1939 poster.

The European theater of World War II opened with the Invasion of Poland by German armed forces on September 1, 1939. After a succesful German offensive, the Soviet Union's invasion from the east on September 17, 1939, ended any realistic hope of Polish conventional resistance. Combatants Poland Nazi Germany Commanders Henryk Sucharski (nominal) Franciszek DÄ…browski (de-facto) Friedrich Eberhardt (land) Gustav Kleikamp (sea) Strength 182 soldiers 25 civilians 1 M1902 gun 2 Bofors 37 mm AT guns 4 Brandt 81 mm mortars 41 MGs 3,500 soldiers 47-70 Stuka dive bombers 65 guns... Combatants Nazi Germany Poland Commanders Georg-Hans Reinhardt Friedrich Kirchner Julian Filipowicz Strength 1st Panzer Division 4th Panzer Division 31st Infantry Division Volhynian Cavalry Brigade 7th Infantry Division Casualties 700 KIA, 300 WIA, 160 tanks and AFVs 100 KIA, 300 WIA, five guns, four AA guns, 300 horses Monument to... Combatants Poland Germany Commanders Tadeusz Kutrzeba WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Bortnowski Gerd von Rundstedt Johannes von Blaskowitz Strength 8 infantry divisions, 2-4 cavalry brigades 12 infantry divisions, 5 armoured and motorised divisions Casualties unknown unknown The Battle of the Bzura (also known as the Battle of Kutno) was a World... The Biuro Szyfrów ( (?), Polish for Cipher Bureau) was the Polish agency concerned with cryptology between World Wars I and II. The Bureau enjoyed notable successes against Soviet cryptography during the Polish-Soviet War, helping to preserve Polands independence. ... The Battles of Narvik were fought from April 9 until June 8, 1940 in the Ofotfjord and the mountains surrounding the North-Norwegian city of Narvik during the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War. ... Combatants United Kingdom Including combatants from:[1] Poland New Zealand Canada Czechoslovakia Belgium Australia South Africa France Ireland United States Jamaica Palestine Rhodesia Germany Including combatants from Italy Commanders Hugh Dowding Hermann Göring Strength 754 single-seat fighters 149 two-seat fighters 560 bombers 500 coastal 1,963 total... Combatants United Kingdom Australia New Zealand Poland Germany Italy Commanders Claude Auchinleck Alan Gordon Cunningham Neil Ritchie Erwin Rommel Ludwig Crüwell Strength 8th Army comprising XIII Corps, XXX Corps and 70th Division. ... Combatants Panzer Army Afrika Italian Army Eighth Army Commanders Erwin Rommel Claude Auchinleck Neil Ritchie Strength 80,000 390 tanks 175,000 949 tanks Casualties 32,000 dead, wounded, or captured 114 tanks destroyed 98,000 dead, wounded, or captured 540 tanks destroyed The Battle of Gazala was an important... Combatants Canada United Kingdom Germany Commanders Louis Mountbatten J. H. Roberts Gerd von Rundstedt Strength 6,086 1,500 Casualties Canada: 950 dead, 2,340 captured wounded or not; United Kingdom: 600; United States:4+; 311 dead, 280 wounded The Dieppe Raid, also known as The Battle of Dieppe or... Battle of Lenino took place from 12th October to 13th October 1943 near Trigubovo village (later renamed Lenino, today on Belarus) between Soviet Union 33rd Western Front Army and Nazi German forces. ... Combatants United Kingdom United States Poland New Zealand Canada Free France India and others Germany Commanders Harold Alexander Mark Clark Oliver Leese Albert Kesselring Heinrich von Vietinghoff Frido von Senger Strength 105,000 80,000 Casualties 54,000 20,000 The Battle of Monte Cassino (also known as the Battle... The Wilno Uprising (also known as Operation Ostra Brama) was the armed struggle started by the Polish Home Army against the Nazi occupiers of Wilno (now Vilnius), during World War II. It started on July 7, 1944 as a part of a plan of all-national uprising codenamed Operation Tempest... It has been suggested that Home Army and V1 and V2 be merged into this article or section. ... Combatants Poland Nazi Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski #, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel #, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 47,500 troops[1] 25,000 troops (initially)[1] Casualties 15,200[2] killed, 5,000[2] wounded, 15,000[2] taken prisoner... Combatants North: United Kingdom Canada Polish Army in the West South: United States Free French Forces Nazi Germany Commanders Bernard Montgomery Omar Bradley Guy Simonds George Patton Günther von Kluge Walter Model Strength unknown 150,000 Casualties Canadian: 18,500 Polish: 2,300 U.S and French: unknown 10... Combatants  Nazi Germany Soviet Union  Poland Strength 3 divisions Polish 1st Armoured Brigade 8th Soviet Army Casualties At least 40 tanks, 26 guns and mortars, 9 APCs Polish: 27 tanks 89 men Eastern Front Barbarossa – Baltic Sea – Finland – Leningrad and Baltics – Crimea and Caucasus – Moscow – 1st Rzhev-Vyazma – 2nd Kharkov... Combatants United Kingdom United States Canada Poland Germany Commanders Bernard Montgomery Brian Horrocks Roy Urquhart James M. Gavin Maxwell Taylor Stanislaw Sosabowski Walter Model Wilhelm Bittrich Kurt Student Strength 35,000 20,000 Casualties 11,377 dead,wounded or missing 6,450 Captured 2,000 Killed 6,000 Wounded Operation... Combatants Canada United Kingdom Poland Belgium Norway Germany Commanders Guy Simonds (acting) (First Canadian Army) Gustav-Adolf von Zangen (German 15th Army) Strength  ?  ? Casualties 12,873 total; including 6,367 Canadian  ? The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations which took place in northern Belgium and south... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Commanders Gotthard Heinrici Georgy Zhukov Strength 100,000 men 512 Tanks 344 artillery pieces 400 Anti-aircraft guns 1,000,000 men 3,155 Tanks 16,934 artillery pieces Casualties 12,000 Killed 33,000 Killed The Battle of the Seelow Heights was one of the... Memorial stone in Bautzen Karol Åšwierczewski This is about the battle of World War II, for the battle of the Napoleonic Wars see Battle of Bautzen Battle of Bautzen in World War II are called the extensive fightings between Polish and Soviet soldiers on the one side and German armed... Combatants Soviet Union Communist Poland Nazi Germany Commanders 1st Belorussian Front – Georgiy Zhukov 2nd Belorussian Front – Konstantin Rokossovskiy 1st Ukrainian Front – Ivan Konev Army Group Vistula – Gotthard Heinrici then Kurt von Tippelskirch[2] Army Group Centre – Ferdinand Schörner Berlin Defense Area – Helmuth Reymann then Helmuth Weidling #[3] Strength 2... Poland First to Fight poster (1939) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Poland First to Fight poster (1939) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Combatants Poland Germany, Slovakia, Soviet Union Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand ÄŒatloÅ¡ (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft Total: 950... US 1979 and 2002 Reissue Cover Also known as paint spatter cover For the military meaning, see Armed forces. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After Poland had been overrun, a government-in-exile was established, armed forces and an intelligence service outside Poland, contributing to the Allied effort throughout the war. Poland never made a general surrender, nor did it produce a puppet government that collaborated with the Germans. Instead, it was being directly governed by a purely German administration, the Generalgouvernement. However, Polish people provided important assistance to the Allies throughout the War, including the initial pre-war cracking of the Enigma machine by cryptologist Marian Rejewski, the assistance given by Polish pilots to the United Kingdom in the Battle of Britain, and the costly victory over German forces at the Battle of Monte Cassino. A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a countrys legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. ... US 1979 and 2002 Reissue Cover Also known as paint spatter cover For the military meaning, see Armed forces. ... The following is a partial list of intelligence agencies, past and present. ... In general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance and are working together to achieve some common purpose. ... A puppet state is a state whose government, though notionally of the same culture as the governed people - owes its existence (or other major debt) to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power. ... The General Government (in full General government for the occupied Polish areas, in German Generalgouvernement für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete) was the name given by Germany to the governing authority in Poland after its occupation by the Wehrmacht in September and October 1939. ... Look up ally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The plugboard, keyboard, lamps, and finger-wheels of the rotors emerging from the inner lid of a three-rotor German military Enigma machine (version with labels) The Enigma machine was a cipher machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. ... Marian Rejewski (probably 1932, the year he first solved the Enigma machine). ... Combatants United Kingdom Including combatants from:[1] Poland New Zealand Canada Czechoslovakia Belgium Australia South Africa France Ireland United States Jamaica Palestine Rhodesia Germany Including combatants from Italy Commanders Hugh Dowding Hermann Göring Strength 754 single-seat fighters 149 two-seat fighters 560 bombers 500 coastal 1,963 total... Combatants United Kingdom United States Poland New Zealand Canada Free France India and others Germany Commanders Harold Alexander Mark Clark Oliver Leese Albert Kesselring Heinrich von Vietinghoff Frido von Senger Strength 105,000 80,000 Casualties 54,000 20,000 The Battle of Monte Cassino (also known as the Battle...

Invasion of Poland

For more details on this topic, see Invasion of Poland (1939).

The Invasion of Poland was the start of World War II with the aggression against Poland by the military forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and by a small German-allied Slovak contingent. The invasion of Poland marked the start of World War II in Europe as Poland's western allies, the United Kingdom and France, declared war on Germany on September 3. Hitler had gambled wrong that France and Britain would let him annex parts of Poland without military reaction. The campaign began on September 1, 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact containing a secret protocol, and ended on October 6, 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland. Combatants Poland Germany, Slovakia, Soviet Union Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand ÄŒatloÅ¡ (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft Total: 950... Combatants Poland Germany, Slovakia, Soviet Union Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand ÄŒatloÅ¡ (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft Total: 950... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Animation of the WWII European Theatre. ... President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a declaration of war against the Empire of Japan on December 8, 1941, one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. ... is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Molotov signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years). ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

German personnel losses were approximately 16,000 Killed in Action, while losing about 30% of their armored vehicles. The Polish suffered around 65,000 Killed. Though the German attack was a success, losses were higher than expected. KIA or Kia may mean: Killed in action Kirby Ian Andersen Kings Indian Attack, a chess opening Kuwait Investment Authority Kachin Independence Army, in Kachin State, Myanmar Kia Motors Kia Asamiya, a popular Japanese manga artist. ...

