OSPREY· VANGUARD 30

POLISH ARMOUR 1939-45

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Text by Krzysztof Barbarski Colour plates by Terry Hadler

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EDITOR , \I.\RT I :\ ,,' I :\DRO'"

POLISH ARMOUR 1939-45

T exlbl' KR 7. Y S7.TO F BARB.\ R SK I

(;ololl "/Jla les~l' TERR Y HADLER

OS PRE Y P l · BI.I ~ II I ~(; 1.()' 1}()'

To the memory or Ill y fa ther, Capl. J anusz Barbarski , '.md Polish Armollred Rc.gimI'1l1 .

Published in 1982 by Osprey Publishing Ltd Member company oflhe George Philip Grollp 12- 14 Long Acre, London WC2E 91.P If) Copyright 1982 Osprey Publishing Ltd Reprill1ed 1985, IgB7, 1988 OothScansLtd

This book is copyrighted und cr the Berne Convcntion. All rights reserved. Apart from an y lili r dealingfor the purpose of private study, research, criticism or rcvi ew, as permitted under the Copyrigh t Act, 1956, no pan of this publication may be reproduced , stored in a rctrieva l system, or transmiucd in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical , mechanical , opt ical , photocopying, recording orothenvise , without the prior permiss ion of the copyrigbt owner. Enqui ries should be addressed 10 the Publishers.

Filmset in Great Brita in Printed in Hong Kong

Acknowledgements 'fhe author wo uld like to offer his thanks to Capl. R. Dembinski , Cha irman and Honora ry Curator, and Cap I. W. ~'I ilcwski , Chief Archivist of the Polish lnstiwt(· and Sikorski Museum in London , for th e use of the IIl ,tilUt( ··S materials in the preparation of Ihis publ ication . To Stan islaw Zurakowskj for the photographic work. To the following for supplying informati(lIl: Capt. :\1. Bialki('wirz ; I.\. C:ol. T. Bialostocki ; Boleslaw Bokszczanill; \ \'adaw Fit"dln: Cap t. J. Gabrys; Capt . S. Grabowski ; Aleksandcr J arzembowski: Capt. O . .J ;,zdnwski: C:ap1. Z. KM.ak: David List ; I.. t. Col. B. Mincer ; Maj. P. Niekraszcwicz ; LI. Col. W. Sam ira ; Capt. M . Sawicki ; Col. f. Szys towski , O RE ; Capt. S. Taras; Stcven Zaloga ; LI. Col. M. Zebrowski. Above a li to my wifc , Elizabcth , for her a",,,, istann' and cncouragement , as well as to a ll tht, ladies or th~ household for their patience!

1 Co mpa n y • • Bn .• I$t T a.nIr. Regt . during a .. in s p ection in Wilno in 1!'ZOo Company eomrnallder Capt. WladYll law Kohulnie ki is a tanding on the left of the g r ealo;o ated gf:nf:ral. Notf: .hf: u ae of Fre neh rank. a nd unifo rm item •. (This. alld a U olh er phot o graphs in this book unlns IiI p ed6 cally o;redited o therW;IIf: •• r f: (ro .... t h e P o li sh Inll t;l u teand Sikor s ki J\.1 .. lIe u ..... colleClion ·1

The Beginn ings

The firsl Pol ish a rmoured unit to be formed was Ihe 1st Polish Tank Regimen t ( [n Regimen t d es Chars Blimlcs Polonais) of the Polish Army in Fra nce- known as 'General Ha ller's Army'. The Regimcnt was formed by the trans fe rofeq uipmenl , office rs and oth er ranks from the French 5051h T ank Regiment.

The organisa tion com menced al ~ I art ign y-Ies­

Hains on 2:.! ~ l a 'T h 1919. wi l h Ihe regiment ready lor ac tion on I May t9[9. Th e Poli sh element of the unit W(l S initially made u p of former German and Aust ro- l-I unga ria n prisoners of war of Polish origin , as well as a large nu mber of vo lunteers of Polish descent fram the America n continent.

In itially the Regimen t was eompmed of IWO ballalions, \\ hose companies nllTied the nu mber of Ihe infa ntry d ivision they were allached 10

( I Balta lion - Ist and 2nd Companies, I I Ba lt al ion - 3rd , 6t h a nd 7th Compa nies) plus a ma in­tenance/ tra nsport sect ion. Equipmen t consisted of Rcnauh M t9 17 FT tanks; each com pan y consisted of the compan y cOlll mander's tank, three pia loons offivf' I~ nk s f'~r'h , an ('f' hf'lon pl~loon of nine tanks and severa l reserve vchicles.

Unt il October 1919 the regiment remaincd under the com mand of Col. Jules Mare, the fo rmcrcomma nderof the French S05t h Regimen t. O n 1 June 19 19 the first t ranspons a rrived in Lod'l, Poland , in readiness for ac tion in the Poli sh-Sovie t War of 19 19 192 1. Almost im­med ia. tel y I Bn . was se llt [0 Ihe ~onh-Eas t e rn

Fron t where, attached to the 14th Infa ntry Division and subsequent ly to the 1st Legion Infa ntry Brigade, i t saw act ion a t Bobrujsk (28 AUgllSI) and Dyncbllrg (27 /29September) . Mea n­while , in I.odz. an armou red cent re of son s had

been es ta blished , ",here schooling of recruits look place and maintenance workshops were set up .

The nex t yea r foun d the regimen t aga in at the front: [ Bn. a t Wi lno as pan of the :\'onh­Eas te rn (Lithuania n-W hilc R ussian ) From. and II Bn . at Kic,· as part of the Soulh-Ea"t(, fIl ( L.:kra in ian Fran!. Hy carl).Julll·1920 thc Fronts began to c ru mble under the PI-c.ssurc of Rl'd Arm y counter-anacks. From Wilno a nd Kic,· to \\·arsaw itself. companies , platoons a nd individual tanks found thclllsd n !s al mos t constantly in aC lion wi th Ihe rearguard. Tanks were often senl to perform vin ua ll y impossible tasks by the comma nders of the uni ts to wh ich they were al1ached , who were ignorant in Ihe use orarmour, a nd of Ihe limita tions of the w nks. During the re treat notahle success('s ",(Ore .. co red al Grodno. Lososna and Sokolka wi th furt her anion at Lomza a nd Sniadow. Tht' 1St Co. ~ubs('qL1en ll y

moved to Warsaw a nd the 2nd Co. to Lodz, lor complete overha ul .

The 3rd Co., which had been in Kiev, was wil hdrawn as the Fronl c rumbled under the attacks of Buden ny's Horse Army. I twas Ihen switched from one unit to another. evcllIua ll y being sent to join the u ni ts defending the cit y of Lwow. In ea rl y August, for a period oflhree days, th e bal\al ion repulsed repeated Sovie t allacks, evcntuall y holding the Icft bank of the Seret and thereby slowing Ih e enemy ad,·a lln· on I.wow. Duri ng the re mai nderof lhe mOllth the battal ion saw a lmost constant action in the defence of Pola!ld's 'eas tern capital '.

\·\lith Ihe Red Anny no\\' al Ihe ga les of \\'01na\\ it was decided to mass a ll ava il abl e tanks. By 13 AU g"ust onl y 33 tanks were fOllnd to hl' fit for

Vickers twin-turret tanks ' a king part in a march past during the mid-19301il. The crew wear t.he converted M'915 Adrian helmet.

service, the un it consisting of 2nd Co. plus five tanks, the newly form ed 5th Co., and two platoons of 4th Co. In view of the sma ll number of tanks it was d ec ided to sca lie r thcm among the defending troops.

Notable success wasscorcd al Radzymin ( 14- 16 August ) in support of the 1st Lithuanian-\Vhite Russian Di"., during which ti me a n armou red group of tanks and armoured t rains was formed. The speed of the Polish tank manoeuvres was such tha t for a momen t the a rmoured trains mistook the advancing tan ks for the enemy. On 20 Augus t the a rmoured group effective ly cut oA' the retreat ing Sovie t 18t h Army, on the line Ciechanow-i\ llawa. The spearhead o f the group reached M lawa on '2 [ August, with the Soviet breakthrough cx pec ted on 23 August. In the event this look place at dawn o n 22 August, with the Corps of Gai-K han and the remnants of the Soviet 54th In f. Oiv. lau nchi ng their attack on

\\"yszyny. During [he ensu ing struggle one armoured tra in was hit and the ot hcr wi thdra wn. One platoon of ta nks was un loaded from its rail transporters and gave chase briefly, but the tanks go t bogged down in marsh y terrain. The ta nks that had remained in Mlawa saw no furth er se rvice, due ma inly toa lack offuel and spare parts.

The situ ation dur ing the Polish-Soviet \'Var differed grea tl y from that of the \ ,Vestern Frollt , and did not reall y give the tank units a chance 10

prove their wort h . The Renauhs were too slow for such a mobi le ca mpaign and were limited by their shon range. Of course, the general lack of under­stand ing of the technical and tact ica l poss ibilities of the new weapon did not help. However, in situat ions favourable fo r tank warfa re both men and machines proved thei r wonh, often p laying a decisive part in local actions. To an extent the mixed groups of armoured cars and lorri ed infantry foreshadowed the mobile warfare of the Second World War.

The Inter-War Period

With th e termination of hostiliti es during the wi nlcr of ' 920, the battalions of the I SI Tank R eg\. were sellt to their future garrisons- I Bn . to ''\' ar5aw, 1 I Bn . lO Zurawicaa nd I I I Sn. to Poznan. The regimental headquarters, reserve battalion and workshops remained in Lodz. The regime nt ccased to ex is t as sll c h on I I August 192!, it s battalions becom ing independent units, with the reserve batta lion and workshops being di vided be tween them. A Centra l T ank School was also formed at thi s time in Warsaw. On 16 February 192:1 tilt; lSI Tank R t:gt. was IT-fo rmed at Zurawica, with th e amalgamationofthe battal ions and the Central Tank School.

Unti l [930 armour did not const i tut e a separa te arm of the Polish Army. The 1St T a nk R egt. came under the orders of the Infantry Depart­melli , with armoured cars considered a s pan of mOlor transport troops. Armoured trains, o n the o ther hand, were pa rt of the railwa y engineers , th eir training being supervised by the artillery . In 1927 armoured units came under the orders of the Engineer Department , and an Armoured Forces Direc lOra te was formed in 1929 . By an orde r of the Minister of Defence, dated 15 May [930, the Armoured Forces became an arm in their own ri ght. T he new orga nisation was a s follows: [s t Tank R eg t. in Poznan (1 1 Bn. al Zurawica ) . lSI Armoured Car Group at Brzesc nad Bugiem. 2nd Armd. Car Group at Zurawica 1st Armd. Train Group at Legionowo. 2nd Armd. Train Group al Krakow. Cen tral Tank and Motor School at \,Varsa\\'.

On 8July 193 [ the 1s t Tank Reg!. was renamed 1st Armoured Reg!. , with II T ank Bn. and 2nd Armoured Car Group form ing 2nd Armoured Regt. On 7 August 193 [ the 3rd Armoured R egt. was formed at Modlin , with the I st Armoured Car Group becoming the 4th Armoured Group on 25 August. About thi s time th e Celllral Tank a nd Motor Schpol was renamed the Armoured Forces Training Celllr!" .

In 1933 a furth e r re-organ isatio n took place by which the motor rra nspOrl bartaliom. were in­corpora ted in the Armoured Forces. The new organisa tion was a s fo llows:

Line_up of M3f aronoured cars of the 8th Armd. Dn. at Bydgoszcz, 1938. Tbe crew s are wearing t h e characterili;tic loose khaki oyer alJs and large black berf! ts, introduced in 1937·

1s t Tank and Armd. Ca r Bn . at Poznan . 2nd Tank and Armd. Car Bn . at Zur3\vica. 3rd Tank and Armd. Car Bn . at Wa rsaw. 4th Tankand Armd. Car Bn . at Brzese na d Bugiem. 5th Tank and Armel. Car Bn . at Krakow. 6th Tank and Armd . Car Bn. at Lwow. Tank Compan y at Wilno. Armel. Car Co. in Bydgoszcz . The Armoured Forces Training C entre was re named the Tank and Armoured Car Training Centre, and moved from Warsaw to M odlin.

In 1935 all th e Tank and Armoured Car Battalions were renamed Armoured Bat ta lions , and funher units were form ed : 7th Armcl. En. at Grodno. 8t h Armd. Bn. at Bydgoszcz. Cadre, 9th Armd. Bn. at Lublin. Cadre, loth Armel. Bn . at Loclz.

In OClOber 1937 the cadre of the loth Armd . Bn . became a full strength unit , and a new unit , the 12th Armd. Bn . was formed al Luck. The Experimental Batlalion at Modl in was to form the I [th Armd. Bn. under mobi lisation plans.

On I May [937 the Polish Armoured Forces were divided illlo three Groups, th e 3rd Group being formed o n I August [938. The Groups were composed as fo llows : 1St Armd. GroUP- 1st, 3rd , 8th and 10l h Armel. Bns. 2nd Armd. Group-2nd , 5th , 6t h , 12 th and cadre 9th Armd. Bn . 3rd Armd. Group- 4t h and 7[ h Arl1ld. Bns. , 1st and 2nd Armd. Train Groups.

R lI' n a ulc R 35 t a o kl!ii of 1St 80., .l!iit T a nk R il's t ., lOth Cava.lry 8dll'., pau i oS throus h a bombll'd Fren ch villa s II' i n June 1940. (Au t h or )

Apart from the above Armoured Groups there existed two other la rge armoured forma tions : the loth Cavalry Brigade and th e Warsaw MOlorised Brigade. The loth Cava lry Bde., motorised in 1937, consisted of two regiments of motorised cavalry (24th Lancers and !o th Mounted Rines) ; a TK S recce un it ; a n a nti-tan k unit ; a company of Vickers ligh t tanks; a com pa ny ofTKS ta nks; a battery of Illo torised arti ll ery; a n anti-aircraft troop ; engineer and signa ls ba tt a lions; a traffic contro l pla toon, and a tra nsport company. T he Wa rsaw IVl otorised Brigade was to have been of sim ilar streng th , but was in the process of orga nisa tion when wa r broke out.

As a result of Poland 's mili tary a nd cultura l alliance willl Francc, thc majority of senior mili tary staff held to the French view of tan ks as infantry support weapons. T he relat ively fas t development of a rmoured fi gh ting vehicles du ring

the in te r-wa r period necess ita ted a re"ision of these ideas. However, the rea lisa tion of such pla ns was opposed by conserva tive groups, a lt hough it should be stressed tha t th is problem was not pec uliar 10 Poland alone.

I n spit e of Ihest' a nd o lilt'r dra wbacks Illodntl­

isa lion slowly progressed . Duri ng th e Ig:w s a ttempts had been made to im prove th e Rena ult ~v11 9 1 7 FT s, mainly by increasing their fronta l a rmour and experimenting wit h new Iypes or track. Later a ttempts consisted of a new I lIIT CI

design as well as a ttempts 10 utilise Vickers-type suspension . It was eventua lly decided Iha l a sounder policy for Poland would be to purchase roreign ta nk designs a nd produce her own mod ified versions. o r the va rious options stud ied , Poland chose the Ca rden-Loyd M k. V I and the Vickers 6-ton ta nk as suitable for modifica tion. In .J une 1929 Poland purchased 16 ta nk f' tt f's :-I S

wel l as li cence production r ig- h iS. The Ca rden-Loyd was developed into several

proto types, with tcsts in 1930 leading to production by the Ursus plant in 193 t . T he production model , thc Maly Czolg Rozpoznawczy TK, beca me known simply as the T K. As a result of fur ther improvements prod uction was switched to the new des ign, known as the TK S. There followed various a ttempts a t providing the TK/TKS series with improved a rmament a nd o ther mod ifi ca tions. However, the majorit y of vehiclcs used during the September Campaign were of the basic T K/T KS scri rs.

Pola nd also purchased 38 Vickers £ 6~ t o n

ta nks, ,,,,, it h production rights following short ly. Ut ilising Vickers componen ts, as we ll as fitti ng new Saurer engines, Pola nd built wha t ca me to be known as the VA U-33 (V ickers-Armstrong­Urslls 33 ) series. T wo basic models were pro­duced : the VA U-33.iw. (sing le turret) a nd the VA U-33dw. (twin tu r ret) . The rema ining T ype Es were refi tted 10 the new standards.

\'Vith further tests, and close collaborat ion between the S ta te Engineering Institu te and the Armoured Forces Resea rch Burea u, a new design was produced . Based on the Vickers type, it beca me known as the 7 TP. Th e first prod uction series of the twin- turret ve rsion (7 TP dw. ) were delivered in 1936. Prototypes of the single turret ve rsion (7 T P jw.), armed with th e 37mm Bofors

Reoault R40 of 2nd Bo., ut Tank Regt. in Fraoce, June 1940. The ca mouflage pattern appear s to be a two- or three-tooe sch eme using small h lotc h es outlined in a darker colour. (Ca pt. O. Judowlliki)

gun , werr ready by lat c 1910 . Production com menced in mid-1938, with a turret extension 10 accommodate th e radio set in compan y and platoon commanders' tanks. Furthe r ancmpts at upgrading th e 7 TP series were halted by the out break of war.

In spit e of the genera l initi a l apathy IOwards mechanisat ion, born of a sentimental atlaChmenl to horse cava lry, resea rch had continued in the search for new and bener equipment. Th e slow modernisa tion of Poland 's industry on en delayed the im plementation of ideas from the design to the produc tion stage . In the mid-'930S a sudden urgency was felt among the mi litary, and attempts were made to undo the damage of previous years. New designs were invest igated , visits arranged to view the new armour of France and Italy , and developments in Germany and th e Soviet Union studied with interest. In 1937 the Armourt c\ Forces Office rs' School was opened a t )' Jodl in , and became something of a vogue among those beginning thei r military service . In terest in the use of armour was also shown by o ther office rs' schools as well as by the Sta fTCollegc .

