine gunner has enlarged double pouches, each pair is connected at the top.

1. Infantry lieutenant, 1939

2–3. Ordinary infantry, 1939

1. Field cap-slingshot with an eagle, overcoat of general cut for officers and lower ranks. Officer's stars on shoulder straps. All infantrymen had a yellow and blue stripe across the corners of their collars. Officers, as a rule, wore good quality breeches and boots in the field, and if the officer was supposed to have a horse, then spurs were attached to the boots. British-style officer's equipment, brown leather. Through the left shoulder are the belts of the tablet and binoculars, through the right shoulder - the belt of the ViS pistol holster. Linen WSR gas mask bag with fabric strap over the right shoulder.

2–3. Standard infantry uniforms and equipment are shown front and back. The Polish helmet of the 1931 model was painted with dark olive salamander-type paint, to which small cork chips were added, creating a grainy surface texture. Helmets were delivered primarily to infantry units, but by 1939 some artillery and other units also received them. The winter woolen uniform of the 1936 model included straight trousers with short windings and lace-up boots of the 1934 model (sometimes boots were sewn from undyed leather). A tarpaulin satchel, model 1932, a bowler hat, painted olive or left unpainted, is suspended from it. A part of the tent or a blanket was often wrapped around the overcoat, and the entire roll was attached to the knapsack in the form of a horseshoe, covering it from above and from the sides. On the left side, a small sapper shovel and a Mauser-type bayonet, along with a canvas cracker bag of the 1933 model. On the right, they are balanced by a bag of the same size and weight with a WSR gas mask. Three-section pouches on the front waist belt. Interestingly, for infantrymen, the role of cavalry shoulder straps is played by the straps of the satchel. The weapon is a Polish-made Mauser rifle, in 1939 it was found in three main versions: a rifle of the 1898 model, similar to the German 98a rifle, a carbine of the 1898 model and a carbine of the 1929 model, similar to the German 98k. Infantry buttonholes are blue with a yellow piping on the back and a white zigzag. In combat conditions, buttonholes were not supposed to be worn.

1. Private of the 10th Cavalry Rifle Regiment of the 10th Mechanized Brigade, 1939

2. Tankman, 1939

3. Lieutenant of the mountain rifle regiment of the 21st mountain division, 1939

1. The only fully mechanized brigade in 1939 had the nickname "Black Brigade" because of the characteristic black leather coats with a cloth collar and shoulder straps. Coats were sewn with a deep smell to the right. The 10th mechanized brigade was probably the only Polish unit whose soldiers continued to wear German helmets of the 1916 model, painted in khaki color, in 1939. The black coat covered the usual cavalry uniform and breeches. Cavalry boots in the motorized artillery units of this brigade were decorated with symbolic spurs (strips of metal around the heels), in the field these decorative "spurs" were not worn. The same "spurs" were worn by all officers of the brigade with evening dress. Note the cavalry leather equipment with Y-shaped shoulder straps.

2. Tank officers wore black leather coats or jackets, while ordinary tankers usually got by with cloth overalls. The head is protected by a khaki-colored helmet, which is a Polish version of the French tank helmet; there were also French-made helmets. Weapon: ViS pistol. On the side is a box with an old French RSC gas mask.

3. In the 21st and 22nd mountain divisions, instead of a slingshot, they wore felt hats, traditional for the mountainous regions of Podhale in southern Poland. A Polish military eagle is fixed on the front of the hat and under it is an asterisk denoting the rank of second lieutenant. On the side is the divisional emblem (“broken” cross-swastika on double twigs), with the help of which an eagle feather is pinned to the hat. The emblem of the division is also repeated on the collar of the cape, which replaced the overcoat in mountain divisions. Cape collar with infantry blue and yellow stripe. The cloak was often worn thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the right shoulder free. In this picture, the ViS pistol holster and saber suspended from the waist belt are not visible. The soldiers of the 21st mountain division wore "Hutsul" hats, traditional for the costumes of the inhabitants of the Eastern Carpathians.

1. Shooter of the 4th Warsaw Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division, France, 1940

2. Lieutenant of the 1st Grenadier Division, France. 1940

3. Shooter of a separate mountain rifle brigade, Norway, 1940

1. During the “strange war”, Polish soldiers in France were dressed in a motley mixture of old French dusty blue uniforms with different types of headgear - caps, caps, berets. Only units of the 1st Grenadier and 2nd Infantry Divisions in the spring of 1940 began to receive French khaki uniforms of the 1935 model. Some Polish infantry units received brown berets instead of khaki caps (bonnet de police). The Poles continued to wear the emblems and insignia of their army, made of metal or pressed rubber, or embroidered. Some received quadrangular French buttonholes, but in Polish colors: for example, for the infantry, dark blue with yellow piping, but without a unit number. Parts of the 2nd Infantry Division wore "bayonet-shaped" buttonholes of regimental colors. Cavalrymen and tankers wore pennant-shaped buttonholes on their collars. The 10th mechanized brigade received the standard uniform and equipment of French tankers. The French infantry helmet of the 1935 model was decorated with the image of the Polish eagle, which was either applied with paint or was an overlay plate; some specifically ordered headplates for helmets.

Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Regiment wore a brown beret with the national emblem. On the left side of the beret was sewn a buttonhole of regimental colors: light green, separated by a dark blue stripe. The same buttonholes were sewn on the collars of uniforms. There were no other distinguishing marks. The standard French field uniform included a uniform, golf trousers of the 1938 model, windings and lace-up boots. Model 1939 pouches are supported by Y-shaped shoulder straps. Modified 1934 satchel with a rolled up blanket, ANP 31 gas mask on the left side, food bag (musette) on the right side. The 1935 sample flask was worn at the back, exactly in the middle of the belt. Armament - Berthier rifle model 1916

2. The officer wears a cap with a Polish eagle. Under the eagle and on the left side of the cap are two stars, denoting the rank of lieutenant. The stars are also pinned to the shoulder straps of the French overcoat. The officer wears a gas mask bag and an M1935A automatic pistol holster.

3. The mountain units were supposed to be equipped on the model of the French Alpine shooters, but in reality the picture was very diverse. The image of an eagle is painted on the helmet. Usually mountain shooters wore a khaki beret. Over the uniform, many wore a water-repellent canvas "motorcycle" jacket. Like the "motor parts jacket" similar to it, it was very popular: the jacket could be worn over the uniform for warmth. Instead of the traditional headgear of Polish mountain units, there is a French artillery helmet. Taped knee-high trousers tucked into thick woolen socks. Leather equipment of the old model of 1915, but the rifle is new - MAS 36. Gas mask bag on a shoulder strap.

1. Shooter of a separate Carpathian rifle brigade, Tobruk, Libya, 1941

2. Shooter of the 6th Lvov Rifle Brigade of the 5th Kresovskaya Infantry Division, Italy, autumn 1944

3. Lieutenant of the 4th armored stick "Scorpio" of the 2nd armored division, Italy, early 1945

1. The uniform of the soldiers of the Carpathian brigade differed from the British only in Polish insignia: the Poles wore the standard British tropical uniform of khaki or field uniform for a temperate climate, cloth equipment of the 1937 model and were armed with British weapons. This soldier wore a khaki wool pullover over a tropical shirt and shorts. On his feet - high golf socks and army boots with short canvas gaiters. The British-style helmet is painted in sand color and decorated with the image of the Polish eagle on a red field. Rifle No. 1 Mk III SMLE.

2. The machine gunner is dressed in the British field uniform of the so-called "model 1940" with open buttons and pockets without bow folds. Standard cloth equipment of the 1937 pattern. In Italy, soldiers sometimes wore wellington boots to get rid of the autumn slush. The camouflage net on the helmet is shown "torn" so that the Polish eagle can be seen. Small diamond-shaped buttonholes on the collar of a British field blouse in traditional Polish colors: in this case infantry, blue with yellow piping. Under the national ribbon-patch in the upper part of the sleeve is the divisional emblem. Even lower is a white lion on a red-blue field - the emblem of the Lviv brigade. After Cassino, the Poles began to wear the emblem of the British 8th Army on the upper part of the right sleeve: a dark blue square patch with a white shield bearing a yellow cross. In preparation for the assault on Monte Cassino, they tried not to wear brigade or divisional emblems for reasons of secrecy. The soldier's armament is a Bren light machine gun.

3. Black beret of the Royal Armored Corps with an embroidered Polish eagle above two stars, denoting the rank of lieutenant. On the left side of the beret is the regimental emblem: a silver scorpion on a red rhombus. Regimental buttonholes on the collar are metal, dyed: a black-orange pennant-weather vane with a central red stripe, additionally decorated with the image of a scorpion made of white metal. On shoulder straps are silver five-pointed stars. The divisional emblem on the left sleeve is sewn close to the narrow red stripe indicating the type of troops (in the British army, belonging to the tank forces was indicated by a two-color stripe with a yellow front and red back halves. The red stripe denoted infantry. - Approx. ed.). This is what an officer could look like at a parade in the near rear: on the front line, he would not wear his Virtuti Military order. Cloth ammunition, including a pistol holster and a pouch, burned out almost white. The revolver is traditionally fastened to the shoulder with a cord. Light yellow tank gloves with leggings. Officers preferred to wear pre-war field uniforms with concealed buttons.

1. Private of the Polish separate parachute brigade, the Netherlands, 1944

2. Lieutenant of the 24th Lancers Regiment of the 1st Polish Armored Division, Northwestern Europe, 1944-1945.

3. Private of the 10th Dragoon Regiment of the 1st Polish Armored Division, Northwest Europe, 1944-1945.

1. Polish paratroopers wore the same uniforms and equipment as their British comrades: a helmet without a visor and a nape, a field uniform, a Denison airborne jumpsuit and equipment of the 1937 model, to which a rope was sometimes added to overcome obstacles. The paratrooper is armed with a Sten submachine gun. Only a yellow eagle on a helmet, bluish-gray buttonholes with a yellow piping and silver insignia, adopted in parachute units, indicate belonging to the Polish unit. In addition, the uniform of the Polish paratroopers was distinguished by a light bluish-gray beret with a traditional Polish eagle and insignia (this headdress is not shown in the picture).

2. The earthy-brown overalls of the Polish tankers seem to have more often had two hip pockets instead of one on the left thigh, like the British. Asterisks on shoulder straps are the only thing that denotes the officer's dignity of this tanker. The collar of the combat jacket is released over the overalls, it shows regimental buttonholes in the form of "Uhlan" badges-weather vanes: in the 24th Uhlans they are white with a yellow central stripe. On the black beret of the British tankers, the Polish eagle and stars of the lieutenant are embroidered. Cloth equipment includes a tank open hip holster on a long cloth belt. Pay attention to the cord of the revolver, which was always fixed on the right shoulder, regardless of whether the holster was located on the right or left of the belt. The officers were supposed to wear brown boots.

3. The regiment was part of the 10th motorized cavalry brigade. The regimental buttonholes were crimson and orange, with a central green stripe. In memory of the Polish 10th mechanized brigade in 1939, the regiment was left with a black epaulette and a cord on the left shoulder. In the upper part of the left sleeve there was a national ribbon-patch, under it - the emblem of the 1st armored division. On the right sleeve, instead of the divisional one, there is a regimental emblem: on a blue shield there is an St. Andrew's cross and the coat of arms of the Scottish city of Lanark, in which the soldiers of the 10th regiment were trained. On the helmet is an eagle, equipment of the 1937 model, field uniform of the "1940 model", armament - the Thompson submachine gun.

Home Army, August 1944

The insurgents of the Home Army did not have a single uniform. Civilian clothing, if possible, was supplemented with elements of the Polish pre-war uniform or captured German uniforms. At the very beginning of the uprising, a large German uniform warehouse was seized, and many sets of various camouflage uniforms were distributed to the rebels; these "panthers" were very popular. All insurgents wore a red and white armband, sometimes they additionally depicted the emblems of the detachments, the Polish eagle, the letters WP (Wojsko Polskie) or an abbreviation for the name of the detachment. Sometimes a large Polish eagle was depicted on helmets in white paint instead of the white and red ribbon shown in Figure 1. This insurgent is dressed in civilian clothes and armed with a makeshift flamethrower. Fighter (2) is part of one of the Boy Scout companies. He is dressed in a black German cap with a Polish eagle and a "panther" - in this case, a double-sided winter army top camouflage with a Wehrmacht "blurred" pattern. He is armed with a Blaskawitz submachine gun (Blyskawica - lightning) - the Polish analogue of the English Sten submachine gun, of course, much less reliable than the prototype. The courier girl (3) wears an army camouflage jacket with a "split" pattern. Glasses were needed to protect the eyes from poisonous fumes when they had to wade through sewer pipes. Most of the couriers were unarmed, only a few had small-caliber pistols unsuitable for serious combat.