Polish resistance

Further information: Polish resistance movement in World War II and Polish Underground State

The main resistance force in Nazi-occupied Poland was the Armia Krajowa ("Home Army"; abbreviated "AK"), which numbered some 200,000-300,000 soldiers at its peak as well as many more sympathizers.^[1] The AK coordinated its operations with the exiled Polish Government in London and its activity concentrated on sabotage, diversion and intelligence gathering [1]. Its combat activity was low until 1943 ^[1][2] as the army was avoiding suicidal warfare and preserved its very limited force for the later conflicts that sharply increased when the Nazi war machine started to crumble in the wake of the successes of the Red Army in the Eastern Front. Then the AK started a nationwide uprising (Operation Tempest) against Nazi forces [3]. Before that AK units carried out thousands of raids, intelligence operations, bombed hundreds of railway shipments, participated in many clashes and battles with the German police and Wehrmacht units and conducted tens of thousands of acts of sabotage against German industry [4]. The AK also conducted "vengeance" operations to assassinate Gestapo officials responsible for Nazi terror. Following the 1941 German attack on the USSR, the AK assisted the Soviet Union's war effort by sabotaging German advances into Russian territories and provided intelligence on the deployment and movement of German forces [5]. After 1943 its direct combat activity increased sharply. German losses to the Polish partisans averaged 850-1700 per month in early 1944 compared to about 250-320 per month in 1942. Polish Secret State (also known as Polish Underground State; Polish Polskie Państwo Podziemne) is a term coined by Jan Karski in his book Story of a Secret State; it is used to refer to all underground resistance organizations in Poland during World War II, both military and civilian. ... Image File history File links Flaga_PPP.svg‎ pl: Flaga Armi Krajowej en: Flag of the Armia Krajowa File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Polish contribution to World War II Armia Krajowa History of Poland (1939–1945... Main article: Polish government in exile On 1 September 1939, without a formal declaration of war, Germany invaded Poland. ... German supply train blown up by the Armia Krajowa during World War II. Polish resistance movement was a resistance movement in Poland, part of the anti-fascist resistance movement which fought against the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany during World War II. Resistance to the Nazi German occupation began... This article covers the Secret State of Poland during World War II. For the earlier secret state in Poland see: January Uprising This article is part of the series: Polish Secret State Categories: Historical stubs | Polish history | World War II resistance movements | National liberation movements ... Armia Krajowa (the Home Army), abbreviated AK, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... Combatants Soviet Union,[1] Poland, Tannu Tuva (until 1944 incorporation with USSR), Mongolia Germany,[2] Italy (to 1943), Romania (to 1944), Finland (to 1944), Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain (to 1943, unofficial) Commanders Joseph Stalin, Aleksei Antonov, Ivan Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, Ivan Bagramyan, Kirill Meretskov, Ivan Petrov, Alexander Rodimtsev, Konstantin Rokossovsky... For other uses, see Tempest. ... Combatants Germany, Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia  Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Fedor von Bock Gerd von Rundstedt C.G.E. Mannerheim Giovanni Messe, CSIR Italo Gariboldi, ARMIR Joseph Stalin Kliment Voroshilov Semyon Timoshenko Fyodor Kuznetsov Dmitry Pavlov Ivan Tyulenev Ivan Konev Semyon Budyonny Georgy Zhukov...

Distinct from the Home Army was an underground ultra-nationalist ^[1] resistance force called Narodowe Siły Zbrojne (NSZ or National Armed Forces), with a fiercely anti-communist and chauvinist stance. It participated in fighting German units, winning many skirmishes. From 1943 onwards, some units took part in battling the Gwardia Ludowa, a communist resistance movement. From 1944, the advancing Red Army was also seen as a foreign occupation force, prompting skirmishes with the Soviets as well as Soviet-backed partisans. In the later part of the war, when Soviet partisans started attacking Polish partisans, symphatisers and civilians, all non-communist Polish formations were (to a growing extent) becoming involved in actions against the Soviets. [6] Narodowe SiÅ‚y Zbrojne (English National Armed Forces, NSZ) was one of the Polish armed underground guerilla organizations, fighting Nazi German occupation in General Government. ... Gwardia Ludowa (Peoples Guard, abbreviated GL) was a communist armed organisation in Poland, organised by the Soviet created Polish Workers Party. ... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... Poland was annexed and partitioned by Germany and the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Polish September Campaign of 1939. ...

The Armia Ludowa, a Soviet proxy fighting force [7] was another group that was unrelated to the Polish Government in Exile, allied instead to the Soviet Union. As of July, 1944 it incorporated a similar ogranization, the Gwardia Ludowa, and numbered about 6,000 soldiers[8] (although estimates vary). Armia Ludowa (AL, pronounced ; English Polish Peoples Army) was a Polish World War II resistance organisation. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... Gwardia Ludowa (Peoples Guard, abbreviated GL) was a communist armed organisation in Poland, organised by the Soviet created Polish Workers Party. ...

There were separate resistance groups organized by Polish Jews ^[1]: the right-wing Jewish Fighting Union (ŻZW) and the more soviet-leaning Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB). These organisations cooperated little with each other and their relationship with the Polish resistance varied between occasional cooperation (mainly between ZZW and AK) to armed confrontations (mostly between ŻOB and NZS). Å»ydowski ZwiÄ…zek Walki (Å»ZW, Polish for Jewish Fighting Union) was an underground organisation operating during World War II in the area of Warsaw Ghetto and fighting during Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. ... Other languages FAQs | Table free Welcome to Wikipedia, the free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit. ... German supply train blown up by the Armia Krajowa during World War II. Polish resistance movement was a resistance movement in Poland, part of the anti-fascist resistance movement which fought against the occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany during World War II. Resistance to the Nazi German occupation began...

Other notable Polish resistance organizations included the Bataliony Chłopskie (BCh), a mostly peasant-based organization allied to the AK. At its height the BCh included 175,000 members. Bataliony ChÅ‚opskie (BCh, Polish Peasants Battalions) was a Polish World War II resistance movement and partisan organisation. ...

Intelligence

Further information: Cipher Bureau and Operation Most III

Cyclometer. Diagram from Marian Rejewski’s papers. 1: Rotor lid closed. 2: Rotor lid open. 3: Rheostat. 4: Glowlamps. 5: Switches. 6: Letters.

During a period of over six and a half years, from late December 1932 to the outbreak of World War II, three mathematician-cryptologists (Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Różycki) at the Polish General Staff's Cipher Bureau in Warsaw had developed a number of techniques and devices — including the "grill" method, Różycki's "clock," Rejewski's "cyclometer" and "card catalog," Zygalski's "perforated sheets," and Rejewski's "cryptologic bomb" (Polish term: bomba, precursor to the later British "Bombe," named after its Polish predecessor) — to facilitate decryption of messages produced on the German "Enigma" cipher machine. A few weeks before the outbreak of World War II, on July 25, 1939, near Pyry in the Kabaty Woods just south of Warsaw, Poland disclosed her achievements to France and the United Kingdom, which had, up to that time, failed in all their own efforts to crack the German military Enigma cipher.^[2] The Biuro Szyfrów ( (?), Polish for Cipher Bureau) was the Polish agency concerned with cryptology between World Wars I and II. The Bureau enjoyed notable successes against Soviet cryptography during the Polish-Soviet War, helping to preserve Polands independence. ... It has been suggested that Home Army and V1 and V2 be merged into this article or section. ... Image File history File links Cyclometer_machine_Drawing_from_M_Rejewski’s_papers. ... Image File history File links Cyclometer_machine_Drawing_from_M_Rejewski’s_papers. ... Diagram of cyclometer, from Marian Rejewski’s papers The cyclometer was a cryptologic device designed by the Polish Cipher Bureau (BS-4) to help decrypt the German Enigma machine during the 1930s. ... Marian Rejewski (probably 1932, the year he first solved the Enigma machine). ... Marian Rejewski (probably 1932, the year he first solved the Enigma machine). ... Henryk Zygalski, about 1930. ... Jerzy Różycki, about 1928. ... In the history of cryptography, the Biuro Szyfr w was the Cypher Bureau of Polish Military Intelligence. ... Motto: Contemnit procellas (It defies the storms) Semper invicta (Always invincible) Coordinates: , Country  Poland Voivodeship Masovia Powiat city county Gmina Warszawa Districts 18 boroughs City Rights turn of the 13th century Government  - Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (PO) Area  - City 516. ... Grill or grills may refer to: In food: Grill (cooking), a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fueled by gas or charcoal. ... The massive clock on the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster, London (commonly known as Big Ben, although Big Ben is the bell inside - the picture is St Stephens Tower). ... Diagram of cyclometer, from Marian Rejewski’s papers The cyclometer was a cryptologic device designed by the Polish Cipher Bureau (BS-4) to help decrypt the German Enigma machine during the 1930s. ... There are various forms of catalog or catalogue, each organized registers of some set of objects. ... The method of perforated sheets was a codebreaking technique used against the Enigma machine (see Cryptanalysis of the Enigma). ... The bomba (plural bomby) was a special-purpose codebreaking machine designed by Polish cryptanalysts and used to crack the German Enigma machine prior to World War II. A bomba was designed to exploit an obscure but fatal weakness in the Enigma cipher. ... The Bombe replicated the action of several Enigma machines wired together. ... This article is about algorithms for encryption and decryption. ... The plugboard, keyboard, lamps, and finger-wheels of the rotors emerging from the inner lid of a three-rotor German military Enigma machine (version with labels) The Enigma machine was a cipher machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. ... is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Pyry ( (?)) is one of the southernmost neighborhoods of the city of Warsaw. ... Kabaty is the southernmost neighbourhood of the city of Warsaw, located in the borough of Ursynów. ... Motto: Contemnit procellas (It defies the storms) Semper invicta (Always invincible) Coordinates: , Country  Poland Voivodeship Masovia Powiat city county Gmina Warszawa Districts 18 boroughs City Rights turn of the 13th century Government  - Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (PO) Area  - City 516. ...