September 1939

Among th e myths still repeat ed about this campaign - the fic tiona l Pol ish cava lry charges against German tanks, and the a ll eged d es truc­tion of the Polish Ai r Forc(' o n tlw g-round one still comes across claims tha t the Polish armour failed 10 achieve an y success against the invaders. In fac t , the September Campaign was by no means a ' wa lk-over ' for the Panzers.

Poland suffered from many disadvantages. G eography and economics we re against her ; and the lack of development displa yed by her Ar my duri ng the inter-war years was to pro \"(' a se rio lls handicap, partly due to a romantic atlachment to the horsed cava h"y bra nch . Apart from the nu merica l and techn ical superiori ty of the Wehr­mach t, and the success of Blitzkrieg tacti cs, Poland also had to operat!" on a ha ~ i s of inc om pic Ie mobilisation , due to French and Hritish pressure only about one third of her total po tentia l man­power was mob il ised at the time o f the invasion .

To face the German onslaugh t Po land mobilised the followi ng armoured fo rccs: .

Two Light Tank 13m. (7 TPs) One Light T ank Bn . (R35S) Two Light Tank Cos. (Vickers)

Renault UE c/'flli/(//(S of I Corps Reconnaiss ance Unit photo­graphed at P'erth, winter 1940/4 1. These vehicles were eventually to carry the CorP!l formation !lign, a white winged wheel on black, as we ll a!l the unit cod e !lign, white figure '40' on black .

'1'hr('c I. ighc Tank Cos. (FT ! 7':'. \

c c Arm(1. Groups (Wz:l9and W Z34iHIllUUI'L'd cars and some TK/TKSs) 15 Independent R l'r("('TankCm;. I TK /TK S~ \

Four Recce Tank Sqn .... TK TKS .. T ota l strengt h of veh icles was approx. 450 TK./ TKS , includi ng 50 attached for duty wi th armoured trains; 1'257 TPs, 50 R 35S, 55 FTqs, 35 Vickers, and 90 armoured ca rs.

In spite of the general po li cy ofaJl ocating small units of tanks 10 various formations. several notable encoulllcrs occurred bctween Polish and German armour. One example was the con­frontation on 4- Septembe r '91ft between 7 TP tanksofz nd Light Tank BnY l (attached to Lodz and Prusy Armies) and a Germa n col umn . The result of this action was the destruc tion of six enemy ta nks and twO armou red ca rs by the 3rd Co., for the loss of one 7 TP. The 2nd Co. took part in an attack, supported by infalllry, against dug-in German posit ions, losing two tanks. \'Vithdrawi ng wit h the u ni ts of Army Lodz, th e 2nd Co. en­countered a column of eight enemy armoured cars, two self-propelled gu ns and lorried infantry, and completely annihilated it. Later on the sa me day I I fu rther tanks and six a r moured ca rs we re destroyed for two Polish tanks destroyed a nd five damaged . The remaining two compan ies ( 1St and 3rd ) of the batta lion destroyed four ta n ks with no losses. Due to th e lack of fu el and supplies the battalion saw no further significa n t action .

~I obitis"d b l nHI .\ nnd Iln

The 7 T P tanks or the 3rd Bn. , with an extra compan y over the mobil ised establish ment bring the tolal to 16, accounted for lhe majority of th e 40 German tanks destroyed outside Warsaw on 8 September. However, lhe nex t day the unit itself lost some dozen tanks.

Th e 1St Light T a nk BnY) (7 TP) saw lit tl e action , as it was transferring be tween Armies . It was withdrawn towards \'Varsaw, destroying o ne enemy tan k and two armoured cars. Those unit s that managed to reach \\'arsaw com bined with the \ ·Varsaw Motorised Bde. , an d fought at Tomaszow Lubelski (17 to '20 September) . The brigade, fightin g delaying actions, was ordered to push through J.he en emy lines in order to link up with Lodz and Karpaty Armies . In spit e of in itial successes the attack was hampered by lack of fuel a nd ammu ni tion.

The TK/TKS un its generall y sha red the fate of the formations to whic h they were altached. Although there were few tan k- vs-tank act ions, the tankettes are known to havcscored some successes.

The 21 Sl" Light Tan k Bn. (mobilised by the 12th Armel. Bn .) was en roule on I September and did not reach Army Lodz. I t was d ivert ed a nd eventually ordered to \vilhdraw into Rumania; its 34 Renault R 35 tanks crossed the frontier without having fired a shot in anger.

The unit wh ich probably ach ieved the greatest success in the September Campaign was thc' motoriscd loth Cavalry Bde. commanded by Colonel Stan islaw Maczek. The brigade was planned asa siriki ngforce with a large complement of tanks, although by 1939 il had only [2 Vickers and 13 recon naissance tanks. First attached to

Armia Krakow and su bsequently 10 Armia Karpaty , the 10lh Canllry Bde. was entrusted with delaying XX I I Panzer Korps sout h of K rakow. II successfully withstood attacks by two Panzer d ivisions , ending its campaign south of Lwow. Almos t the entire brigade managed to withdraw to H ungary, from where the majority of officers and men made their way to France.

During the Sept em ber Campa ig n some 2' 7 German tanks were destroyed , although the majority of these may be attributed to anti~ t ank

and artillery fire rathe r than to tank-vs-tankaction. Although there are few report s of armoured

~ ~ l obi1isl""d by 'lrd ;\rmd . Iln

encou nters between the Polish a nd SO\'iet Armies in 1939, these undoubtedl y occ urred, although admittedly o n a small scale , The follow ing two instances arc based on information from lhe arc hi ves of the Polish I nstilUte and Sikorski \ l use ulll .

In the first. \Iichal Pole\\ko \\rilc:-o that he came upon a platoon of six tanks , Hotchk iss and Renau lt [sicl, in the town of Busk. They were crcwcd Illainly byofiicercadctsfrom thc Armoured Forces omc('l"s' School: and the tanks were Ihose left behind at Luck by the 12t h Armel. Bn ., now be ing evacua ted from I ,li c k following the ent ry of Red Arm y troops into Poland Oil [ 7 September.

On '2 0 September the colu mn whic h included these ta nks was c ut by unit s of the Sovie t Army, However. due to the stilluncenain nature of the Soviet interven tion it was Ihought Ihatl he y would nOI prevent the sou thward movement of the column . The Polish lank platoon moved fOt'wa rd , a nd almost immediately came under fire from the Soviet 7smm lo rry. mounted g UllS, The first tank was hi t, ki lling th e commander and driver. T wo ot her ta nks WC re d estroyed by their c rews due to la ck of fuel. The rcmainder managed to escape.

One of the fir li l Churc hills Im ppliM to .4hh T a.nk Bd e., phOlogra ph<'!d in .arly ' 91"" 65 T ank Baualion'. u .nit code (w h ite ' 0711' on green) i ii painted ahove the I Corps liign, The bridge s ig n a nd ' PL' app ear o n bot h inne r face. of the hun, (Capt. O . J UdOWi ki )

An armOUrM t r a.Ln pa t rolling t he British coastline , a !rnOSI e ntirely cr e weci by 'iurplus' P olis h o ffi cers, The arm o ured train . were di . banded in la , e 1943, , h e ir crews mainly joining t.he e xpanding armo urM unit s.

Humber armoured car of M aj. Zbigniew Dud~inski, com­manding officer of lSI Reconnaissance Re gt., 1st Arlnd. Di .... al Dalkeilh, Scotland, on 29 May 1943. The markings carried include Ihe formalion s ign, unit code (while ' 47' on black), red /while /red AFV recognilion sign and Ihe lactical sign. NOle the R egimen tal Guidon, topped with the 1St Arlnd. Di .... insignia.

and duri ng the next day su pported Polish units aga inst adva ncing German forces at Kamion ka Strumilowa. The writer lost cont act wi th the tanks short ly after this action.

The second report is by Edward Uscinsk i, who commanded a group of seven TKs an d three amoured cars (one fu lly equipped , one wi th a machine gun only and the third with no sighting mechanismsl . The T Ks \\'f're from the Armourr-o Forces Training Centre; be ing training vehicles they were only thinl y armoured, a nd showed signs of much wea r and tear. On 18 September th is small unit met up with a p latoon of Russ ia n Christie­type rsic] tanks. The result of this encounter was four T Ks hi t, one TK with damaged suspension, one TK damaged in collision with a Sovie t tank, and one armoured car hi t. The remai ning vchic lf's made good their esca pe, but lost the last TK and one armoured car, these being set on fire by civilians of Ukrai nian origin. The remaining TK broke down and was destroyed by its c rew, while the last armoured car nearly reached the ' Przelecz Legionow' go rge. Th e gradient proved too steep, however, and the armoured ca r was pushed into

the gorge. Thesun·jv ingcrew mcmbers mad e lheir way across the Rumanian frontier.

Following the September Campaign many Poles fou nd themselves scatte red throughout the neutral count ries bordering Poland - Hungary, Ru mania and I.i thuania whi le those who re­mained in Poland found themselves under ei ther German or Soviet occupation.

In Rumania , some 900 officers and soldiers of the Armoured Forces wcre grouped toge ther in the internmen t camps at Ciuciurova and Calafal. Thei r first thought was how to make their way to fran ce, where a new Polish Army was being formed. The Rumanian a uthorities in general turned a blind eye to the movements of the Poles; and th is coupled with the Poles' customa ry ingenuity in the face of adversi ty, a llowed the majorit y to leave the country. Civilian clothes were procured by va rious means, and, equipped with passports issued by the Polish Embassy) they made their way in small groups via Yugoslavia and Grecce to Franc t' .

F rom Hungary, where t roops of all arms were held toge ther in the camps, larger groups made their way to France, genera lly via Yugoslavia a nd Italy. However, a proportion of the form er internees reached Syria to become the nucleus of the future Independent Ca rpathian Rifle Brigade. In spite of the traditiona l fri endship betwee n th e Hungarians and Poles the situation soon beca mc more difficu lt due to German dip lomatic pressure - although it sho uld be said that whCIl('V(T possible the Hungarians aided the Poles to the best of their ability.

'''' ith the entry of the Soviet Army, allied with Germany, in to Poland on 17 September [939, numbers of armoured troops found themselves in Soviet hands. After a lmost two yea rsofdeprivat ion and suffering they were to form the core of th e future 2nd Armd . Bde. that was to take part in the I talian Campaign.

The number of Armoured Forces office rs held prisoner by the Germans \vas comparat ive ly sma ll. They \ve re mainly confined in th e cam ps a t "Voldenberg and Murnau. In these camps clan­destine courses were held in th e hope that the participants would one day take up arms again in the struggle for an independent Poland.

France

On 9 September 1939 an ag reement was signed by the Polish a mbassador in Paris a nd the French Governmen t, under the tcrms of wh ich a Polish d ivision was to be formed on French soil. On 12

September Coctquidan Ca mp in Briltany was named as th e cent re for the formation or the new Polish Armed f orces. O n 25 September General of Division Wladyslaw Sikorski arri ved in Paris and took command of the Armed Forces. On 30 September he was appointed Prime ~ Iin is ter by the new President , Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz, and on 9 November appointed COll1ma nder~in-Chi ef.

On the assu mptio n that a ll Poles imcrned in H ungary, Rumania and the Baltic S tates wo uld eventua ll y reach Fra nce, a nd lakingaccollnl orthe la rge Polish community a lready living there, it seemed possible tha t some fou r in fa n try divisions and a la rge armoured format ion could be formed. During November 1939 the Polish G enera l Staff approached the French with the suggestion of forming a ' light mechanised division '. The French eventually agreed , but sli pu lated 194' as the da te for completion of forma tion ; this was obviously unrea listic. :\!Iea nwhile, towards the end of O ctober, Gen . Stan islaw M aczek arrived a t Coetquidan . As a resu lt of his experience during th e September Ca mpaign this bri lliant o ffi cer was well aware oft hc need for a strong a r moured fo rmation . His first s tep was to segregate the troops al the mai n cam p, sending th e cava lry to Paimpont and th e armour 10 Campeneac. On 2

December the 1st T ank Bn . was form ed, followed shortl y by the 2nd Bn . in J anua ry '940.

The nex t Stcp was Ihe forma tion of a separate a rmoured-motOrised group, which shortl y moved south to the O range area. The 1 st and 2nd Tank Bns., the cad res of the grd a nd 4t h as well as the Tra ining Centre were located a t SI Cecile-Les­V ignes, Caira nne a nd Piolenc. The cava lry (24t h Lancers, 10 th Mou nted Rifl es and T raini ng Battal ion) we re based at Mon td ragon , M ornas and Bollcnc. The Group H Q W(lS (It Bollen(>.

T ra ining commenced in earnest with the 1st Bn . receiving ten Renault FT' 7S, soon fo llowed by a fu rther ten for the 2nd Bn. and a small nu mber for the 3rd a nd 4th Bn . cadres. Within

A well-camou.ftaged Crusader O(:Z4th Lancers, llit A.rmd. Div. photogra phed during e;o:ercises with Canadian units in August 1943. The Crusader was t he mainstay o f t h e division until it was r e p laced hy the Sherman in October 1913.

a short time twO furth er cadre unit s we re formcd - the 5 th and 6 th Batta lions. In early i\ lay 1940, th e so-ca lled 'Fi nnish Com pa ny' arrived at St Ceci le, j o ining the 1st Sn . This had been a voluntee r u nit raised in February 1940 to take part in the Finnish-Sovie t conn ic t, but , wit h the cessa tion of hostilities it was sent 10 join th e olher a rmo ured units.

'''i th the news of the G erma n im'asion of France Gen. M aczek ordered the format ion of an armoured / molOrised b"igade, there being in­suffi cient time to form a light div ision. The lo th Cava lry Bde. consisted ofa ta nk regimen t of I\\'O ba tt a lions, a 1ll0lOrised cavalry regiment of two baltalions, a n artillery battery ( two troops of IOsmm ), a n a nti - ta nk bat tery (four troops­'2 x '25mm, 2 x 47mm), an a nti -airc raft troop (40mm), a sig na ls sq uadron, a n engincer compan y, a nd t he usual services. The b rigade was trans­pon ed b y ra il to Paris (27 10 30 r\'lay 1940). wit h the Brigad e I-IQ being pos ted 10 the cha teau at Corbcville and to Orsay. The T an k Regl. was sent 10 Camp d e Sa wry a nd the cavalry 10 Arpagon . The I st Tank Bn . was a lmost im­media tel y issued wi th new Renault R 35 ta nks.

On 6 J un e Gen . Maczek indica ted that the brigad e would be ready lor an ion wit hin sevcn to ten days. H owever, o n 7 June, the French insisted tha t the brigad e either be sent to the a lread y faltering frollt or give up il s ta nks. Gen. Sikorsk i rel uc tantly ag reed to send th e unit s that wc re read y, wilh the remai nde r 10 fo llow at a la ter dat e.

Insignia Tables

rhO'" folio" ing tabks of unit code signs marked on armoured "ehicks an: not pr<.:sentcd as a comprehensive Order of Bailie , but rnerely as represelllativeexamp!es of the major units in which armour might be observed. In all tables the uni t code numbers quoted were paillled in white . CO/QurkryJoral/lablu· A = Amaranth "ed, B "" Black, BL "" Bl ue. BR = Brown, G "" Green, 0 = Orange, R = Red, S = Silver, SC = Scarlet, \V = White, Y = Yellow.

Table A; U nit Codes, I Polisb Corps, April 1941 Unit Background Code HQ 1 Corps B 40 Corps Reece Unit B 41

HQ tS I Tank Regt. " '7' ,st Tan k Bn R 07'.1. ~nd Tank Bn G 073

HQ [St RiAe Bde. ,a, Ede. Reece Unit '.' HQ IOlh Armd. Cav. Ede G '·7 Bde. Reece Unit B 'J4 ' 1st Rifle Bn . ( ,oth "'ltd. Rifles) G 260 2nd Ri lle Bn . (14th Lancers) G 26[ 'lrd Rille Bn. (qth Lancen) G 262

T a ble B : Unit Codes, 1st Polish Armd. Div., Sept. 1942 Div. liQ B 40 I Recce Regt H

HQ 10th Armd. Cav. TIde. 5' loth MId. Rilles 5' 14th t\rmd. Ca\,. Rcgt 5' ~.j.\h Lancers 53 loth Dragoons 54

HQ t61h Arrnd. Bd t. G 60 lSI Armd . Reg!. G 6 , .ud Ar rnd. Regt. G 6, 3rd Armd. Regt. G 6, 16th Dragoons G 6,

HQSupport Gp "R 75 1st Mot. Arty. Regt. RISL )6 15t/\-T Regt RIBL 77 lSI lo t. A-A Regt. RIBL )3 lSI Rifle Un . "R 74

Table C: Unit Codes, 1st Polis h Arflld. Div., June 1944 Oi \". HQ B 40 10lh Mtd. Ri fles G IBL 45

HQ tOlh Annd. Cav. Bde 50 1St Armd , Regt 5' '.md Arrnd. Reg!. 5' 24th Lancers 53 lo th Dragoons 5' HQ 3rd Rifle Bde. C 60 Highland RiA e BIL G 6, 8th Ri lle Bn . G 6, 9th Rifle Bn . G 6, lSI Ind. r-"lG Sqn B 6,

HQDi\".Arty. RIBL 4" 1st MOL Arly. Reg! R /BL J4 2nd MOt.l\ r1y. Regt. R ISL ,6 lSI A-T Regt. RIB I. 77 lSI Lt. A-A Reg!. R IBL 73

Table D : Unit C odes, 16th Independent Arrnd. Bde., March 1945 Sde. HQ R 50 3rd Armd. R egt R 51 [4 th Lancel"ll 52 5th Armd. Regt. 53 16th Oragoons R 5'1

4th 10(. Div., 1945 Oi". recee reg!., 9th Lancer. G/SL ))

T a ble E: Unit Codes, 2 Polish Corps, 1943- 45 HQ 2 Corps B 75 Carpathia n Lancers G IBL 35[7 7th A-T Regt. R ISL 47

HQ lmd Armd . Bde. R 17 1

41h Armd . Regt BL/ HR '73 ISI l.aneers BL/ BR '74 6th Armd . R eg!. BL/SR 1;5

HQ 3rrl Carpathian Rifle Oi \,. " :)0 12th Lancers G / BL ))

HQ 51h K resowa Inf. Oi\,. II 5" [5th Lancers G IUL ))

HQ 7th Inf. Di \,. B 3750 Reserve Reece Unit G/BL :l777 Reserve Tank Bn BL/SR 3776

2 Corps, Augu s t 1945 HQ 2Cor ps B 75 12th Lancers G IBL 35 1 7 ;th A-T Reg!. R/BL 47

t-IQ 3rd Carpa thian Rille Div H 50 ithl.ancers GfllL ))

HQ 5th K re'o"3 ln r. Di, B .1" 25th l.anu-r< (;111. ii

Table F; U nit Codes, 2nd 'Warszawska' A .. rnd. Div., August 1945 Di\, . H Q B 4" Carpathian Lancers G l lll 45

HQ 2nd Armd. Bde. 5' 4th Armd. Regl. 51 1St Lancers .\' 6th Armd. R egl 53 2nd Mot. Bn. (Commando) 54

HQt6th Inf. Bde. G Go 64th Inr. Bn G 6, 65th [nr En G 6, 66th l nf. Bn . G "l 161h H y. Support Co G " HQDi v.ArlY R/ BL " 7th H orse Arty. Regt. RrUL 74 16th Fd. Art y. Regt RISL )6 2n d A-T R egt. R{BL 77 2nd LI. A-A Regt. R/ UL )3

Table G: Unit Codes, '4th ' Wielkopolska' Arflld. Dde., August 1945 Bde. H Q 50 151h Lancen R 51 grd Lancers R 52 IOlh H ussars 53

Th is fi rst group consisted of pa rt of the HQ , the 1st T ank Un., a mixed cavalry group (two lorried sq uadrons and two motorcycle plaLoons) , an ami-tank troop (47mm) and a n am i-lank squad­ron. Thus, with only one- thi rd strengt h and no a rtillery or reconnaissance, th is fo rce was to be given the task ofa full y mobilised brigade.