Editor's note: Pro-Soviet partisan detachments also operated in Poland, under the control of the Krajowa Rada Narodowa. By her decree on January 1, 1944, the Ludov Army (literally, the People's Army) was created. Organization of the Human Army at the beginning of 1944:

1st district "Warsaw" (partisan unit "Imeni Chvartakov"); 2nd district "Warsaw - Lewa Podmeiska" (two groups, including "K. Pulaski"); 3rd district "Warsaw - Rights Podmeiska" (partisan formations "Yastzhab", "Yurek", "Zygmund", "I. Slovatsky", "Dombrovsky"); 18th district "Plock" (groups "Czarny", "Maly", "Kuba", "Vashchik", "Lasek", "Ryszard", "Macek", "Zelazny"), District II "Lubelski" - main apartment partisan formations (1st partisan brigade “Imeni Zhemi Lubelskaya”, partisan formations “Armata”, “Stary”, “Yanovskogo”, “Egier”, partisan battalion “Imeni Kholod”); District III "Radomsko-Kielecki" (partisan battalion "Named after General Bem"; partisan formations "Named after B. Glovatsky", "Named after Zawisza Cherny", "Named after I. Sovinsky", "Named after D. Chakhovsky", "Named after M. Langevich ”, “Named after V. Lukashchinsky”, “Garbaty”); District IV "Krakow" (partisan formations "Hadek Podhalansky", "Gutek", "Stefan Kola", "Zygmund", "Stanko"); District V "Slasko-Dombrovsky" (partisan formations "Imeni Marcin", "Kvasna", "Klusovnik").

1. Private of the 1st Infantry Division. T. Kosciuszko, 1945

2. Tanker of the 1st Polish armored brigade "Heroes of Westerplatte", Polish Army, 1944-1945.

3. Private of the 1st Infantry Division. T. Kosciuszko, 1945

1. When in 1943 the formation of units of the Polish Army began in Selce, the soldiers received Soviet uniforms. But for political reasons, a special uniform later appeared, more reminiscent of the Polish uniform of the 1936 model. Soviet-style helmet, equipment is also Soviet, leather. The color of the uniform varied, more often it was a grayish-green hue, but there was also a regular one - khaki. The new uniform never replaced the Soviet one. The khaki overcoat resembled the pre-war Polish one in cut, but standard Soviet overcoats were often used. The soldier is armed with a DP light machine gun, which the Poles called "gramophones". Soviet-style helmet with a white Polish eagle, but for political reasons - without the traditional crown and shield. In Poland, when soldiers of the Polish Army appeared there, such eagles were called "plucked chickens." Many soldiers continued to use the pre-war emblems, cutting off the crowns from them, and later launched the industrial production of eagles without a crown. Buttonholes of a new triangular shape, but the infantry colors (blue and yellow) remained the same: confirmed by two orders from 1943 and 1945. At first, infantrymen wore buttonholes with a blue half over yellow, and the reverse color combination was given to armor-piercing units. In 1945, in the infantry, the color combination on the buttonholes was reversed.

2. A khaki uniform is worn over tank overalls tucked into boots with short tops. The headgear is a black Soviet summer tank helmet. There were also dark blue overalls and helmets. Pistol TT model 1935. Specialized parts of the Polish Army - tankers, sappers, etc. - preferred to wear more standard elements of the Soviet uniform and equipment.

3. The discrepancy between the shades of the color of the fabric of the headdress, uniform, breeches and overcoat was a common occurrence. High boots and Soviet-style equipment, including cloth pouches for three magazines for PPSh-41 each. Instead of the Soviet helmets of the 1940 model, the Poles often wore slingshots, putting them on even in winter, although they were given fur hats with earflaps. The insignia are the same as in Figure 1. The insignia by rank generally remained the same as in the pre-war army. There were only minimal differences: for example, stars could be yellow rather than white metal, white thread was used instead of silver thread for embroidery.

One of the most important moments of the concluded pact was an agreement on the formation of a number of units of the Polish army on Soviet territory. They were to be staffed from more than 200,000 Polish prisoners of war who were on the territory of the USSR. These units were led by the former cavalryman General Vladislav Anders. Soon these troops turned into another problem in relations between the Poles and the Soviet Union. Polish prisoners of war were a collection of half-starved, ragged people exhausted by war and captivity. It was very difficult to form combat-ready units from them, especially since the Soviet Union itself experienced a serious shortage of weapons and equipment. In addition, among the prisoners of war, a significant proportion were officers with a shortage of privates. However, the Soviet side insisted that the Polish units take at least a symbolic part in the war as soon as possible, and demanded that Anders form at least one Polish division as soon as possible and send it to the front. Having such a poorly equipped division would have been of little real use and would have resulted in many deaths. The Soviet government insisted that the first Polish division be formed by October 1941, but by this time the 5th Kresovskaya division was still in rags, and 40% of the soldiers did not have shoes. Politicians talked about the unity and mutual understanding of the allies, and the soldiers had to sacrifice their lives for the interests of a foreign state that had just violated the treaty, and now refused to recognize their rights to the lands on which their ancestors had lived for centuries. Anders, who was under pressure from the NKVD, nevertheless shared the convictions of his soldiers and refused to send Polish units into battle, citing a lack of equipment.

Soldiers of the 5th Infantry Division (since June 1943 - Kresovskaya) at the parade, Saratov, USSR, December 1941. Soon the unit was transferred to the Middle East, later its soldiers fought in Italy near Monte Cassino. Horses of the soldiers of the banner group of the steppe breed. The uniform is a mixture of elements of Polish and Soviet uniforms.

During the negotiations, the Soviet side recognized that it was not able to adequately equip all the Polish units, and it was decided to transport some of them to Great Britain and Iran, where the British side could help equip them. Relations between the Polish and Soviet side continued to deteriorate, especially since the Poles began to openly accuse the Soviet side of opposing the formation of their units. In particular, Stalin denied the Poles the right to enlist Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews in the Polish Army, who until 1939 had Polish citizenship and lived in the Polish territories seized in favor of the USSR. It seemed that the situation was already getting out of control, but in 1942, American and British diplomats were able to convince Stalin to send Polish units to Central Asia. Thanks to this, the Soviet Union was able to release six infantry divisions, which served as occupying troops in Iran, together with British units. Western diplomats assured that in this case it would be easier to equip the Polish units in order to then send them to fight the Nazis - either to the Soviet-German front, or somewhere else. By that time, the Soviet government had already begun to openly accuse the Poles of not wanting to fight against the Germans. At the same time, Soviet leaders refused to take into account any statements by the Poles regarding the actions of the Soviets and the Nazis in the partition of Poland in 1939, as well as to talk about the prospects for the return of captured Polish territories, including the most important city of Lvov. By the spring of 1943, about 115,000 Polish military personnel and members of their families had been sent to the Middle East. This was only a small part of the one and a half million Poles who were at that time in Soviet camps as prisoners of war and deported persons, taken into custody during the “decolonization” of the eastern regions of the country carried out by the NKVD units.

Soldiers of a separate Carpathian rifle brigade look out for German planes in the sky, the defense of Tobruk. British-style uniform and equipment; Poles could be distinguished only by specific insignia, and sometimes by the image of an eagle on a helmet, inscribed in a red oval shield. From the stripes on shoulder straps, you can determine that the machine gunner on the left has the rank of corporal.

The Poles arrived in Central Asia just at the moment when relations between the Polish and Soviet governments were heated to the limit. The Germans discovered graves with the remains of 4,000 Polish officers near the small town of Katyn. The Poles believed that both the Nazis and the Soviet units could be guilty of this massacre. Moreover, the suspicions against the Soviet Chekists looked more convincing, since the Soviet side refused to explain the fate of the 15,000 Polish officers captured by the Red Army in 1939. If they really fell into the hands of the Nazis, then why didn't the Soviets simply make this fact public? The Poles have achieved an investigation under the auspices of the International Red Cross. The Soviet government regarded this as a reason to break off diplomatic relations and accused the Poles of conspiring with the Nazis. The Soviet government expected that the post-war leadership of Poland should be "friendly" in relation to the USSR, in other words, be formed in accordance with the wishes of Stalin. As a sign of friendly intentions, the Soviet Union demanded that the Sikorski government recognize the Soviet annexation of half of the territory of pre-war Poland in exchange for a small part of the German lands that were supposed to be taken from Germany in the course of the post-war reorganization of Europe. Both Churchill and Roosevelt at meetings in Tehran and Yalta agreed with these proposals. The foreign policy of the United States and Great Britain was dominated by a friendly attitude towards the USSR, in addition, Churchill and Roosevelt tried to appease Stalin at a time when Soviet troops were bearing the brunt of the war on the ground fronts. Public opinion in Great Britain and the United States was pro-Soviet, and Poland's position was presented as a kind of funny incident, the product of blind anti-Bolshevism and even anti-Semitism. It was an unfair position, but many Americans and Britons at the time naively believed in the idea of ​​a "Soviet paradise", which crumbled much later, when they became aware of the atrocities committed by Stalinism. The break in relations between the Polish government and Stalin was a tragedy; the Soviet side was given the opportunity to form its own puppet Polish government in Moscow. It, in turn, announced the creation of its own army, which was supposed to fight side by side with the Soviet troops instead of Anders' army.

Meanwhile, the Polish army returned to the battlefields again, although this concerned only a small part of it. In September 1941, the Carpathian brigade of General Stanislav Kopansky was transferred to Egypt to participate in the defense of Tobruk. The brigade was formed in 1939 in Syria from Polish soldiers who arrived in the Middle East through the Balkans. After the fall of France, the brigade was taken over by the British Army.

The brigade consisted of three infantry battalions and a cavalry regiment (equivalent in number to a battalion). The brigade defended the western part of the Tobruk perimeter, and during the December breakthrough managed to push back the Italian Brescia division and occupy Akrom. In the battle of Gazala, the Poles acted side by side with the New Zealand units. At the beginning of 1942, the brigade was returned to Palestine, where its personnel were used to form and equip new units from the Polish military who arrived from the USSR.

In June 1943, General Sikorsky died in a plane crash over Gibraltar. It was a very big loss, since Sikorsky was one of the few influential Poles who enjoyed the same confidence both among his compatriots and the governments of the USA and Great Britain. There was no other leader of the same magnitude. The command of the army passed to General Kazimir Sosnkowski, and Stanisław Mikołajczyk became Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile.

II Polish Corps in Italy, 1944–1945

Anders' army was stationed in Palestine, Iraq and Iran. The personnel of the army were used to form the Polish II Corps, as well as to replenish the Polish I Corps deployed in Scotland. There were no prospects for a quick return of the Poles to combat units: they were tormented by malaria, they were badly equipped and exhausted. Training continued from the autumn of 1942 until the autumn of 1943. During this period, the Polish troops were used by the British counterintelligence as a front to convince the Germans that the British were preparing an invasion of the Balkans. The Poles themselves believed that there was some truth in this: they were ready to take part in the landing operation in Greece or Yugoslavia as part of the allied army in order to later liberate Poland and Central Europe before the approach of Soviet troops. But in 1943 this plan was finally rejected as too risky.

Montenegro, March 3, 1944. Armored personnel carriers of the 3rd platoon of the headquarters company of the 3rd battalion of the 1st brigade of the 3rd Carpathian line division are cautiously moving forward. The platoon leader, armed with a Thompson submachine gun, walks beside the armored personnel carrier, cigarette in hand. The forward armored personnel carrier is armed with a 14 mm Boyz anti-tank rifle.

The three main parts of the Polish II Corps were the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division, the backbone of which was Kopansky veterans who participated in the battle of Tobruk; The 5th Kresovskaya Infantry Division, transferred to Iraq and Egypt, and the 2nd Separate Armored Brigade, which in 1945 was deployed to the Warsaw Armored Division. In September 1943, the II Corps began redeploying to Italy and deploying to positions in the area of ​​the Sangro River. The activity of the Polish units was limited only to participation in patrols: the 8th British Army tried in every possible way to hide the reinforcements arriving to it from the Germans, preparing for the spring attack on Rome. In May 1944 II Corps was moved into position to take part in the fourth battle of Monte Cassino. The Poles were given the difficult task of storming the monastery itself. The three previous assaults were repulsed with huge losses; The monastery was located high in the rocky hills and was an ideal defensive position, which was defended by soldiers of the 1st Parachute Division. Unlike previous attempts, this time it was decided to launch the offensive immediately along the entire Gustav line with the joint efforts of the 8th British and 5th American armies. British XIII Corps, under Lieutenant General Oliver Lees, was to launch an attack into the Leary River valley behind the monastery to force the Germans out of their positions on the hill.

