Poland was the first country to stand up to Germany in 1939, and maintained an underground army during the years of World War II. The underground army was organized in occupied Poland in October 1939 and worked until April 1945, hoping to establish a legitimate authority in post-war Poland while liberating territory with the aid of Polish Forces from the west. This military history covers the attempts of General Wladyslaw Sikorski and his successor (General Kazimierz Sosnkowski) to integrate the Polish forces into Western Strategy, and trying to have their clandestine forces (the Armia Krajowa) declared an allied combatant and legitimized by the Western powers before the eyes of both Germans and Soviets who sought Poland's destruction.
The work opens with some general remarks on the inter-war period of 1919-1939, and then concentrates on the period of October 1939 through January 1945 and V-E Day. It covers such topics as Poland's part in the Norwegian and French Campaigns, the Battle of Britain, Polish Intelligence Services, Military Radio Network, Feluccas, the creation of the Polish Parachute Brigade, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Bomber Offensive, the Katyn graves, Polish air crews in RAF Transport Command, Tehran, Polish Wings in the 2nd Tactical Air Force, the Bardsea Plan, the invasion of Normandy, the Pierwsza Pancera, the Warsaw Uprising, Operation Freston, the disbanding of the Polish Home Army, and Yalta. A conclusion and several appendices (including a chronology, costs of the Polish forces based in the UK, list of Polish squadrons in UK, and the texts of Polish-British agreements) close the work.
Table Of Contents:
Acknowledgments viiForeword 1
Preface 5
1. The Interwar Period, 1919–1939. 11
2. The Fight Continues: October 1939 through June 1940. 25
3. June 1940 through June 1941. 43
4. June 1941 through December 1942. 67
5. January 1943 through November 1943. 97
6. November 1943 through July 1944. 119
7. July 1944 through December 1944. 153
8. January 1945 through VE Day. 179
APPENDICES:
I. Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Polish Government Regarding Mutual Assistance (August 25, 1939) 185
II. First Polish-United Kingdom Agreement (1940) Pertaining to the Polish Air Force 188
III. Polish-British Land Forces Agreement (1940) 193
IV. Revised Polish-British Air Force Agreement (1944) 196
V. Costs of the Polish Forces While Based in the United Kingdom 202
VI. Strength of the Polish Forces in Exile at War’s End 204
VII. Military Symbolism: Occupied Homeland Sends Two Flags to Its Warriors in Exile 205
VIII. Chronology of Important Events 206
Chapter Notes 213
Bibliography 227
Index 241
About The Author:
The late Michael Alfred Peszke was a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. A distinguished life fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and member emeritus of American College of Psychiatrists, he lived in Rhode Island.