Had Poland not shared her Enigma-decryption results at Pyry, the United Kingdom would have been delayed at the least a year or two in reading Enigma and might have been unable to read it at all. In the event, intelligence gained from this source, codenamed ULTRA, was extremely valuable in the Allied prosecution of the war, though the exact influence of ULTRA on its course remains a subject of debate. Some have argued that ULTRA decided the very outcome of the war, though a view has also found broad acceptance that ULTRA hastened Germany's defeat by between 6 months and 4 years. The plugboard, keyboard, lamps, and finger-wheels of the rotors emerging from the inner lid of a three-rotor German military Enigma machine (version with labels) The Enigma machine was a cipher machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. ... This article is about algorithms for encryption and decryption. ... Ultra (sometimes capitalized ULTRA) was the name used by the British for intelligence resulting from decryption of German communications in World War II. The term eventually became the standard designation in both Britain and the United States for all intelligence from high-level cryptanalytic sources. ... A representation of the changes in territory controlled by Allies and Axis powers over the course of the war. ... Ultra (sometimes capitalized ULTRA) was the name used by the British for intelligence resulting from decryption of German communications in World War II. The term eventually became the standard designation in both Britain and the United States for all intelligence from high-level cryptanalytic sources. ...

As early as 1940, Polish agents (see Witold Pilecki) penetrated German concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and informed the world about Nazi atrocities. Witold Pilecki (May 13, 1901 – May 25, 1948; pronounced [vitɔld pileʦki]; codenames Roman Jezierski, Tomasz Serafiński, Druh, Witold) was a soldier of the Second Polish Republic, founder of the resistance movement Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska) and member of the Home... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ...

AK members recovering V-2 from the Bug River.

Home Army (Polish: Armia Krajowa) AK intelligence was vital in locating and destroying (18 August 1943) the German rocket facility at Peenemunde and in gathering information about Germany's flying bomb and V-2 rocket. The Home Army delivered to the United Kingdom key V-2 parts, after a V-2 rocket, fired 30 May 1944, crashed near a German test facility at Sarnaki on the Bug River and was recovered by the Home Army. On the night of 25-26 July, 1944, the crucial parts were flown from occupied Poland to the United Kingdom in an RAF plane, along with detailed drawings of parts too large to fit in the plane (see Home Army and V1 and V2). Analysis of the German rocket became vital to improving Allied anti-V-2 defenses (see Operation Most III).^[2] V-2 rocket being recovered from the Bug river by the Home Army File links The following pages link to this file: V-2 rocket Blizna Categories: Polish government site pictures ... V-2 rocket being recovered from the Bug river by the Home Army File links The following pages link to this file: V-2 rocket Blizna Categories: Polish government site pictures ... Armia Krajowa (the Home Army), abbreviated AK, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. ... German test launch. ... Bug at Wlodawa One of the two rivers called Bug (pronounced Boog), the Western Bug, or Buh (Belarusian: Захо́дні Буг; Russian: За́падный Буг; Ukrainian: Західн&#1080... For other meanings of Home Army see: Home Army (disambiguation) The Armia Krajowa or AK (Home Army) functioned as the pre-eminent underground military organization in German-occupied Poland, which functioned in all areas of the country from September 1939 until its disbanding in January 1945. ... Armia Krajowa (the Home Army), abbreviated AK, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. ... Intelligence (abbreviated or ) is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. ... is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Peenemündes position in Germany Peenemünde is a village in the northeast of the German island of Usedom on the Peene river, on the easternmost part of the German Baltic coast. ... The V-1 (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1) was the first guided missile used in war and the forerunner of todays cruise missile. ... German test launch. ... A Soyuz rocket, at Baikonur launch pad. ... is the 150th day of the year (151st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Bug at Wlodawa One of the two rivers called Bug (pronounced Boog), the Western Bug, or Buh (Belarusian: Захо́дні Буг; Russian: За́падный Буг; Ukrainian: Західн&#1080... is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Aside from military operations, the Polish Home Army was also heavily involved in intelligence work, including work done with regard to the German Wunderwaffe - the V-1 flying bomb and the V-2 rocket. ... It has been suggested that Home Army and V1 and V2 be merged into this article or section. ...

Polish intelligence cooperated with the other Allies in every European country and operated one of the largest intelligence networks in Nazi Germany. Many Poles also served in other Allied intelligence services, including the celebrated Krystyna Skarbek ("Christine Granville") in the United Kingdom's Special Operations Executive. 43 per cent of all the reports received by the British secret services from continental Europe in 1939-45 came from Polish sources.^[2] World map showing the location of Europe. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Krystyna Skarbek Countess Krystyna Skarbek, G.M., O.B.E., Croix de guerre (May 1, 1908 - June 15, 1952) was a Polish-born World War II British SOE agent also known by the nom de guerre, Christine Granville. ... Countess Krystyna Skarbek (May 1, 1915 - June 17, 1952) was the Polish-born spy known as Christine Granville and decorated United Kingdom after the war. ... The Special Operations Executive (SOE), sometimes referred to as the Baker Street Irregulars after Sherlock Holmess fictional group of spies, was a World War II organization initiated by Winston Churchill and Hugh Dalton in July 1940 as a mechanism for conducting warfare by means other than direct military engagement. ...

Polish Forces (West)

For more details on this topic, see Polish Armed Forces in the West.

1st Polish Armoured Division, Haddington, 1943 Polish Armed Forces in the West refers to the Polish military formations formed to fight along the Western Allies and against Nazi Germany and its allies. ...

Army

After the country's defeat in the 1939 campaign, the Polish government in exile quickly organized in France a new army of about 80,000 men. In 1940 a Polish Highland Brigade took part in the Battle of Narvik (Norway), and two Polish divisions (First Grenadier Division, and Second Infantry Fusiliers Division) took part in the defense of France, while a Polish motorized brigade and two infantry divisions were in process of forming. A Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade was formed in French-mandated Syria, to which many Polish troops had escaped from Romania. The Polish Air Force in France comprised eighty-six aircraft in four squadrons, one and a half of the squadrons being fully operational while the rest were in various stages of training. The Government of the Polish Republic in exile maintained a continuous existence from the time of the German occupation of Poland in September 1939 until the end of the Communist rule in Poland in 1990. ... The Polish Army in France formed in France under the command of General WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Sikorski (and hence sometimes known as Sikorskis Army) in late 1939, after the fall of Poland resulting from the Polish Defensive War. ... Polish Independent Highland Brigade (Polish Samodzielna Brygada Strzelców Podhalańskich) was Polish military unit created in France in 1939, after the fall of Poland. ... The Battles of Narvik were naval battles between the Royal Navy (Britain) and the Kriegsmarine (Germany) that occurred in April 1940 (during the Second World War). ... Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to twenty thousand soldiers. ... The 1st Grenadiers Division (Polish: , French: ) was a Polish infantry unit formed in France during the early stages of World War II. Created on French soil after the fall of Poland in the effect of the Polish Defensive War of 1939, the division took part in the Battle of France... Second Infantry Fusiliers Division or 2nd Polish Riflemen Division (Polish: , French: or 2e Division dInfanterie Polonaise) was part of the recreated Polish Army in France in 1940. ... Combatants  France  United Kingdom  Canada  Czechoslovakia  Poland  Belgium  Netherlands  Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand (French) Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) Leopold III (Belgian) H.G. Winkelman (Dutch) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H.R... In military science a brigade is a military unit that is part of a division and includes regiments (where that level exists), or (in modern armies) is composed of several battalions (typically two to four) and directly attached supporting units. ... Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade (Polish Samodzielna Brygada Strzelców Karpackich) was a Polish military unit formed in 1940 in French Syria of the Polish soldiers exiled after the Polish Defence War of 1939. ... Mandates in the Middle east and Africa. ... Flag of the Polish Air Force Polish Air Force (SiÅ‚y Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, SiÅ‚y Powietrzne RP). ...

After the fall of France, numbers of Polish personnel had died in the fighting or been interned in Switzerland. Nevertheless, General Władysław Sikorski, Polish commander-in-chief and prime minister, was able to evacuate many Polish troops to the United Kingdom. In 1941, following an agreement between the Polish government in exile and Joseph Stalin, the Soviets released Polish citizens, from whom a 75,000-strong army was formed in the Middle East under General Władysław Anders ("Anders' Army"). WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Eugeniusz Sikorski Coat of arms of Kopaszyna, (May 20, 1881 – July 4, 1943; pronounced ) was a Polish military and political leader. ... Commander-in-Chief (in NATO-lingo often C-in-C or CINC pronounced sink) is the commander of all the military forces within a particular region or of all the military forces of a state. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... The term Polish Army in the United Kingdom refers either to the Polish units stationed in England and Scotland during World War II, or - more generally - to all the units of the Polish 2nd Corps fighting alongside the Allies in that conflict. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვი&#4314... Soviet redirects here. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Anders Lt. ... The Insignia of the Polish II Corps. ...

A Polish flag flying over the ruins of the Monte Cassino monastery.

