Category: This entry was posted in Armies, Poland by MSW. Bookmark the permalink.

In 1941, the Polish-Soviet military convention permitted the formation of the `Polish Army in Russia’ under General Wladyslaw Anders. This decision launched one of the epic odysseys of modern warfare, worthy of Xenophon’s `Ten Thousand’. Polish refugees and deportees who had withstood the rigours of Stalin’s Arctic camps or of Siberian exile drifted into the […]

Belgium and the Netherlands After the Allied armies broke out from Normandy, the Polish 1st Armoured Division pursued the Germans along the coast of the English Channel. It liberated, among others, the towns of Saint-Omer, Ypres, Ghent and Passchendaele. A successful outflanking manoeuvre planned and performed by General Maczek allowed the liberation of the city […]

Following the victories at Austerlitz (1805) and later Jena and Auerstädt (1806), Napoleon called on Poles to establish a “Northern Legion” (also known as the Vistula Legion and, originally, the Légion Polacco-Italienne of the newly created Westphalian Army), yet without mentioning “Poland” in the name of the unit. In December 1806 three divisions numbering more […]

Following the victories at Austerlitz (1805) and later Jena and Auerstädt (1806), Napoleon called on Poles to establish a “Northern Legion” (also known as the Vistula Legion and, originally, the Légion Polacco-Italienne of the newly created Westphalian Army), yet without mentioning “Poland” in the name of the unit. In December 1806 three divisions numbering more […]