In the early morning of May 12, 1944, after two and a half hours of artillery preparation, the Kresovskaya Division launched an attack on San Angelo, and the Carpathian Rifles on Hill 593. The artillery fire was less effective than expected, and Poles' losses began to mount rapidly. The Carpathian arrows reached the sharp ridge of height 593, but in a few hours of the battle they lost 20% of their personnel. In the evening, Leadere withdrew his bloodless units to their original positions. Although the territory was not cleared of the enemy, General Lys expressed gratitude to the Poles, stressing that without their sacrifices, the British offensive through the Rapido River valley would not have been successful. The Polish II Corps drew back the enemy reserves and artillery, which would otherwise have fallen on the XIII Corps. On May 16, the XIII Corps managed to almost completely cut off the monastery from the main German forces, and on May 17 the Poles entered the battle again, this time with the support of Sherman tanks from the 2nd Polish armored brigade. By nightfall, they were on the crest of Hill 593, which dominated the monastery. That night, the surviving German paratroopers began to retreat so as not to be captured, and on May 18, the Poles pulled up their rearguard units. On this day, the 12th regiment of the Podolsk Lancers hoisted the red and white Polish flag over the Monte Cassino monastery.

During the week of fighting, the II Corps suffered heavy losses: 4199 people, 25% of whom were killed. The number of those who were out of action was approximately 25% of the total strength of the two divisions that were part of the corps.

After the battle for Cassino, the II Corps took part in the offensive along the Adriatic coast, capturing Ancona on April 20, 1944, and Bologna in April 1945. As soon as the II Corps left the battle in the Senio and Bologna region, the Poles learned about the results of the Yalta conference. It became clear that the British and American governments agreed with the territorial claims of the USSR. This was a blow to most of the soldiers of the II Corps: they were from the eastern provinces of Poland, which retreated to the Soviet Union. The sacrifices and sufferings made by the soldiers seemed in vain. True to their obligations to their allies, the Poles ended the Italian campaign with honor, but they fought with a heavy heart. Like the legion of Dombrowski, who fought in Italy during the Napoleonic era, they could no longer hope for happiness to parade through their native streets after the end of the war.

I Corps in Northwestern Europe, 1944–1945

I Polish corps was smaller in number than the second. Its main combat units were the Polish 1st Armored Division (whose core was General Maczek's 10th Mechanized Brigade) and General Stanisław Sosabowski's Independent Parachute Brigade. I Corps was also responsible for the formation and training of groups of commandos, which were thrown into the territory of occupied France and Poland to interact with partisan detachments.

The Polish 1st Armored Division, together with the Canadian II Corps, was part of the 21st Army Group. She landed in Normandy and on August 8, 1944, took part in a major tank battle during the breakthrough near Caen. The division was positioned at the spearhead of the 21st Army Group's offensive and advanced rapidly, leading the British-Canadian forces. The division bypassed Falaise and was close to closing the encirclement of German troops in Normandy, capturing the road junction near Chambois and Hill 262. The Germans were locked in the Falaise cauldron: Polish, Canadian and British troops advanced from the north, American troops from the south. The Poles, who during the offensive broke away from the main forces of the allies, found themselves in the path of the German troops, who were trying to break out of the encirclement. The positions at Mont-Ormel became the scene of fierce fighting. Parts of the 1st Polish armored division had to move south and link up with the Americans, while parts of the units managed to link up with other Polish troops operating to the north. In the end, the gap in the Allied defenses was closed, and it is not surprising that the battle zone was called the "dead land". The roads, crowded with retreating German motorized columns and horse-drawn carts, were constantly subjected to Allied air raids and artillery shelling. In the battle of Falaise, the Poles suffered heavy losses: about 2000 people, that is, 20% of the personnel, and more than a hundred tanks, which accounted for about 40% of the tank fleet.

A mountain patrol from the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division is preparing to leave for the Agnone-Carpinone area, March 29, 1944. The soldiers are dressed in white camouflage overalls with hoods, khaki caps with large sun visors and woolen earmuffs. Brown canvas utility vests (probably Canadian made) can hold spare magazines for a Bren light machine gun. Soldiers use mountain goggles; skis were often used in the mountains. Armament - British SMLE rifles and Mills grenades.

Among the tens of thousands of captured Wehrmacht soldiers taken near Falaise, there were several thousand Poles who immediately agreed to change the German uniform to the English-style uniform. So in an unusual way The 1st Armored Division managed to make up for the losses. The battle of Falaise was a key one, which gave the allies the opportunity to quickly further advance deep into France. The losses of the German side in manpower, and especially in technology, turned out to be irreplaceable. The role of the Poles in the battle was decisive. As Montgomery noted on this occasion, the Allies caught the Germans in a “bottle”, and the Poles played the role of a cork.

The crew of the Sherman tank of the Polish 1st Armored Division before the incandescence of the breakthrough near Kap, August 8, 1944. The Poles chat merrily with a sergeant of the 42nd Scottish Black Guard Regiment (in the center, with a scarf around his neck). Tankers wear khaki protective overalls. The division's emblems began to be worn later: not a single soldier in this photo has them.

After the bloody battle of Falaise, the Poles no longer had to participate in such heavy battles. After a short rest for replenishment and understaffing, the 1st Armored Division was sent to Holland, where it operated in the Saint-Niklas area, taking part in the crossing of the Axel-Hulst Canal. The division then participated in the liberation of dozens of Dutch cities, among which the most important were Breda and Merdik. The last page in the combat annals of the division was the capture of the German port of Wilhelmshaven.

I Polish Corps never acted as an independent unit. The second formation of the corps - the 1st separate parachute brigade - was formed in England with the aim of landing on the territory of Poland to interact with the Resistance forces, which were supposed to start an armed uprising. In the summer of 1944, just before the start of the uprising, the British command suddenly changed plans and decided to use the brigade on the Western Front. Naturally, the Polish paratroopers had to obey the orders of the command. The brigade was planned to be used in the course of several small landing operations after the Normandy landings, but they never took place. Only in September 1944, the brigade was involved in the operation "Market Garden".

Calculation of a three-inch mortar of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division in the region of Mount Croce, March 11, 1944. Divisional emblems (on the sleeve of a soldier in the foreground) preferred to be torn off at the forefront. The emblem of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division is a white and red square with green spruce. British field uniform and equipment.

Initially, the Polish paratroopers were supposed to be involved two days after the start of the operation, as a reinforcement of the 1st British Airborne Division, whose task was to capture the bridges in Arnhem. The commander of the Polish brigade, General Sosabowski, was literally horrified when he got acquainted with the detailed plans for the British landing operation: in his opinion, it was disgustingly planned and completely insufficiently provided. Nevertheless, he had to give in under pressure from both the government and his paratroopers, to whom this operation seemed to be almost the only opportunity to take part in real battles after long and difficult exercises. Due to bad weather, the landing of the brigade was delayed for three days. But even by this time, the 1st airborne division of Urquhart, which had previously landed in Arnhem, was unable to complete its tasks, in particular, it was unable to capture the zone intended for the landing of the Polish brigade. In addition, the British paratroopers lost radio contact with the main forces and were unable to inform the command of the British Air Force about the situation. As a result, the Polish brigade was thrown onto the opposite bank of the river from the British occupied, right into the location of the Germans. Many Polish paratroopers were shot while still in the air, and the survivors had to seize their own bridgehead. Despite several unsuccessful attempts, they were never able to reinforce Urquhart's units, and on September 25 the remnants of the British 1st Airborne Division were withdrawn across the river. During the fighting, the Polish brigade lost 590 people, more than 25% of the personnel.

A patrol from the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division was stationed in a crater next to a wrecked Italian-made StuG М42 mil 75/34 85l (i) assault gun (these self-propelled guns were in service with some parts of the Wehrmacht). Castel Bolognese area, February 13, 1945. On the right sleeve, the national ribbon patch is visible and under it is the emblem of the British 8th Army. On the left sleeve, the soldiers wore the divisional emblem.

By the end of the war, the Polish Army on the Western Front numbered about a quarter of a million soldiers. In addition to the units that took part in the battles, several more divisions and tank brigades were formed, but they did not have to start active operations. The Polish army was more of a symbolic force, like other armies in exile. Nevertheless, the Polish troops participated in many major operations, often the Poles got the most difficult tasks, associated with heavy losses. The Polish contribution to the war is all the more significant because the Polish soldiers had to face enormous difficulties before they could reach the army that was being formed in exile. But in the end, their efforts were in vain. By 1945, it became clear that the United States and Great Britain had agreed to transfer half of the territory of pre-war Poland to the USSR, giving her in return a small piece of German land. They also agreed with the formation of a puppet coalition government, which acted under pressure from the communists. The Soviet Union could not allow the Polish divisions formed in the West to return to Poland in full force. These units continued to exist until 1947, but then it became completely clear that no one needed them. The new Polish communist government allowed the soldiers to return to their homeland as private citizens, but very few took advantage of this opportunity. After five years in a foreign land, many lost contact with their homeland and families, and their return did not bring joy. Many on native land ended up in camps, where they remained until 1956. Most of the Poles remained in England, although there is not a single large city in North or South America, as well as Australia, where a society of Polish army veterans would not exist.

Unknown partisan detachment of the Home Army, Eastern Poland. The woman wears a Polish army overcoat, most of the men wear slingshots.

ARMY UNDERGROUND

The history of numerous disparate resistance groups operating on the territory of Poland during the German occupation is very complex. Due to space constraints, we will confine ourselves to the briefest notes.

Resistance to the invaders on the territory of Poland began immediately after the occupation. It was caused not only by long-standing freedom-loving traditions, but also provoked by the inhuman cruelty of the occupiers. The German plans, from which no one made a secret, provided for the destruction of the entire Jewish population and the Polish national elite, and the rest of the population was supposed to be used as slaves, deporting labor to various regions of the Reich. In total, during the years of occupation, one and a half million Poles were deported - approximately seven percent of the country's population (excluding Jews and prisoners of war). In 1940, all Polish Jews were driven into ghettos, in which hundreds of thousands of people died, and from 1942 the rest were transferred to death camps.

After an unsuccessful landing, an officer and a radio operator of a Polish separate parachute brigade try to make out the positions of the British 1st Airborne Division in the Arnhem area on the other side of the Rhine, September 1944. The Poles wear the standard British airborne uniform, which differed only in insignia and emblems on the helmet.

Despite strong anti-Soviet sentiments, Poland was one of the few occupied European countries whose representatives did not serve in the SS volunteer units on the Soviet-German front. The Germans also failed to form a collaborationist Polish government. The extreme cruelty of the Nazis in the territory of the Wormwood could not be compared with their behavior in the occupied countries of Western Europe. For every German soldier killed, the invaders executed ten Poles. Everyone who helped a Jew is subject to the death penalty, and hundreds of Poles paid with their lives for such "crimes". In total, about three million Jews and three million Polish citizens of other nationalities died during the years of occupation.

The situation in the Soviet zone of occupation was different, but no less difficult. About 1,200,000 Poles (mostly politicians, civil servants, military men, members of the educated middle class) were imprisoned in Stalin's camps. Soviet NKVD, who had more experience than the Nazi Gestapo, was a much greater threat to the resistance movement than the Nazi administration.

General K. Sosnkovsky, who became the commander-in-chief of the Polish army after the death of Sikorsky in 1943, congratulates the second lieutenant of the Carpathian rifle division. Near Sosnkovsky, the commander of the II Polish Corps, General W. Anders. Both generals wear the corresponding buttonholes and shoulder straps, Sosnkovsky has insignia according to rank sewn on his cap. Sosnkovsky has the emblem of the 3rd division on his sleeve, Anders has the emblem of the 2nd corps - a white Warsaw mermaid on a red shield. Anders usually wore a black tank beret with an eagle and insignia. Note that both generals pinned the full Virtuti Militari order to their uniforms instead of the usual badge bar.