The Polish armed forces in the west fought under the British command and numbered 195,000 in March 1944 and 165,000 at the end of that year, including about 20,000 personnel in the Polish Air Force and 3,000 in the Polish Navy. At the end of WWII, the Polish Armed Forces in the west numbered 195,000 and by July 1945 had increased to 228,000, most of the newcomers being released prisoners of war and ex-labor-camp inmates. Source: Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum This work is copyrighted. ... Source: Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum This work is copyrighted. ... The restored Abbey. ... Flag of the Polish Air Force Polish Air Force (Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Siły Powietrzne RP). ... Flag of the Polish Navy Polish Navy Ensign The Polish Navy (Marynarka Wojenna RP, MW RP) is the branch of Polands armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Wojsko Polskie (WP, Polish Army) is the name applied to the military forces of Poland. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are engaged in penal labor. ...

Air Force

Further information: Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain

The Polish Air Force fought in the Battle of France as one fighter squadron GC 1/145, several small units detached to French squadrons, and numerous flights of industry defence (in total, 133 pilots, who achieved 55 victories at a loss of 15 men). The Polish Air Forces (Polskie SiÅ‚y Powietrzne) was a name of Polish Air Forces formed in France and the United Kingdom during World War II. The core of the Polish air units fighting alongside the allies were experienced veterans of Polish September Campaign of 1939 and they largely contributed... Flag of the Polish Air Force Polish Air Force (SiÅ‚y Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, SiÅ‚y Powietrzne RP). ... Combatants  France  United Kingdom  Canada  Czechoslovakia  Poland  Belgium  Netherlands  Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand (French) Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) Leopold III (Belgian) H.G. Winkelman (Dutch) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H.R...

Later, Polish pilots fought in the Battle of Britain, where the Polish 303 Fighter Squadron achieved the highest number of kills of any Allied squadron. From the very beginning of the war, the Royal Air Force (RAF) had welcomed foreign pilots to supplement the dwindling pool of British pilots. On 11 June 1940, the Polish Government in Exile signed an agreement with the British Government to form a Polish Army and Polish Air Force in the United Kingdom. The first two (of an eventual ten) Polish fighter squadrons went into action in August 1940. Four Polish squadrons eventually took part in the Battle of Britain (300 and 301 Bomber Squadrons; 302 and 303 Fighter Squadrons), with 89 Polish pilots. Together with more than 50 Poles fighting in British squadrons, a total of 145 Polish pilots defended British skies. Polish pilots were among the most experienced in the battle, most of them having already fought in the 1939 September Campaign in Poland and the 1940 Battle of France. Additionally, prewar Poland had set a very high standard of pilot training. The 303 Squadron, named after the Polish-American hero, General Tadeusz Kościuszko, achieved the highest number of kills (126) of all fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it only joined the combat on August 30, 1940: these 5% of pilots were responsible for a phenomenal 12% of total victories in the Battle. Combatants United Kingdom Including combatants from:[1] Poland New Zealand Canada Czechoslovakia Belgium Australia South Africa France Ireland United States Jamaica Palestine Rhodesia Germany Including combatants from Italy Commanders Hugh Dowding Hermann Göring Strength 754 single-seat fighters 149 two-seat fighters 560 bombers 500 coastal 1,963 total... No. ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... is the 162nd day of the year (163rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... The No. ... No. ... No. ... No. ... Tadeusz KoÅ›ciuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura KoÅ›ciuszko ( ; 1746 – 1817) was a Polish and Lithuanian national hero, general and a leader of 1794 uprising (which bears his name) against the Russian Empire. ... is the 242nd day of the year (243rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

126 German airplanes shot down by the 303 squadron during the Battle of Britain. Painted on a Hurricane.

The Polish Air Force also fought in 1943 in Tunisia (Polish Fighting Team, so called "Skalski's Circus") and in raids on Germany (1940-45). In the second half of 1941 and early 1942, Polish bomber squadrons were the sixth part of forces available to RAF Bomber Command (later they suffered heavy losses, with little replenishment possibilities). Polish aircrew losses serving with Bomber Command 1940-45 were 929 killed. Ultimately 8 Polish fighter squadrons were formed within the RAF and had claimed 629 Axis aircraft destroyed by May 1945. By war's end, there were 14,000 Polish airmen in 15 RAF squadrons and in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum London This work is copyrighted. ... Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum London This work is copyrighted. ... Combatants United Kingdom Including combatants from:[1] Poland New Zealand Canada Czechoslovakia Belgium Australia South Africa France Ireland United States Jamaica Palestine Rhodesia Germany Including combatants from Italy Commanders Hugh Dowding Hermann Göring Strength 754 single-seat fighters 149 two-seat fighters 560 bombers 500 coastal 1,963 total... The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. ... Flag of the Polish Air Force Polish Air Force (Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, Siły Powietrzne RP). ... The Polish Fighting Team (Polish: Polski Zespół Myśliwski) was a group of Polish pilots fighting on the North African front in 1943. ... Bomber Command badge RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ... The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the aviation component of the United States Army primarily during World War II. The title of Army Air Forces succeeded the prior name of Army Air Corps in June 1941 during preparation for expected combat in what came to be known as... The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the aviation component of the United States Army primarily during World War II. The title of Army Air Forces succeeded the prior name of Army Air Corps in June 1941 during preparation for expected combat in what came to be known as...

Polish squadrons in the United Kingdom:

• No. 300 "Masovia" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Mazowieckiej)
• No. 301 "Pomerania" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Pomorskiej)
• No. 302 "City of Poznań" Polish Fighter Squadron (Poznański)
• No. 303 "Kościuszko" Polish Fighter Squadron (Warszawski imienia Tadeusza Kościuszki)
• No. 304 "Silesia" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Śląskiej imienia Ksiecia Józefa Poniatowskiego)
• No. 305 "Greater Poland" Polish Bomber Squadron (Ziemi Wielkopolskiej imienia Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego)
• No. 306 "City of Toruń" Polish Fighter Squadron (Toruński)
• No. 307 "City of Lwów" Polish Fighter Squadron (Lwowskich Puchaczy)
• No. 308 "City of Kraków" Polish Fighter Squadron (Krakowski)
• No. 309 "Czerwień" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron (Ziemi Czerwieńskiej)
• No. 315 "City of Dęblin" Polish Fighter Squadron (Dębliński)
• No. 316 "City of Warsaw" Polish Fighter Squadron (Warszawski)
• No. 317 "City of Wilno" Polish Fighter Squadron (Wileński)
• No. 318 "City of Gdańsk" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron (Gdański)
• No. 663 Polish Artillery Observation Squadron
• Polish Fighting Team (Skalski's Circus)

The 300th Land of Masovia Bomber Command (Polish 300 Dywizjon Bombowy Ziemi Mazowieckiej, Royal Air Force nomenclature ) was a Polish World War II bomber unit operating from airbases in the United Kingdom. ... No. ... No. ... No. ... Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ( ; 1746 – 1817) was a Polish and Lithuanian national hero, general and a leader of 1794 uprising (which bears his name) against the Russian Empire. ... No. ... Noble Family Poniatowski Coat of Arms Ciołek Parents Andrzej Poniatowski Maria Teresa Kinsky Consorts Zelia Sitańska Zofia Potocka Children with Zelia Sitańska: Józef Szczęsny Poniatowski; with Zofia Potocka: Karol Józef Poniatowski. ... No. ... Office Chief of State, Marshal of Poland Term of office from November 14, 1918 until December 9, 1922 Profession Statesman Political party none (see Sanacja for details), formerly PPS Spouse Maria Piłsudska Aleksandra Piłsudska Date of birth December 5, 1867 Place of birth Zułów, in todays... No. ... No. ... Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, commanding officer of No. ... // No 316 Squadron was formed at Pembrey on 15 February 1941 as a Polish fighter unit equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. ... The Polish Fighting Team (Polish: Polski Zespół Myśliwski) was a group of Polish pilots fighting on the North African front in 1943. ...

Navy

Just on the eve of war, three destroyers - representing most of the major Polish Navy ships - had been sent for safety to the British Isles (Operation Peking). There they fought alongside the Royal Navy. At various stages of the war, the Polish Navy comprised two cruisers and a large number of smaller ships. the Poish navy was given a number of British ships and submarines which would otherwise have been unused due to the lack of trained British crews. The Polish Navy fought with great distinction alongside the other Allied navies in many important and successful operations, including those conducted against the German battleship, Bismarck.^[3] Overall, Polish Navy during the war sailed total twelve hundred thousands nautical miles, escorted 787 convoys, conducted 1162 patrols and combat operations, sunk 12 enemy ships (including 5 submarines) and 41 merchant vessels, damaged 24 more (including 8 submarines)) and shot down 20 aircraft; all of that on 26 ships (2 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 5 submarines and 11 torpedo boats). 450 seamen out of over 4,000 lost their lives in action.^[4][5] Flag of the Polish Navy Polish Navy Ensign The Polish Navy (Marynarka Wojenna RP, MW RP) is the branch of Polands armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... For online phenomenon of shipping, see Shipping (fandom). ... Polish destroyers during the Peking Plan. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... Flag of the Polish Navy Polish Navy Ensign The Polish Navy (Marynarka Wojenna RP, MW RP) is the branch of Polands armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... The German battleship Bismarck is one of the most famous warships of the Second World War. ...

ORP Sokól.