O n I oJune the 1st Tank Bn . was sen t by ra il to the Vcrtuze-Avize area, where it came under the orders of V I I I Corps, whose eas tern Aank it was to protec t. The fi rst contac t with the enemy came on 1'2 Ju ne a t Champa ubert , with the brigade covering the gap betwee n the '2o th and 59th In f. Divs. The 13th fo und the baualion in a wood near MOlllgivroux, where it su ffered two attacks by aircraft, happi ly with no losses. The ba ttalion was then pushed back by enemy armour while covering the re treat of the '2o th In f. Div. for some '24 hours. Due to a lmos t constalll air attacks, the ba tta lion became separa ted from the res t of the brigade, but a fter a night march on 15 J une it rega ined contact. Unfort una tely the technical company had become separa ted during the night and was bombed, suffer ing some losses.

At dawn, under the ord ers of 4'2 nd InC Div. ,

No words a~ n eeded to d escri be thi s p h o togr a ph ! A Sh e rm a n o r H Q, loth Artnd. Caval ry Bd e., Uil Ar md. Div., lih o r t ly beror e l eaving for F ran ce in July 1944.

the brigade moved towa rds the Burgund y Cana l, hailing in woods at Chaource. Orders were then received tha t the brigade was tocapture !\ Iolllbard in order to enable the div ision to cross the canal. In prepa ra tion fo r the a ttack fuel was siphoned off from some of th e vchicles, which we re then des troyed. In the evening the brigade came uncle I' a ttack by German armour near La ignes: the enemy tanks were pushed back but part of the brigade was cut ofT. Lcam ing tha t l\l ontbarci was a lready in German hancls, Gen. Maczek decided on a surprise attack on the bridge. At '2'2oohrs the tanks came under enemy fire but continued to adva nce. \'Vi lh the fi re becoming fi ercer as the brigade ne,Hed the bridge, Maczek received the news tha t the4'2 nd InC Div. was now moving towards Dijon . He decided to withdraw under the cover of the ea rl y morning mist. On 17 J une ha lf of the trucks and a ll but three of the tanks were destroyed in woods nca r Moloy for lack of fue l. During the night of q {18 J une the brigade moved towa rds the Loire. Due to th e blocked roads it proved impossible to move in

' 3

Sherman FireRy of 24th Lancers, 1St Armd. Div., being unloaded for its transport at Embouc:hure de la Seulles, n ear Arromanches, on loll August 1944.

large groups a nd the brigad e was split in to small groups which were ordered to make their way to the ports of unoccupied France and board transports for the United Kingdom.

The fat e of the ~.md Bn. was somewhat different. It received its complement of Renault R 35 tanks shortly aflCr th e 1st Bn ., but aft er a few days they were handed back to re-equip th e French 4znd Ballalion. R eplacement tank s a rrin.:'d in the form of enough R40S to equip only two companies. On loJune the 2nd Sn. was ass igned a sec tor for the defen ce of Paris. However, on [3 June it was orde red to join th e remainder of the Bd e. b y rail. Due 10 damage to the track the tanks were un­loaded and con tinued their journey by road. On 16June th e baua lion was ordered by the French 7th Army 10 protec t its ri ght fla nk, and came under the ord ers of the commander of the anti-tank

defences of I Corps. The ballalion was separated into platoons and ass igned a 20km length offront. The French were pushed back past th e lin e held by the Poles, who now fa ced th e advan cing Germans a lone. As the Corps headquarters had departed and the remain ing units were in disarray, the balta lion commander decided to act o n his own initiative. News arrived from Bordeaux that a ll Polish unit s were ro make their way to pOrlS to be evacua ted to England , and the ba ll al ion turned in the direction of Bayonne. Suddenl y, orders from the 7th Arm y a rri ved , and the battalion was told to halt. No furth er orders being received , and with the news that the last ship was to leave StJ ean-de.Luz the next day (25 J une), a ll the lanks were destroyed and their crews loaded into the rema ining lo rri es and taken to the port.

T he remaining cadre banalions and Tra ining Centre were ordered on 16June to proceed to St Jean-dc-I.uz 1'0 1' embarkation for England .

The United Kingdom

T ra nsports of Po lish so ld iers sta rted to arrive in Brita in du ring the last days of June [940. After landing a t P lymouth , the first grou p , incl uding the cadre ba tt alions a nd the Training Centre, was sent to Haydock Pa rk . O n '25 J une orders were issued fo r the forma tion of an Armoured Group, comprising clements of the grd , 4th, Si h a nd 6t h Bns., the Tra ining Ba tta lion and the T ra ining Centre. The Grou p was posted to Crawford in Scotla nd , which was to become the futu re Polish Armoured Forces Cen tre.

The 2nd T an k Bn . landed in Liverpool on 30 June a nd via camps a t Lanark and Biggar reached Crawford on 18July. The small groups of survivors of th e 1St 811 " a rri ving at va rious ports, wcre also sent \ 0 Crawford .

Initia lly li fe was no t easy. After suffer ing twO defea ts within one year, the Poles now had to put up with poor ra tions a nd li ving conditions, and , above a ll , lack of news from home. However, fo llowing the visit of the President and the Commander-in-Chief on 2 September , conditions improved grea tl y. By now the camp cont ained some 200 officers and 1,000 o ther ranks.

The loth Cavalry Bde., partly stationed in Douglas (La narkshi re ), a nd partly in Crawford ) was eventua ll y combined and pos ted to Forfar. O ne of its du ties there became the pa troll ing of the nearby coas tl ine.

Duri ng O ctober ' 940 the , st Polish Corps was for med, with its headq ua rters in Perth. One of the first units of this new forma tion was the Corps Reconna issa nce Unit. consisting of HQ, two squadrons, one ta nk sq uadron , a motorcycle platoon and a signals platoon. T ra ining of the tank squadron was initia lly ca rried out on Renault U E chenilettes tha t had been brought over fro m France. On , October , on the orders of the Commander-in-Chief, the 1st T ank Regl. (I and II Ens. ) was form ed ; Cra wford Camp was closed and all the Armoured Forces were sent to the Blairgowrie area.

While a deba te raged as to whether the fi rst d ivision to be formed would be a rmoured or in fa nt ry, the 1St T ank Regt. was expanded in to the 16th T ank Bde., on 19 September 194' . The

The cr e w of a C rus ader A.A l a nk of 2nd Ar rnd . Reg t ., 1St Arrnd. Di v., 5belterin g b ene ath t h eir veh icle prior t o t h e a c tion at C aen , August 1944. Note t b ., form a tion s ign g r o uped toge tber with t h e u n it cod e s ign, w h ite '52' on r ed . (Au t h o r )

new br igade consisted of I, I I and III Tank Bns., the la tter being the former tank squadron of the Reconnaissance Unit ; the battalions wefe sub­sequentl y renumbered 65th, 66th and 67th . Du ring the next few mOlllhs the brigade \\'a ~

strengthened by an in Aux of vo lunt eer.'), mainl) from Sou th Amer ica. O n 3 ' December 1941 the brigade received its fi rst tan ks~ nin e Valenrines and 15 Chu rch ills. There fo llowed w("e-ks of enthusiastic trai ning with the- new ta nks, ancl large numbers of officers and NCOs attcnded RAC courses a t Bovington, Lulworth a nd Caltcrick.

O n 26 February 1942 the 1st Armoured Division was formed, with Gen . Stanislaw Maczek as commander. O n 25 March the 16th T an k Bde. , and th e I othArmci. Cavalry Bd e. ( 14thJ az lowiecki Lancers, 24th La ncers and loth Moun ted Rines) for med the two armou red brigades of the new division . On t2 August the 16t h T ank Bde. was renamed 16th Armoured Bde., and its batta lions became the I st , 2nd and 3rd Armoured Regiments.

The first large-scale ("X(Tcics lOok place in earl y September 1942 and wcre fo llowed by an inspec tion by Gen . Si korski. By the end of ' 942 the 16th Armel . Bde. strengt h stood al 176 officers and 2,482 other ranks equipped with I I 1 Covena nters and 20 Crusaders.

Further training took place during 1943 ; during October tha t yea r the di vision was re­organised into the new pa ltern , single-armou red­brigad e d ivis ion . The new l oth/ 16th Armd. Bde. was a combina tion of the two former brigades. It was composed of the 1st and 2nd Arm(l. Regt. ,

( : r ORl .... ,d ls uf t Sqn ., IOI.h M o unted Rift",. ( Ilil Armd. Div. r"'~onnaisunce regimenl ) moving forward during th" fighling al Jorl , ' 5 Augu81 '944, NOle the abse oce of Ihe Allied Sla.r .... hich wall carr ied protnineotly by the Sherma.o ll of Ihe divi5ion .

l .l.lh Lancers a nd the 10 th Dragoons (mo tor balla lion). The loth Mou nted Rifles beca me the divisional reconnaissa nce regiment , with Ihe form er 1St Reconna issa nce Regt. becoming the 1St independenl M G Squadron . The I)(>W nll lll ­bering C) r lli (' hrigade \\ as a compro 11l i,~ ' IH 'I\\ n ' ll

Ih e ca\'alry alld ;1l' lllour ' lob bies ' ! I-I u \\\' \ "cr, in spit e of some prot{'.'i ts, the Brigad e was officially named the loth Armoured Cava lry Brigade on 12 O ctober. In la tc O ctober the division was partl y re-equip pcd , wilh th e armoured regiments receiving new Sherma n ta nks.

The remainder of the un its from the re­organisation, including the 3rd Armel . Reg\. and the 14th Lancers, formed the cadre of the new ]6t h Armoured Brigade. On 15 November ]943 this brigade was incorpo rat ed in the 2nd Ar­moured G renadier Division . and moved to Callerick. There it was equ ipped with Crusaders, and cont inued furth er tra in ing un t il being moved to Bridge of Allan . In.J une 1944 th e brigad e iosl pan of il s complemen t 10 the 1St Armd. Div. , wh ich \,'as sho rtl y \ 0 see ac tion in Normand y.

For ;1 sho rt period of tim e, the 9th l\ la lopolski

La ncers were a tt ached 10 the brigad e as the third a rmo ured reg imen t. \\'ith the re-organisa t ion of the 2nd Armd . G rell . Oiv. in to th e 4th Inr. Di\, . the ]6t h Brigade beca me a n independent form a­tion , and the 9th Lancers became Ihe reconna is­sance regiment of the 4th Division. (A new regiment wa, formed in 1945, th e 1st Light Horse. a nd this bCt'.llne th e new 1 Corps reconnaissance regiment. )

Th e brigade steadil y increased in st rength , due main ly to an innux o f Poles who had been fo rced to serve wi th th e VVeh rmacht. In March [945 Ihe strength was such that the 5th Armd. Reg t. was form ed , and in Ma y the whole brigade was equi pped with C romwells, CCllIaurs and Stua rt s. The ]6th Independent Armd . Bde. did no t see act ion. a nd in COlllmon with other Potish forma­tiOl h beca ll lt~ pa n o f the Polish ResclIlement Co rps, bnll l! d i, hand ed in 1947.

In \ it ' \1 o j th t' poss ibilit y of a German invas ion in I !I-I n ,lIld '94 1. the British authol'itics d ecided tha t ont' of th e tools of defence could be the tlrmoured train . I.ocomot in :'s and \\agoll s were armoured a nd a rmed with g uns of var ious ( a libl'c , as well as machine guns. Th e Polish Arm y was asked to consider the possibility of providing crews for armoured tra ins. Th e Poles were en­thusiastic , as thi ll would gin- Ihelll furth er

ex per ience , as we ll a s be ing a me thod of emp loying the conside rable Il um be r of 'su rplus' o fficers. In OCLOber ' 940 o rder .. \, c re issued lor the se lect io n of suffic ien t n umbel .. o f men 10 crew I.! a r mou red trains (in four G rclllp" c'M h of three tra ins) .

Broad ly spt',Lkillg , during the course o f their ex istence the CI CIUP I k adq uarters (I - I V ) were centred o n Brell t\\ourl, Exe ter, Yo rk a nd Pen h , with individ ual a rmoured tra ins sta tio ned in surrou nding to wns and neighbouring count ies. A Group ult ima tel y consisted of betwee n twO a nd fi ve trai ns, each being idellli fied by lett er- A , B, C, 0 , E, F, G, 1-1 , K, L a nd M . T he Cfews we re composed of o ffi cers of vario us a r ms and serv ices , a ll wea r ing the insig nia o f the Armo ured Forces, There were som e ten officers to o n e o the r ra nk, with ~()m(' 35 to 50 be ing attached to each tra in , .\ tot,d nl'.,o!lle 550 omcers crcwcd th e trains. T he lil t, k orlht' tra in .. t'o ll ;;; i"ted mainly ofa rnw d palrol ~

along assigned lengt hs of t rack, gu nnt'1' ~ pranicc, and tra in ing o n the a rmoured vehides of neig h­bouring British un its, \-\' ith the reduced li keli hood of a Germa n im'asio n the Pol ish armoured trai ns were disbanded to\\ ;Ird, 111<' i'lll i ilt' I q I ~,

North-West Europe

The 1s t Armcl. D iv, received its mo bi li .. , 1I 1Hll

o rders o n ' 9 M a rc h 1944. W ith in o ne month it was fu ll y equipped wit h new vehicles , D uri ng tilt' 'H'mnd h;dr or ,Jul y th e di"i"inn \':1 ' mm Td (0

Alde rsho l, wlw1'(: fi na l p re pa rat io n:. \\ l ' l '(' made. t\ t Ihe end o Utily the d ivisio n e mba rked at Ti lbury and Southampton , to ret urn to Fra nce afte r ~I

ro u r-year wai l. O n 30J ul y the fi rs t un its landed a l Arro lll a nches-les-Ba ins a nd C o u rseuJles-su r- .M er : and by 7 Aug ust the Div isio n was ma ssed ncar Ba ye ux, as pa n of 2 Ca nadia n Corps,

The Corps was to se ize th e Fa la ise are;l.join ing­li p wit h the Ame rica ns a d va ncing in the d irec tio n of Argenta n , thus su r ro unding th e G erman fo rces to the west o r M o r ta in . O n the nig h t of 7/8 Sep tember tht , il1l:lI ll ry d iv isio ns or the 2 1s t Arm y Group \\T n ' I.' ,Ltl.It 'k Ihe Gertnan derences, a fter which 1 .. 1 .\ ll1ld . 1)1\, a nel ,p h Ca nadia n Al'Ind

Di ,·, "Crt'll' ",1', '1" " o n either sid e or the C a t'!1' Fabi ~l' road ,

T he a llack was pr('ceded by a ll :ll'ria l bombard­ment , during which the d i\'isiona l a rtille ry was h it b y America n bo mbs, By noon the inra n t ry di visions, hav in g 1ll()\'C'rl lI Ll ch.'" the ('over or da rkness , had ta ken FOll le ll ay, \ lay.sur.Orne, Roecquancourt , Garcei les.Sccqul'v iJl e a nd Ti lly. la-Campagne, I n t he mea n time the two armoured d ivisions ha d com e upon heavilydefcndcd Genlla n pos itions to the sout h ofCaen , where thcad\'il il cing ta nks came uncit'l' hc,j\'y a nti -lan k fi re : Ihl' Po lish d i\'isio n IOSl40 ta nks. Tht' ;-ttl, H k Ihat \\ , h to ha \'c resu lted in the captul't' of Falai 'l' b~ the ('\l'ni ng had o nl y just su('('('('(lt,c\ in p('nt't ra l in~ Iht' ('IH'IllY

lines, R enewed a ll acb, th is l illl e ,\ itlL the tanks

suppo rt ing the 3rd Po li sh R ifl e Bd e" result ed in the captu re of Estrces .la -Campagnc, C a u\' icourt, Sa illl S ylv ian a nd Sain t ~vl a rt i n -d es- Bo is.

