[ENG.] Very interesting article polish intelligence in WO2

[Robspad]

Orginal tekst:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/0d441dfa-ecf1- ... 511c8.html
Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade
By Kwan Yuk Pan
Published: July 5 2005 03:00 | Last updated: July 5 2005 03:00

Among the veterans who will march along The Mall on Sunday in a parade marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the second world war, few will participate with the same pride as a contingent of elderly Poles.


For the Poles and their military standards will be present for the first time in a British victory parade. Even though Poland made one of the largest contributions to the Allied war effort and there were thousands of Polish troops stationed in the UK at the time, the country was excluded from the original London celebration in 1946.

Stalin, who had established communist rule in eastern Europe, indicated that he did not wish Poland to be represented and the British authorities agreed for fear of offending their ally.

Now Britain is making amends by putting the Poles at the head of Sunday's parade.

"It's very good that it's happening. But it's a bit late in the day," says 95-year-old Witold Leitgeber, a former Polish army captain who, like many others, settled in Britain after the war.

Jan Zielonka, lecturer in European politics at Oxford University, says: "Historically, Polish contribution to the war has never been sufficiently acknowledged. Poland provided the fourth largest Allied army in the war yet they were excluded from marching in the celebration because Stalin wanted it so."

The invitation to the Polish veterans is the latest in a series of British gestures to respond to historical Polish grievances.

Tony Blair, the prime minister, has addressed these complaints as part of efforts to build relations with the European Union's new members, especially Poland.

The parade coincides with the start of the UK's presidency of the EU, but British and Polish officials insist that the invitation has nothing to do with the UK's current political challenges in Europe. "It's not about politics. It's about acknowledging the Poles' valuable contributions to the Allies' victory," said the Foreign Office.

Officials said the invitation was issued in April, after months of planning. The ground was laid two years ago when Mr Blair formally expressed regret to Poland for the 1946 parade snub.

However, putting right the historical record has improved bilateral ties in a broader sense.

Adam Rotfeld, Poland's foreign minister, told the Financial Times yesterday: "These issues are important in Poland because Poles have been deceived so often about their history (notably, under communism). This matters to our national identity."

In a separate move yesterday, Mr Rotfeld and Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, launched a report on wartime intelligence co-operation between Poland and Britain.

Five years in the making, it was prepared in response to Polish complaints that its contribution to the secret war had never been recognised properly.

The 586-page report, prepared by a committee of British and Polish historians, details Polish achievements headed by the first breaking of the German Enigma code cyphers in 1932-33 by three mathematicians: Marian Rejewski, Henryk Zygalski and Jerzy Rozycki.

They later smuggled

their discoveries to the

west where they formed the basis of the work of Britain's code-breakers at Bletchley Park.

Polish spies also supplied information on Hitler's invasion of Russia, the Germans' secret weapons including the VI and V2 rockets, and the Nazi defences in France in advance of the D-Day landings.

The report says that 43 per cent of all the reports received by the British secret services from continental Europe in 1939-45 came from Polish sources.

Mr Straw said that without the contribution of Polish intelligence, the victory of peace and democracy would have been far less

certain.

[Maj.Cain]

Far to little and far too late, British should have done more and far sooner than now!!

Regards,
Cain

[Michiel M.]

Indeed, far and far too late.... I think it's said for those veterans...

[Jeeper704]

Britain should be ashamed, because the Polish soldiers fought brave and very hard during the war.
For example at the closing of the Falaise Gap in August 1944, the Polish troops had to fight off retreating Germans trying desperately to escape the encirclement.
According to what I have read, not one Polish soldier was not wounded after the fighting was over, but they stood their ground.

So, my hat is off to the Polish troops!

[Nick]

Britain should be ashamed, because the Polish soldiers fought brave and very hard during the war.
For example at the closing of the Falaise Gap in August 1944, the Polish troops had to fight off retreating Germans trying desperately to escape the encirclement.
According to what I have read, not one Polish soldier was not wounded after the fighting was over, but they stood their ground.

So, my hat is off to the Polish troops!

I fully agree with you!!

[Maj.Cain]

Don't forget Monte Cassino!!

[Jeeper704]

And the Polish Airmen in the Battle of Britain (as good as the Belgians, hehe).

[Robspad]

And Tobruk and Gazala in Africa.

Regarding Polish pilots in Battle of Britain:

"On August 30, 1940 the squadron scored its first victory, against a German Do-17Z bomber. In these actions 303 Squadron achieved the highest number of kills from amongst the 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it was late in joining combat, starting 2 months after the battle had begun. In its first seven days of combat, the squadron destroyed nearly forty enemy planes. The squadron became a legend of the Battle of Britain and its pilots were called "the glamour boys of England"."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._303_(P ... _statistic

[John Rambo]

I never realised that the role of the Polish was so underestimated. Its a shame. Brittain and France should have came up more early with this.

Rambo

[Zitadelle]

Did you know for example that only 4 of the 56 squadrons of RAF Fighter Command were Polish, but the Poles accounted for 15 per cent of the German aircraft destroyed during the Battle of Britain??

(Source: "Six Armies in Normandy" by John Keegan)

I always thought that the Polish role during World War II is and was underestimated.

[Robspad]

More
Interesting fact:
Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain fighting in British squadrons too.
e.g. In 501 Squadron - pilot Antoni Glowacki, who on August 24 enjoyed a remarkable success, shooting down no fewer than five German aircraft in one day.
http://avstop.com/History/AroundTheWorl ... ndex1.html

I command the best selling books:
"A Question of Honor
The Kosciuszko Squadron:
Forgotten Heroes of World War II"
by Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud
http://www.questionofhonor.com/index1.htm


Robert