Alongside the 3rd Armoured Division and the 2nd Warsaw Armoured Division, the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division constituted the core of the 2nd Polish Corps as a very large infantry unit.

This division was formed in March 1943 on the basis of  the 5th and 6th Infantry Divisions formed in the USSR and consisted of 2 units: the 5th Vilnius Infantry Brigade and the 6th Lviv Infantry Brigade and other divisional units. On 17.10.1944, a third unit joined its composition – the 4th Volhynian Infantry Brigade.

The Division was established in Khanaquin in Iraq, then it was stationed in Kirkuk. Despite the very high sickness rate of soldiers, intensive military training was conducted here. At the turn of August and September 1943, the Division was transferred to Palestine near Gaza in the Mughazi-Nuseirat region, to be moved to Egypt in January 1944 to the camp in Qassasin near Ismailia. Here, the 5th KDP gained full combat readiness and was transported across the Mediterranean Sea to Taranto in Italy in February 1944.

In March 1944, the Division was moved to the combat zone and took part in the battles on the Sangro River, in the Battle of Monte Cassino (“The Phantom”, Sant’Angelo, Hill 575; in which it suffered significant casualties – 15% of its personnel), the battles of Piedimonte, and then on the Adriatic. It took part in the Battle of Ancona, in operations in the extremely difficult terrain of the Emilian Apennines, and by the end of 1944 it had reached positions on the Senio River, where the front stopped for several months.

After the resumption of fighting on 9 April 1945, the 5th KDP fought German units on the Senio River and led an attack towards Bologna, which it captured together with the 3rd DSK on 21 April 1945. This was the last battle of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division in World War II. During the fighting on the Italian front, the division lost a total of 5,127 soldiers, including 1,063 killed.

After the end of the war, the Division remained part of the occupation forces in Italy. In June 1946, it was transported to England, to be disbanded in 1947. Its soldiers became part of the Polish Resettlement and Relocation Corps, and the vast majority of them remained in exile.

To commemorate the contribution of the 5th KDP to the victory of the Polish army at Monte Cassino, a monument was erected on Hill 575 in honour of the soldiers of the Division who took part in it in the first half of June 1944. Built based on the design of engineers Urbanowicz and Królikowski, apart from the stone base, it consists of a steel structure with elements of a Bailey bridge. Stone tablets with an inscription in Polish and Latin were placed on it:

“IN THE NAME OF DIVINE AND HUMAN LAWS FOR YOUR FREEDOM AND OURS IN THE FULFILLMENT OF THE TESTAMENT OF ANCESTORS IN THE FULFILLMENT OF THEIR LIVING DUTY AS A SIGNPOINT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS FOR VILNIUS AND LVIV, SYMBOLS OF THE POWER OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND FOUGHT – DIED – CONQUERED”

“SOLDIERS OF THE 5TH KRESOWA INFANTRY DIVISION, FORCEFULLY EXPELLED FROM THEIR HOMELAND THROUGH PRISONS, CAMPS, THE TUNDRA OF SIBERIA, DESERTS AND SEA, FOUGHT A 7-DAY BATTLE ON THEIR MARCH TO POLAND. 503 WERE KILLED AND 1,531 WERE WOUNDED.”

The monument was consecrated on May 18, 1945 and is perfectly visible from the Monastery Hill on Monte Cassino.

In total, the 5th KDP had 820 officers and 13,626 non-commissioned officers and privates. The commander of the Division in the period March-June 1943 was Brig. Gen. Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko, who after being nominated as deputy commander of the 2nd Corps was replaced in the position of commander of the 5th KDP by – initially by Colonel, then Brig. Gen. Nikodem Sulik, who held this position until 1946. His deputy was Brig. Gen. Klemens Rudnicki.

The 5th Kresowa Infantry Division included:

1. Division Headquarters
2. 3 infantry brigades: 4th Volhynian Infantry Brigade (including 10th, 11th, 12th Volhynian Rifle Battalions), 5th Vilnius Infantry Brigade (including 13th, 14th, 15th Vilnius Rifle Battalions called “Rysie”, “Żbik”, “Wolves” respectively) and 6th Lviv Infantry Brigade (16th, 17th, 18th Lviv Rifle Battalions)
3. divisional artillery consisting of three light artillery regiments (4th Kresowy, 5th Wilenski, 6th Lwowski PAL), 5th Kresowy Light Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment and 5th Kresowy Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment
4. divisional and service units (15th Poznań Uhlan Regiment, 5th Kresy Heavy Machine Gun Battalion, 5th Kresy Engineer Battalion, 5th Kresy Signal Battalion and 5th Gendarmerie Squadron).

After the war, the traditions of the 5th KDP were cultivated by the Association of Soldiers of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division based in London.

Brig. Gen. Nikodem Sulik died in London in 1954, and his and his wife’s ashes were finally transported and buried in the general’s hometown of Stara Kamienna in Podlasie.