Furthe r ac tio n o n 10 Augus t rcsult ed in the captu re o r H ill J 1 J and the C hemi-H ausse woods. The nex t twO days sa w the di v isio n holding its lin e agains t re peated enelll Y a tt ac ks, On t 3 Aug ust it was moved wes t or the C ae n· Falai .. e road , rel iev ing 2nd C a nad ia n Armd. Oi\' , T he next day the attack was aga in p receded by heavy aerial bomba rdme n t , a nd o nce aga in uni ts ol"the di vision we re h it in erro r , thi s tim e sufle ring over 200 ki ll ed a nd wounded . The tank a d \'ance was hal ted wit h on ly Fonta ine- Ie- Pin being capt u red.

On 15 Aug ust bo th a r moured d ivision ' Wf' re moved to the eas te rn fl a nk o r, St Cana dia n .\ rm y: t st Armd . Di,' , " a~ orde rf'd \ 0 nos" Ihe Oi, ( ... a nd

A knocked_out Sherman of HQ. Sqn, lind Armd. R egt. in Nor­mandy, Aug u s t ' 9<14, No te I.h~ prorn i n~n l ma rkings o n . hf' l ide of the hutt, "u ~r fr~<tu "nll)' o b liu' r", ,,d o r l on " d -d ow n . The s quadron la clical s ig n s ro r ,h i .. " a r t ic ul a r rrgi m e nt w rrr p a inlrd y r lln w .I A .. ,ho .. \

I ;

The crew ofa Stuart of the Reconnaissance Sqn., \;14th Lancers, , s l Artnd. Di"., during a bricC rc"pi.c Cr oon anion in 8c1giu01, September "944. Note the interesting application o f t he unit code sign 10 the r ear of the belm et.

cut the German line of retreat near Trun. The division crossed the Dives between J o rt and Vendeuvre, and on 16 August moved southwards towards TrUll , reaching Louvagny, L' Homme Couliboeuf a nd Bareu by evening. T his was fo llowed next day by the capture of Hi Us 159 and 259. Subseq uent act ion in the area of Les Champea ux resulted in the capture of the high ground of Hill 262 - Mont Grmel (named ' M.ac­zuga'-'lhe Clu b', by Gen . ~bczek) .

On the follow ing da y the so-ca lled . Fa laise Gap' was closed , with the division taking up defence pos itions in th e Mont O rm el and Cham bois areas lOwa rdsevening. Contac t was made wit h American units which had advanced on Cham bois from the south.

During the next phase of the campa ign the division held its position in order to bar the line of retreat of the Germa n 7th Arm y. This lasted from t9 to 22 August , wit h the d ivision being cu t off from other allied units and su rrounded on three

sides by the enemy- on the south by ret reati ng un its of 7th Arm y and on the east and north by German forces trying to open up a path to their cut-oft'uni ts. During the fierce fi ghting that ensued over three days supp li es were unable to reach th e beleaguered units, nor cou ld the wounded and th e large number of prisoners of war be evacuated.

On 21 August 12 and 30 Corps crossed the line Falai5e- Argentan , reaching the Trun­Chambois level. \·Vhen 4th Canadian Armd. Div. made contact with the Poles the Germans found themselves surrounded a nd stan cd to surrender en masse . On 23 August the division was put int o reserve in the Grand-Mesni l area , where it remained unti l 28 August. During th e figh ting in the Chambois- Mont Grmd area lhe 1st Polish Armd. Div. took pri soner some 150 officers and 5,500 other ranks, destroying 70 tanks and 500 o ther vehicles.

O n 29 August the d ivis ion aga in went into action, crossi ng the Sein e at Elbeuf and pursu ing the retreat ing enemy along the line Elbeuf­Abbevi lle- Sl 6mcr - Yprcs - Roulcrs- Ticlt Ghent. During the fo llowi ng nine days the division covered some 40okm, cross ing rivers and

canals, and being almost constantl y in contact with the enemy. By 1 1 Sept ember the di vision was in the Ghent area ; its 3rd Rifl e Bde. captured the city, and th e loth Armd . Cavalry Bde. fought at Stekene, La Trompe and SI Gill is-\'Vaas to the northeast.

On 15 September the division regrouped for the attack on the port of Terneuzen. After fi e rce fighting it crossed the Axel-Hulst cana l, capturing Axel and Hulst on 19 September and T erneuzen the next day.

In th e da ys [ha t followed Ihe di\'ision 1n00'ed along the line \1 erxpl as Baarle-:'\assau ­Alphen, reaching Alphen on 5 O ctober . Finding itself now deep inside enemy-occupied territory, it took up defence positions until 27 O ctober, when [ Sl Canadian Arm y advanced towa rds the mouth of the Maas. The division \\las then given the task of capturing the city of Breda. Breaking through German defences at Gilze and Bavel ) units of the division entered the city on 29 October. There followed the crossing of the Mark and Wilhelmina Canals, and the thrust on Moerdijk on 5 November. This area was hea vily fortified and mined , and extensive Roods virtually res tri cted all movement to the d ykes. These factors slowed the advance, with Moerdijk e\"c lltu­ally fa lling on 9 November. The d ivision then halted 1O rest and regroup.

I n response to the German coun ter-offens ive in the Ardennes a proportion of the Alli ed forces were wi thd rawn from the Maas, leaving the Polish division , reinforced by 47 Royal Ma rine Commando and 13 15 RAF Regt. , 10 take on an additional 50km of fronl. There followed lhe attack on the Isle of Kapclsche Veer, a Germa n strongpoil1l and possible centre for a counter­attack. On 7/8January 1945 it was attacked by uni ts of s rd Polish Rifle Bde. with littl e success; th is was fo llowed by an attack by 47 Commando on IS / 14January. However, only after a seven-day action by a Canadian infantry brigade with air support was the Isle taken .

The division next went into ac tion on 7 April 1945, with the task of striking towards Emden. On its left was 2nd Canadian Inf. Div. and on its right 4th Canadia n Armd. Oiv. On 8 April the Poles crossed into Germany at Goch, massing at Goor and Coevorden and moving forward on 10

Men of tbe 114th Lancers r e_ammunitioniog I.b eir 'cb argers' a l Ghent, Belgium, Seplember '9+1' Note the typical applique plates weldced onto the hull sid es, as well ""I the considerable number of slogaa!; and messages chalked on the hull.

April to the Kii sten Canal. T he lo th Armcl. Cavalry Bd e. rema ined on thc cana l, with the 1rd Rifle Bde. moving in the d irection ofTer Apel ­\ 'Vi nschotell.

On 13 April one Sherman, togc ther with one scout car , one j eep and one motorcycle, all of the 2nd Armd. Regt. , liberated 1,700 Polish women prisoners of war from the camp at Obcrlangcn ­all of them surv ivors of the Warsaw Uprising of August 1944. (On a rather personal note, the Sherman was commanded by the a ut hor's fat her, who subsequently ma lTied one of the liberated pr isoners of wa r. )

Thecrossingofthe Kii slen Cana l onlysucceeded on 19 April , \vhell the enemy defences were broken under a fi erce arti llery barrage and a ir support. On 22 April the division reached the Leda, where it was gi ven the task of advancing on the nava l base of \t\' ilhclmshaven. T he division regrouped, with 3rd Rifle Bde. forcing th e Leda at Posthausen on 25/26 April , and loth Armd .

19

Column of Cromwellii of I Sqn., loth Mounted RiBes pallsing through a Dutch village. The firlilt tank is that of the IIquadron commande r , Bying his black s wallow- ta Hed pennant with white applied .. quadron t act ical lI ign. Due to the miscel_ laneou s collection of applied track, i ncluding som e front a Tiger, the formation and unit code lI ig n li ('45' on blue over , reeD) are carried on a detachahle tin plate.

Cavalry Bde. moving on the Leer bridgehead . The two brigades linked up on I May.

O n the evening of 4 May the division was on the outskirt s of \"' ilh elmshaven in readi ness for the final assault. With the capi tulat ion of Cermany the next day, the mi lita ry and civilia n au thorities surrendered , a nd th e port was occupied by the 2nd Armd . Reg!. and 8 th Ri fle Batta lion .

T he 1st Polish Armd . Div. , as a formation of BAOR , remained as part of the occupying forces unt il 1947, when itsuA'ered the fat eofthc remainder of th e Polish Armed Forces.

The USSR

Before concent rat ing on the Polish armoured units which fought in Ita ly, a brief ou tline must be given of how such a large number of Poles fou nd themsclves in th a t theatre of war.

The ' formal ' agree ment fo r thc a nnihila tion of the Polish S tate by Nazi C erma ny and Soviet Russia had been the Ri bbenlrop-~ lo lolOv Pac t of 23 August 1939· \'Vhi le the majo r pa ri of the Armed Forces had been occupied in fi gh ting the German invader , th e Red Army marched into Pola nd on 17 Sept ember. Almost immediately mass deponations commenced, and some 1,700,000 Poles (including women and children) had been taken deep into Soviet territory by the time of the Germa n in vasion in 1941 . There fo llowed two years of suffering- hunger, disease, ext remes of cl imate- in camps, collective farms, fa ctories a nd mines. As a result of the oft en bruta l treatment the morta lit y ral c, especia ll y among the women and children, was extremely high.

O n 22,june 1941 Germa ny lau nched hcratl:l ck on the Sovie t Union, and the Polish Government in London suddenly found her fo rmer invader among the Allied powers. Thus, instead of seeing her Iwo traditional enemies destroy themselves, she was now under pressure to es tab lish diplomatic relations with one of them. With great courage Gen. Sikorski entered into negotia tions with the Soviet Government , real ising that this was the on ly hope of obtaining the release of Polish citizens. The negotia tions resulted in the signing of the so-ca lled Sikorski - Maisky Pac t on 30 J uly 1941. Under its terms Polish citizens were to be freed a nd a Polish Army formed on Sov iet soil. The pact was a lmost immediatel y pu t und er stra in, with Stalin refu sing to recognise the former eas tern boundary of Pola nd .

The formal agreemen t concerning the forma t ion ofa Polish Army was signed on 14 August ' 94 1. I ts commander was to be Gen. of Division Wladys law Anders. himse lf a former pr i"oTHT of the NK VO at the notorious I.ubianka in ~ I os(·ow .

Ini tia lly the headqua rters of the army were to be a t Buzu luk, with the 5th InC Oiv. a t Tatishchcvo and the 6th Inf. Div. a t TOlskoye.

Poles began to arrive from all corners of the vas t Soviet empire, oft en by the most incredible means; and in spite of being wasted by hunger a nd disease a ll were eager to join the new arm y. Initial attempts a t organ isa tion were hampered by the lack of supplies a nd equipmen t, as well as by the shortage of experi enced officers who appeared at the rt'cruitill ~ n 'lllrI'S.

The Soviet Governmen t began to pressure the Polish Command to send at least one division to the fronl by O ctober. Due to the physica l cond ition of the majorilY of the men as well as th e complete lack of adequate supplies, the Poles were reluctan t to do so. In ea rl y October rat ions were res tric ted \0 30,000; ignor ing the civili ans, the IO tal of the Army exceeded this figure by some 6,000.

It was in this genera l a tmosphere that Gen. Sikorsk i vis ited the Soviet Union in December 1941. As a resu lt of fun her discussion it was agreed thai the Army was now to be expanded toa stre ng th of six divisions, with some 25,000 tl'OOp~ being evacuated to join the Polish Forces in the West. Afle r Gen. Sikorski 's departure the Soviet au thorities stipulated that the 25,000 cou ld o nl y leave once the di visions were at full strengt h . Duri ng ea rl y 1942 the Pol ish Army was moved south , the new I-IQ now being located at Yangi Yul near Tashkent. I n M arch rations were again I'('ducf'd. thi s li me 10 44.000. In r('<;pon<;(' to Ih i<;

news Gen. Anders told Sta li n that this figu re was to be considered as the strength of the Army, and thai the remaimkr should bc cvacuated to the .\ liddlc Ea~t. The ~o-ndl ('cI ' fir'l nanla l inn ' 10 I ran com menced on 23 ~ I ardl. As a result of the worsening situation betwcen the Poles and their ' hos ts', including the ha lt in recru itment a nd a genera l lack of co-operation , a sct.:ond c\'acua tion look place in August t942. II should be noted, however, that Illany Poles st ill remai ned in the Soviet Union either un awa re of the agreement. or unable to journey sou th , or left behind in Ihe course or the long trek.

In ea rl y 1943 the news broke of lile discovery by thc Germa ns, at Katyn neHr Smolensk, or the bod ies of 4,000 Polish o ntcc rs. All the vict ims, their arms tied behind the m, h;\c! died from a

A well ·~q u ipped Sherma.n AR V of l oth Armd. Cavalry Bde. Work _h o p a pproach ing a busy crOIl.-r oa d s d u r ing the aCI;on fo r Br ed a. O c tober 1945. The veh icle ca rr ie' t he fo r malion 5;g n a nd the u.n;C code 5ign (w h ite '99' on b lue, yellow/red hor izon tally li l ri p ed b ack ground ).

A wdl-a r rno u r ed. Sh~rn1.a n Fire fl y of l Oth Arrnd. Cavalry Bd~. dur ing th~ fightin g for Mo~rdijk, Nove mbe r 1944. Not e t h e a d d ition o f ammu n ition b Ol<es to the rear of the turre t b u s tle.

pisto l shot to the back of the head. While rea lising that both the Nazis and the Soviets were equally capabl e of peqwtnl t ing suc h a n atrocity. suh­sequent enquiries among th e suryi\'o rs or th (' ramp led the Poles to deduce that the Sov iets were Illost likel y to be the gu ilt y party. Following the d iscovery and the demands for a n investiga tion by the Interna tional R ed C ross) the Soviet Govern­ment accused the Poles of com plicity with the Germa ns and broke off re lations with the Polish Government .

The origins of th e armoured unit s of the future :2 Polish Corps can be traced back to '94' , when the first units wc,'e form ed (albeit without eq uipment ) on Soviet soil. O n .6 September [94 [ the 5th Armd. Bn. was form ed at Tatishchevo) fo llowed shor tl y by the 6th Bn . at Totskoye. \,Vi th the plans for the ex pansion of the Army, in January '942, the two batta lions were combined into a centre, and posted to the Karaba lty region nca r Frunze. There trai ning commenced , and it was hoped that assistance would be forth­com ing fro m the Sovie t Ar my Armoured Cenrre at Fru nze. With no co-operat ion from Moscow, and no plans for armoured iorces under the new organ isation , the centre was evacuated to Iran during March.

22

In sp it e of the SO\'ict non.co*ope ralion . it was still proposed that an armou red battalion be formed, coming under the direc t orders of the Army com mander. \'Vork was in hand on this plan when the second evacuation to Iran took place in August 1942. Th ese troops were to become the core of the futu re 4th Armd . Regt. in the West.

The second regiment of th e future 2nd Arm cJ. Bde. was the 1st Krechowiecki Lancers. i n la te September '941 cavalry (reconnaissance) squad­rons were formed for each division . One month late r it was decid ed to expa nd these inlO regiments, and on 18 November orders were issued for the formation of the 1 st Krechowiecki Lancers. By the end of February 1942 the cavalry squad rons of the 5th, 6th an d 7th Divs . were amalgamated at Otar, with the regiment leaving for Iran as part of the first evacua tion in !vlarch.

The third regim ent of the fU lUrc brigade. tlH" 6 th Armd. Regt. , was formcd a t Totskoyc o n [7 O ctober 194 1 as the 6th ' Dziec i Lwowskic' (Ch ild ren of Lwow) Divisio nal Rifl e Battalion . This battalion was soon moved to Shakhrisyabz, n ~ar RlIkhara , wh~rf" it was l ' f"*nrgani~ f"d as [Il('

6 th 'Dziec i Lwowskie Recon na issance Un it. Leaving the Soviet Union as part of the second evacuation. it arri\'cc\ in Iran on 22 AU .~ lIst [ 9 1~2 .

' A b~lIowing cow g ives li tt le m ilk' a n o p t i m i s l ic L t. J a nus z Ba rba r s ki, 2nd Ar md. R egl ., 1St Arrnd . Div., b y a tank of HQ. Sq n . in H o lland, winter 1944/45. (Autho r ) N o t e T h is tank has b een illu s tra ted on Plate D. , Vanguar d No. \16.

The Middle East

The fi rs t armoured un it to be evacuated from the Soviet Un ion was the Armoured Centre . Landing at Pa hlcvi, it \\'asscnt by road a nd rail t ransport to AhwHZ where it em barked for Suez. From there the Centre was transported to Gcdcra , Hill 69 nca r Gaza and BCI Girgia , where it was to form the 1St Ta nk Bn . and Armoured Forces Train ing Centre. On 14 J line the balla lion was mo\'cd to Cowley Camp in Egypt , where it was met b y men or the Carpathian Lancers, who had a lready seen ac tion a t T obruk and Gaza la as part of the Independent Carpa rh ian Ri fle Brigade. At Cowley Cam p the ba u alion was introd uced to it s fi rst tanks- n lk.V I Bs. After several weeks of traini ng the unit rClU rned to Pa lesti ne, to Hill 69, where the 2nd Armc\. Belc . was to bc fo r med. O n 4 August the un it was renamed 4t h Tank Battalion.

On 26 .J u ly th(' battalion was joined b y the 2nd 13 11 ., 1st Lnnccrs, which had also left the So\·iet Union du ri ng the first evacuation . The new brigade was now streng th ened by th e a rriva l of

officers a nd me n fro m Eng land , as \\'ell as former soldie rs of the Carpath ia n Brigade. Bo th officers and o the r ranks a ttended RAe courses at Abbasia a nd Deir Su neid. On 20 September the brigade was moved to Q izi l Riba t, in Iraq , where it was joined by th e 6th T ank En . ( the formcr6th Reconnaissance Unit ) in October . T he trai ning cont inued wit h renewed en thusiasm fo llo\\'ing the arriva l of Valent ine ta nks, as well as several captured Ita lian ~'1 13S.