By 1943, most of the resistance groups belonging to various political currents became part of the Home Army ( AK), which had almost 300,000 members and supported the Sikorsky government. The ultra-nationalists from the NSZ and the communists from the Ludova Guard had noticeably smaller forces. Strategy of the Home Army in 1939-1943 was built on the rejection of large-scale guerrilla war. Underground workers saved up forces for subsequent major operations. Unlike, for example, Yugoslavia, the territory of Poland is a flat area with a relatively small number of shelters. In addition, large transport arteries feeding the Soviet-German front passed through the territory of the country. Therefore, the German command kept quite large forces in Poland. But even under these conditions, the resistance movement on the territory of Poland was more active than in the countries of Western Europe. In 1942, the monthly losses of the German army from the actions of the Polish partisans averaged 250-320 people, and by the beginning of 1944 - 850-1700.

The Jews driven into the ghetto at first did not dare to take serious actions against the Germans, fearing a general worsening of the situation. However, the first mass deportations of Jews to the Treblinka concentration camp in July 1942 convinced even those who hesitated that there were no prospects. In the Warsaw ghetto, a right-wing Zionist group ZZW was formed, which included about 400 people who had light weapons and gained experience in handling them. After July 1942, the center-left ZOB group was formed, which established cooperation with the Home Army; some of the weapons were handed over by the Poles, some were purchased on the black market. In total, the ZOB consisted of about 600 militants armed almost exclusively with pistols and had no combat training. Both Jewish groups acted independently and almost did not coordinate their actions. When on April 19, 1943, the Germans tried to transport the rest of the ghetto population to Treblinka, both groups rose in revolt. Street fighting went on for several days, and after most of the ghetto was destroyed and the rebels lost their shelters on the surface, the survivors went into underground communications, from where they made separate sorties for another month. The uprising in the Warsaw ghetto was one of the most heroic actions in the history of the European Resistance: about a thousand young men and women, armed almost only with pistols and grenades, fought the SS for a month.

The leadership of the Home Army intended to raise a national uprising; its plans were developed under the code name "Storm". The uprising was to begin in the east and gradually cover more and more territory to the west as the German troops retreated. The purpose of the uprising was to prevent the Nazis from carrying out the “scorched earth” tactics, to accelerate the advance of the advancing Soviet units across the territory of Polynia, and also to show the world community that the Home Army and the Polish government in London are the true representatives of Poland. The Tempest plan began to operate simultaneously with the beginning of the spring offensive of the Soviet troops in 1944. The rebels were led by Tadeusz Komorowski, nicknamed Bur. Tens of thousands of rebels attacked German units, especially in the eastern regions of the country, but the uprising had almost no real impact on the course of the war. Deliveries of weapons to the rebels were insignificant. A significant part of the weapons left in the caches back in 1939, by 1944, turned out to be unusable. Due to technical and political differences between the allies, the Poles received very few weapons and ammunition through the "air bridges": only about 350 tons (for comparison: the French resistance movement received 10,000 tons, and the few Greek partisans - about 5,000 tons). The detachments of the Home Army in the territory liberated by the Soviet troops were usually forcibly disbanded, and their personnel were transferred to the Polish Army (more about it in the next chapter). The Storm plan was not supported in the West for political reasons.

A machine gunner armed with a Bren machine gun observes the movement of vehicles of the 1st Polish armored division in the Gilza area (Holland, early 1945). On the sleeve of the greatcoat there is the emblem of the division and the national ribbon-patch. The emblem of the unit can also be seen on a white rectangle next to the left mudguard of the armored personnel carrier. On the mudguard itself, the red abbreviation PL in a white oval.

In the summer of 1944, the Red Army approached Warsaw. The Soviet leadership launched a propaganda campaign aimed, on the one hand, at slandering the Home Army as an accomplice of the Western powers, and on the other hand, at calling the Poles to fight against the Germans. The leadership of the Home Army decided to start the uprising in Warsaw itself, given that Soviet army was already on the outskirts of the city. The leaders of the Army hoped to capture the city before the arrival of the Soviet troops in order to force the government of the USSR to reckon with itself as a real force, and to hold Warsaw until the Western allies recognized it as a real representative of the Polish people.

A machine-gun detachment of the Home Army on the streets of the Warsaw suburb of Prague at the beginning of the Warsaw Uprising on September 1, 1944. A variety of types of machine guns can be distinguished, including the Browning rkm and the German MO 15. Civilian clothing with elements of military uniform, all have white on the left sleeve - red bandages.

The insurrection plan had many serious shortcomings. Many secret weapons caches were located outside the city and turned out to be practically inaccessible. The planning of the operation was carried out in a hurry and turned out to be ill-conceived. The forecast of the actions of the German and Soviet side was based on plausible, but turned out to be false data. The significance of the withdrawal of the German administration from Warsaw at the end of July, as well as the role of the assassination attempt on Hitler in July 1944, were overestimated. The rebels did not know about the arrival of powerful German reinforcements. It was completely incomprehensible why the Soviet command had to take the city by storm, since, as Soviet troops, they already had several convenient bridgeheads on the western bank of the Vistula. In addition, the Poles underestimated the political cunning of Stalin. In essence, the only reason for the uprising was emotions: the traditional Polish willingness to take up arms to protect the symbols of their homeland. In fact, the leadership of the Home Army led a spontaneous uprising.

The immediate reason that prompted the order to march on the afternoon of August 1, 1944 was reports of Soviet tanks that were seen in the Warsaw suburb of Prague, as well as rumors about the Germans preparing to deport the entire male population of the city. The forces of the Home Army in Warsaw reached 40,000 people, though no more than 5,000 of them were at least somewhat decently armed. Nevertheless, the Poles were able to quickly knock out the German garrison and capture almost the entire city - with the exception of a few positions, which later turned out to be key and allowed the Germans to seize the initiative. Attempts to capture the Oketse airport ended in failure. The Germans also kept Prague - part of the city on the eastern bank of the Vistula, preventing the rebels from capturing any of the bridges.

Sapper unit of the 1st Infantry Division of the Polish Army before the battle, Belarus. Soviet-style uniform with Soviet-made slingshots.

Ignoring the plans of the British for a limited supply of weapons to the Home Army, the rebels insistently demanded that London deliver weapons and ammunition by air. The jubilation that reigned on the streets of Warsaw was not shared by the leadership of the Home Army. The Soviet troops did not appear. The Poles could not have known that the tanks seen near Prague were just part of a small reconnaissance group. They, like the main forces of the Soviet troops, were withdrawn 40 km to the east, where they were forced to repel the German counteroffensive. Parts of the Red Army reached Warsaw already at the end of the offensive, and even if they wanted to, they could not help the uprising. Hitler, enraged by the assassination attempt he had just committed, ordered Warsaw to be wiped off the face of the earth, destroying its entire population, including all women and children. In addition to the regular units of the Wehrmacht and the SS troops, SS police companies were transferred to Warsaw, as well as SS units staffed by traitors from among former citizens of the USSR. Among the punishers, the Dirlewanger SS assault brigade, staffed by Germans and criminals, as well as the 29th SS Grenadier Division (the so-called Kaminsky brigade), which consisted of people from the "Bryansk forests", enjoyed the most notoriety.

Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division. T. Kosciuszko in a training camp in Selce near Moscow, summer 1943. The Poles wear pre-war insignia, but for political reasons, images of eagles are without a crown and shield. The uniform is grey-green or khaki. Most soldiers are armed with Shpagin submachine guns.

August 5 was the first day of a nightmare. On this day, units of the Dirlewanger and Kaminsky brigades, with a 5: 1 advantage, attacked the weakly defended Wola area. They did not capture so many streets, but a large number of civilians fell into their hands. Drunken invaders committed a real massacre. An estimated 10,000 men, women and children were executed that day. On 6 August, SS-Obergruppenführer von dem Bach-Zelewski took command of the German units in Warsaw. Even this stern general who participated in punitive operations was shocked by the atrocities committed in Wola. Kaminsky's brigade was removed from their positions, and he himself was shot. Dirlewanger - a murderous maniac and a pedophile - escaped the fate of Kaminsky only thanks to his patrons in the SS leadership. The Germans changed tactics. The sapper groups were called in to help. With the help of remote-controlled subversive carts "Goliath" barricades were destroyed. Artillery shelling and dive-bomber raids caused heavy losses among the civilian population.

Poorly armed and equipped, left without food, the Poles simply begged the British to drop them at least some weapons. Several attempts were made, but the British, South African and Polish transport crews suffered heavy losses and the Allies abandoned further attempts to establish an air bridge to Warsaw. Polish pilots flew to the last, but losses in men and machines led to the complete disappearance of their squadron. Stalin refused to give the Allies an air corridor through the territory of the Soviet Union. At first, he declared that the uprising had already been crushed, and later branded the Home Army as "criminal". Americans were stunned by such duplicity. Churchill continued to insist, but the ailing Roosevelt did not persist.

The fighting continued for another month, but on September 9, the Poles began negotiations on the terms of surrender. Meanwhile, the Red Army went on the offensive, Prague was taken, on September 13 the Soviet units reached the eastern bank of the Vistula. On the same day, the Americans received Stalin's permission to use the air corridor to deliver food and equipment to Warsaw through the territory of the Soviet Union. However, at that time, most of the city was already in the hands of the Nazis, and a significant number of the dumped containers ended up not with the Poles, but with the Germans. It is not clear why Stalin changed his mind. Some believe that he did this under pressure from the British or Polish communists. Other, more cynical historians, believe that he simply wanted to "teach a lesson" to the Home Army.

Parts of the Polish Army made several attempts to force the Vistula in the Warsaw area, but they all ended in failure and brought heavy losses. Soviet night aviation also organized the delivery of ammunition, but the scale was clearly insufficient. By the end of September, there was no longer any hope for a Soviet offensive. On October 4, the command of the Home Army announced the surrender of Warsaw. The Allies immediately told the German government that the rebels should have the status of prisoners of war, threatening harsh sanctions.

Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division. T. Kosciuszko in carriages before being sent to the front, where they will have to take a baptism of fire in the Lenino area. Soviet uniforms and equipment, Polish insignia. The soldiers are armed with Mosin rifles.

The suppression of the Warsaw Uprising meant the end of the Home Army, with the exception of small groups in the western regions of the country. It was finally disbanded in October 1944. When the Soviet army liberated Warsaw in January 1945, it was a ghost town. The entire population was deported, and the few surviving houses were blown up by the Nazis during their retreat.

Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division. Full marching outfit, Soviet helmets of the 1940 model with a white Piast eagle.

POLISH ARMY

Of the 200,000 Polish soldiers taken prisoner by the Red Army in 1939, about 70,000 left with Anders. Among them was the vast majority of the surviving officers. However, many of those who remained were pro-Soviet: they either believed that Poland should come to terms with the loss of part of the territory and to some extent sovereignty, receiving compensation in the form of German territories, or were staunch communists and adherents of Stalin's ideas. The rest of the Polish officers urged Stalin to form a pro-Soviet Polish Army. At first he was not inclined to do so, but the break with the Sikorsky government after the Katyn scandal changed the situation. As a result, the formation of an alternative pro-Soviet government began on the basis of a group of Polish communists - the Union of Polish Patriots ( ZPP), which operated in Moscow since 1941. In parallel, the formation of the army - the Polish People's Army ( Ludowe Wojsko Polskie, lwp), whose training center was located south of Moscow. The first regular units of the Polish Army were the 1st Infantry Division. Tadeusz Kosciuszko (commander General Sigmund Berling) and the 1st Polish armored brigade. These units were recruited from Polish prisoners of war, Soviet soldiers of Polish nationality and volunteers. Many Poles made a natural choice between the prospect of returning to a concentration camp and fighting for the liberation of their homeland, regardless of the political orientation of the Polish Army. However, due to the purges carried out by the NKVD and the departure of most of the officers from Anders, the Polish Army experienced a severe shortage of commanders, which could not be filled until the very end of the war. It was often necessary to appoint Soviet officers to vacant positions. Some of them were ethnic Poles, but many were Ukrainians or Belarusians. In general, about 40% of the officers and non-commissioned officers in the Polish Army were Soviet military personnel of non-Polish nationality, and in the technical branches of the military, such as aviation, artillery, communications services, this percentage was much higher.

The crew of the SU-85 of the 14th self-propelled artillery regiment of the Polish Army. Soviet black tank helmets made of canvas. The soldier on the left is wearing a khaki padded jacket, the other two are uniforms of the Polish Army. There is a Polish eagle on board the SU-85.

