This volume is the third in a series detailing the role of the Polish Army in France. At this time, additional volumes are being planned. Many more topics need to be covered, and additional information is surfacing, sometimes daily. This saga which officially ran from 1917-1922, covers recruitment in the USA and Canada, training at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, shipping to France for service through the end of World War I on the Western Front and finally deploying by train to Poland to continue the battle for Poland’s freedom. Upon arriving in Poland Spring of 1919, the fight continued against the Ukrainian army, the Red Army and Bolsheviks, as well as German troops still trying to return home. The goal was to reinstate Poland onto the map of Europe and try to reach its boundaries as they had been before the partitioning of the country by Russia, Prussia, and Austria at the end of the 18th century. These battles were fought in present-day Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, as well as skirmishes with the newly formed Czecho-Slovakia over border lines.

Troops in France continued to add to the army being released from POW camps in Italy, estimates place the number at 40,000, and a continued supply of men from North America until Niagara-on-the-Lake closed in March 1919. Some men from America were being deployed and sent to France for future service as others who were already in Europe were making their way home.

This book also details the Polish Army in France was not an isolated story in France.

Other countries were fighting for reinstatement onto the map of Europe, and to once again be placed on the roll call of nations. Czecho-Slovakia was one such country as they, too, formed a Legion of over 65,000 men taken from the POW camps, some also in Italy, and men who were serving in the Austrian army and saw their future and that of their country, better served by the cause of the Western allies rather than the Central Powers. This story of these Czech and Slovak soldiers and their roles in France is detailed in more depth, but not nearly enough.

The little known story of the Russian Expeditionary force sent to France to fight is also shown with some depth, as not all Russians were “communists, Bolsheviks or Red Army.” Their struggles and sacrifices are also displayed here for their service in France. And finally the Serbians, brothers of the Russians through their religion, also are shown as sacrificing men and means for the cause of a free Europe.

And thus, the story continues!