“In view of its small size, the number of operations in which the Polish Navy has taken a part is almost incredible”.

Commencing with seven fighting vessels of their own the Polish Navy manned forty-five all told; seven of which were lost.

–          The Polish Navy sailed a total of 1,213,000 miles

–          787 convoys were escorted

–          1,162 combat patrols carried out

–          431 Polish sailors lost their lives

–          51 officers and other ranks were awarded the Virtuti Militari

The Polish Navy numbered 943 men in 1939, rising to a complement of over 4,000 by 1945. In addition to hard won victory, the majority of sailors lost their country. In all eleven Polish vessels were lost during the war, including three major liners, as troopships, the Piłsudski, Chrobry and Warszawa.

Between 1939 and 1946 132 officer cadets graduated, and 50 officers successfully completed expert courses in training centres all over the UK.

Polish expertise during the war, for example, produced direction finders which were able to track the bearings of short-wave broadcasts to Nazi submarines, an important element in the defeat of the U-boats in the battle of the Atlantic.

Source: ‘Poles Apart: Polish Naval Memories of WW2’ by Martin Hazell