• Cruisers:
  • ORP Dragon (British Danae class)
  • ORP Conrad (British Danae class)
• Destroyers:
  • ORP Wicher — Gale (Wicher class) sunk September 1939
  • ORP Burza — Storm (Wicher class)
  • ORP Grom — Thunder (Grom class) sunk 1940
  • ORP Błyskawica — Lightning (Grom class)
  • ORP Garland (British G class)
  • ORP Orkan (British M class destroyer Myrmidion) sunk 1943
  • ORP Ouragan, sometimes called Huragan — Hurricane (French Bourrasque class)
  • ORP Piorun — Thunderbolt (British N class)
• Escort destroyers:
  • ORP Krakowiak — Cracovian (British Hunt class) 1941-1946
  • ORP Kujawiak — Kujawian (British Hunt class)
  • ORP Ślązak — Silesian (British Hunt class)
• Submarines:
  • ORP Orzeł — Eagle (Orzeł class) lost 1940
  • ORP Sęp — Vulture (Orzeł class) interned Sweden
  • ORP Jastrząb — Hawk (British S class)
  • ORP Wilk — Wolf (Wilk class) to reserve 1942
  • ORP Ryś — Lynx (Wilk class) interned Sweden
  • ORP Żbik — Wildcat (Wilk class) interned Sweden
  • ORP Dzik — Boar (British U class) 1942-1946
  • ORP Sokół — Falcon (British U class) 1941-1945
• heavy minelayers:
  • ORP Gryf — Griffin (Gryf class) sunk 1939
• Light minelayers ("ptaszki" — "Birds"):
  • ORP Jaskółka — Swallow, sunk 1939
  • ORP Mewa — Seagull
  • ORP Rybitwa — Tern
  • ORP Czajka — Lapwing
  • ORP Żuraw — Crane
  • ORP Czapla — Heron
• Polish River Fleet

The above list does not include a number of minor ships, transports, merchant-marine auxiliary vessels, and patrol boats. Polish Navy WWII submarine ORP Sokol The swastika on the flag indicates that the submarine was successful in sinking German ships on its patrol. ... Polish Navy WWII submarine ORP Sokol The swastika on the flag indicates that the submarine was successful in sinking German ships on its patrol. ... ORP Sokół was an Ursula class submarine of the Polish Navy, a sister ship to the ORP Dzik. ... USS Port Royal (CG-73), a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser (really an uprated guided missile destroyer), launched in 1992. ... HMS Dragon, also known in Polish service as ORP Dragon, was a D or Danae class cruiser built for the Royal Navy. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... HMS Danae, during World War II known as ORP Conrad, was the lead ship of the Danae class cruisers (also known as the D class), serving with the Royal Navy between the world wars and with the Polish Navy during World War II. She was laid 1 December 1916 in... USS McFaul underway in the Atlantic Ocean. ... ORP Wicher was a name of two destroyers of the Polish Navy: ORP Wicher commissioned in 1930 and sunk during the Polish Defence War of 1939 ORP Wicher commissioned from the Soviet Union in 1958 and scrapped in 1974 This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists... ORP Wicher, the lead ship of her class. ... ORP Burza was a Polish destroyer of the Wicher class which saw action in World War II. History ORP Burza was ordered on April 2, 1926 from the French shipyard Chantiers Naval Francais together with sister ship ORP Wicher. ... ORP Grom was a name of a Polish Navy destroyer during World War II. She was laid down in 1935, commissioned in 1937 and lost in battle on May 4, 1940 in Ofotfjord near Narvik during the Norwegian campaign. ... Categories: Naval stubs | Ship classes | Polish Navy ... ORP BÅ‚yskawica was a Grom-class destroyer serving in the Polish Navy during World War II, currently preserved as a museum ship in Gdynia. ... HMS Garland (H37), also known by its Polish designation ORP Garland, was a G-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. ... HMS Hunter pictured before the war showing the original design of the class with flat-fronted bridge. ... ORP Orkan formerly HMS Myrmidion was a ship in the Polish Navy during World War II. The name translates as hurricane. ... HMS Laforey The L and M class was a class of sixteen destroyers of the Royal Navy, launched in 1939–1942. ... Ouragan was a French destroyer of the Bourrasque class commissioned in 1927, which during World War II served under the Polish flag, from 18 June 1940 until 30 April 1941. ... The Bourrasque-class was a group of twelve French navy destroyers (contre-torpilleur) laid down in 1923 and commissioned from 1926 to 1936. ... ORP Piorun was an N-class destroyer used by the Polish Navy during the Second World War, ex HMS Nerissa. ... The J, K and N class was a class of 24 destroyers of the Royal Navy launched in 1938. ... A Destroyer Escort (DE) is a small, fast warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships. ... ORP Krakowiak was a British Hunt class destroyer, formerly named the HMS Silverton. ... The Hunt class was a class of destroyer escorts of the Royal Navy. ... The ORP Kujawiak is a British escort destroyer, Hunt II class. ... The ORP Å›lÄ…zak (Silesian) was a British Hunt-class destroyer escort, formerly named the HMS Bedale. ... USS Virginia, a Virginia-class nuclear attack (SSN) submarine Alvin in 1978, a year after first exploring hydrothermal vents. ... ORP OrzeÅ‚ (Eagle) was a Polish Navy submarine in service during the World War II that participated in OrzeÅ‚ incident. ... ORP JastrzÄ…b (Hawk) was a Holland-type S-class submarine, originally of the United States Navy, in Polish service between 1941 and 1942, when she was lost to friendly fire. ... The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea replacing the H class submarines. ... ORP (OkrÄ™t Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - Polish Republic Naval Ship) Wilk was a French-built mine-laying submarine which saw service in the Polish Navy from 1931 to 1951. ... All three submarines of the Wilk class moored together, with destroyers ORP Burza and ORP Wicher behind them. ... ORP RyÅ› ORP RyÅ› was a French-built mine-laying submarine belonging to the Wilk class which saw service in the Polish Navy from 1931 to 1955. ... All three submarines of the Wilk class moored together, with destroyers ORP Burza and ORP Wicher behind them. ... Å»bik next to the training sailship Lwów ORP Å»bik (Wild Cat) was a French-built mine-laying submarine belonging to the Wilk class which saw service in the Polish Navy from 1932 to 1955. ... All three submarines of the Wilk class moored together, with destroyers ORP Burza and ORP Wicher behind them. ... ORP Dzik was a U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. ... The British U-Class submarines were a class of 49 small submarines built just before and during the Second World War. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A minelayer is a naval ship used for deploying sea mines. ... ORP Gryf is the name of Polish Navy warships. ... A minelayer is a naval ship used for deploying sea mines. ... ORP Jaskółka was one in a series of Pre-World War II Polish minelayers. ... In a gun turret during the excercises. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Merchant Navy. ...

Polish Forces (East)

Further information: Polish Armed Forces in the East and Air Force of the Polish Army

{{ImageStackRight|250| Polish volunteers to the Anders Army, released from Soviet POW camp. ... Fighters of the Air Force of the Polish Army in post 11 July 1945 painting Yak-9 with Polish markings Il-2m3 with Polish markings Pe-2 with Polish markings The Air Force of the Polish Army (Polish: ), unofficially known as the Peoples Polish Air Force is the name...

Residents of Warsaw^{[citation needed]} meet the soldiers of the Red Army and the Polish First Army^{[citation needed]}. January, 1945

Polish flag over Berlin.

Broadly speaking, there were two formations among the Polish Armed Forces in the East. First was the Polish government-in-exile-loyal Anders Army, created in the second half of 1941 after German invasion of the USSR. In 1943 this formation was transferred to the Western Allies and became known as the Polish II Corps. Additionally, remaining Polish forces in USSR were reorganized into Soviet-controlled Polish I Corps in the Soviet Union, which in turn was reorganized in 1944 into Polish First Army (Berling Army) and Polish Second Army, both part of Polish People's Army (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie, LWP). In 1944, following the Poland's being liberated from the Nazi occupation, the organizational the Polish People's Army was reorganized into a Poland-based military formation. Image File history File links Liberated_warsaw. ... Image File history File links Liberated_warsaw. ... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... The Polish First Army (Polish Pierwsza Armia Wojska Polskiego, 1 AWP for short) was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from previously existing Polish I Corps. ... This work is copyrighted. ... This work is copyrighted. ... The Civil Flag of Poland has been used since the early 20th century. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in exile maintained a continuous existence in exile from the time of the German occupation of Poland in September 1939 until the end of the Communist rule in Poland in 1990. ... Polish volunteers to the Anders Army, released from Soviet POW camp. ... Combatants Germany, Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia  Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Fedor von Bock Gerd von Rundstedt C.G.E. Mannerheim Giovanni Messe, CSIR Italo Gariboldi, ARMIR Joseph Stalin Kliment Voroshilov Semyon Timoshenko Fyodor Kuznetsov Dmitry Pavlov Ivan Tyulenev Ivan Konev Semyon Budyonny Georgy Zhukov... The Western Allies were the democracies and their colonial peoples, within the broader coalition of Allies during World War II. The term is generally understood to refer to the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations (from 1939), exiled forces from Occupied Europe (from 1940), the United States, (from 1941), Italy... The Insignia of the Polish II Corps. ... Polish I Corps in the Soviet Union was a formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the East. ... The Polish First Army (Polish Pierwsza Armia Wojska Polskiego, 1 AWP for short) was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from previously existing Polish I Corps. ... The Polish First Army (Polish Pierwsza Armia Wojska Polskiego, 1 AWP for short) was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from previously existing Polish I Corps as part of the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie. ... The Polish Second Army (Polish: Druga Armia Wojska Polskiego, 2. ... Armia Ludowa (AL, pronounced ; English Polish Peoples Army) was a Polish World War II resistance organisation. ...

In the aftermath of the Operation Barbarossa, Stalin agreed (Sikorski-Mayski Agreement) release tens of thousands of Polish prisoners-of-war held in Soviet camps from whom a military force was formed. The Anders Army, as the formation became known, was loyal to the Polish government in exile, and as such its formation was obstructed by the Soviets. Eventually, with about 40 000 combatants and 70 000 civilians, it was transferred to the British command in the Middle East, becoming the Polish II Corps and part of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Combatants Germany, Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia  Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Fedor von Bock Gerd von Rundstedt C.G.E. Mannerheim Giovanni Messe, CSIR Italo Gariboldi, ARMIR Joseph Stalin Kliment Voroshilov Semyon Timoshenko Fyodor Kuznetsov Dmitry Pavlov Ivan Tyulenev Ivan Konev Semyon Budyonny Georgy Zhukov... The Sikorski-Mayski Agreement was a treaty between Soviet Union and Poland signed in London on August 17, 1941. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Polish volunteers to the Anders Army, released from Soviet POW camp. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... The Insignia of the Polish II Corps. ... 1st Polish Armoured Division, Haddington, 1943 Polish Armed Forces in the West refers to the Polish military formations formed to fight along the Western Allies and against Nazi Germany and its allies. ...