After inspect ion by Gen. Sikorski , th e brigadc was transferred lO T aza K hurma tli , ncar Ki rkuk in I raq , where Cen . of Brigade Bronislaw Rakowski took ovcr comma nd . In Sep tember the brigade was aga in moved, thi s ti me to .'\ useirat (Gaza) , where it received ils fi rs t Shermans. An inspec tio n by the new Commander. in.C hief, Gen . Kaz imierz Sosnkowski, was followed b y ye t ano ther move, thi s time to Quassasin in Egypt. Hcre the brigade was fu ll y rc·cqu ippcd and lOok

Ch a llen ger of :r. Sqn., l O th M o unl ed Rifles, m o ving fo r war d w i tb m en o f t h tl 3rd RiOe Bde. in H o lla.nd, Novembe r 1944. Thtl rtlgimenl r eceived Ihe C b a llenger ea rly in t h a t m on t h, in suffi cienl qua ntities to equip o n e platoon of each s qua dron .

part in further cXf'r(' i ~l''', Ihis liml' in brigade strength. At th is liml' '2 Polish Corps \\'-\ s already in action in Italy , at the Sangro River, and the men of the 2nd Armel. Bdc. werc anxious to join their com rades at the fronl. They did nOI

have long to wai t, for in March '944 orders werc received that thc brigade was to prepare for action . T he 2nd Armd. Bdc. embarked at Port Said for Naples , with the equipment bei ng shipped from Alexandria 10 Taranto.

Ita ly

After la nding in Naples and being reunited with ils vehicles , the 2nd Armel. Bdl'. took pan in exercises ",i lh the 1rd Carpath ian Rinr Oi\, . and the 51h Kr('sowa InC Oi,·. Tht' ,'Chicles werc then fu ll y overhau lcd, a nd armour was strengthened by the add ition offurther platcs. On '28 April the brigade went into actio n in Cassino , although only in the shape of a platoon of rh e 4th Armd. Rcgt.: the p latoon was gi\'cn th(' lClsk of CTcwing duel' immobilised New Zea la nd Shermans, with 3 Sqn. of the regiment laking p<lrt in a deception

C .. omwe ll of Col. Fnlnds>: e k Skibinski, (:Ollllna nde" of loth A .. md. Cavalry Bde., photog .. aphed during an ins pection of f .. ont_l ine units; Ge .. many, spring 1945. This pa .. tic ula .. vehicle shows a very n e a t syst em of applied track protection.

move in tht dirtClion of Aquarondata. On II ~lay the tanks or the whole regiment moved forwa rd and opened the path through the Bot tl eneck 10

Mass Albanelta , su pporting the infantry of the 5th Kresowa Di,·. at Phantom Ridge, and that of the 3rd Carpathian Div. on Hill 593. During its attack the 4th Regt . had 12 tanks putoutofact ion , of which eight were subsequently repa ired. Th e first Sherman d es troyed at the Bottleneck was later incorporated into a monument to the fallen of the regiment. It was unveiled in May 1946; ironica lly. it has now been reduced to it s origi nal hulk by modern-day vandals.

During the next stage of the battle the 6th Armd . Reg t. went into ac tion on the slopes of Piedimonte, in terrain totally unsuitable for tank ac tion. The third regiment of the brigade, the 1st Krechowiecki Lancers, remained as part of the reargua rd. The brigade's losscs at MOlll c Cass ino and Pieclimollle amounted LO 42 killed , with the destruc tion of some 75 per cent o f the equi pment of the uni ls that saw ac tion.

The whole brigade was then wi thdrawn for rest and the replaccJllent of equipnwil t. \wf(H't'

being 11100'cd , IOgt'lhtT \\ it h '2 Polisll ( :() q).~. II) I h I '

Lanciano S.Vito area on the Adriat ic coas t. Units of lhe brigade wenl into anion on (hc line

Monte S . G iusto Chit'llti Ri \'('r <I lid Corrid!lll ia. sup porting the 3rd and 5t h IIl L Di,"s.: following the sudden German \v ithd rawal the Poles crossed

I : TKS,('Oor l s i P l lIIUOnOr a rccce comlllln}: " " lund. ~cpt. \B:\H

~ CDW[(] @ W ~ OvO

Tat,tkal ",al'ki"K~

'\!"Ind. ' ruin" , \l'Il1d .(; ;lI"",

tnH'ks. 1'1'\>· 19:\1;

~: 7 TPjw, ( '0 uf:lnd ('fI, . :!nd Li~h t Tank lin .; Poland . St,,, t.19:m

A

B

:1 ; ( ' n ve nanl t· l'. 10th Mld.Hines , 1,,1 ,I\l'Illd.I);I·,; UK, i'o l al'l'h IB.I :I

I ; He naull K: I!'.i . l s i Bn " Is ! Tank Ih'g"I. ; FnIlH~ ('. JUn(' I~ 10

:t; Vall'nlinc. :.lndTank Hn " Itilh ,\r'ImI.Bdl'. : l ll{ .. Jan. HI·I:I

I.

~ .... .... 1!;;~

c

~.:t: Fc>"llt' !I'IUIl' dt·.llll ..... I·I·I·UIIIIIII·U ... '\

o

I : .I':-t'p, !'r\l\\I .. , ('lIl11pall\, tnt! ' \ I'l11d. I )i\ .: I tllh. 1~11 · 1 :i

6

7 : S"!o. I" 11 t~'lldr S I'. 1 T p, 1 .. 1 ,\I "I.A l·I~. Hett.. b I J\ I'md. n j.·.' (:.'1'1111111\. 19-1 1·1;')

1:~hl'r"l:Ini\ll J\I,:.! ~\In" 1,,1 J\nlld,He!!", lsi J\ I'md. Uh ,: ~lIrmalHh, l\u". 1911

KOSCIUSZKO WARSZAWA

2: Sht'rman ~11 J\ 1 171;mm) \\' , ( ·uluur· I'nrl). :.!ndArmd. Hl'K"; C:t'rmllll~, :o.1!IY m ·Hi

I : !-' hcrnmn :,!1 11\ 2 . II Q :.!nd I\ rmd. nde.; Ef{\ IlI . I \} 1:1

:.!; !" ~e~nHln VC Fire n ,,( :'! II I\ I I. 2 ~ ll n .. l s i Krecho wiec ki I.a ncer s. 2nd Armd.l)h .: Ita l). 19 11. 1!) G

H

I,

~\ ~ '.~, ' f .) t -""':'" -.. . .-..,....." . .:

• .s':'

12

16

20

1-12: l 'lIiform insignia lice commcnlarielil

, 4

9

13 14

17 18

22 21

Table of Colla r Pennons worn by Polish Armour and Artillery Units on British Uniform, 1940- 47

A large r versio n was frequc nll y Rown from aeri a ls of AFVs o f lhcsc units. k t)': dk - Da rk , It - Lig lll ; colo ur a bbreviat ions arc as fo r unit ve hide code

ta b les; * - penno n a lso worn on bere t, to le ft o f Ar m y eagle; ( I ) - pe nno n IXlrc a pplied regimen ta l e m blem, sec Pla te H ; (2 ) - penno n bore em blcm ; a nd he rc t ba nd pi p t'd rnl.

{ 'lIil

.\ r md . Furet'S

.\ n n d. Fo rces T rg. Cen tre C K )

:\ rmd. Fo rces Trg. Cent re Iialy)

H Q 1St A rmel . Div.

Formalioll

HQ lo th Arlll ei. Ca\,. Bde. 1St Armd . Oiv . H Q 2nd A rm el. Di v. H Q 2nd Arm el. Bdc. 1st Armel. Rl'g l-.mel Armel. Regt. ~rd .\ r llld Rq.n.

. ph Ar mel. Reg l.

.'lt h Armd . Rl·gt.

2nd Armd . Oiv . lSI Armel. Oi v. hi .\ rm d. Di\' 16 th Ind. A rmel. Bdc . 2nd A rmd. Oiv. 16 th Ind . Armel . Ikl e.

F mnoll Tjpe I

A Il A B

G'

D' D D D 11

A

B Il 13 G B 13 Il

C%urs

" o o

o o W 13 R w y

o

Il Il fl G o o ()

R () J{ ()

d k ilL

A

2~ B

c

2E< 6 th A rmd. Regt. 7th Arm el. R egt. Cava lt-y

2nd A rm(\. Di". 2 Corps

B B EO ) A C A

Il l. 0 fl 0 dk ilL

elk BI. 0

1st Lt. Horse 1St La nce rs 3rcll.a llccl'S 7th La nccl'S 9 th La nce rs 12 th La ncers I ph l .a IHT r~

151h Lancers 241h La ncers 25 th Lancers Carpathian La ncers loth l'vl td. Rifl es 10 lh Dragoons I fit II Dra.~ool1 ~

IOlh H ussa rs 1st Ind . MC Sqn. HQ tst Annd . Oi \,. Art y.

I Corps 2nel Armd . Oiv. 14 th Ann d. Bdc. 3rel RiRe Oiv. 41h Inf. Oi" . 2 CII I I" Ih llt I ll d. A r m(1. Bele. 14 th Armd. Bdt. 1st Armel . Oi v. 51h Inf. Oiv . 2nd Armel. O i\,. 1St A rm(1. Oiv. I ~ I Armel. Di\·. lb lh Ind . Armll Bdt". 14.th Annd . Bdt·. lSI Armd. Oi\, .

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the Potenza River and entered LorelO, advancing to the Musonc - th e last natural barr ier before the port of An cona.

O n r 7 J uly, fo llowing a heavy artillery ba rrage 2 Corps moved rorward . By noon th e 5t h Kresowa Div. had captured ~'v1. O(,lIa Crescia: the 1St Krechowiecki Lancers a nd Polish Commandos entered Casa Nuova , and th e 6 th Armel. Reg t- ­together wit h the 7th Queen's Own Hussa rs­took the high ground at Torto. Towards evening Bogo and Polverigi wefe in Polish hands wi th units moving to Agugliano a nd Offagno.

The nex t day Polish armoured units reached the coas t and the Esimo River, capturing the Chiaravalle b ridgehead. La ter in the same day Polish un its, spearheaded by the Carpathian Lancers, en tered Ancona.

T here rollowed balllcs lo r the ~/l i sa , Cesano :\1etuaro and Foglio rivers, with the caplu l'(' of Senigall ia , Fa no a nd Pesa ro. Following these actions 2 Polish Corps was wit hdrawn to the Chicnt i Valley, where it remained rrom 5 September unti l 90clOber.

In O ctober the Corps was aga in at th e rront , this time in the inhospitable terrain or the Northern Apennines. The 5th Kresowa Div. opened the way to Galeata , capturing ~ I ont e

Vehicles a nd Ole n of the lOth Mounted Rifles du r ing a h a lt n ear Leer, Ge rOlilny, s pring 1945. N ote t h e r esiOlental COOlOla nder 's p enna nt o n the fi r s t CrO Ol WeU (black r ectan g le w ith white a pplied '45').

Grosso and Monte Spino. I t then forced the Rabbi and ca ptu red several towns incl udi ng Predappio, the binhplace or Mussolini. This enabled it ~

neighbour on its r ight flank , .1 Briti sh Corps. 10

capture Forli on the Via Em iliana. By mid-November the rront had stabil ised, wit h

2 Corps protecting the w(,stern Oank o r 5 Corp.::. during its advance on Faenza. T his task was made difficult not only by the terrain but also by rresh enemy reinforcements. The Polish advance moved on the line of the fortifi ed hills : Fort ino Palazzino- Piano Ricci. This time th c \'an \\, ~l S

taken by units or the 3rd Carpat hian Div. suppon ed by 4 th Armel. Regt. ; and the capture or Ricci, on 23 November, enabled 5 Corps to move on Faenza. In rurther fighting during 1\'O\'cm b('r and De('ember 2 Polish Corps reached the lillc or the Senio R iver.

In early April 1945, strengthened wi th ncw 105mm a nd Firefl y Shermans, the 2nd Armel. Bde. moved to the Faenza - f o rl i area , where it prepared to take pan in the assau lt on Bologna . T he fi gh ting was harsh ; the enem y had recentl y been reinforced with experienced troops, and the terra in, criss-crossed by many cana ls and rivers a nd heavily mined , made tank movement d iffi cult. In spite or these problems the All ied un its moved stead ily rorward on the city. O n 20 Apr il fin al orders ror the captu re or Bologna were issued. However, at dawn th e next day, news reac hed the brigade that the first elemen ts or the 3rd Car­pat hian Div. and the K rechowiecki Lanccrs had already entered the city. Wit hin a week the Germa n rorces in Ita ly had surrendered.

Following a victory parade in Bologna Ihe 2nci Armd . Bde. was moved to Loreto, where on 7 J une 1945 it was expanded into the 2nd \'VarszawskaArmoured Division. T heorganisa tion of the new division , under Gen . Ra kowsk i (the commander orthe rormer 2nd \'Varszawska Armd . Bde. ), was complered speedily , with Field Marshal Alexa nder tak ing the salut e orits massed units on ' 5 August 1945·

The euphoria did no t last long; 2 Corps was soon to be disbanded , and made ready to leave ror Engla nd. Upon their a rrival , un its of the 2nd Armd . Div. were stationed in the York a rea; a nd there, aher service wi th the Pol ish Resett lement Corps, its soldiers passed int o ci\'ilian lire. The

majorit y either remained in the United Kingdom or em igrated elsewhere in the Free World , with bu t few retu rn ing to a homeland now occu pied by t he Soviets. Other Units in Italy Apart from the 2nd "Varszawska Armel. Oiv. , the other armoured forma tion of2 Corps was the 14th Wielkopolska Armel. Bde., u nder the co mmand of Col. W . Bobinski. Form ed o n ] 2 December 1944 in the Sout h of Italy, origina lly as the 3rd Wielkopolska Annd . Bde. , it was sent to Q uassasin in Egypt for organisa tion and tra ining, ret urn ing to I ta ly in December ' 945. Th e brigade was equipped with various models of th e Sherma n, as well as the S tua rt a nd severa l types of a r moured car . I t d id no t see action, and suffered disband· ment like the ot her units of 2 Polish Corps.

'''' ith the format ion of the ~md Armel. Div. rhe fo rmer 2 Corps reconnaissance regiment - the Carpa thia n La ncers- beca me the d ivisiona l re· conna issance regimenl. I IS place was taken by the 121h Podolski La ncers, the form er recon na issance regiment of the 3rd Carpat hian R ifl e Division .

T he 15th Poznanski Lancers, the fon ner reconna issance regim ent of Ihe 5th Kresowa I nf. Div., joined the newly form ing 14th 'Vielko polska

MIO T a nk Delitro ye r of l li t Anti_Ta nk R egt., l li l Ar md. Oiv. in p ositio n a l H ooge-Zw aluwe, H o lla n d., Nove m b er 1944. T h e name of t h is p a.r ticular veh icle, 'Gdyn ia I ', appeared below the lilo ping rear lurrel count er weig h t. On t h e original p rint on e ca n m ake o u t , low on t h e r ear h u ll, th e ' PL ' li ign ; an a rtillery t actical liign of I T roop, 2 Batte r y b lu e liq u are with b o ttOn> r igh t corne r r ed , bearing whi te ' A'; a nd On t he r ight - while ' 77' on a r ed-over_blue liquar e. The d ivis ional li ign is not a pparent.

Armoured Brigade . It s place was taken by the newly re-fo rmed 25th Wiclkopolski Lancers. The other two regiments of th e new brigade were the re·formed 3rd Slaski Lancers and the new lot h Hussars.

T he rema ining armoured unit o f 2 Corps was the 7th Armel. Rege , which could trace its origins to the Armoured Centre in the Sovie t Union , and afte r the evacuat ion to the M iddle East, to the Reserve T ank Bn. a t Q izil R iba l. Upo n landing in Ita ly it combined wit h the Cadre MOlor Trans· port and Ar mou red Forces Cent re, becoming the Armoured Forces Reserve Cent re- ; and fi nally, on 6 August 1944, became the 7th Armoured Regi · men t, originally envisaged as a tra in ing regiment for the 2nd Armoured Brigade. Its 3 Sq n. was the so-called Armoured·Cavalry Sq uadron , which traced ilS origins to the former Reconnaissance U ni t of the 7th Infant ry Di vision .

2 )

The Warsaw Uprising

I n Pola nd the majol- res is tance group was the AK (Armi a Krajowa - Homc Army). Due to the nature of the und erg round struggle it was na turall y unrea listic 10 ronsider Ill(' USC' o f captured armou r on an yth ing but a small scale . However , the A i\. examined the poss ible usc o f armou r and motor transport , worki ng on the basis o f th e possib le capture o f enemy vc hicles during a ny future uprising . Apart from sporadic instances in th e res t of the coumr)" the ma in reports o f the usc of a rmour by the A K arc from the ' ,Varsa\\, Upr ising of August 1944.

The p rc·1939 3rd Armel . Bn . was fe-fo rmed a s a clandesti ne unit with in the A K; it s work consisted of training suitable cand idates for futu re la nk crews. Apart li'o m the 3rd Bn . the three ot her uni ts that used armour to any d egree during the Upri sing were a platoon of the ' Radoslaw ' Group, the a rmoured car platoon " 'Vydra ' , a nd the Warsaw Comma nd Yl o to ri sed Group.

Dur ing the fig hting on '2 August 1944 two Pa nther tan ks were captured by the ' Radoslaw' Group. O ne was virtua ll y unda maged , whil e the o ther had been knocked out by a hit from a PlAT. with damage to the tUITe\. Bo th ta nks were Ill o\"(~d

away from the lin e of fire a nd quic kly repaired. The tanks were then c rewed by me mbers of the ' Zoska ' Bn . who had undergon e training by

A Sherman tank-dozer or the :14th Lance rs, 1St Arrnd. Di v., ellpressing a s u itable, a lthough inco rreclly s JK""h. s .. nl; ... .. nl !

m eans of cap tured G erma n manuals. On e of the Panth ers was offic ia lly na med ' PudeP, th is being the pseudonym of one of the me mbe rs of the battalion who had been killed i however, the c rew ch ristened the tank ' ivlagda ' .