In October 1943, the 1st Infantry Division entered the battle near Smolensk in the Lenino region. A fierce battle took place from 12 to 14 October. The losses of the division reached 25% of the personnel, and it was taken to the Smolensk region. As the Soviet troops moved westward, the number of Polish volunteers grew, so the Polish Army was deployed into the 1st Polish Army, which was headed by the same Berling. The army (roughly the size of a British or American corps) consisted of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infantry Divisions and auxiliaries. By the summer of 1944, its number reached 90,000 people. Later, the formation of the 2nd and 3rd Polish armies began, but soon the latter was disbanded, and its personnel were transferred to the 2nd. The idea of ​​creating a Polish front was abandoned due to a lack of command personnel.

In July 1944, the 1st Polish Army began hostilities. Operationally, she was subordinate to the 8th Soviet Guards Army of the 1st Belorussian Front and participated in the crossing of the Bug. The army became the first Polish unit to cross the borders of Poland. Further, the army participated in the liberation of Deblin and Pulaw in late July - early August. The 1st Polish armored brigade participated in the defense of the Studzyansky bridgehead on the western bank of the Vistula south of Warsaw. In September, Berling's army was transferred to the suburbs of Warsaw - Prague. On September 16, attempts began to cross the Vistula in order to connect with units of the Home Army. It was possible to cling to several bridgeheads, but the Poles could not build on the success, and on September 23 the troops were withdrawn. By the end of the summer offensive, the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions, which had pushed back the German troops from the banks of the Vistula north of Warsaw, were again withdrawn to the western bank of the river.

Insignia of the Polish Army: 1) marshal; 2) full general; 3) lieutenant general; 4) lieutenant general; 5) colonel; 6) lieutenant colonel; 7) major; 8) captain; 9) lieutenant; 10) second lieutenant; 11) choirboy; 12) staff sergeant; 13) sergeant; 14) platoon; 15) corporal; 16) senior private. Rank insignia embroidered with silver thread, 11–16 with narrow red edging. Shoulder straps according to the color of the uniform, buttons on the uniform of 1939 are oxidized, silver.

The Polish 1st Army remained focused on Prague throughout the winter, and in January participated in the liberation of Warsaw. Berling's troops participated in the breakthrough through central Poland, liberating Bydgoszcz on January 28. Then the 1st Polish Army was transferred north, and she took part in the battles, moving along the Baltic coast. The main forces of the army participated in the assault on Kolobrzeg (Kolberg), and the 1st Polish armored brigade advanced on Gdansk. In winter battles, the 1st Polish Army lost 20,000 people. In Szczecin, the 1st Polish Army stopped to regroup before the last push on Berlin.

By the beginning of the spring offensive in 1945, the 2nd Polish Army of General Karol Svezhchevsky was also ready for battle. The army consisted of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th infantry divisions and the 1st Polish armored corps. The 2nd Polish Army was part of the 1st Ukrainian Front and operated north of the Czechoslovak border. In 1945, the role of the Polish army increased markedly, as the number of Polish formations reached 200,000 people, accounting for approximately 10% of the total strength of Zhukov and Konev's forces that stormed Berlin. The 1st Polish Army crossed the Oder and the Hohenzollern Canal. On March 1, 1945, the 1st Separate Warsaw Cavalry Brigade carried out the last Polish cavalry attack in World War II and stormed the German positions in the Schonfeld area. IN last days war 1st Infantry Division. T. Kosciuszko participated in street fighting in Berlin, including acting in the area of ​​the Reichstag and the Imperial Chancellery. The 2nd Polish Army advanced in a southerly direction and reached the outskirts of the capital of Czechoslovakia. Participation in these last battles cost the Polish Army the loss of 32,000 people.

Polish divisional emblems:

a) the 1st armored division - a stylized helmet of the Polish "winged hussars" of the 17th century: the pattern is black, the center of the circle is orange;

b) 2nd armored division - a silver or gray plate hand on a khaki field;

c) 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division - green spruce on a white-red square;

d) 5th Kresovskaya Infantry Division - a brown bison on a pale yellow field with a brown edging.

ASHES OF HOPE

For Poles of the military generation, there was no easy choice. Refusal to fight meant for them the loss of national identity and pride, surrender to the mercy of the thugs from the Gestapo or the NKVD. Inspired by their heroic and bloody past, they chose armed struggle and suffering. In World War II, Poland suffered such human and material losses that no other state in Europe knew. Six million Poles died - one in five. Half of them were Jews, and the largest Jewish community in Europe has practically disappeared. Warsaw was destroyed more than any other city, and losses in 1944 alone exceeded those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. More than 150,000 Polish soldiers died on the battlefields, and the number of those who perished in the camps cannot be accurately counted. Many of the best young men and women of Wormwood are buried under the ruins of Warsaw, in thousands of unmarked graves all over Europe - from Falaise to Monte Cassino, along the banks of the Bzura, near Lenino, near Katyn.

For the Polish soldiers who fought in the west, it was a defeat during the victory. The end of the war destroyed their hope of meeting their homeland. For the soldiers of the Polish Army, the victory was also bitter. Many Poles were obliged to move from their native places in the east of the country to new places - former German lands. For several long years, the war continued near the eastern borders - the Polish Army fought with the remnants of the Ukrainian bands. The Home Army laid down its arms, but by order of the new communist government, about 70,000 of its former members were arrested. Some Home Army soldiers refused to surrender and formed partisan detachments that continued the civil war with parts of the Human Army and the security forces of the new government. In the battles between communist units and various Ukrainian and Polish partisan units, about 100,000 more Poles were killed. In 1947, the interim coalition government was removed, and power in the state passed to the former NKVD agent Boleslaw Berug, and Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky became the Minister of Defense of Poland. It was a period of political games and opportunism, when even the leader of the communist wing of the Resistance, Władysław Gomulka, was arrested and accused of "national deviationism". It was a dark time.

And yet it would be a mistake to consider the sacrifices made during the war in vain. Deep pride in the heroism of their soldiers is one of the most important factors that ensured the consolidation of Polish society in the first post-war decades. The memory of the stubborn resistance of the Poles did not disappear in the Soviet Union either. Soviet tanks crushed popular uprisings in East Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, but not a single Soviet tank entered Polish territory during the unrest of 1956, 1970 or 1976. Largely due to the memory of the military glory of the Polish Army in 1939-1945. Poles, even during the period of communist rule, were able to build a more liberal society than existed in the Soviet Empire.

Notes

Ironically, both Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski and Kaminsky and Marshal Rokossovsky, who commanded Soviet troops in the Warsaw area, were all of Polish origin.

The composition of the units, by order of the Soviet command, also included soldiers and officers who had nothing to do with Poland, but simply bore surnames that were at least remotely similar to Polish ones. - Note. ed.

Photo: Alexey Gorshkov

The WAS special project is dedicated to the 72nd anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany. Study and compare the uniforms of the infantrymen of the seven armies that fought in the European theater of World War II.

Eugene, 49, postal courier
Form: Lieutenant of the 1st Polish Infantry Division named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko

Where fought

The first formation of units from Polish citizens who were in the USSR (refugees, prisoners, prisoners) began in 1941. By the name of the commander, they are called "Anders' army." After the conflict between the Polish government in exile and Stalin, they went to Iran, to the British.

The second time they began to form the Soviet Polish Army in 1943, with the creation of the Kosciuszko division. She went to Berlin.

What were they wearing

Initially, the Polish units went mostly in Soviet military uniforms, but with their own insignia. Own uniforms with traditional elements became widespread only in 1944, when the division entered the territory of Poland. Of course, the pre-war Polish uniform was prettier. This one was sewn in the Soviet Union, simple.

The leader of the Polish uprising against the Russian Empire in 1794, a participant in the American War of Independence.

Details

The slingshot or confederate has been a national military headdress since the 18th century. Everyone wore it, not just officers. Unless the officer's could be made of better quality cloth.

Buttonholes of infantrymen of the Polish Republic (1918–1939)

On the cockade - the eagle of the first Polish royal dynasty of the Piasts. So it is carved in a stone niche with the sarcophagus of Boleslav III. Unlike the pre-war one, this eagle looks less aggressive and does not wear a crown.

Yellow and blue are the colors of the infantry in the Polish army. Such buttonholes replaced the famous "cogwheel". In 1944, when there were battles with the UPA, problems arose. Ukrainians even cut off these buttonholes from Polish uniforms. Therefore, the Polish Army officially returned its gear. But many soldiers who served in the old pre-war army sewed it on much earlier.

Two red stripes - signs for minor injuries. The Poles had a different system, but many officers transferred to the Polish Army from the Red Army, therefore they retained their signs.

Facial hair in the Polish units was regulated, but during the war this was practically not monitored. The closer to the front, the less conventions.

POLISH ARMY IN EXILE

France, 1940

There was not the slightest doubt that the struggle would continue. Even before the fall of Warsaw, plans were made to organize underground resistance, and a number of orders called for Polish units to break into France. Poles were brought up from infancy on stories about the heroic past of their people. Disasters were familiar to Poland. Throughout the 19th century each of the Polish uprisings was invariably suppressed, but each successive generation was ready to shed blood for freedom. The history of Poland also knew an example of the existence of an army in exile: thousands of Poles stood under the banner of Napoleon, hoping with his help to return Poland to the map of Europe. During the First World War, Polish units operated in France and eventually achieved the revival of the country. In 1939, Polish soldiers felt they needed to restore their reputation in the eyes of the French, not to mention their own people. There was no doubt that the fate of Poland depended on the good will of France and Great Britain. Few doubted the idea that France and Britain would win the war. The Poles hoped to convince the French government that after the September defeat they had enough will left to continue the fight.

Among the tasks assigned to the Polish units that ended up in England after the fall of France was the maintenance of armored trains guarding the coastal zone. The crew of this armored train is formed from "supernumerary" Polish officers. In total, 12 such armored trains operated on the British coast.

The task of transporting tens of thousands of Polish soldiers from Romania and Hungary to France proved to be more difficult than initially thought. The German government exerted strong pressure on these countries, trying to achieve the internment of Polish soldiers until the end of the war. Nevertheless, Poland's relations with Hungary and Romania were benevolent, and both of these states saw their possible fate in the fate of Poland. Camps for Polish soldiers were indeed created, but it was not difficult to leave them, and everyone who wanted to could escape from them.

Many officials, including Smigly-Rydz himself, were also interned, and it was impossible for them to escape to France. Therefore, the Polish government in exile was formed from relatively random people. To a certain extent, the fact that the pre-war leaders of Poland could not get into France turned out to be even a positive moment: Polish soldiers could not forgive them for their defeat in 1939. This, as well as pressure from French diplomats, led to the fact that the posts of head of government and supreme commander General Wladyslaw Sikorsky was appointed by the Polish army. In many ways, this was the best candidate. Starting from 1920, Sikorski made a brilliant military career, but after the death of Pilsudski, during the period of the "regime of colonels", he fell out of favor, was removed from business and did not participate in the September campaign. He occupied a centrist position, therefore he was equally acceptable to both the right and the left. In addition, Sikorsky had a reputation as a Francophile, so it was easier for him than anyone else to establish trusting ties with the French government.

General W. Sikorski, leader of the Polish government in exile, presenting awards to two privates after a field exercise, Scotland, 1941. The general wears a slingshot with three stars and a silver zigzag on the band. Stars and a zigzag are repeated on the shoulder straps of the uniform. Also visible are the general's buttonholes made of dark blue velvet with a silver eagle and carmine-red edging along the upper edge. Two soldiers wear French Mle armored helmets. 1935 worn by Polish units in Britain before the introduction of British helmets. Such protective headgear was most often equipped with reconnaissance units.

After negotiations, the French agreed to help in the formation of a separate Polish army on their territory. The French felt guilty for their inaction during the September events in Poland, but still public opinion considered the Poles completely incompetent, and the whole undertaking a waste of time and money. However, the more fully the French military experts analyzed the course of the campaign, the less critical statements they allowed. In the end, an agreement was reached to form four infantry divisions: the ideas of that period about the Slavs as good infantrymen had an effect. The number of corps of soldiers who were able to escape from Poland was to be 35,000 people. However, in addition to the soldiers who arrived in France, Polish emigrants who had lived in the country earlier expressed their desire to join the army. As a result, there were about 45,000 volunteers. Throughout the autumn and winter of 1939/40. the Poles were held in French camps, having received from the French government only blue French uniforms and small arms, outdated even by Polish standards.

