The II Polish Corps, under the command of Lt.General
Wladyslaw Anders, was formed as a result of the Sikorski
Maisky Agreement signed on December 4, 1941. After
Germany's invasion of Russia, in June 1941, Stalin and
Sikorski pledged mutual military support in the fight against
a common enemy.
Part of the agreement dealt with the formation of a Polish
army on Soviet soil, to fight alongside the Red Army against
the Nazi threat. General Sikorski and General Anders met
with Stalin to discuss the details of the Polish armament,
conditional upon the release of all Polish prisoners held
in Soviet camps.
When the Soviets invaded Poland in September 1939, the NKVD arrested and deported over 1.5 million Poles to Russian
gulag where hundreds of thousands of Poles suffered the most brutal of Soviet torture. Suddenly, Stalin agreed to the
release of the Poles, granting them "amnesty" - their only "crime" was their resistance to Russian supremacy. Though
Stalin led the Allies to believe that he would release them all, only a small number was given official permission to leave.
Approximately 100,000 Poles were released from the camps. All efforts by Sikorski and Anders to obtain the release of the
remaining prisoners failed.
Thousands of Polish military poured out of Soviet concentration camps, followed by thousands of civilians, men, women and
children. Severely emaciated, starving and suffering from disease, many died trying to reach army checkpoints. Anders was
anticipating the arrival of some 15,000 Polish officers, but none ever reported for duty. After an extensive inquiry and search,
no trace of them could be found. Anders approached Stalin on numerous occasions demanding to know their whereabouts
but was always met with evasion and lies. ( See Katyn Massacre ) To make matters worse, the infamous NKVD, (the
predecessor to todays KGB ) took extraordinary measures to ensure that as many Poles as possible would perish. There
were numerous instances where Polish refugees were forced to disembark from trains and convoys, and left stranded on
the Russian steppes without supplies, food or water, while their transports went on without them.
Taking advantage of the terms of the Polish-Soviet Agreement, Stalin insisted on sending Polish army units to the front
without providing them with reinforcements. Anders refused to permit this, calling it a wholesale slaughter of his
men. Undeterred, Stalin reduced the food rations to the refugees from 70,000 to 26,000 soldiers. It was not enough to
sustain them - there were over 115,000 Polish refugees, both military and civilian. In August 1942, Anders met with Churchill
to discuss the organization of the Polish armed forces and plans to have them evacuated from Russia. It was agreed that
they would be transferred to Persia (Iran) to serve under the command of General Wilson. This breakthrough gave Anders
hope that Great Britain would not abandon Poland. After interminable postponements, Stalin finally agreed to an evacuation
of the Polish refugees. News of the evacuation erupted in a violent flood of thousands upon thousands more Polish POWs
heading towards Russian borders. Not all made it out in time. The remainder were trapped in Russia, not given official
permission to leave.
The Polish army was also stationed in Iraq, camped out in tents under the blistering heat. Many men, women and children
suffered bouts of malaria, but to the Poles it was nothing. They had already suffered worse. Training sessions took place all
throughout the Middle East, but none so inspiring as that located in Gaza, Mount Sinai, and Nazareth - the Holy Land. In a
short time, the men were miraculously transformed into healthy, strong fighting soldiers.
The 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division arrived in Palestine.They were formed from the Carpathian Infantry Brigade, under the
command of Brigadier-General Stanislaw Kopanski, and under whose command fought brilliantly at Tobruk. Other troops
which arrived were the Carpathian Lancers, the 12th Podbole Lancers, and the 15th Poznan Lancers, among many other
Divisions. Just when the Polish forces were assembled and in excellent form, Churchill approached Anders and obliged him
to give up 3,500 of his best soldiers to reinforce the Polish Air Force in Great Britain. (They were to become a vital part of
of winning the Battle of Britain. See Kosciuszko Squadron) Anders complied.
During this time the Allies had landed on the Italian mainland - September 1943. Anders was again under intense
pressure from British Command to transfer several thousand more Polish troops to England. Anders strongly opposed this
measure and argued that his army had to remain as strong as possible and to engage in battle as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the Soviet government had already set up the Union of Polish Patriots (UPP), a move which accelerated the
already deteriorating relationship between Russia and Poland. The UPP forced the enlistment of vast number of Poles who
had been prevented from leaving Russia during the evacuation.
By 1943, the II Polish Corps was fit, fully trained, and ready to engage in battle. In a letter to Anders on July 22, 1943,
General Wilson expressed anticipation for the arrival of the Polish soldiers in Italy