Between '2 and II August the two Pa nthers were used to support the a ttacks o f th e A K bat ta lions. O n 9 August one of the tanks was knocked out during a German a r moured a tt a ck, which was eventuall y repulsed with lh e a id o f ' Puclcl' . O n 10 August ' Pudel' beat o fT a n attack by IlllT('

ta nks and one armoured car, wh ic h was d es t ro vcd. Th e neX l day il was aga in in volved in thCsU PIJO n of th e advancing A K ha ttalions. sustained damage and was immobiliscd. H owever, it covered the re trea t of the GZoska ' Bn ., before being destroyed by il~ lTe \\ .

There is evidence that ' Pud el' carr ied the following markings on its turre t : the Polish A ir Force chequerboard marking ; lhe name ' Pmlel '; a nd the li ly of the SeoUl movement - all in line. On the rear halch were the le tters ,·VP ("Voj sko Polski c- Po lish Army) .

Some o ther insta nces of the use of armollr('d ve hicles during the W a rsa w Uprising were:

During the firs t d ays of the Upr ising usc was made of a captured a r moured ca r of th e securit y type that had been adapled for the fi g lHing. T h is ve hicle ca rri ed the mark ings AK, in l ar~e lette rs on either side of each door.

There are repons o fth ecaptureofan SdK fz 23 [ (or '233), but wilh no de ta il of its subsequen t usc .

On (2 August, during the fight in g in the a rea of the main Post Office, two se lf-propelled guns of the He lze r type were ca ptured by members o f the ' Kili nsk i' Batta lion . O ne of these guns was nam ed ' C h wa t' (, Gallan t Lad ' ) a nd had this name, together with a n Army-type eagle, pain ted on the glacis. 'Ch wa t' saw action d uring subseq ue nt fighting for the Post Office unti l it was buried by fa ll ing masonry.

On 5 August an SdKfz 25[ was ca ptured by members of the [Ol st Companyoflhe ' Boncza' Bn. du ring the figh ting on Royal Castl e Sq uare. I I was pa inted with a considerab le n umbe r of markings which included - a white nationa l eagle ; the Air Force cheq uerboa rd ; the Com pany number ' 101 '; and the wo rds 'S ta rowka ' (, O ld T own' ) a nd ' Barykada 5' (, Barr icade 5' ) . Th ere

are, however, no reports of its use in subsequent actions.

The armoured car platoon 'Wydra ' was formed on 14 August following lhe capture oflwo SdKfz 25 I S, one of which was called 'Jas'. On 2'2 August the platoon was joined by a third veh icle, this being an armoured car built b y members of the Underground themselves. I t basically consisted of a light lorry chassis with a body construClcd from armour plate, which had been obtained from a powerstation and a safe works and from knocked­out German vehicl es. The new armoured car was named ' Kubus' ~the pseudonym of the wifeofone of the construClors.

'J as' and ' Kubus' saw action during the fighting lo r \-\larsaw University j both suppofted theanacks of all assault group and later covered their with­drawal, under Ihe fire of advancing German armour. 'J as' was subsequently renamed 'Szary \·Vilk ' after its first comma nder, who died in the first assault on the University. 'Szary Wilk ' was now strengthened by th e addit ion of further steel plates , and was filted with a tu rrc t mounting a

L ine_up oC M armon-Herringlon armou red cars oC Ihe Car path.ian Lancers, "With a captured Italia o SPA 40 i.n t h e Coregr ou nd : Egypt, May 1942. The mark ings appear to con sist o Ca red figure S. and a regimenlal em blem oCa blue­over-red pen n on, "Wit h I"WO pal Dl t r ees and a crescenl DlOOn, in grey?

machine gun. On '2 September 'Szary Wilk' again led an assault on the University , but was again forced to withdraw. On 6 September, follow ing a heavy German bombardment , the AK units in the Powisle area were forced to with­draw. They were covered by the two armoured vehicles, which were eventua ll y cut otT and had to

be destroyed by their crews. There were undoubtedly many other cases of

the use ofarmollr b y the AK during the Uprising, as well as in other situations elsewhere in the country. Th e Germans, realis ing the AK 's am­bition to acquire armour , in several instances booby-trapped tanks abandoned in areas held by the AK. A notable instance was on t 3 August , when a caprured tank blew up, killing some 300 people.

Ludowe Wojsko Polskie

The small nu mbers of pro-So vie t Poles rema ining in the SO\'ic t U nion aft e r Ih e evac ua tio n of the Poli sh Army in 1942: LOgcther with the handful of Poli sh Communists who ha d been li ving there since before 1939, formed th e Union of Polish Patriots (Z PP) in March [943. In Apri l 1943 the ZPP approached the Sovie t Governm ent with the plan of formin g a Polish military un i t in the USSR . This idea was received favoura bly, a nd the first uni ts began \0 form in J\ll ay [943. The troops were rec ruited from those Poles still in pr isons and labour cam ps, as well as Red Arm y so ldiers of

G~D. Alexander insp ec ting I.h e Tank Platoon oflbe Carpathia n Lancers in Egypt, August 19i"" T his platoon was equipped with three captured pzKprw In tank •. O\leralllinish appears to have b een liand, w ilh the following markings : con secu live numbe r s I 103 in red, togeth er wilh Ihe AFV r ed/while /red Rash on t h e lurrel sides, as w ell a .. (perhaps) a r ed stll"ipe a long the length of ,the huD and Iurret top s urfaces 10 a.id aeriaJ recognition. The ta nk .. of t his plaloon were u s ed fo r training purposes, a nd did not see action.

Polish ex traction . H owever, man y vo luntee rs were those Pol es who did not manage to reach the evacuation poin ts when Gen . Ande rs' unit s left the USSR . The choice for these Poles was sim ple: eithe r they cou ld waste a way in prison , or do something for th eir ho meland , regardless of politica l considerations. T he shortage of offi cers, du e to th e NKVD exec utions as we ll 3 :"\ to Ihe

c\'ac u3tions, was me t b y the ust: of So\·ie l o mcers (which was, of course, of benefit to the Sov iet a uthoriti es ) .

T he first armoured unit of the Ludowc Wojsko Polskie (L \-VP-' Polish People's Arm y') was the 1St ' H eroes of Wes ter platte' T ank Regimcnt. This was expand ed to the 1st ' He roes ofWester pla lte' Armd. Bdc. on ]9 August ]943, and a tt ached to

[st Polish Army. Upon crossing the new Poli sh frontier the brigade took part in th e act io n a t Studzianki (August (944), in the Praga district of\-Varsaw in September and in the ' libera tion ' of 'Warsaw in Janua ry 1945. I t late r fought a t Bydgoszcz, fo r the Po mmernstellung , as we ll as fo r

Gdansk and Gd ynia. Units of the brigade ( 13th A-T Reg t. a nd 4t h Heavy Tank Regt. ), took part in the capture of Berlin .

I n Augus t 1944 I Armoured Corps was formed , consisting of 1St Motoriscd Inf. Bde., 2nd , grd and 4th Armd. Bdes. ; an anti - tank regiment, a mortar regiment, the 1St Rocke t Battery (MI3), and the 26 th Anti-Aircraft Art illery Regimen t. I Armoured Corps fought a long the axis Niesky­Baulzcn - Dresd en , fol lowed by the thrust towards Czechos lovakia , eventually reaching the outskirts of Prague.

Apart from the above-mentioned units of the 1St and 2nd Polish Armies, there a lso existed the fo llowing armoured units : 3rd Training Tank Reg t. , 6th I ndependent Heavy Tank Regt. , 7th I-!cavy Ta nk Regt.; 46th , 49th , 51st a nd 521ld Armd. Art y. Regiments.

The Plates

A I: T KS reconnaissance tank , I PlatoQ1I comma1lderoftl RecoTlflfliHance Company; Po/anti, September 1939

This TKS bears the 1936 camouflage scheme of 'sand grey', medium green and dark brown, applied wi th an a irbrush in horizollla l swathes. T he tactical markings, introdu ced in the ea rl y 19305 and officially in orange on pale blue-grey shapes, seem in prac ti ce to have been marked in red on whit e. The fi ve tanks of I PI a loon bore a white d isc , those of 2 Pla toon a white dowllwards­poi nting triangle, and those of 3 Platoon a white squ are. Platoon commanders' tanks bore a red vertical stripe on th e whit e shape , and aS$is t<1nt platoon cOlllmanders' tanks a red shape; the o lher three ta nks dis played the white shape only. The compan y commander's marking was a white t ri angle, pointi ng either upwa rds or downwards, on a red disc, on a whit e square. In for mations with more than one tank compa ny it seems lhat red was replaced by ano ther colour for company identi fi cation.

A2 : 7 TPjw (single tllrret) , 2 Company Commantier, 2nd Light Tank Battalion ( 2nti Armoured Battalion); Po/and, September 1939

This tank is paint ed in standard 1936 ca mouAage. 'rhe IWO vc- rti ca l white bars identify th e com pany,

A well.armed Morris armoured ca r of the Carplllhian Lance r s, st:t:n ht:rt: as 2 Corps r t:connaissanct: rt:gimen t ; Iraq, December 1!H2. This vehicle sporlS a combined formation and u nit cod t: a whitt: D1t:rD1aid on red, above the nUD1be r 35'7 in white on black, above a whitt: 'Corps t roops' b ar.

a nd the horizonta l stripe below them, th e company commander. We show the ba tta lion 's ' lea ping wildcat ' insignia on th e turret , but it may have been overpaimcd upon mobi lisat ion for war .

BI : Renault R35 , I Bn ) 1st Tank Regt .; Prance, ]une 194 0

This ba Halion received its R35s at Cam p de Satory short ly a ft er a rr iving fro m St Cccile·les­Vignes . It seems probable tha t there was no time to apply a lternative markings, and that the tanks wcnt to the front displaying th eir ol-iginal French ' playing card ' pla toon tactica l markings. The regiment 'S 11 Bn ., originally eq u ipped with R 35s, had the m replaced b y newer R4os. The poppy is said to have been used as an unofficia l marking by loth Cavalry Bde., carried on Ihe doors of wheeled transport , and apparen tl y sometimes on th e whit e grenad e marking on French tanks. I t is a pun on the name of (he brigade com mander, Cen. Stanislaw Maczek ; ' maczek' in Polish is the diminutive form of ' poppy'

A sco:no: during o:xo: r ciso:s b y :md Armd. Bde. in Egypt, shortly before it was to join the fighting in Italy. The Sherman is probably in d esert finish of Light Mud a nd Blue_Black. Note the large funne l on the rear of the yehicle.

8 2: Valet/line. 211d Tank BauaLion. ,61h Armoured

Brigade; Uniled Kingdom , ]01JlltlT)' 1943 Apart from a few obsolete ivl k.VIs , the Valentines were the firs t tanks issued to th e Poli sh armoured units in Brita in . They were lI sed concurrelllly wit h Churchi lls and Covenanters , all eventually being replaced by Crusaders. This Valentine d isplays mark ings typical orthe battalions of [6111 Armel. Bde. at th is period , in a lin e across the front of the vehicle . Left to right: the nationa l marking, ' PL' in b lack on white oval ; th e black bridge nu mber in a yellow circle ; the uni t code number in white on a green background; a nd the [ Pulish Curps sig n , a white wingcd ci rcle , on a black background. T he number T[ 29'2858 is applied to both sid es ofthl' tunC'\.

B3: Covena1ller, ,olh lvlollllted Rifles . HI Polish Armoured Division; Haddington. UK. March '943

The markings used pr ior to the introduction orthe divisiona l sign in August follow the same system as on the Valentine, but with th e unit code in white on red , and with the addition orlhe British red /white/red AFV recogn ition Rash. Squadl'Oll tact ical marki ngs began to appear on the Polish tanks at abou t thi s time, following the British pattern : a hollow diamond id ent ified regiment a l or battalion HQ ; a hollow triangle , . A' Squadron (in Polish nomenclature , ' , ' Squadron ) ; a hollow sq uare, 2 Sqn., and a hollow circle , 3 Sqn. , the signs being painted in regimenta l colours in order of sen iority within the brigade, in the ~cquencc red , yellow, blue. Some units differentiated between pla toons by paintin g letters or numbers w i th ill th~ squadl'OrJ sign .

CI : Universal Carrier, Independent CarpathiaN Rifle Brigade; North Africa , 1941

A typ ica l carrier of the brigade, its overall sand fin ish showing much wear and tear ; the red-white­red AFV flash is d ispla yed on sides and track­guards. On the frOI1l is the name '\\"ilk ' CWolf' ) , above an earl ier, overpainted name. On the side the overpainted number Tl 1113 is just visible. The formation sign of a white helmet , cuirass and wing on a red shield was adopted early in summer 194 t ; it was no rmally carr ied on the fron t left­hand and rear right-hand mudguards or fend e rs of vehicles, as well as on doors . It was replaced by a silver (grey) suit of armour on a red shield in J anuary 1942 , and this was replaced in its lUrn by the green spruce on the white-over-red back­ground when the brigade was expand ed to divisional establish ment.

C2: Universal Carrier attached to Armoured Traill <G'; NOljOlk , UK, 1942

T he four carriers a tt ac hed to this tfain a ll carried a characteristic sign combining elemen ts of Caval r y and Armoured hera ld ry. Each a lso ca rried a girl 's name: T63091 "Wanda' , T63116 'Jaga ', T631 22 ' Hanka' , a nd T63124 ' Baska '

C3: CromwelL, HQ 1St Polish Armoured Division;

Normandy, August '944 The 'charger' of the divisiona l comma nder , Gen. of Di\,. Stanislaw Maczek ; the vis ible tUITet crew normall y consisted of Maczek and his GSO 3, Capt. Kamil Czarnecki. Fi nished in British Bronze Green O\"erall, it has a horseshoe mascot fixed to th e left trackg uard . Turret markings a re the name ' H ela ' and the number T 18792 I Along the front hull , from left 10 right as viewed , are the unit code-'4o' on black; the bridge grou p n umber in black on a yellow disc ; th e T-number ; and the d ivisional sign , a black wi ng and helmet on a black-edged orange disc. Additional signs show n in the d eta il views arc (C4) fo r mation sign and uni t code of 9th Malopolski Lancers as reconna issance reg imen t of 2nd Polis h Arm(1. Gren. Div., normally d isplayed side by side ; (Cs) formatio n sign of 16th Independent Armd. Bde. ; (C6) pennon painted on the sides of drivers' and hu ll gunners' hatches on some Cromwclls of 10th Mounted R ifles.

Sherman of ~ Sqn., 4t h Armd. Regt. 'Skorpio n' commanded b y O ffi cer Cadet J arzembrows ki, s h ortly b efor e moving into action a t Mon t e Ca ssino, M ay ' 944, Note t h e addi t ion a l pro tecti ve layer of sandbags. In the origin al print th" black s corpio n emblem is just vis ible on the tur ret sid ", pa r tly obscu r ed by the per isco pe a n d branch es of t h " camo u ftag".

DI: Archer 17pdr SP, 7th Al1ti~TaJlk Regiment , 2 Polish COljJS" Italy , 1944~45

The Archer was used in sma ll numbers b y this Corps anti ~t ank regimen t, whos t~ main equ ipment was the M 10 Ta nk D es troyer. This is one of the few 2 Corps {racked vehicles to ca rr y th e Corps sign and un it codes. Finish is Bronze Green , faded by the Ita lian sun, and ~v i t h the end of th e barrel painted in lighter green and whi te for camouflage purposes. The 2 Corps formation sign , based on the arms of \·Varsaw, was sometimes seen with a blue ra ther than a red background , signifying 2 Corps Base.

D2-D8: Pen1/ants A selection of the many and va ri ed pennants c(l IT ied by Polish vchicles: till' majorit y were enlarged versions of the uniform collar pennons ' (D 2) CO, lot h Mounted Rifles; (03 ) 2 Sq n commander, loth iVl td . Rifles ; (04) 3 Sqn. , loth

:n

Staghound 'Smok' (' Dragon') of the Carpathian Lancers (ill Corps reconnaissance regim ent ) photographed in haly in the summer of 1944. Note the combined formation and unit code sign, with white bar a t the top. It is just possible to make out the line of red piping above the standing trooper's beret edging.

Dragoons; (0 6) [ Sqn. , Carpathian Lancers. The identifi ca tion of sq uadrons fo llowed the pre­wa r sys tem under which each squadron had a coloured squa re , and the HQhad a square made up of the different squadron squares. The official , though b y no means universal sequence, was red ( lOp left) , while (top right ), ye llow (bot tom left ) and blue (bollom right ) . (D5) Pennant of CO, 2nd Armd . R eg!. ; thi s was introduced when the regiment was part of [6th Armd. Bde., [st and 3rd Regts . having similar pat terns. On one siele is the dragon of Armoured Fon;:es, which had been used as th e brigade sign ; on the other is the co mmemorative badge of the regiment. (D7) Pennant of Gen. Bronislaw Rakows ki as commander of 2nd ' \'Varszawska' Armel. Bde. (DB) Pennant ofHQ, 2nd Armel . Bde., 2nd Armd. Div.

