Poles in the North-African campaign
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| Poles in the North-African campaign | |
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Polish soldiers evacuated from camps where they were interned - in Romania and Hungary - as well as volunteers fleeing from their occupied motherland became the basis of the formation, in Syria, of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade. The collapse of France in June 1940 followed by its capitulation, however, placed the Brigade in a difficult position. Wishing to execute the order given by the Supreme Commander, the Brigade's commander, Gen. Stanisław Kopański, decided to transfer his unit to Palestine, so that it would be under British command (Syria was loyal to the Vichy government).
After a conflict-free departure of the first transports, the commander of the French Levant Army issued an order to disarm and stop the Brigade's remaining troops. Facing a determined stance of the Poles, the French realised that any attempts to disarm the troops might have led to bloodshed. The commander of the Levant Army therefore issued an order cancelling the previous one and between June 27 and July 2 the last Polish troops left the French territory. After a short stay in Palestine, at the beginning of September 1940, the Brigade was moved to Egypt. There it received new (British) equipment, to replace the one they had been using. The steady influx of volunteers allowed the unit to expand. Out of the surplus of officers, an Officers' Legion was formed. Since a full motorization of the Brigade had been planned, motorized training was initiated.
In the early spring of 1941 the British command planned to use the Brigade in the Balkan campaign. Consequently, in March, an embarkation on ships which were to transfer it to continental Europe was commenced. Failures of the British troops in Greece, however, caused the cancellation of this order. In August 1941 the Brigade received an order to replace the Australian troops in the besieged fortress of Tobruk. The Independent Brigade of Carpathian Marksmen, after its reinforcement with one Australian and one Czechoslovakian batallion, took up position on the southern stretch of defence. It defended Tobruk for almost four months, with 100 killed in combat, over 400 wounded and several hundred sick soldiers. After the withdrawal of the Germans from the Tobruk area (10 December 1941), it fought near Akrona and Gazelle - as part of the British 13th corps, and its artillery - near Bardiya.
After being transferred back to Palestine, which took place in March 1942, its transformation into the 3rd Division of Carpathian Marksmen commenced; 3 May 1942 is considered to be the date of its formation.
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(1895-1976) During the First World War he served in the Russian army. He was in the Polish Army from 1918. In the interwar period he commanded, amongst others, the 1st Motorized Artillery Regiment. During the September campaign he served as the chief of the operational section of the Supreme Commander's staff. In the years 1940 - 1942 he was the commander of the Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade and then of the 3rd Division of Carpathian Marksmen. From 21 August 1943 he was the chief of Supreme Commander's staff. In 1944 he received the rank of General of Division (equivalent to Major General). After the end of the war he was one the leaders of the Poles in exile. He died in London on 23 March 1976. He was decorated, amongst others, with the Virtuti Militari 4th and 5th class. |
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Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade
Commander: - gen. Stanisław Kopański. Composition: - 3 infantry batallions, - independent heavy machine guns' company, - cavalry regiment, - artillery regiment, - sappers' company, - services. Number of soldiers and officers: - 4450. |