To utilize the potential of the remaining Polish soldiers in USSR, without repeating the previous mistake which allowed Anders Army to leave USSR, the Soviet Union created a Union of Polish Patriots (ZPP) in 1943 as communist puppet counter-government^[6][9] to the Polish government in exile. At the same time a parallel army (Polish People's Army or LWP) was created which by the end of the war numbered about 200,000 troops.^[6] There pro-Soviet Polish resistance Armia Ludowa was integrated with Polish People's Army at the end of the war. These Soviet-created Polish army units on the Eastern Front included the First, the Second and the Third Polish Armies (the latter was later merged with the second), and Air Force of the Polish Army with 10 infantry divisions, 5 armored brigades and 4 divisions of air force. Union of Polish Patriots (Society of Polish Patriots, Polish: , ZPP, Russian: ) was a political body created by Polish communists and Stalin in Soviet Union in 1943. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... The Piast eagle worn by LWP soldiers. ... Armia Ludowa (AL, pronounced ; English Polish Peoples Army) was a Polish World War II resistance organisation. ... The Eastern Front was the theatre of combat between Nazi Germany and its allies against the Soviet Union during World War II. It was somewhat separate from the other theatres of the war, not only geographically, but also for its scale and ferocity. ... The Polish First Army (Polish Pierwsza Armia Wojska Polskiego, 1 AWP for short) was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from previously existing Polish I Corps. ... The Polish Second Army (Polish: Druga Armia Wojska Polskiego, 2. ... Fighters of the Air Force of the Polish Army in post 11 July 1945 painting Yak-9 with Polish markings Il-2m3 with Polish markings Pe-2 with Polish markings The Air Force of the Polish Army (Polish: ), unofficially known as the Peoples Polish Air Force is the name... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, bicycles, or other means. ... Armor or armour (see spelling differences) is protective clothing intended to defend its wearer from intentional harm in combat and military engagements, typically associated with soldiers. ...

The Polish First Army was integrated in the 1st Belorussian Front with which it entered Poland from the Soviet territory in 1944. Ordered to hold position by the Soviet leadership, it did not advance towards Warsaw as Germans suppressed the Warsaw Uprising. It took part in battles for Bydgoszcz, Kolobrzeg (Kolberg), Gdańsk (Danzig) and Gdynia losing 20,000 people in the winter of 1944-45 battles.^[6] In April-May 1945 the 1st Army fought in the final capture of Berlin. The Polish Second Army fought within the Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front and took part in the Prague Offensive. In the final operations of the war the losses of the two armies of the LWP amounted to 32,000. The 1st Belorussian Front (alternative spellings are 1st Byelorussian Front and 1st Belarusian Front) was a military subdivision (Front) of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. ... Combatants Poland Nazi Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski #, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel #, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 47,500 troops[1] 25,000 troops (initially)[1] Casualties 15,200[2] killed, 5,000[2] wounded, 15,000[2] taken prisoner... Coordinates: , Country Poland Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian Powiat city county Gmina Bydgoszcz Established before 1238 City Rights 1346/1349 Government  - Mayor Konstanty Dombrowicz Area  - City 174. ... Kołobrzeg (pronounce: [kɔwɔbʒεg], German Kolberg) is a city in Middle Pomerania in north-western Poland with some 50,000 inhabitants (2000). ... Motto: Nec temere, nec timide (No rashness, no timidness) Coordinates: , Country Poland Voivodeship Pomeranian Powiat city county Gmina GdaÅ„sk Established 10th century City Rights 1263 Government  - Mayor PaweÅ‚ Adamowicz Area  - City 262 km²  (101. ... Gdynia (IPA: , German: (until 1939 and after 1945) / Gotenhafen (1939-1945); Kashubian: ) is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport at GdaÅ„sk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. ... Combatants Soviet Union Communist Poland Nazi Germany Commanders 1st Belorussian Front – Georgiy Zhukov 2nd Belorussian Front – Konstantin Rokossovskiy 1st Ukrainian Front – Ivan Konev Army Group Vistula – Gotthard Heinrici then Kurt von Tippelskirch[2] Army Group Centre – Ferdinand Schörner Berlin Defense Area – Helmuth Reymann then Helmuth Weidling #[3] Strength 2... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Czech Insurgents Commanders Ferdinand Schörner Ivan Konev Strength 900,000 2,000,000 Casualties Unknown 11,997 killed or missing, 40,501 wounded or sick (52,498 casualties[1]) The Prague Offensive (Russian:Пражская наступательная операция, Prazhskaya nastupatelnaya operacia, Prague Offensive Operation) was the last major battle of...

Battles

In Polish (top): "Thank you, Poles." in Dutch (bottom): "Freed by the Poles." Liberation of Breda, Netherlands, 1944.

Major battles and campaigns in which Polish regular forces took part: This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. ...

• Invasion of Poland (1939)
  • Battle of the Bzura River
  • Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski
  • Battle of Kock (1939)
  • Battle of Warsaw (1939)
• British campaign in Norway (Battle of Narvik)
• French Campaign
• Battle of Britain
• Battle of the Atlantic
• Battle of Tobruk
• Operation Jubilee (Battle of Dieppe)
• Battle of Lenino
• Battle of Normandy (D-Day)
• Battle of Monte Cassino
• Battle of Falaise
• Operation Market Garden (Battle of Arnhem: "A Bridge Too Far")
• Battle of Ancona
• Battle of Bologna
• Battle of Berlin
• Prague Offensive
• Polish underground actions:
  • Operation Tempest (Burza)
    • Wilno Uprising
    • Lwów Uprising
    • Warsaw Uprising

Combatants Poland Germany, Slovakia, Soviet Union Commanders Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand ÄŒatloÅ¡ (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft Total: 950... Polish Bofors AA gun and a bombed column of Polish Army during the battle Categories: Historical stubs | World War II operations and battles of Poland | Polish battles ... Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski took place from 17th September to 26th September 1939 near the town of Tomaszów Lubelski. ... The Battle of Kock was the final battle of the Polish September Campaign at the beginning of World War II. It took place from October 2nd through October 5th, 1939, near the town of Kock, Poland. ... Battle of Warsaw Conflict Polish Defence War of 1939 Date 8 to September 28, 1939 Place Warsaw, Poland Result Polish defeat The 1939 Battle of Warsaw was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army (Armia Warszawa) garrisoned and entrenched in the capital of Poland (Warsaw) and the German Army. ... The Allied campaign in Norway took place from April 1940 until early June 1940. ... The Battles of Narvik were naval battles between the Royal Navy (Britain) and the Kriegsmarine (Germany) that occurred in April 1940 (during the Second World War). ... In World War II, Battle of France or Case Yellow (Fall Gelb in German) was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed 10 May 1940 which ended the Phony War. ... Combatants United Kingdom Including combatants from:[1] Poland New Zealand Canada Czechoslovakia Belgium Australia South Africa France Ireland United States Jamaica Palestine Rhodesia Germany Including combatants from Italy Commanders Hugh Dowding Hermann Göring Strength 754 single-seat fighters 149 two-seat fighters 560 bombers 500 coastal 1,963 total... Battle of the Atlantic can refer to either of two naval campaigns, depending on context: World War I - First Battle of the Atlantic World War II - Second Battle of the Atlantic A Third Battle of the Atlantic was envisioned to be be part of any Third World War that arose... Siege of Tobruk Conflict World War II, Western Desert Campaign Date March 31, 1941 – November 27, 1941 Place Tobruk, Libya Result Allied victory The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis and Allied forces in the North African Campaign of World War II. See also Afrika Korps... Dieppes pebble beach and cliff immediately following the raid on August 19th, 1942. ... Dieppe is a town and commune in the Seine-Maritime département of Haute-Normandie (eastern Normandy), France. ... Battle of Lenino took place from 12th October to 13th October 1943 near Trigubovo village (later renamed Lenino, today on Belarus) between Soviet Union 33rd Western Front Army and Nazi German forces. ... Combatants United States United Kingdom Canada Free France Poland Germany Commanders Dwight Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Omar Bradley (U.S. 1st Army) Miles Dempsey (UK 2nd Army) Harry Crerar (Canadian 1st Army) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (Heeresgruppe... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... Combatants United Kingdom United States Poland New Zealand Canada Free France India and others Germany Commanders Harold Alexander Mark Clark Oliver Leese Albert Kesselring Heinrich von Vietinghoff Frido von Senger Strength 105,000 80,000 Casualties 54,000 20,000 The Battle of Monte Cassino (also known as the Battle... During World War II, the Falaise pocket (also known as the Chambois pocket, Chambois-Montcormel pocket, Falaise-Chambois pocket) was the area between the four cities of Trun-Argentan_Vimoutiers_Chambois near Falaise, France, in which United States 12th Army Group encircled and destroyed the German Seventh Army. ... Combatants United Kingdom United States Canada Poland Germany Commanders Bernard Montgomery Brian Horrocks Roy Urquhart James M. Gavin Maxwell Taylor Stanislaw Sosabowski Walter Model Wilhelm Bittrich Kurt Student Strength 35,000 20,000 Casualties 11,377 dead,wounded or missing 6,450 Captured 2,000 Killed 6,000 Wounded Operation... Arnhem ( ) (South Guelderish: Èrnem) is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands, and capital of province Gelderland. ... Combatants Soviet Union Communist Poland Nazi Germany Commanders 1st Belorussian Front – Georgiy Zhukov 2nd Belorussian Front – Konstantin Rokossovskiy 1st Ukrainian Front – Ivan Konev Army Group Vistula – Gotthard Heinrici then Kurt von Tippelskirch[2] Army Group Centre – Ferdinand Schörner Berlin Defense Area – Helmuth Reymann then Helmuth Weidling #[3] Strength 2... Combatants Germany Soviet Union Czech Insurgents Commanders Ferdinand Schörner Ivan Konev Strength 900,000 2,000,000 Casualties Unknown 11,997 killed or missing, 40,501 wounded or sick (52,498 casualties[1]) The Prague Offensive (Russian:Пражская наступательная операция, Prazhskaya nastupatelnaya operacia, Prague Offensive Operation) was the last major battle of... For other uses, see Tempest. ... Operation Tempest (Polish Plan Burza, sometimes also translated as Operation Storm) was a series of planned local uprisings prepared by the Polish Home Army during World War II. The main aim of the operation was to seize control of the cities and areas where the German forces were preparing their... The Wilno Uprising (also known as Operation Ostra Brama) was the armed struggle started by the Polish Home Army against the Nazi occupiers of Wilno (now Vilnius), during World War II. It started on July 7, 1944 as a part of a plan of all-national uprising codenamed Operation Tempest... The Lwów Uprising was the armed struggle started by the Polish Armia Krajowa against the Nazi occupiers of Lwów, during World War II. It started on July 23, 1944 as a part of a plan of all-national uprising codenamed Operation Tempest and lasted until July 27. ... Combatants Poland Nazi Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski #, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel #, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 47,500 troops[1] 25,000 troops (initially)[1] Casualties 15,200[2] killed, 5,000[2] wounded, 15,000[2] taken prisoner...

