Deportee aged 15 years old, evacuated with Polish 2nd Corps and served at Monte Cassino
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Facts
The Polish 2nd Corps (2 Korpus Polski) 1943-1947 was a major unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, commanded by General Wladyslaw Anders.ย The training site for the 2nd Corps…
The Polish 2ndย Corps (2 Korpus Polski) 1943-1947 was a major unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, commanded by General Wladyslaw Anders
The training site for the 2ndย Corps in the Middle East was Khanaqin-Quizil Ribat in Iraq (1943-44) and was composed of the soldiers who had been released from exile in the USSR, the Carpathian Rifle Brigade, the 12thย Podolski Lancers and the 15thย Poznan Lancers
Re-organised, the Polish 2ndย Corps comprised two infantry divisions each of which had 2 brigades and 2 light artillery regiments
General Anders also formed the Polish Womenโs Auxiliary Corps (Pomoczniczna Wojskowa Sluzba Kobiet) and they largely trained as heavy vehicle drivers
Approximately 80% of the Polish 2ndย Corps came from Polandโs pre-war Kresy or Eastern Borderlands
In 1944 the Polish 2ndย Corps were transferred to Italy where they were an independent unit of the British Eight Army under General Oliver Leese
The Polish 2ndย Corps took part in major Italian campaigns โ the Battle of Monte Cassino, the Battle of Ancona and the Battle of Bologna
3 previous Allied assaults on Monte Cassino had failed and Monte Cassino was a major victory for the Polish 2ndย Corps. With it, the road to Rome was open.
Monte Cassino was one of the most difficult and bloodiest battles of World War II
The Polish 2ndย Corps had 11,379 casualties in the Italian campaign
In 1944 the Polish 2ndย Corps numbered approximately 50,000 soldiers. By 1946 it numbered over 100,000 with reinforcements from freed POWs and Poles forced to fight for the Germans