E,,- J eep. Provosl Compm! l" . 2nd . 'r(/r.L~(/u ·.\k(/ ·

Armoured Division; i laly, 1945 On an overa ll finish of US Olive Drab a n' marked the fo llowing: red 'Zandermcria ' stt'll c illed 0 11

white fender, and Pol ish ' M ilitary Police" stencilled in red on whit e below the windsc reen. Whit e Allied star on bonn et, and number 5626338 on sides. Black on yellow bridge group sign below windscreen . Black plat e edged wh ite wi th unit code ' 43'; white plat e ed ged black with black stencilled formation sign . The se lec tion of forma tion signs as marked 0 11

Polish vehicles is as follows : (E2) 7th InC Div.; (E3) 6th ' Lwowska' InC Oiv.; (104) HQPolish Army Middle EaS! ; (105) Polish Units Middl e East ; ( E6 ) HQ Polish Units Grea l Brita in. The 3rd Carpa thi a n Rifl e Di \·. used its familiar green spruce tree o n a whit e-over-red square; and 5th ' Kresowa' InL Div. it s brown bison on a ye llow background.

£ 7: Sexlon 2jpdr S P . J T roop, /SI .\IOlorised A rlillery Rtgimml. lSI Armoured Division: Germany ,

'945 Painted oVCI"all Bronze Green , the SexlOn bears in the top corner of the fronta l armour the skull-and­cross bo nes of the 'Troop of Dea th ' - see a lso Pla te H [ Z. Below thi s is th e vchicl e nanl(' ' Breda ' ; the ot hers in this troop bore th e names' Dytia tyn', 'J ol'danow' , and 'Zboiska ', and the troop com­mand er's Sherman th e name 'Su·yj'. Below these markings is the divisiona l sign j and on the right , the artill ery tact ica l sign and unit code. The 7th Horse Art illery Regl. o f 2nd Ar mel. Oiv. a lso used Sex tons.

FJ: Sherman M 4A4, 2 SqIIfUIrOIl. l si Armd. Reg! .. 1st A rmd. D iu . .- N ormand),. Allgust ' 944

T ypica l of d iv isional Shermans ea rl y in the ,\I \ ·V

Euro pe campaign , this tank has additional armour and stowage bins welded on . The ra ther bold Allied star and squad ron sig n were later muted somewhat. Note slogans chalked by the liberated popula tion . The practice of pain ling na mes on vehicles was not as widespread in l SI as in 2nd Armd . Oi\,. j four representative Sherman names a re shown , including ' Kitll s I I ', the M4AI (76mm ) \·V num ber T 26';14.11 con ma nded by LI. Janusz Barbarski of 2nd Armel. Regt. of this di vision.

F2: Shfl"lIIfllI ' \/4A I ( 76111111 ) 11". Colollr /)(11'(1'. 2nd Armd. Regt., 1st Armd. Div.; M e/}pefl , German)"

3 AI,!!, ' 946 Comma nded by Lt. J crzy Nicwinowski , wilh WO I Aleksa nder J a rzembowski , thi s Sherma n in full parade order still displays the nu merous welded-on track plates used fo r additio na l pro­tcc tion, and the IromjJe l'oeil pai nting of the end of the 76mm g un barrel , bo th reminiscenl of its fi ghting da ys. T he regiment rcceived the 76mm Sherma n during the winter of 1944/45. The finish is overa ll Bronze Green , with a slight sheen from an 'o il y rub-down' j the marki ngs are mOllnted on de tachable li n plates- the formation sign a nd bridge group number on one, the unit cod e on the other- si nce the glacis is obscured by the track pla tes. T ne Regimen ta l Colour had been presented

Scout c ar o f R econna.i lilia n ce P ia lOon llil ' Kre(howiec ki ' LaD(er .., 2nd ·War. ,.aw . .... • Armel. Div.; LI. Col K. Zaor .... i, the reliment '. comm.nder. I reelinl Gen. B. R.ko w .... i, GOC 2nd Armel. Div. on t he Rq:imental Day "'I July '!H5 .1 Lor e t o, Ii aly. T h e nan1", ' K o r lian U· •• well aSlh ediam ond , hor. ",· , h ead a nd lelle r ' R ' are pain led yellow. NOle the o ld m a rkin, ofJ Sqo. helow.

10 the unit by the Belgian l aw n of Bevercn Waas on 2 l\!larc h t946.

G l '- Shermllll M 4A 2, NQ 2nd Armoured Brigade:

E/!J'pt. ' 943 One of the new Shermans with which the brigade was re-equipped in read iness fo r Ihe Ita lian ca mpaign , seen du ring exercises a t Quassas in . I I is ca mouAagcd in the then-cu rren t British dc-sc- I"( scheme of Light 1\/( ud and Blu e-Black , and bea rs twO names : ' Helun ia ' on th e turrct) and 'T aza­Khllnnalli ' on the hull sides. The turre t na me is that of the lank 's 'godmother' us uall y a member of Polish ,""omen's Army Corps j the hull name was tha t of a place which fig ured in brigade history, in this case a ca mp of this na me in Iraq . The pennants are cha rac teristi c of this brigade; two ora ngc-and.black chcquc red nags ide ntify

Brigade H Q . The Brigade Comma nder ca rri ed one chequered fi ag a bove one tri angu la r red penna nt; the commander of the HQ Platoon Aew onc cheq uered Aag above one triangu la r pennant halved blue over b rown. Each reg imen t in the brigade ft ew a di ffe rent combi na tion of two pennan ls in contras ting shapes and colours.

G2: Sherman fie Firefly ( A'/ 4A4) , 2 Sqn . . I sf

fKrechowierki · Lancers, 2nd ( I-Va,.s~awska· Armd.

Div.; Italy. 1944- 45 T he usua l Bronze G reen fini~ h . wit h a lengt h of ligh ter green above whilc al Ih .. t' nd of the gun barrel. The ta n ks of 2nd :\ 1 md . Bdc· . carr ied their names painted in large I t-tilT' i ll the regimen ta l

Line·up of Sh er m a ns of t he 4t h ' Skorpio n' Arn l d. R egt . dur i ng t he p arad e t a k en by Field M a rsha l AI" ",and er a t Lo r et o On 15 Aug u s t 1945. The tank in t h e fo r eg r o u nd is t h at of the r egimental commande r , Lt. Col. Z. Dudzins k i. Note Ihe black scorpion on t h e r ed dia mon d ofH Q.Sqn. , .H i w,, 11 a !i t h e r egime nta l co mmand .. r ' .. penna n t, com b in in g th" eo10 u r .. of t h e s q uadr on s in the fo u r sq u a r es : r ed , w hil e, ye llo w a nd bl ue. The mark i n gs On the s ide of t h e h u ll w er e a p parenlly u sed for ran gi ng gun s .

The Sherma n ' Acroma' o f HQ. Sqn., Carp a t.hian La n cer s b eing carried by a t r ansp orte r of and Armd. Bd e. W o rks h op; C iv itanova, June 1946. T h e e Dl blem withi n the whi te tac t.ical sign is t he co mbined p a l m s a nd cr escen t DlOOn of the r egi Dl en t, oft e n on the b lu e-over-re d p e n non . No te the large t o w ing h ooks a t t he r ,"ar of th," Sh e rnla n .

Oflic~rs of Ih~ IOlh Hu ssars, of Ih e newly forRled 14th 'W;elkopolsk .. ' ArRld. Bde.; Egypt, 1945. Not., th., hussar knot carried on thl!! b~r~t to the I.,ft ofth., .,agl.,. This regiment was th e only Poli sh unit to wear a gold ~agl e, buuons and rank badge".

seniorilY colou r- i.e. red, yellow and blue respccl­i\"Cly ror the 4th Armd. Regl. , 151 Lancers and 6 th Annd. Reg!. ; this colou r was also used ror the squadron signson the turrets . Regimenlal emblems were added to these squad ron signs, in the mann er illustra ted in Vanguard 26, The Sherman Tallk ill US lI li d ALlied Service, Plate 0 2: a black scorpion in 4th Annd . Regt. 's red sign , a ye llow horse-head in 1St La ncers' ye llow sign , and a yel low lion in 6th Armd . Regl. 's blue sign. The tanks or HQ Sqn. and Reece Platoon had names starting with ' K ' in thi s regiment ; e.g. ' Krechowia k', the CO's tank . Tanks or I , 2 and 3 Sqns. had names starting with ' B', ' R' and 'Z' respec ti ve ly ; e.g. ' Burza', ' Rozmach ' and ' Zwyc iesca' , Ihe three squad ro n commanders' tanks. The di visiona l recce regiment , Carpalhian La ncers, used whi te squadro n sig ns enclosing the ir regi men ta l colla r pennon with a palms a nd crescen t superi mposed agai n . set' \ 'anguard 26. :\01(" Ihat in 2 Corps armoured unit s did not as a rul <: carry the rormation sign or unit codes, or Ih e' ' PI : plate. Allied white stars were usuall y limited to ho ri zontal surraces ror air r(,cog nition.

11 : Selection oj uniform insignia worn by the Anl/oured

Forets oj Polllnd. 1939-47 (H I ) T ypica l Other R anks' bere t cagle in whil e embroidery; officers genera ll y had silver wire embroide ry. a nd sOlne reg iments retained th e: me ta! Iyp<.'

Consec ration of t he m"Rl o riallo Ih~ f .. llen oflhe 41h Arm d . Regt. at the 'Bottl~neck ', Cassino, May '946. The Rl e morial stands to this day, although the scorpion s and e agle han: be~n removed b y Rlod.,rn.day vandals.

Sad farewell : 4th Armd. R egt. Sherman crew h a nd ing OVer the ir c.ll n ks prior to leaving Jully for the United Kingdom in 1946. The Polis h arRled for ces, afcer s i" year'S of a rmed s lrugg l~, now faced a futu re in n: ile , h avi ng nO i ndep~nd~nc hORle land to r~C urD 10.

I i

'Ch wat', the H en:er capt u red by t h e H ome Arm y during the Warsaw Up r is ing of Au gu st 1944. a nd tureed agains t its fo rme.- o w ners . Note t h e n a m e a nd A.r my.st yle eagle p a inted low on t h e glacis pla te.

(Hz) 1St Armou red Division insignia, based on the 17 th cClllury Polish heavy cava lry hel me t a nd wing, T he d ivision's ot her cha rac teristic insign ia was the blac k left shou lder stra p, init ia lly worn onl y by loth Armel. Cava lry Bde , and from 1943 by th e whole d iv ision, in memo ry of the b lack leat her coats worn by the brigad e in 1939 . (H3) znd ' Wa rszawska ' Ar moured Di vision in­signia , based o n pre-wa r Armoured Forces insignia. T his was th e o nly fornl a t io n which used a system of co loured stripes, identifying un its, beneat h the shoulder patch , similar ill proportions to the British 'a r m of se rvice' stripe: e.g. whitt' (Carpa thian 1.ancers ), red (4th Armd . Reg!. ). yellow ( 1st La ncers ) a nd b lue (6 th Armc\. Reg!. ). (H4) z Corps insignia , worn init ia ll y by Corps troops only, but with the l ransfcr ofthe corps to the U K in 194fi \\o rn by a ll uni ts above their own sign . (HS) 14th ' Wielkopolska ' Armd . Bde, (H6) 16t h Tank Bde. (former 1st T an k Reg t. ins ignia ) (H 7) 16th Independent Armel. Bd e. (HS) Honora ry insignia of 1st Armd . Reg!. ) worn on right shoulder ; th e coa t of a rms of St Nicolas, Belgium, presen ted - a long wi th the Regimen ta l Colour - in t946. (Hg) Honora ry insign ia , znd Armd . Reg!., worn as above , The coa l of arms of Beveren \'Vaas, Belgium.

:IH

H 10 ) Honora!") imignia . JO lh Dragoo ns: lhe cross of St And rew a nd the a rms of La narkshire, Scotl and. ( II I I ) I l o norar), insig n ia , I T l"Uup , I s t M o t . An y. Reg!.: this una pproved insign ia ,omm(·mora t,:;" T roop, 1St ~l ou lll a i n Art y. Reg!. \\ hi t" h bort' the titl e 'T roo p of Deat h ' after be ing a nni hila lcd at the ba tll e of Dyt ialyn in '9zo. T he first examples of the insignia were improv ised using capt ured German trad ition badges.

Two othcr honorary insignia werc worn on the right sleeve in 1S t Armd. Oiv,: the a rms of Bred a, Holla nd , b y Sth Rifl e Bn ., a nd those or Exaard e, Belgiu lll , by 1s t Ligh t An ti-Ai rc ra ft Reg!. (H I2 ) Bere t emblem , worn a longsid e na tional eagle b y H Q , 2nd MOld . Bde. (H ' 3) Bere t emblem , 4th 'Skorpion ' Armel. Reg!. (H 14) Bere t emb lem, 6th ' Ozicci I.wo\\'skic' Armd . Rq:p . rH 15 IklT t emblem, j l h Arn1<l . Ri'!.!! . I H 11) 1 B CIT I r rnb l<' m, 9 th Fo rward Dd i \ l 'l'~ Sq n .. 2nd Armel . Oi\, . (H [ 7) Colla r' pen non , Carpal hia n l .a rH·,' r,, : this regiment a lso wore Ilarrow red pip ing al"llll nd the

' Kubus'. a n ar m ou red car con Slru CI .. d b}' th .. Honl .. Ar n. y a nd u Sll"d w it h so m r suecl'S" in War s aw in Aug u s l 19'1'"

brow- ba nd of the blac k h(T(' t a bo\"(' the \ra the r edging. III H Collar pt·nlllln . Lo th I-Iussars; HI 9 Ht're l

em bl(·m. 10 lh I-I u);sa rs ( 1-1 20 Co llar pennon . 9 th Fo r\\"a ni Ddi\(T ~ Sq n.

1-1 2 1) Co lla r pennon . . ph 'Skorpinll ' :-\nnd . Regl. ( H Z2 Collar penno n. 7th Armd. Reg!.

Bibliography a nd Sources Sadly, there arc few publica tions in the English language conce rning Ihe Polish Armed Forces. le t a lone th e armo ured forma tions. The titl es listed arc a selec tion of those used by the au thor in the prepa rat ion of this book:

Anders, W., A" Amv' i" £). ilr, )"'Iac milla n, London . 1959 (re-issued Ba ttery Press, Nashvill e, 19B [ )

Histori ca l Commission of the Polish General Sta ff, Polskit Sily <.61O)"e. Polish Institut e & Sikorski )" Iusellm , London, [95 1

J a mar, K ., lI'i /h fhe Tallks of fhe I sf Polish Armoured

Division. 1-1 . I.. Smil & Zn., Hcnglo, 1946 )..\acze k, 5 ., Od Podwody (10 C.<;.ol,f!,a (memoirs). T oma r.

Edinburgh. [96 !

Tbi. photog raph rrORl CORlRlunist SourC~" i$ d~scribed ... lihowiog T -:w t .. n ...... orthe Ludowe Wojs ko Pol li kie, c .. rrying Lend.Lease jeeps ' piggyba ck '. and loading On to barg~. in pre p .. nuio n ror c r o.sing t h e Vi litul ... The mOlit comRlon emblem ca rried by LWP arRlou r w ... t he white.painted

e .. gle o r the Pia st Dyna s t y o n the turret Iii d es ; liee Vanguard t4, 'f llf / '11 / 111/ (

Kun'!. , F. S .. lJIarf.. 1I11,f!.(ult' . Atla!lli ~ . I Ia !TO\I' , I~H 3

Zaloga , S. J., /J lil:.h it'g : A rlllour Call1vlljlall.t' (11/(1 .H arki"gs 1939- 40 . Arms & Armour Press, London. 1980

Za loga, S . .J ., Tilt' f'flli." I /II~J /fJ3.9 45. i\1 t:IH II -A n ns Se ries No, 1 [7, lhpI"" , I.(lmlon, 1982

Zaloga , S. J., 7 /u """"111,/11 /If I ·.~ (111(/ AI/it'll StH'ice. Vang uard Sn it's t'\u .! h . (hprcy . London. 1982

Za loga. $ . .J .. U/o" " (1//(111/(1 'l ilt' I '{/'i~h '1 m/A F (// {t'

' 930 39. 'AF\ ' :'\1"\1" \ '01. 19 :'\0. :{. On l.ll ill. 1~ 1 74 Zaloga . S . .J.. f'>o/ij /t Cml/oujlugr (///(1 .\I(lrkillg). ')" Iilila r)

)"l odcJ ling' \ '01. II :'\0 . I \! . I.ondon 19H1 Zebrowski . ~ 1 .. ~(/~I" lIi,/o ,-ii P'I/I/"ir,. /l lol/ i " (IIII1'I1I,i

19 18 -Ii. I.o ndon . ! ~ J 7 1 Anon .. / D) wi:..ia P afl{t' n ul /t ' II 'ale" l.a Colonne.