Inventions

Mine detector (Polish) Mark I

• Replicas of the German Enigma cipher machine had been produced at the start of 1933 to the specifications of Polish mathematician-cryptologist Marian Rejewski, and two machines of the current model were given to the British and French just before the outbreak of war in 1939. Rejewski and his two cryptologist colleagues also invented the cryptological bomb, perforated Zygalski sheets, and other techniques and devices for breaking Enigma ciphers.
• Józef Kosacki invented the Polish mine detector, which would be used by the Allies throughout the war.
• The Vickers Tank Periscope MK.IV was invented by engineer Rudolf Gundlach and patented in 1936 as the Gundlach Peryskop obrotowy. It was copied by the British and used in most tanks of WW II, including the Soviet T-34, the British Crusader, Churchill, Valentine and Cromwell, and the American M4 Sherman. The main advantage of this periscope was that the tank commander no longer had to turn his head in order to look backwards. The design was also later used extensively by the Germans.
• A bomb-hatch system was invented by Władysław Świątecki in the 1930s and was used in the prewar Polish PZL.37 Łoś (Elk) bomber. In 1940 Świątecki turned his invention over to the British, who used it in most British bombers. In 1943, an updated version was created by Jerzy Rudlicki for the American B-17 Flying Fortress.
• A rubber windshield wiper was invented by the Polish pianist Józef Hofmann.
• Henryk Magnuski, a Polish engineer working for Motorola, in 1940 invented the SCR-300 radio, the first small radio receiver/transmitter to have manually-set frequencies. It was used extensively by the American Army and was nicknamed the walkie-talkie.
• The Polish Home Army was probably the only WWII resistance movement to manufacture large quantities of weaponry and munitions. In addition to pre-war designs like Vis pistol, there were also the Błyskawica, Bechowiec, KIS and Polski Sten machine pistols, designed and produced by the underground facilities. In addition, large amounts of filipinka and sidolówka hand grenades were developed and manufactured in the underground. Finally, during the Warsaw Uprising Polish engineers built several armoured cars which also took part in the fighting.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (257x1000, 19 KB) http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (257x1000, 19 KB) http://www. ... The Mine detector (Polish) Mark I was a metal detector for landmines developed during World War II in the winter of 1941/1942 by Polish lieutenant Józef StanisÅ‚aw Kozacki. ... The plugboard, keyboard, lamps, and finger-wheels of the rotors emerging from the inner lid of a three-rotor German military Enigma machine (version with labels) The Enigma machine was a cipher machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ... Pre-19th century Leone Battista Alberti, polymath/universal genius, inventor of polyalphabetic substitution (see frequency analysis for the significance of this -- missed by most for a long time and dumbed down in the Vigenère cipher), and what may have been the first mechanical encryption aid. ... Marian Rejewski (probably 1932, the year he first solved the Enigma machine). ... Pre-19th century Leone Battista Alberti, polymath/universal genius, inventor of polyalphabetic substitution (see frequency analysis for the significance of this -- missed by most for a long time and dumbed down in the Vigenère cipher), and what may have been the first mechanical encryption aid. ... The bomba (plural bomby) was a special-purpose codebreaking machine designed by Polish cryptanalysts and used to crack the German Enigma machine prior to World War II. A bomba was designed to exploit an obscure but fatal weakness in the Enigma cipher. ... For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other. ... The method of perforated sheets was a codebreaking technique used against the Enigma machine (see Cryptanalysis of the Enigma). ... Józef StanisÅ‚aw Kosacki (1909–1990) was a Polish engineer, inventor and an officer of the Polish Army during the World War II. He is best known as the inventor of the Polish mine detector, the first man-portable mine detector, the basic design of which had been in... The Mine detector (Polish) Mark I was developed during World War II in the winter of 1941/1942 by Polish lieutenant Jozef Stanislaw Kozacki. ... Vickers Tank Periscope MK.IV (invented by engineer Rudolf Gundlach) was first patented in 1936 as Gundlach Peryskop obrotowy. ... Engineering is the design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. ... Rudolf Gundlach (1894-1957) was a Polish engineer, tank constructor and inventor. ... Vickers Tank Periscope MK.IV (invented by engineer Rudolf Gundlach) was first patented in 1936 as Gundlach Peryskop obrotowy. ... The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank first produced in 1940. ... One of the primary cruiser tanks of the United Kingdom during World War II, the Cruiser Tank VI Crusader was perhaps the most important British tank of the North African Campaign. ... The Infantry Tank IV Churchill was a heavy British infantry tank of the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour and its use as the basis of many specialist vehicles. ... Valentine may refer to: A card or gift given on Valentines Day // in the United States: Valentine, Nebraska Valentine Hall, dining hall at Amherst College in Australia: Valentine, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Valentine Island, an island off Western Australia in France Valentine, Haute-Garonne, a... The A27M Cruiser Tank VIII Cromwell, named after the English Civil War leader Oliver Cromwell, was one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in World War II. It was the first tank in the British arsenal to combine a dual-purpose gun, high speed, and... WWII foreign variants and use: Lend-Lease Sherman tanks Post-WWII foreign variants and use: Postwar Sherman tanks The Medium Tank M4 was the primary tank produced by the United States for its own use and the use of its Allies during World War II. Production of the M4 Medium... PZL.37 ŁoÅ› - the second prototype The PZL.37 ŁoÅ› (Polish: ) was a Polish twin-engine medium bomber, used in the Invasion of Poland in 1939. ... Rudlicki Jerzy (1893-1977) was a Polish engineer who invented the V-tail configuration for aircraft combining the ailerons and elevators in one system. ... The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the US Army Air Corps (USAAC). ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... A windscreen wiper (windshield wiper in North America) is a device used to wipe rain and dirt from a windscreen. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... Józef Kazimierz Hofmann (January 20, 1876 - February 16, 1957) was a Polish-American pianist and composer. ... Henryk W. Magnuski Henryk Władysław Magnuski (1909-1978) was a Polish telecommunications engineer who worked for Motorola in Chicago. ... Motorola Inc. ... A walkie-talkie is a portable, bi-directional radio transceiver, first developed for military use. ... Armia Krajowa (the Home Army), abbreviated AK, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. ... Vis (Polish designation , German designation 9 mm Pistole 35(p), often simply called the Radom in English sources) is a 9 mm caliber, single-action, semi-automatic pistol. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Bechowiec-1 was a Polish World War II machine pistol developed and produced by the underground Armia Krajowa resistance organisation. ... Kis was the name of a Polish machine pistol from the time of the Second World War. ... The Sten gun was a British submachine gun from World War II, notable for its simple design and low cost of production, being made from only 47 different parts. ... Polish-made machine pistols BÅ‚yskawica and Kis, distant derivates of the British Sten A machine pistol shares several properties of the semi-automatic handgun and the sub-machine gun. ... ET wz. ... R wz. ... For the alcoholic beverage sold in New Orleans, see hand grenade (drink). ... Combatants Poland Nazi Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski #, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel #, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 47,500 troops[1] 25,000 troops (initially)[1] Casualties 15,200[2] killed, 5,000[2] wounded, 15,000[2] taken prisoner... Military armored cars A French VBL reconnaissance vehicle. ...

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Steven J Zaloga (1982). "The Underground Army", Polish Army, 1939-1945. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-417-4. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Kwan Yuk Pan, Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade, Financial Times, July 5 2005. Last accessed on 31 March 2006.
3. ^ Peszke, Michael Alfred (February 1999). Poland's Navy, 1918-1945. Hippocrene Books, 37. ISBN 0781806720. 
4. ^ 86 years of the Polish Navy. Retrieved on 31 July 2007.
5. ^ The Battle of the Atlantic and the Polish Navy. Retrieved on 31 July 2007.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Steven J Zaloga (1982). "The Polish People's Army", Polish Army, 1939-1945. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-417-4. 