Further events developed rapidly. The Soviet Union attacked Finland, and France and Great Britain decided to provide military assistance to the staunch Finns. Sikorsky offered the services of the Polish units, which were glad to clash with the Red Army, which occupied part of their homeland. In January 1940, the French began to supply equipment for the 1st separate Polish mountain brigade "Podhale" ( Podhale). However, before this and other parts of the allies were prepared, Finland began negotiations with the USSR. Spring came, and the Poles were still forced to beg the French for weapons and equipment. Two divisions were almost ready: the 1st Grenadier and the 2nd Rifle. Finally, the French issued something more substantial, in particular the equipment for two battalions of R-35 tanks, which equipped the resurgent 10th mechanized cavalry brigade. The 10th mechanized brigade, nicknamed the "Black Brigade" for its specific black overcoats, was the only fully mechanized unit of the Polish Army in September 1939. It fought gloriously. Its commander, Colonel Stanislav Maczek, taking advantage of the fact that the unit was fighting near the Romanian border, was able to withdraw almost the entire personnel to Romania, and then to France.

By the beginning of the fighting in 1940 in France, two Polish divisions were practically formed, and two more (3rd and 4th) were in training camps. The mountain brigade was the first to enter the battle. At the end of April, a brigade under the command of General Sigmund Bohus-Szyszko was transferred by sea to Anken (Norway), along with a brigade of French Alpine riflemen. The Poles took the first battle on May 14, when they had to knock out the Germans, who had fortified themselves on a hilltop above the village. During the hard and bloody battle in the mountains, the French realized that the Poles can be relied upon. However, due to the fact that on May 10 the Germans occupied the Netherlands, on May 26 it was decided to evacuate the Norwegian Expeditionary Force. The Polish Mountain Brigade disembarked at Brest on June 14 and was soon involved in fierce fighting in Brittany.

Fire control section of a battery of 75 mm anti-aircraft guns WZ.36AA in anticipation of a raid by Luftwaffe bombers near Warsaw, September 2, 1939. Anti-aircraft gunners wear khaki overalls and helmets of the 1931 model, worn backwards so that the visor does not interfere with the use of optical devices. The buttonholes on the officer's uniform (in the center, wearing glasses) are green with a yellow piping along the trailing edge and a silver zigzag.

Ironically, the 1st Polish Grenadier Division was deployed in the small Saar pocket, which the French captured in September 1939, demonstrating "help" to the Poles when they were attacked by Germany. The 2nd Infantry Division was stationed in the Belfort area on the Swiss border. The French army was in dire need of tanks, so the 10th mechanized brigade of Colonel Maczek was thrown into battle not yet fully equipped. The 1st Division entered the battle only at the end of the campaign: it covered the retreat of the French XX Army Corps. At the same time, the division commander, General Bronislaw Duh, was put in a very difficult position: in mid-June, Sikorsky, seeing that France was doomed, ordered all Polish units to evacuate to England. However, General Spirit decided to continue fighting in France in order to avoid being accused of cowardice. The decision cost the soldiers dearly: from 17 to 21 June, the division lost 45% of its personnel. After the surrender of France, the Spirit ordered his soldiers to get to England as best they could, but only a few were able to carry out this order.

The 2nd Rifle Division also saw little action and on June 17, together with the French 45th Army Group, left for Switzerland, where it was interned. The 3rd Division, which had not yet completed its formation and training, took part in the bloody battles in Breton, where it was completely defeated. The 4th Division never entered the battle and was evacuated through the Bay of Biscay to England. Maczek's tankers saw some of the fiercest fighting during the retreat of the VII Army Corps towards Dijon in Champagne. Polish tankers acted jointly with the Senegalese units. By June 19, the brigade had lost three-quarters of its personnel and all its tanks. Maczek ordered the survivors to look for ways to get to England.

A Polish sergeant prepares a charge for a 3.7-inch British anti-aircraft gun. This photograph clearly shows the changes that the Poles made to the British uniforms issued to them. The epaulettes of the British khaki field jacket with white or silver galloon and thin red piping indicate military rank. The Polish Army patch at the top of both sleeves was dark red with white lettering, below it was a red patch with a black image of a bow and arrow: the badge of British anti-aircraft gunners. There are Polish buttonholes on the collar: green with yellow edging on the back edge. Polish soldiers stationed in England painted the image of an eagle on their helmets with yellow paint.

Resurrected Phoenix

So, less than a year later, the Polish army suffered a second crushing defeat. Illusions about the invincibility of the French army, as well as hopes for an early victory and return home, were dispelled. New defeat meant new losses. Of the 75,000 Poles who reached France, about 19,000 people evacuated to England, a quarter of which were pilots. In addition, the Carpathian brigade of General Stanislav Kopansky, which was formed in the Middle East, withdrew to Palestine so as not to clash with troops subordinate to the Vichy government. Relations between the Poles and the British were not as cordial as with the French, but in the summer of 1940 there was no need to choose partners. Churchill sympathized with Sikorsky's plans for the formation of the Polish Army as an independent fighting unit, and the wandering soldiers ended up in the Glasgow area. There was little work for the Poles: protection of the coast and military training. At first, the Royal Air Force was reluctant to take Polish pilots into fighter squadrons, but the situation in the air became increasingly tense, and in August 1940 several Polish squadrons were formed, the 303rd Polish squadron proved to be the most productive during the "Battle of England". Although the squadron was equipped with obsolete types of aircraft, the level of combat training of the Poles turned out to be noticeably higher than that of inexperienced British pilots who had more modern Spitfires and Hurricanes. The successes of the Polish pilots in 1940 contributed to the warming of relations with the British, and as a result they managed to get some more modern military equipment. The Poles turned out to be the most determined army in exile that was in the territory of the United Kingdom, so the British quickly forgot their former dismissive attitude towards the Poles. The defeat of the backward Polish army in 1939 faded after the defeat of the well-equipped British and French armies. A big problem for the Polish Army in 1940 and 1941. there was a shortage of manpower. Volunteers arrived from Poland, literally walking to any neutral port, but the lack of qualified officers and diplomats did not allow even these troops to be brought into proper condition.

In 1941, the Poles and the British greeted with joy the news of the German attack on the Soviet Union. The British were glad that they had an ally in their fight against Hitler. The Poles, on the other hand, received painful satisfaction from the fact that the entire power of the Wehrmacht fell upon the Red Army. They hoped that the Russians and Germans would grind each other to powder, as they had done in 1914-1918, and this would give Poland a chance for rebirth again. The British government was not enthusiastic about such sentiments and insisted that the Polish government in exile restore diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, the Sikorsky government chose to comply, and in 1941 the corresponding treaty was signed. However, Stalin did not agree to cede the Polish territories captured in 1939, and this immediately led to the emergence of rather strained relations between the two new allies.

1. Private of the 18th Lancers. 1939

1. The field headdress “slingshot” with a quadrangular crown was introduced in 1937. Only one emblem was supposed to be worn on the slingshot - a Polish military eagle embroidered with gray whining (In 1939, in some parts, old caps similar to American ones were still worn with a eagle). The slingshot should not be confused with the Polish cap, which existed in the same period. The cap also had a traditional square tulle, but not soft, but hard. In addition, the cap was supplied with a black leather visor and a colored band with insignia under the eagle. The color of the cap band denoted the type of troops, with the exception of the cavalry, where each regiment had its own color. Officers' caps were sheathed with a silver edging along the edge of the bottom, and also had narrow galloons sewn on the bottom in the form of a cross. Regiments of light cavalry and parts of the border guards wore similar caps, but with a round, "English" crown.

Uniform reform in the early 1930s modernized and standardized the Polish uniform, and also eliminated differences in cut between the uniforms of officers and soldiers. The woolen uniform of the 1936 model was sewn from khaki fabric, a slightly greener hue than the English uniforms. The cut was the usual: four pockets, shoulder straps, turn-down collar. Buttons in oxidized silver. The summer uniform had the same cut, but was sewn from linen. The cavalrymen wore breeches, reinforced with leather harnesses, as well as cavalry boots with spurs. The figure shows a soldier of the 18th Lancers with peacetime buttonholes: a blue-and-white pennant with two braids with a scarlet central stripe between them. Along the edge of the collar is a traditional Polish galloon zigzag. In wartime, such buttonholes were not supposed to be worn.

Cavalry pattern brown leather waist belt and Y-shaped shoulder straps. Two three-section pouches for clips of the Mauser type, a carbine of the 1929 model, a bread bag of the 1933 model. A shovel and a bayonet on the waist belt. The gas mask bag is not visible. Horse equipment - a soldier's bridle and saddle of the 1925 model. The saddle is equipped on the left with a mount for a saber of the 1934 model. During the September 1939 campaign, older sabers of the French, Prussian or Russian model were also encountered. Overcoat model 1936 in a roll is fixed on the front pommel of the saddle. Saddlebags and a sack for oats are attached to the back of the saddle. The blanket was supposed to be laid under the saddlecloth.

Pike of the French type with a weather vane-badge of regimental colors. In 1939, lances were not supposed to be used in combat, but there was no uniformity here. Some units left pikes in the barracks, others took them with them, but for the most part they were carried in the wagon train. Peaks with regimental badges and badges of squadrons were supposed to be worn constantly.

2. The uniform is the same. Pay attention to the French helmet of Adrian - in 1939 it remained in almost all cavalry and horse artillery units, as well as in some artillery, reserve infantry and auxiliary units. In the field, of all the insignia, it was supposed to wear only stripes on shoulder straps according to military rank. The corporal was supposed to have two silver chevrons with a red edging. Encryption with a number or with a monogram according to the name of the regiment, as well as with the traditional designations that existed in some parts, were worn on shoulder straps only in peacetime. In the field, such ciphers were worn on muffs that could be easily removed from shoulder straps. The buttonhole pennant on the collar is ruby ​​red/blue with a white center stripe, surrounded by a silver non-commissioned officer's zigzag.

The corporal is armed with an rkm wz.28 light machine gun, which was a further development of the Belgian Browning automatic rifle of the 1928 model. The machine gunner has enlarged double pouches, each pair is connected at the top.

1. Infantry lieutenant, 1939

2–3. Ordinary infantry, 1939

1. Field cap-slingshot with an eagle, overcoat of general cut for officers and lower ranks. Officer's stars on shoulder straps. All infantrymen had a yellow and blue stripe across the corners of their collars. Officers, as a rule, wore good quality breeches and boots in the field, and if the officer was supposed to have a horse, then spurs were attached to the boots. British-style officer's equipment, brown leather. Through the left shoulder are the belts of the tablet and binoculars, through the right shoulder - the belt of the ViS pistol holster. Linen WSR gas mask bag with fabric strap over the right shoulder.

2–3. Standard infantry uniforms and equipment are shown front and back. The Polish helmet of the 1931 model was painted with dark olive salamander-type paint, to which small cork chips were added, creating a grainy surface texture. Helmets were delivered primarily to infantry units, but by 1939 some artillery and other units also received them. The winter woolen uniform of the 1936 model included straight trousers with short windings and lace-up boots of the 1934 model (sometimes boots were sewn from undyed leather). A tarpaulin satchel, model 1932, a bowler hat, painted olive or left unpainted, is suspended from it. A part of the tent or a blanket was often wrapped around the overcoat, and the entire roll was attached to the knapsack in the form of a horseshoe, covering it from above and from the sides. On the left side, a small sapper shovel and a Mauser-type bayonet, along with a canvas cracker bag of the 1933 model. On the right, they are balanced by a bag of the same size and weight with a WSR gas mask. Three-section pouches on the front waist belt. Interestingly, for infantrymen, the role of cavalry shoulder straps is played by the straps of the satchel. The weapon is a Polish-made Mauser rifle, in 1939 it was found in three main versions: a rifle of the 1898 model, similar to the German 98a rifle, a carbine of the 1898 model and a carbine of the 1929 model, similar to the German 98k. Infantry buttonholes are blue with a yellow piping on the back and a white zigzag. In combat conditions, buttonholes were not supposed to be worn.

1. Private of the 10th Cavalry Rifle Regiment of the 10th Mechanized Brigade, 1939

2. Tankman, 1939

3. Lieutenant of the mountain rifle regiment of the 21st mountain division, 1939

1. The only fully mechanized brigade in 1939 had the nickname "Black Brigade" because of the characteristic black leather coats with a cloth collar and shoulder straps. Coats were sewn with a deep smell to the right. The 10th mechanized brigade was probably the only Polish unit whose soldiers continued to wear German helmets of the 1916 model, painted in khaki color, in 1939. The black coat covered the usual cavalry uniform and breeches. Cavalry boots in the motorized artillery units of this brigade were decorated with symbolic spurs (strips of metal around the heels), in the field these decorative "spurs" were not worn. The same "spurs" were worn by all officers of the brigade with evening dress. Note the cavalry leather equipment with Y-shaped shoulder straps.