Belgium . 19'17

Much or lhis book has been based upon malerial held by Ihe Polish [nstitute and Sikorski Museum, 20 Pri nces Gale, London SWf Founded in 1945 to house dH' arl" hin's ()flhc Polish \'o\Trnm!' nl in Exile and Ilw Annt:d F,IITCS "fIn Ill!" I'cl'llgnili(111 ( If 111\'

( :Oll1tlluniSI governmen t in \ Varsaw by the ot her .\ l1i{'s, the Inst itille is open 10 Ihe p"hlie fiw \'if'\\" ing­and fill' ", llId ~ pllrpo~(·~. [ 1 h(lll~(," iIIlP0rl:l ll l l · j\ ili,111

Not es s u r les plan ches e n cou leur

A I ' Gammede nmoutlag ... 'grl' ,abl~·. ~ ,·i. ," hr"n en rayures hOl'iwntale$. en 1936. l.' imiK"f rouK" /"( blan<' idcnt;fi.· k ,,,mmandant du I" pdolon d'"ne compa~n;( lk r« onIl3;&'a"" .... t.,~ 1'1'101"'" dr 6nq char< fla ;rnt idcntifik par un rnd~, un lriangle Oll un " M r~ I.e commandanl ,I<- pdOlon a un~ rayu!'e rouge, iOn ,~co<,,1 un ro",r r(H'~' " , k ' a,,,res char. 1 .. ",,,bole blan, uui_ A2 ; Les barr", b]:",d,1"S iudiqu"," I., I" (~"npaK"i'- "1 I" ra)"rr horizonlal .. _ Ie commandamde compagnic

B. ; Lc. marqllages fr~npi, d'originc 0111 hf (on.tn·fs par ma"qllc dt lemps a"am d -c11lrer~" anion , I. ·insigne du pavol ,,'etail pas ofli~id; il <'fail Ulili.c par la lo·· .. lIriga'l~ dc ca,' al~rie ' "r I"" pones de! v<,hicu l", pour l'appcller Ie nom d" gtneral Mact,·k. en Polonais 'pCli! 1'3"0(. BlII' Ix gauche;\ droit~, I", marquages sonl: I", inilial.,; nal;ona]el . Ie cod~ d~ poid' de I)()nlage, k numi rn de mdc d~ r"" ilC sur fond vrrt CI k sig le d" ," Corps polonais. B3' :\Iarq"ag'"" ul;li~ a,"a", ao'" '942. ""mblabl .. 3. ceu" dc Ib nlaisa" ec lc ,igk d-nniu' sur fond rOllg" tl Ie parem~nt de T'Cconnaissant t rougt-blanc­rouge anglais de "~hic ul~ blind~ . Le. symbole. d'c"",adron anglais "laicm p]acc' ~lIrla tourdk

Co: ' Wilk' . ign irie '\.oUI)' . I .. ~ 'igle de la hrigade a change l'lusieurs fois; 3. I'origi!\e ~ · f".il lIl\ "~M]u", un plastron de cuira_' ... el une aile blandlC wr bouclierroug~; au do'bUidc '94" c'bait "n~;Lfmurcargenl sur fond rougcci quand la brigade <cten<lil " "n~ division, il d ~,'inl on arbre "~r<loyant sur ~arr( rOll!!" C! blanc_ C2: I.~ qual"" 'carr;~rs' allach'" 3. c~t!c unit~ blind"" dll train poT1~ Its nom, ' Wanda' (Ti'Y191 ), 'Jaga' (T63116), 'H~nka ' (1'63122), -Baska' ( Tfi3[~4 \ ' l'i l\,i~,," .. 'f un~ combinai..,n de> moti" dc ta,'akric ct de blindts. C3: ' HeJa' T'H 7Y~' . I,-ch:.r (\ugeneral :\l~czek, ported,"" macquag<'$ habimd.,)"tompri,I, · usqu, ' ail'<noiretorangedeladi"ision,:-';o!tlkfcra chtvalporte-bonl,..", allad"" ' ''l'arc_chenille.

0 " II y ava;t peu d,' ,<'!",,,ks :\ chcnill .... du " ..... Corp' polonai, portaH1 I"in. igncduwrp" (Ul"- sirh,,· ,·II,· """,fro<lc .. odeder."nil<' __ "o,ezl" .. xlre.niu' d" fmil ell ,eel dair. ", bl~II"_ 0 2 : C",,,,,,an,bnl. 10'''' Cha",'"",;; r h'Tal OJ : ( :mn",~n.tanl . ".- I':" , .. 1 ... ,,1. ,"' ~' ( : h1""-"",;ld,,,',,1 0 i: (~' E" • .,1 .... " " ,' '' ' Ura!l""'_ 05' (;' '''' 11"",<1",,,. !, .. . K",{,,,,..,,I 101;,,d,' , 0 6, ," I.",,,t.-~ ,,, LalKin, dCll Carpalhes, 07 : )". !lfn"!'al Ra~ow~li. co"""""d"", de la ,.~"" Brigad~ blilldcc. 08: Quarli<"T. -Gtncraux. ~ .... Urigade blindh_ 2'·" Oi\'is;on blindc~

Eo: I.e '43' idc"lifie la Com""""i" de police mililairc; l'insjgnc,]a division 'Zandarmeria' = policc mililair .. . E,., La lelc de mort blanchc au dCSSll! du

~~~~~.u ~~,~:;~~e ~-\~;;al':l~~~; '!", ~r~)." I';~v.I ·'~i ::f~i~~:~ ~Q::~rr~r~ ~~I~~~~,~l; l"arm<'cpolouaisrdfl'bl:4 ; Uniles p,-.Iollaise<au 1.10}'cn -Orient;y Unitb; 1'0lonaiv,mAngklcrrc

F . , NOle' l",, ~logans inser;" ~ la crai~ ,ur Ie; rha r!!_ par d .... civils. L'iquipcment eKl<'rieur c! It- t)'j><" de CO lllc"B clail Irpiq,,~ de I' Europe tin nord-ou<:"S l en 19H 4.~' I." I1mn, alt~ma l ifs mo",I'I's ici ~laiclll 10Wl inseTits",,, Ics ShcTlnam d~ cel te <li"ision. F~, Insigne po'int ,ur Ie, plaques amo\"ibles" cau,,", d" grand "o",br~ de maillom d~ chen;lles ",udb; en supcr-blindagc. Lc fanion dll rh:i"'~nl, arhor~ pend,,,,, I"" dffil<'<_ avai, he offen par Ia ville beige €If I\,·'r .. ~" Waal.

Go: I'cim aux (Ouleu rs <lu d/S(;n, rC (har sentl,.in .. 3. I'invasion de I"ltalic ' Helu"i;,' emil Ie "om de ~, m;lrra;nc, d·habilud .. ""r des femme. dll Cort .. <l'Ar",,,,, H",inin~ Polonai,. tl 'Ta7,a -Khunnatli- clail k nOm d'un camp en Irak 0" la brigade a,·ail el~ basee. Celle combinaison d~ fan iom id~lllifiai! lin char dll q"arliH·gtntr~1 Ik l>r;gad~ . G2: Nnl"': cclle t"is ~n~or.e Ie Ca?0I1 de fll,il ell 'Irompe_!'""i!' I'0urdec~voir lescnnen" •. I"",,, npm, ",a 'cnt P"Hlts en ..""1 .. ",, dilrtrenl<!S ,e]Oll I,.", " niI6dr. briga.dc: roll~el t'''' Rcgimcll1l>lindc; la '''''' I" I.ancien ; bleu I6'~' Regimc,,' bhnd~_ I: ""'gne d'escadron slIr la """dl""''';l accnmpag"<' dr sig lesdilfh,,"" !"H""" 'ha'l"erigim clll;scorpioH noi rI4· .. · IUgimtn'blindf;'hr(lr .d,..,.lil ."" ... , · 'I.anciers;lionjaulw lfl· .. • Rfgimcnl blind<' . 1 . .1"> chafll dll • • ~' (:'''1'' ,I<' t,,'rwit"nl pa, d'in,i)!:I'" ,I, (ii,i.;"" "i de numh"d"",""kd ' u"i'~

H, In.<il([1,,, d ' un iforo,,· 1""·""''''1''''.1"1'1.", ', ,,,;, 1",;,knl ,r""""""I"",lr In'''d''~I""

I"

and military papers , war diaries, commemorativc books and albums, an importanl photographic collcclion, a nd a large numher of' exhibits relating to Poland , and particularly to her Almcd Forccs ­ranging from 1 ;th century armour, through Napoleonic headgear, regimental colours , and uniforms and insignia of the Second World War La

such items as Ihe Enig-ma coding mac hirw.

Farb tafeln

AI; 1936~r Tamt"rh ... ", hnna "on '~a"dK,all', grlln lind b,.,H<n . ,"'t~ ,,-

'£~~;,:',t" ;:~d~~~i :,;;~l'l' 1'J.:'K~.I: " ;ir.~:~~ ,~,~~ I~~':,,:~~~o::'~:;~~~i" .~I,'~~,::-::,::: , \,;:;' 1o,,1::r. .I>,onu, .Zug .. ""rd,." _ ,lilT'< h .. i" '·~' K ro·i" "in Dn' i"' -~, ".;in "i" Q""d~·.'l ntennrll"eT!_ n er Zugluhrrr hatt~ Cl"~n TOlcn S'r~lf<-n _ ,,-,n Sldhl"fll'('l<"f "11 '" rot~ Scheib~, lind andcr~ Pan..er nUl' das rinfach~ w~i",.· Symb,,1. A2: 11',.;,><, Ri~~~1 Z<'i~,'n di~ " Kompani" lI",1 ,kr hnri,.on,,,k SIn-ifnI tlCll KOII'I'""i,·. ko",,,,andruran

B" Die original fran'lo.ischcn .\Iarkicru"g~n ",,,rd .. ,, b"il>dwl'cn, d" , i,' all. Ze;(m"ngd "or den, Eins~t? ni"hl g"wechsdl wcr<kn konntcll .• \101", bhj!cnabz~ichen, ai, inollizielles Sy",bol dcr 10. Ka\'aller;e_b'~gade hrnulz l. Wild auf den TUren der bcraden .. " Fahr,~ug" war "in 'Wor"'pid' auf <ltn N"mtn des General, :\Iaczck, ",al 'kleine 1.lohnbHilc' lH:i&<t_ geuirhnl'! B2' Die Markiert,ng~n ,'on Ii" .. ,,;,~h redH! ,iud : nation~k Iniliakn, Br iickcngewicillscotie, Einhcits -Codfn"mmcr anfgriill, 1_ polni.ch<"S Korp£a\)_ zcichen, B3' ,? i" ~ I arki~t,,,ngen, l)en"~/ t , 'or dem "ugu_" ' !H2, ~iud dene" vOn 82 ahnlich, Jedoch m" dem Elnhnl<-Code auf rOl~m lIin"rgrund, ""d brilischem rot-wei"_rote,,, F. rb',II'''''K,,,,al de, K~I'''H'''flr'' F"hr'l '·"~'·. Di l" hril i,~ben Srh"a<lroll,' n _"",I~,t.- ".," '" .''' ' r "r" , " ,." l i...-,

C. : Derl'\a me ' \\' iH: "' .. "" ' \\ ul1- 0,,; B"gad""I.<'"Il<"1l "",11",11, ' " ·, ,,1,,, ' d~tle :\Iale ; eo "ech,elle ,'om urlpr.inglidlen weis'en Helm, I:\ rui'plallC und FlUgei aufd"en ' roten Srhild, a"fan8" 1942 %u tin"r ! ilb~rn~" Krislun" aufrUI lind mit deT ErwcitHllng der Brigade in cinc Division zu dem griincn Fidl1~n­baum aufein~m ... ei~Iell ulld rOI~n Quadra, iiber. C2: Die vier 'car';".,' , die di~ergepa"zenc"Z"gei"hcitanJi:e&chlos<;cn"'ar~",lruJi:endicNau'c"'\\'",,d,,­(T630<)f ), 'Jaga' (T63'16), ' Hanka- 1"I"(;3' 2'l I, ' Bash' (T6]1'14 1; da, " bukhc" ve'~inig! die K avalkr;~- und 1';.nZCT1ll0fi, 'c. C3 ' Gen, :\t:.a,.~, Panzer ' Hda' (TI8i921 ) lragl die normalell Ma rkierutlgcll, cinschliessli .- !. de< orangefarbenen u11(1 schwart_cn gcfliigdtrn Hclmab~eichcns dn Oi"isi"" Bcmerke den lI ufci~e!l-Talisman, dcr am K CllC Il,chu\l befcstigl is!

D . : Ein ... d~r wenigen KCl1enfahrteuge des 2. polniochnl Korps, ,,·ckh,., <la' Korp"ab"'id,,-n cine ~ I c~rjungfrau ~ und Einhd"-Code_tlll",,,,erll ,rag, lIemer~~ . <lit- Spi12e d~ Geschiilu"hre' i'l Iodl.o;:riill lI"d ",ci" b"llmh , D~ ; ).;ommaudcllr. 10. J ager tu l'ferde. D3' Kommandcllr. 2. Sch""drnn, '"

.lager zu , Pferd~. Dol ' 3. S-chwadroll, '.0- Dr~go"c", ).; ommallticlIr, • l'a",.~rr"g'mel"_ 06: I. SdlWadrOIl. karpallsd,,· UI;",..". 07: Gen. Rako",ki , di .. ' • . Panurbrigad ~ kommandicrcnd_ 0 8 , Haupl(I"~Tli .. re,~ , l'''U '''rbril{;l(tr, ! l'~uurd;"i.ion

E.' : Dic_ -43' I:;,,, di~ Fddgcndarmc';c- K ompan;t· <Thnnen; ~as t\buich~lI, ~,e DiVISIon. -Zand ",m~na' _ Fddgcndar~l\erie, E,2'_ D,·!', ,,~,S.\, ' T()(cnkopf ulx-r dem Fahrzellgllam~1\ wardas Z"g~bu"heu. I),,' '''' h r",dnrn )leuigt,·" Alv.eirh"n ;;n(i ( ! ) 7 , In f, Oi,'" 12 1 fl . In \", Di, '\ 11."'1"'I',arli,''''' d .. r p"h,;"lu'n , \rn"~';m 0<1 ... " I 1'"I"i"I". 1·:i"I"·""H ' '' ' ,,,,,, I.'''' '' (k"n I~,I, ,,,, I" , F inl,..i"-n in (;.-0"1"""",,,,,,, F., H~"l<""~~ die Wahl~prii .. h~ W'" Zi,"i l iSl~1l mil K re;dc auf (Ii,· I',"'/ n gtnMh. AussneAu.rGsllln)l;.,lndge.amIL" Farb""~, .. ma;,, lypi,dl fur Nord"cSI­Europa im .J a.hr 1 944-f~' 0,( g~zcIglen AI(crn~lIvnarncll wll.dcll alle w.n drn 'Sherman, ,h ~!\<'r D"'lsIOn gctragcn. F2 ' Da. Abuich~n iSI aur "hudlmba,..· Pla((~n !:'-,,,alt_ da ~i n~ gros,,", Anzahl ,-on Ersa(~krllrnKlirdnll ,d, utl'a Panur""~",,,,, ' ,,hwt;s,,""ar<:n . Dierc!(imcnl,,IcFahllf,fii,. I'.,,,,,I, ' ne,"" "' " "'ar cin C",dw,,~ ,kr lwl)l;i;dn'" S,~,h lI"' n ... ' \\' aa'

G I : \Y 'iilent:arb,chema, gt"lcigl ,"un ,'",elll )""''''I'_i<l\ I'ra .. ",,)( II" .I ... lIahen"che In"a.ion. -!-I eI"n;a' war d,,1' Nam .. der 'Pa",, - ri,r ,h .. """ 1'",,,., I{r wohnlich ~in :\Ii'glied des IloluillChcn FnH<cnafmcckmpo; "ud ·T a,." K hw'malli' warder Name eines I.ag~rs im Ira~, " -0 ,I; .. HriKMk !l .. di,.." hallr

~~~plq~~;;:~~~:(i~;~en':;~. \~i~~pc~rn~:~~1 ~,Ii~~ cr ~::::"~~s d'~,ml!;~~:'d;;;; R ohrspilze, umdiefeindlichen Schiillcnzu talls.chcn. Die N"men ,,"urdcu , 'nn den Brigadc~inhcil~n in \"erschi~denen Fal'llCll g~mal( ~ rO,1 (4. P~",.n­r~glme?I) , gelb ( I . Ulanen) und bla,:, (?, P;'",-err~glm~nl ). Dlf Schw;ul...-.n_

H : Unifonnalnrirhcn am I'lal7.griinden siehe I d~nlifi7.i .. rung;nt ""g!i;.-lH"n Spra,.hlr~1

OSPREY· V ANCUARD

A se ries of hooks desc ribing key un its and weapons sys tems of 20t h cen tury warfare, prepared by leading milit;uy cxpcn s for the enthusiast and modelier, and illustrating authentic details of armour and supponing vehicles, camou Aagc, markings, un iforms , insignia a nd weapons.

Avec a nnotation s cn francais s ur les plancbes en couleur

Mil Aufze ichnungen a uf deui sch uber die Farbtafeln

(3) US I st Infantry Division 1939-45 (6) The Lee /Grant Tanks in British Service (8) US Is t ' Marine Division 1941- 45

(13l The Churchill Tank (15) ,Tbe Sherrnan Tank in British Service

1942 45 (16) The Panzerkampfwagen ill (17) The Stuart Light Tank Series (18) The Panzerkampfwagen IV (19) Armour of the Middle EaSt Wars 1948-'78 (2:0) The Tiger Tanks (21 ) The PzKpfw V Panther (22) Tbe Centurion Tank in Battle (23) Britis b Tanks in N. Africa 1940- 42 (24) Soviet Heavy Tanks (25) German Armoured Cars and Recce Half-

Tracks 1939 45 (26) The Sherman Tank in US and Allied Service (27) Artnour of the Korean War 1950 53 (28) The 6th Panzer Division 1937 45

KRZYSZTOr BARBARS KI was born in England in 1947, the son ofa ta nk com mander who served with the 'lncl Polish Armoured Reg iment in the Nort h-West Europe campaign of 1944- 45 , and of a Pol ish woman \"h05(' raptivity in Oberlangen camp was ended by the arrival of Janusz Barbarski 's Sherman. By profess ion

(29) The M47 & M48 Patton Tanks (30) Polish Armour 1939- 45 (3 1) US Half-Tracks of World War n (32) The SdKfz 251 Half-Track (33) German Light Panzers 1932- 42 (34) MIl3 Series (35) Armour of the Pacific War (36) Long Range Desert Group (37) Modern Soviet Combat Tanks (38) Mechanised Infantry (39) US Artnour Camouflage and Markings

1917- 45 (40) US Light Tanks 1944- 84; M24 Chaffee, M.jl

Walker BuUdog and M551 Sheridan (41 ) The MI Abrams Battle Tank (42) Armour of the Vietnam Wars (43) The M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle (44) Anti-Tank Helicopters (45) Amtracs: US AInphibious Assault Vehicles

a cha n ered structural engineer, he sp('nd .~ mlll' l! 01 \\'hat litt le spare time he has at the Polish Jn~litult' and Sikorski Museum in London , where he holds lhe POSt

of Honorary Ass istant Curator , specia lising in uniforms and insignia . He is married , with two daughters, and li ves in Surrey.

ISBN 0-85045-467-0

1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIilllil 9 78085 0454673