First Polish Armoured Division 1938-47 written by Evan McGilvray &
Janusz Jarzembowski and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback -
Pages 320
The First Polish Armoured Division was formed in Scotland in February 1942 from Polish
exiles who had escaped first Poland and then France. Its commander, Stanislaw Maczek,
and many of its men had previously served in Polish 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade
(10 BKS), which had taken part in the Polish invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and given
a good account of itself in defence of Poland against German and Soviet invasion of 1939.
Under Maczek’s leadership, the division was trained and equipped along British lines in
preparation for the invasion of France.
Attached to 1st Canadian Army, the division was sent to Normandy in late July 1944. It suffered heavily during Operation Totalize but went on to play a crucial role in preventing an orderly German withdrawal from the Falaise Pocket by its stand at Hill 262. They then played their part in the advance across Western Europe and into Germany.
This detailed history, supported by dozens of archive photos, concludes by looking at the often-poor treatment of Maczek and his men after the war.
I’ve been looking forward to reading this book as I find the Polish army side of things is always underwritten by WW2 historians apart from those flyers involved in a number of roles within the RAF. The book is almost split into a year-by-year look at the Polish Division, the first couple of chapters look at the division pre-38 & the reorganisation in Britain when Poland was eventually overrun. The book then looks at the training and planning for future events and operations they will be involved in in the next coming years. Now the Polish soldiers were determined, skilled and in many cases well trained and they tried to learn many fighting skills from the British. The Polish were skilled and did well in Czechoslovakia and they would do well throughout the war, they did have problems mainly in standards and training, but I would put this down more to the disorganisation when they were fighting after Poland had been taken.
The book is supported by much evidence and reports, and I enjoyed the personal statements and stories that run throughout the book, and I must say there is a good standard of photographs throughout which do add weight to a good read. Although there did seem to be a lack of maps, maybe that was just me, but I found some of the battles they were involved in would have given more knowledge to the reader. A rare book on Polish military history but one I enjoyed.
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