2. Tank officers wore black leather coats or jackets, while ordinary tankers usually got by with cloth overalls. The head is protected by a khaki-colored helmet, which is a Polish version of the French tank helmet; there were also French-made helmets. Weapon: ViS pistol. On the side is a box with an old French RSC gas mask.

3. In the 21st and 22nd mountain divisions, instead of a slingshot, they wore felt hats, traditional for the mountainous regions of Podhale in southern Poland. A Polish military eagle is fixed on the front of the hat and under it is an asterisk denoting the rank of second lieutenant. On the side is the divisional emblem (“broken” cross-swastika on double twigs), with the help of which an eagle feather is pinned to the hat. The emblem of the division is also repeated on the collar of the cape, which replaced the overcoat in mountain divisions. Cape collar with infantry blue and yellow stripe. The cloak was often worn thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the right shoulder free. In this picture, the ViS pistol holster and saber suspended from the waist belt are not visible. The soldiers of the 21st mountain division wore "Hutsul" hats, traditional for the costumes of the inhabitants of the Eastern Carpathians.

1. Shooter of the 4th Warsaw Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division, France, 1940

2. Lieutenant of the 1st Grenadier Division, France. 1940

3. Shooter of a separate mountain rifle brigade, Norway, 1940

1. During the “strange war”, Polish soldiers in France were dressed in a motley mixture of old French dusty blue uniforms with different types of headgear - caps, caps, berets. Only units of the 1st Grenadier and 2nd Infantry Divisions in the spring of 1940 began to receive French khaki uniforms of the 1935 model. Some Polish infantry units received brown berets instead of khaki caps (bonnet de police). The Poles continued to wear the emblems and insignia of their army, made of metal or pressed rubber, or embroidered. Some received quadrangular French buttonholes, but in Polish colors: for example, for the infantry, dark blue with yellow piping, but without a unit number. Parts of the 2nd Infantry Division wore "bayonet-shaped" buttonholes of regimental colors. Cavalrymen and tankers wore pennant-shaped buttonholes on their collars. The 10th mechanized brigade received the standard uniform and equipment of French tankers. The French infantry helmet of the 1935 model was decorated with the image of the Polish eagle, which was either applied with paint or was an overlay plate; some specifically ordered headplates for helmets.

Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Regiment wore a brown beret with the national emblem. On the left side of the beret was sewn a buttonhole of regimental colors: light green, separated by a dark blue stripe. The same buttonholes were sewn on the collars of uniforms. There were no other distinguishing marks. The standard French field uniform included a uniform, golf trousers of the 1938 model, windings and lace-up boots. Model 1939 pouches are supported by Y-shaped shoulder straps. Modified 1934 satchel with a rolled up blanket, ANP 31 gas mask on the left side, food bag (musette) on the right side. The 1935 sample flask was worn at the back, exactly in the middle of the belt. Armament - Berthier rifle model 1916

2. The officer wears a cap with a Polish eagle. Under the eagle and on the left side of the cap are two stars, denoting the rank of lieutenant. The stars are also pinned to the shoulder straps of the French overcoat. The officer wears a gas mask bag and an M1935A automatic pistol holster.

3. The mountain units were supposed to be equipped on the model of the French Alpine shooters, but in reality the picture was very diverse. The image of an eagle is painted on the helmet. Usually mountain shooters wore a khaki beret. Over the uniform, many wore a water-repellent canvas "motorcycle" jacket. Like the "motor parts jacket" similar to it, it was very popular: the jacket could be worn over the uniform for warmth. Instead of the traditional headgear of Polish mountain units, there is a French artillery helmet. Taped knee-high trousers tucked into thick woolen socks. Leather equipment of the old model of 1915, but the rifle is new - MAS 36. Gas mask bag on a shoulder strap.

1. Shooter of a separate Carpathian rifle brigade, Tobruk, Libya, 1941

2. Shooter of the 6th Lvov Rifle Brigade of the 5th Kresovskaya Infantry Division, Italy, autumn 1944

3. Lieutenant of the 4th armored stick "Scorpio" of the 2nd armored division, Italy, early 1945

1. The uniforms of the soldiers of the Carpathian brigade differed from the British only in Polish insignia: the Poles wore the standard British tropical khaki uniform or field uniform for a temperate climate, cloth equipment of the 1937 model and were armed with British weapons. This soldier wore a khaki wool pullover over a tropical shirt and shorts. On his feet - high golf socks and army boots with short canvas gaiters. The British-style helmet is painted in sand color and decorated with the image of the Polish eagle on a red field. Rifle No. 1 Mk III SMLE.

2. The machine gunner is dressed in the British field uniform of the so-called "model 1940" with open buttons and pockets without bow folds. Standard cloth equipment of the 1937 pattern. In Italy, soldiers sometimes wore wellington boots to get rid of the autumn slush. The camouflage net on the helmet is shown "torn" so that the Polish eagle can be seen. Small diamond-shaped buttonholes on the collar of a British field blouse in traditional Polish colors: in this case infantry, blue with yellow piping. Under the national ribbon-patch in the upper part of the sleeve is the divisional emblem. Even lower is a white lion on a red-blue field - the emblem of the Lviv brigade. After Cassino, the Poles began to wear the emblem of the British 8th Army on the upper part of the right sleeve: a dark blue square patch with a white shield bearing a yellow cross. In preparation for the assault on Monte Cassino, they tried not to wear brigade or divisional emblems for reasons of secrecy. The soldier's armament is a Bren light machine gun.

3. Black beret of the Royal Armored Corps with an embroidered Polish eagle above two stars, denoting the rank of lieutenant. On the left side of the beret is the regimental emblem: a silver scorpion on a red rhombus. Regimental buttonholes on the collar are metal, dyed: a black-orange pennant-weather vane with a central red stripe, additionally decorated with the image of a scorpion made of white metal. On shoulder straps are silver five-pointed stars. The divisional emblem on the left sleeve is sewn close to the narrow red stripe indicating the type of troops (in the British army, belonging to the tank forces was indicated by a two-color stripe with a yellow front and red back halves. The red stripe denoted infantry. - Approx. ed.). This is what an officer could look like at a parade in the near rear: on the front line, he would not wear his Virtuti Military order. Cloth ammunition, including a pistol holster and a pouch, burned out almost white. The revolver is traditionally fastened to the shoulder with a cord. Light yellow tank gloves with leggings. Officers preferred to wear pre-war field uniforms with concealed buttons.

1. Private of the Polish separate parachute brigade, the Netherlands, 1944

2. Lieutenant of the 24th Lancers Regiment of the 1st Polish Armored Division, Northwestern Europe, 1944-1945.

3. Private of the 10th Dragoon Regiment of the 1st Polish Armored Division, Northwest Europe, 1944-1945.

1. Polish paratroopers wore the same uniforms and equipment as their British comrades: a helmet without a visor and a nape, a field uniform, a Denison airborne jumpsuit and equipment of the 1937 model, to which a rope was sometimes added to overcome obstacles. The paratrooper is armed with a Sten submachine gun. Only a yellow eagle on a helmet, bluish-gray buttonholes with a yellow piping and silver insignia, adopted in parachute units, indicate belonging to the Polish unit. In addition, the uniform of the Polish paratroopers was distinguished by a light bluish-gray beret with a traditional Polish eagle and insignia (this headdress is not shown in the picture).

2. The earthy-brown overalls of the Polish tankers seem to have more often had two hip pockets instead of one on the left thigh, like the British. Asterisks on shoulder straps are the only thing that denotes the officer's dignity of this tanker. The collar of the combat jacket is released over the overalls, it shows regimental buttonholes in the form of "Uhlan" badges-weather vanes: in the 24th Uhlans they are white with a yellow central stripe. On the black beret of the British tankers, the Polish eagle and stars of the lieutenant are embroidered. Cloth equipment includes a tank open hip holster on a long cloth belt. Pay attention to the cord of the revolver, which was always fixed on the right shoulder, regardless of whether the holster was located on the right or left of the belt. The officers were supposed to wear brown boots.

3. The regiment was part of the 10th motorized cavalry brigade. The regimental buttonholes were crimson and orange, with a central green stripe. In memory of the Polish 10th mechanized brigade in 1939, the regiment was left with a black epaulette and a cord on the left shoulder. In the upper part of the left sleeve there was a national ribbon-patch, under it - the emblem of the 1st armored division. On the right sleeve, instead of the divisional one, there is a regimental emblem: on a blue shield there is an St. Andrew's cross and the coat of arms of the Scottish city of Lanark, in which the soldiers of the 10th regiment were trained. On the helmet is an eagle, equipment of the 1937 model, field uniform of the "1940 model", armament - the Thompson submachine gun.

Home Army, August 1944

The insurgents of the Home Army did not have a single uniform. Civilian clothing, if possible, was supplemented with elements of the Polish pre-war uniform or captured German uniforms. At the very beginning of the uprising, a large German uniform warehouse was seized, and many sets of various camouflage uniforms were distributed to the rebels; these "panthers" were very popular. All insurgents wore a red and white armband, sometimes they additionally depicted the emblems of the detachments, the Polish eagle, the letters WP (Wojsko Polskie) or an abbreviation for the name of the detachment. Sometimes a large Polish eagle was depicted on helmets in white paint instead of the white and red ribbon shown in Figure 1. This insurgent is dressed in civilian clothes and armed with a makeshift flamethrower. Fighter (2) is part of one of the Boy Scout companies. He is dressed in a black German cap with a Polish eagle and a "panther" - in this case, a double-sided winter army top camouflage with a Wehrmacht "blurred" pattern. He is armed with a Blaskawitz submachine gun (Blyskawica - lightning) - the Polish analogue of the English Sten submachine gun, of course, much less reliable than the prototype. The courier girl (3) wears an army camouflage jacket with a "split" pattern. Glasses were needed to protect the eyes from poisonous fumes when they had to wade through sewer pipes. Most of the couriers were unarmed, only a few had small-caliber pistols unsuitable for serious combat.

Editor's note: Pro-Soviet partisan detachments also operated in Poland, under the control of the Krajowa Rada Narodowa. By her decree on January 1, 1944, the Ludov Army (literally, the People's Army) was created. Organization of the Human Army at the beginning of 1944:

1st district "Warsaw" (partisan unit "Imeni Chvartakov"); 2nd district "Warsaw - Lewa Podmeiska" (two groups, including "K. Pulaski"); 3rd district "Warsaw - Rights Podmeiska" (partisan formations "Yastzhab", "Yurek", "Zygmund", "I. Slovatsky", "Dombrovsky"); 18th district "Plock" (groups "Czarny", "Maly", "Kuba", "Vashchik", "Lasek", "Ryszard", "Macek", "Zelazny"), District II "Lubelski" - main apartment partisan formations (1st partisan brigade “Imeni Zhemi Lubelskaya”, partisan formations “Armata”, “Stary”, “Yanovskogo”, “Egier”, partisan battalion “Imeni Kholod”); District III "Radomsko-Kielecki" (partisan battalion "Named after General Bem"; partisan formations "Named after B. Glovatsky", "Named after Zawisza Cherny", "Named after I. Sovinsky", "Named after D. Chakhovsky", "Named after M. Langevich ”, “Named after V. Lukashchinsky”, “Garbaty”); District IV "Krakow" (partisan formations "Hadek Podhalansky", "Gutek", "Stefan Kola", "Zygmund", "Stanko"); District V "Slasko-Dombrovsky" (partisan formations "Imeni Marcin", "Kvasna", "Klusovnik").

1. Private of the 1st Infantry Division. T. Kosciuszko, 1945

2. Tanker of the 1st Polish armored brigade "Heroes of Westerplatte", Polish Army, 1944-1945.

3. Private of the 1st Infantry Division. T. Kosciuszko, 1945

1. When in 1943 the formation of units of the Polish Army began in Selce, the soldiers received Soviet uniforms. But for political reasons, a special uniform later appeared, more reminiscent of the Polish uniform of the 1936 model. Soviet-style helmet, equipment is also Soviet, leather. The color of the uniform varied, more often it was a grayish-green hue, but there was also a regular one - khaki. The new uniform never replaced the Soviet one. The khaki overcoat resembled the pre-war Polish one in cut, but standard Soviet overcoats were often used. The soldier is armed with a DP light machine gun, which the Poles called "gramophones". Soviet-style helmet with a white Polish eagle, but for political reasons - without the traditional crown and shield. In Poland, when soldiers of the Polish Army appeared there, such eagles were called "plucked chickens." Many soldiers continued to use the pre-war emblems, cutting off the crowns from them, and later launched the industrial production of eagles without a crown. Buttonholes of a new triangular shape, but the infantry colors (blue and yellow) remained the same: confirmed by two orders from 1943 and 1945. At first, infantrymen wore buttonholes with a blue half over yellow, and the reverse color combination was given to armor-piercing units. In 1945, in the infantry, the color combination on the buttonholes was reversed.