The Financial Times (FT) is an international business newspaper printed on distinctive salmon pink broadsheet paper. ... Michael Alfred Peszke (born 1932, Dęblin, Poland) is a Polish-American psychiatrist and historian of the Polish Armed Forces in World War II. After the outbreak of World War II and the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland, Peszke, his mother Eugenia Halina Grębocka Peszke, and his... Hippocrene Books are a US publishing press located at 171 Madison Avenue, New York City, NY 10016. ...

References

• Władysław Anders: An Army in Exile: The Story of the Second Polish Corps, 1981, ISBN 0-89839-043-5.
• Margaret Brodniewicz-Stawicki: For Your Freedom and Ours: The Polish Armed Forces in the Second World War, Vanwell Publishing, 1999, ISBN 1-55125-035-7.
• Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski: Secret Army, Battery Press, 1984, ISBN 0-89839-082-6.
• George F. Cholewczynski (1993). Poles Apart. Sarpedon Publishers. ISBN 1-85367-165-7. 
• George F. Cholewczynski (1990). De Polen Van Driel. Uitgeverij Lunet. ISBN 90-71743-10-1. 
• Jerzy B. Cynk: The Polish Air Force at War: The Official History, 1939-1943, Schiffer Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0-7643-0559-X.
• Jerzy B. Cynk: The Polish Air Force at War: The Official History, 1943-1945, Schiffer Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0-7643-0560-3.
• Robert Gretzyngier: Poles in Defence of Britain, London 2001, ISBN 1904943055
• Norman Davies: Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw, Viking Books, 2004, ISBN 0-670-03284-0.
• Norman Davies, God's Playground, Oxford University Press, 1981
• Lynne Olson, Stanley Cloud: A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II, Knopf, 2003, ISBN 0-375-41197-6.
• Józef Garliński: Poland in the Second World War, Hippocrene Books, 1987, ISBN 0-87052-372-4.
• Jan Karski: Story of a Secret State, Simon Publications, 2001, ISBN 1-931541-39-6.
• Jan Koniarek, Polish Air Force 1939-1945, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1994, ISBN 0-89747-324-8.
• Stefan Korboński, Zofia Korbońska, F. B. Czarnomski: Fighting Warsaw: the Story of the Polish Underground State, 1939-1945, Hippocrene Books, 2004, ISBN 0-7818-1035-3.
• Władysław Kozaczuk, Enigma: How the German Machine Cipher Was Broken, and How It Was Read by the Allies in World War Two, edited and translated by Christopher Kasparek, University Publications of America, 1984, ISBN 0-89093-547-5. (This remains the standard reference on the Polish part in the Enigma-decryption epic.)
• Władysław Kozaczuk, Jerzy Straszak: Enigma: How the Poles Broke the Nazi Code, Hippocrene Books; February 1, 2004, ISBN 0-7818-0941-X.
• Michael Alfred Peszke, Battle for Warsaw, 1939-1944, East European Monographs, 1995, ISBN 0-88033-324-3.
• Michael Alfred Peszke, Poland's Navy, 1918-1945, Hippocrene Books, 1999, ISBN 0-7818-0672-0.
• Michael Alfred Peszke, The Polish Underground Army, the Western Allies, and the Failure of Strategic Unity in World War II, foreword by Piotr S. Wandycz, Jefferson, NC, McFarland & Company, 2005, ISBN 0-7864-2009-X. Google Print
• Polish Air Force Association: Destiny Can Wait: The Polish Air Force in the Second World War, Battery Press, 1988, ISBN 0-89839-113-X.
• Harvey Sarner: Anders and the Soldiers of the Second Polish Corps, Brunswick Press, 1998, ISBN 1-888521-13-9.
• Stanisław Sosabowski: Freely I Served, Battery Press Inc, 1982, ISBN 0-89839-061-3.
• E. Thomas Wood, Stanislaw M. Jankowski: Karski: How One Man Tried to Stop the Holocaust, Wiley, 1996, ISBN 0-471-14573-4.
• Steven J. Zaloga: Poland 1939: The Birth of Blitzkrieg, Osprey Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1-84176-408-6.
• Steven J. Zaloga: The Polish Army 1939-1945, Osprey Publishing, 1982, ISBN 0-85045-417-4.
• Adam Zamoyski: The Forgotten Few: The Polish Air Force in the Second World War, Pen & Sword Books, 2004, ISBN 1-84415-090-9.

WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Anders Lt. ... The Insignia of the Polish II Corps. ... General Count Tadeusz Komorowski (June 1, 1895 - August 24, 1966), better known by the name Bór-Komorowski (after one of his wartime code-names: Bór) was a Polish military leader. ... Armia Krajowa (the Home Army), abbreviated AK, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. ... Norman Davies, Warsaw (Poland), October 7, 2004 Norman Davies (born June 8, 1939 in Bolton, Lancashire) is an English historian of Welsh descent, noted for his publications on the history of Poland, Europe and the British Isles. ... Combatants Poland Nazi Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski #, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel #, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, Bronislav Kaminski Strength 47,500 troops[1] 25,000 troops (initially)[1] Casualties 15,200[2] killed, 5,000[2] wounded, 15,000[2] taken prisoner... Józef GarliÅ„ski (October 14, 1913 Kiev - November 29, 2005) was a Polish historian and prose writer. ... Before a wall map of the Warsaw Ghetto at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Jan Karski recalls his secret 1942 missions into the Nazi prison-city-within-a-city. ... Polish Secret State (also known as Polish Underground State; Polish Polskie Państwo Podziemne) is a term coined by Jan Karski in his book Story of a Secret State; it is used to refer to all underground resistance organizations in Poland during World War II, both military and civilian. ... Stefan KorboÅ„ski (1901-1989) was a Polish agrarian politician, lawyer, journalist and a notable member of the wartime authorities of the Polish Secret State. ... This article covers the Secret State of Poland during World War II. For the earlier secret state in Poland see: January Uprising This article is part of the series: Polish Secret State Categories: Historical stubs | Polish history | World War II resistance movements | National liberation movements ... WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Kozaczuk (1923 — 2003, Warsaw, Poland) was a Polish historian who published a dozen books, several of them in multiple editions. ... The plugboard, keyboard, lamps, and finger-wheels of the rotors emerging from the inner lid of a three-rotor German military Enigma machine (version with labels) The Enigma machine was a cipher machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. ... Christopher Kasparek (born 1945) is a writer and a translator from Polish into English. ... The plugboard, keyboard, lamps, and finger-wheels of the rotors emerging from the inner lid of a three-rotor German military Enigma machine (version with labels) The Enigma machine was a cipher machine used to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Michael Alfred Peszke (born 1932, Dęblin, Poland) is a Polish-American psychiatrist and historian of the Polish Armed Forces in World War II. After the outbreak of World War II and the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland, Peszke, his mother Eugenia Halina Grębocka Peszke, and his... Michael Alfred Peszke (born 1932, Dęblin, Poland) is a Polish-American psychiatrist and historian of the Polish Armed Forces in World War II. After the outbreak of World War II and the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland, Peszke, his mother Eugenia Halina Grębocka Peszke, and his... The multinational Combined Task Force One Five Zero (CTF-150) The British Grand Fleet, the supreme naval force of World War I A rare occurrence of a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea. ... Michael Alfred Peszke (born 1932, Dęblin, Poland) is a Polish-American psychiatrist and historian of the Polish Armed Forces in World War II. After the outbreak of World War II and the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland, Peszke, his mother Eugenia Halina Grębocka Peszke, and his... Piotr Stefan Wandycz is a Polish-American historian, President of the Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of America, and profesor emeritus at Yale University, specializing in Eastern and Central European history. ... Gen. ... Before a wall map of the Warsaw Ghetto at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Jan Karski recalls his secret 1942 missions into the Nazi prison-city-within-a-city. ... Adam Zamoyski - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

See also

• History of Poland (1939–1945)
• List of Polish armies in World War II
• List of Polish divisions in World War II
• Polish Secret State
• Polish government in Exile
• Western betrayal
• Many books and articles on Soviet and Polish tanks and armor by author and military historian Janusz Magnuski
• Blackhawk (comics)

The history of Poland from 1939 through 1945 encompasses the German invasion of Poland through to the end of World War II. On September 1, 1939, without a formal declaration of war, Germany invaded Poland. ... The following is a list of Polish Armies during the World War II, together with their commanders and brigade and division-sized units. ... This is a list of Polish divisions in WWII. // For more details on this topic, see List of Polish armies in World War II. Armia Prusy Armia Pomorze Armia PoznaÅ„ Armia Łódź Armia Lublin Armia Kraków Armia Karpaty Armia Modlin Armia Warszawa Armia MaÅ‚opolska SGO Polesie Polish 1st... Polish Secret State (also known as Polish Underground State; Polish Polskie Państwo Podziemne) is a term coined by Jan Karski in his book Story of a Secret State; it is used to refer to all underground resistance organizations in Poland during World War II, both military and civilian. ... The Government of the Polish Republic in Exile was the government of Poland after the country had been occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during September-October 1939. ... Western betrayal is a popular term in many Central European nations (including Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, the Baltic States, and East Germany) which refers to the foreign policy of several Western countries during the period from the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 through World War II and... Janusz Magnuski (1933-1999) was a Polish author and military historian. ... Blackhawk #12 (Autumn, 1946), Quality Comics. ...

External links

• Military contribution of Poland to World War II, Polish Ministry of Defence official page
• Polish contribution to the Allied victory in World War 2 (1939-1945), PDF at the site of Polish Embassy (Canada)
• The Poles on the Fronts of WW2
• Polish units in defence of France, 1939-1940
• Polish Squadrons Remembered
• Veterans Monument in Buffalo, NY
• The History Of Poland: The Second World War
• Gilbert J. Mros: This V-E Day say 'dziekuje' to the Poles
• Listen to Lynn Olsen & Stanley Cloud, authors of "A Question of Honor," speak about the "Kościuszko" Squadron and Polish contribution to World War II here.
• Captain Kazimierz DUDA - 1st Polish Armoured Division - C.K.M.