With the start of World War Two now over 70
th years
ago it must seem like every event has been covered in great detail.
There is one major area that has sadly been
overlooked, the contribution of Polish forces to the allied victory.
Poland
was the first country to say no to Hitler and Nazi Germany.
That decision cost Poland dearly with over
20% of its population were killed, over 60% of its infrastructure destroyed and
at the end of the war she lost her eastern provinces to the Soviet Union.
While the facts of history seem to have been forgotten or
obscured, some legends appear to have gained historical status, such as the myth
that Polish cavalry charging German tanks, or the idea that
Poland was
uniquely easily defeated. Yet history tells us that it took Hitler and Stalin
working together 5 weeks to crush the bulk of the Polish forces, and 6 weeks
for
Germany
alone to completely overcome the French forces who were backed by the British
and others.
The Polish army reformed to see action alongside the Soviet
armed forces in
Russia,
Ukraine and
Belarus.
They helped defended Tobruk in
North Africa.
They
fought their way up
Italy
with their most famous victory being at Monte Cassino.
They took part in the break-out from
Normandy landing.
Poles were dropped at
Arnhem alongside British airborne
troops.
Polish fighter and bomber pilots took an active part in all
the major air campaign of the war. The
Polish air force in a few short weeks shot down hundreds of planes and damaged
hundreds more. They were to go on to be both
the second largest in terms of pilots and in downed German planes during the
Battle of Britain.
Bletchley
Park is rightly held as an
important achievement by the British but many do not know it was Polish mathematicians
which broke the enigma code giving the British invaluable aid. During the war, Polish resistance forces
provided over half the intelligence sent to the UK
from occupied Europe. The Polish resistance also provided critical
help in the form of a capture V2 rocket transferred at great risk to London.
The role of the Polish navy seems to have gone down the
Memory Hole too. Its navy was small but it sailed 1,213,000 miles alongside the
Royal navy, in 1162 combat patrols and 787 escort missions. A Polish destroyer
was famously the first to spot the mighty German battleship, Bismarck and joined in the attack to help
sink her. The Polish Merchant Fleet
should not be forgotten either, as it too served alongside the British
throughout WW2.
In Poland,
the Armia Krajowa (home army) took important action against the German
occupying forces. They were large enough
to launch a nationwide uprising to support the advance of Soviet forces.
The Poles always talked of “For Your Freedom and Ours” and I
guess that was enough for them. Still this
is perhaps with age taking the last who fought we could take a moment to
remember the important role in the success of the allied cause to be recognised
and the Poles should not be the forgotten ally any more.
© 2010 Support Poland Ltd