2. A khaki uniform is worn over tank overalls tucked into boots with short tops. The headgear is a black Soviet summer tank helmet. There were also dark blue overalls and helmets. Pistol TT model 1935. Specialized parts of the Polish Army - tankers, sappers, etc. - preferred to wear more standard elements of the Soviet uniform and equipment.

3. The discrepancy between the shades of the color of the fabric of the headdress, uniform, breeches and overcoat was a common occurrence. High boots and Soviet-style equipment, including cloth pouches for three magazines for PPSh-41 each. Instead of the Soviet helmets of the 1940 model, the Poles often wore slingshots, putting them on even in winter, although they were given fur hats with earflaps. The insignia are the same as in Figure 1. The insignia by rank generally remained the same as in the pre-war army. There were only minimal differences: for example, stars could be yellow rather than white metal, white thread was used instead of silver thread for embroidery.

One of the most important moments of the concluded pact was an agreement on the formation of a number of units of the Polish army on Soviet territory. They were to be staffed from more than 200,000 Polish prisoners of war who were on the territory of the USSR. These units were led by the former cavalryman General Vladislav Anders. Soon these troops turned into another problem in relations between the Poles and the Soviet Union. Polish prisoners of war were a collection of half-starved, ragged people exhausted by war and captivity. It was very difficult to form combat-ready units from them, especially since the Soviet Union itself experienced a serious shortage of weapons and equipment. In addition, among the prisoners of war, a significant proportion were officers with a shortage of privates. However, the Soviet side insisted that the Polish units take at least a symbolic part in the war as soon as possible, and demanded that Anders form at least one Polish division as soon as possible and send it to the front. Having such a poorly equipped division would have been of little real use and would have resulted in many deaths. The Soviet government insisted that the first Polish division be formed by October 1941, but by this time the 5th Kresovskaya division was still in rags, and 40% of the soldiers did not have shoes. Politicians talked about the unity and mutual understanding of the allies, and the soldiers had to sacrifice their lives for the interests of a foreign state that had just violated the treaty, and now refused to recognize their rights to the lands on which their ancestors had lived for centuries. Anders, who was under pressure from the NKVD, nevertheless shared the convictions of his soldiers and refused to send Polish units into battle, citing a lack of equipment.

Soldiers of the 5th Infantry Division (since June 1943 - Kresovskaya) at the parade, Saratov, USSR, December 1941. Soon the unit was transferred to the Middle East, later its soldiers fought in Italy near Monte Cassino. Horses of the soldiers of the banner group of the steppe breed. The uniform is a mixture of elements of Polish and Soviet uniforms.

During the negotiations, the Soviet side recognized that it was not able to adequately equip all the Polish units, and it was decided to transport some of them to Great Britain and Iran, where the British side could help equip them. Relations between the Polish and Soviet side continued to deteriorate, especially since the Poles began to openly accuse the Soviet side of opposing the formation of their units. In particular, Stalin denied the Poles the right to enlist Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews in the Polish Army, who until 1939 had Polish citizenship and lived in the Polish territories seized in favor of the USSR. It seemed that the situation was getting out of control, but in 1942, American and British diplomats were able to convince Stalin to send Polish units to Central Asia. Thanks to this, the Soviet Union was able to release six infantry divisions, which served as occupying troops in Iran, together with British units. Western diplomats assured that in this case it would be easier to equip the Polish units in order to then send them to fight the Nazis - either to the Soviet-German front, or somewhere else. By that time, the Soviet government had already begun to openly accuse the Poles of not wanting to fight against the Germans. At the same time, Soviet leaders refused to take into account any statements by the Poles regarding the actions of the Soviets and the Nazis in the partition of Poland in 1939, as well as to talk about the prospects for the return of captured Polish territories, including the most important city of Lvov. By the spring of 1943, about 115,000 Polish military personnel and members of their families had been sent to the Middle East. This was only a small part of the one and a half million Poles who were at that time in Soviet camps as prisoners of war and deported persons, taken into custody during the “decolonization” of the eastern regions of the country carried out by the NKVD units.

Soldiers of a separate Carpathian rifle brigade look out for German planes in the sky, the defense of Tobruk. British-style uniform and equipment; Poles could be distinguished only by specific insignia, and sometimes by the image of an eagle on a helmet, inscribed in a red oval shield. From the stripes on shoulder straps, you can determine that the machine gunner on the left has the rank of corporal.

The Poles arrived in Central Asia just at the moment when relations between the Polish and Soviet governments were heated to the limit. The Germans discovered graves with the remains of 4,000 Polish officers near the small town of Katyn. The Poles believed that both the Nazis and the Soviet units could be guilty of this massacre. Moreover, the suspicions against the Soviet Chekists looked more convincing, since the Soviet side refused to explain the fate of the 15,000 Polish officers captured by the Red Army in 1939. If they really fell into the hands of the Nazis, then why didn't the Soviets simply make this fact public? The Poles have achieved an investigation under the auspices of the International Red Cross. The Soviet government regarded this as a reason to break off diplomatic relations and accused the Poles of conspiring with the Nazis. The Soviet government expected that the post-war leadership of Poland should be "friendly" in relation to the USSR, in other words, be formed in accordance with the wishes of Stalin. As a sign of friendly intentions, the Soviet Union demanded that the Sikorski government recognize the Soviet annexation of half of the territory of pre-war Poland in exchange for a small part of the German lands that were supposed to be taken from Germany in the course of the post-war reorganization of Europe. Both Churchill and Roosevelt at meetings in Tehran and Yalta agreed with these proposals. The foreign policy of the United States and Great Britain was dominated by a friendly attitude towards the USSR, in addition, Churchill and Roosevelt tried to appease Stalin at a time when Soviet troops were bearing the brunt of the war on the ground fronts. Public opinion in Great Britain and the United States was pro-Soviet, and Poland's position was presented as a kind of funny incident, the product of blind anti-Bolshevism and even anti-Semitism. It was an unfair position, but many Americans and Britons at the time naively believed in the idea of ​​a "Soviet paradise", which crumbled much later, when they became aware of the atrocities committed by Stalinism. The break in relations between the Polish government and Stalin was a tragedy; the Soviet side was given the opportunity to form its own puppet Polish government in Moscow. It, in turn, announced the creation of its own army, which was supposed to fight side by side with the Soviet troops instead of Anders' army.

Meanwhile, the Polish army returned to the battlefields again, although this concerned only a small part of it. In September 1941, the Carpathian brigade of General Stanislav Kopansky was transferred to Egypt to participate in the defense of Tobruk. The brigade was formed in 1939 in Syria from Polish soldiers who arrived in the Middle East through the Balkans. After the fall of France, the brigade was taken over by the British Army.

The brigade consisted of three infantry battalions and a cavalry regiment (equivalent in number to a battalion). The brigade defended the western part of the Tobruk perimeter, and during the December breakthrough managed to push back the Italian Brescia division and occupy Akrom. In the battle of Gazala, the Poles acted side by side with the New Zealand units. At the beginning of 1942, the brigade was returned to Palestine, where its personnel were used to form and equip new units from the Polish military who arrived from the USSR.

In June 1943, General Sikorsky died in a plane crash over Gibraltar. It was a very big loss, since Sikorsky was one of the few influential Poles who enjoyed the same confidence both among his compatriots and the governments of the USA and Great Britain. There was no other leader of the same magnitude. The command of the army passed to General Kazimir Sosnkowski, and Stanisław Mikołajczyk became Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile.

II Polish Corps in Italy, 1944–1945

Anders' army was stationed in Palestine, Iraq and Iran. The personnel of the army were used to form the Polish II Corps, as well as to replenish the Polish I Corps deployed in Scotland. There were no prospects for a quick return of the Poles to combat units: they were tormented by malaria, they were badly equipped and exhausted. Training continued from the autumn of 1942 until the autumn of 1943. During this period, the Polish troops were used by the British counterintelligence as a front to convince the Germans that the British were preparing an invasion of the Balkans. The Poles themselves believed that there was some truth in this: they were ready to take part in the landing operation in Greece or Yugoslavia as part of the allied army in order to later liberate Poland and Central Europe before the approach of Soviet troops. But in 1943 this plan was finally rejected as too risky.

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3. Regimental insignia of military formations - infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments, tank battalions, aviation and military educational institutions in Poland.

4. Uniform and overcoat buttonholes according to the military branches, military chaplains have three types of buttonhole crosses - Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox.

5. Cockades for headdresses of the Polish Army 1921-1939, as well as awards and badges of Polish veteran organizations. The badge with a reverse swastika in the center is the badge of the Association of Polish Veterans "For the Defense of the Motherland".

6. Patterns of uniforms of Polish veteran organizations.

7. Uniform of infantry units, on the left - the female uniform of the captain of the Women's Volunteer Legion (1920), in the center - an infantry corporal, on the right - a major.

8. On the left is the uniform of a lieutenant colonel of a mountain infantry brigade, on the buttonholes of his raincoat there is a sign with a swastika. On the right is the uniform of a Brigadier General of the Polish Army.

9. Here is a sign with a swastika and spruce branches worn by the "Podhalian Riflemen", Polish mountain shooters, on raincoats and hats (they were attached to a feather on their hats).

10. Polish 37-mm anti-tank gun "Bofors" M1936, found during construction in Warsaw in 1979.

11. Mace and Podhalian hat of Marshal Rydz-Smigly, Supreme Commander of Poland in 1939.

12. Samples of ceremonial sabers of the Polish Lancers.

13. Polish infantry weapons - 46-mm wz.36 mortar in combat and stowed position, Shosha light machine gun and Ckm wz.30 easel machine gun, Mosin rifle with a Mauser bayonet.

14. A box of spare parts and accessories for the Ckm wz.30 machine gun.

15. Dashing Polish motorcycle Sokół 600.

16. Camping riding equipment of the Polish lancer.

17. Uniform and weapons of the defenders of Wasterplatte.

18. Field uniform of Polish infantrymen - an officer and a private.

19. Fragments of downed German aircraft and personal belongings of Luftwaffe pilots. Stamps with a swastika and the year "1939", judging by the description, are for marking the coffins (or crosses?) of German soldiers who died in the Polish campaign.

20. Uniform of Polish pilots and tankers.

21. Uniform of a civil defense soldier.

22. 7.92-mm machine gun Ckm wz.30 on a machine mounted for anti-aircraft fire, and next to it is a large-caliber 12.7-mm version of the Maxim (Vickers) machine gun.

23. Uniform of the Border Guard Corps, a formation specially created to protect the eastern border of the Republic of Poland (from the USSR).

24. Uniform of a sailor from the monitor "Pinsk" (ORP on a peakless cap - a ship of the Commonwealth). An interesting fate of this monitor, on September 18, 1939, it was flooded by the crew, was raised by Soviet divers and, under the name "Zhitomir", first became part of the Dnieper River Flotilla, and then part of the Pinsk Flotilla. Participated in the battles of 1941 and ran aground (or was damaged by German artillery) on August 31, 1941, the next day was destroyed by the crew.

25. Polish 81 mm wz.31 mortar, Ckm wz.30 machine gun on a cavalry mount and wz.35 anti-tank rifle.

26. Light machine gun "Browning" rkm wz.28 with spare magazines and a sight for anti-aircraft fire.

27. Naval and infantry uniforms.

28. Weapons and ammunition found on the battlefields of 1939 in Poland.

29. Tops of the Polish banners.

30. Samples of headdresses of the Polish Army.

31. A set of tools for maintenance of the PZL P.11 fighter.

32. The uniform of the artillery units of the Polish army.

33. Two different samples of the German Enigma cipher machine, the first attempts to analyze the code and decrypt Enigma messages were started in Poland in the mid-1920s.

34. Section of a 75-mm shrapnel projectile and an anti-tank gun wz.35 and a 7.92-mm cartridge for it.

35. Uniform of the air and naval forces of the second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.