Many, many years ago in a farm north of Oxford, I talked with a British farmer who, as a young enlisted man, had interacted extensively with Polish soldiers during the war. He described them as the toughest, most resilient people he had ever met. "Tough as nails, tough as nails," he kept repeating, his head shaking in amazement at the memories of seeing the Poles endure without hesitation the ugliest weathers, the harshest conditions, the most hopeless missions and above all, the perpetual disillusionment with their allies and their own fate. Poland is a martyred country that lives on because of its people. It is not a country made exclusively of earth and water, but of the flesh, the blood and the strength of mind and soul of its people. God bless them and keep them all. Long live Poland.
Polish expatriates also had an outsized influence in America’s war of independence, establishing the cavalry and building defenses especially at West Point
Watching this video and thinking about the way Britain and Poland have been supporting the Ukrainians, it seems that these two countries have far and away the most sincere aversion to totalitarianism in all of Europe... When I think about that, and when I remember the very risky and brave Polish labor movement that got the ball rolling and eventually led to the fall of the Iron Curtain, I simply cannot express my overwhelming gratitude to the Polish people... except to just say "thank you"
My hometown, Breda (Netherlands), was liberated by the 1st Polish Armoured Division. They were certainly not forgotten here. Many are buried here in the polish warcemetary, including their commanding officer general Maczek. Many also ended staying here after the war, marrying local women and build a new life here rather than returning to newly communist Poland. The local war-memorial is in fact a german panther-tank the polish captured somwhere and put on a pedestal here.
My grandfather was in that division (tank driver), and he ended up marrying my dutch grandmother. I have his mediocre hairline and her superior height! He settled in Canada eventually.
@@neilturner6749 like many of his generation it was the smoking that killed him before his time. But he kickstarted a large happy family and I carry his (unpronounceable) surname :)
Here in Poland it is quite a common knowledge that people of Netherlands take care of memorial points for Polish sacrifice. It is commendable and you have ours respect for this.
As a Pakistani, we have a lot to thank Polish military officers, especially in aeronautics. One man in particular needs to be mentioned. Often overlooked by the majority, but not entirely forgotten, Air Commodore Władysław Józef Marian Turowicz, commonly known as W. J. M. Turowicz, played a crucial role in the formation of the Pakistan Air Force and gained recognition as a key figure in Pakistan's space and missile program. Hailing from Poland, he emerged as a celebrated national hero in Pakistan.
Thanks for posting. My father was one of the 19 pilots that accompanied Turowicz. At the time the option was returning to Poland and being tried as a terrorist or going to Pakistan. They were paid half the salaries of the departing British and Indian pilots. As you said, a wonderful story.
As you wrote, mostly forgotten. Due to communist regime, after the war heroes were persecuted and many of them killed in prisons by the Russian ocupant and its Polish colaborants. The history was not taught in schools properly, just propaganda. The reason why a lot of people knows about it today is only because of the peoples passion to uncover the truth and because people like you write about it. Thank you so much, I didn't know about Turowicz, I'll surelu dig deeper thanks to your comment. 😍
I used to drink with Jerry a Polish soldier who fought at Monte Cassino. He said it was a terrible battle. He was friends with a Para, they had previously encountered each other at Monte Cassino and became best friends when meeting again 40 years later in the pub and recognising each other. I spent many evenings listening to the two of them telling their war stories. Both heroes.
Here in The Netherlands we never forgotten the Polish men who fought here, we have several monuments remembering their bravery. There is also a dedicated Polish Airborne memorial-walk every year in Driel, and in Museum Hartenstein there is much info about the actions around Arnhem.The memorial walk is not the more well-known Airborne March in Oosterbeek,, but still well visited.
The Polish forces were prevented from being present at the Victory Parade in London, as it was feared that their presence there would anger Stalin. A school friend's father (who was Polish) had fought with the British Army and was particularly bitter about that event. Also many Poles were shipped back to Poland after the war and were immediately sent to Gulags, usually never to return. Not very good treatment by the British Government of the day.
Oh, Jesus Christ, why do we, Poles gotta complain on that V-day parade every-goddamned-time? The Brits let the Polish people stay, live and thrive in the UK or around the world of the Commonwealth. Litości, proszę. Nie było to super fair, ale chyba lepiej kłaść glazurę w Londynie, niż być "przesłuchiwanym" przez Lunę Brystigierową w Warszawie.
Mr Felton, we Poles are eternally grateful for what you're doing to give our warriors a worldwide recognition, as they fully deserve it. Also I would like to amend something in your video. 2nd Armored Cavalry Brigade wasn't actually a brigade, nor the Cavalry one, in fact it was 2nd PSK - 2 Pułk Strzelców Konnych- 2nd Mounted Rifles Regiment, which was the first one to be motorised in Polish Army before the outbreak of the war. Thank you and God bless you.
@@Matt.Willoughby True, first person to blame was actually Roosevelt, as he "fell in love" with Stalin, Churchill opposed that stance, but had little to say in the matter due to being dependent on American Lend-Lease, unfortunately.
@@carlharris2808 You owe us nothing except recognition, if you're truly an ally, than stand with us next time another totalitarianism emerge. Poland do not desert her allies and we expect the same.
My late father was the son of a Polish officer murdered at Katyn, he came out of Russia via Persia and India to eventually arrive in England and joined the Polish navy, he was on a ship called the ORP Dragon which took part I. The D-Day landings, shelling German army positions around Caen. A German mini sub attacked the destroyer and badly damaged it, 30 Polish sailors died in the attack and ship was towed into the coastline and was scuttled to form part of a Mulberry harbour. He was reposted to another ship via Plymouth and was demobbed and settled in London as he could not return to Poland after the war. One small episode in the history of Polish forces during WW2…….it is also worth mentioning the memorial in the Gunnersbury Park cemetery to the murdered Polish officers at Katyn which was finally erected decades after the end of the war, again due to the fear of upsetting Anglo Soviet relations post war…..
Thank you for telling a story of your valiant father, Mark. I remember visiting a few years ago a permanent part of an exhibition in Gunnersbury Park Museum about "Enigma" computer. A Polish family has donated a few artefacts to the Museum: there was a black & white photo of a Polish scientist and a typed description of how he, a fine mathematician agreed to share his knowledge & his calculations with the British intelligence on one condition - that they let in, into the safety of the UK, not just him, but also his wife & children. His request was fulfilled. He has made an important contribution into the solving of the "Enigma" code. On a separate note, I would like to thank the Polish nation for not only helping my fellow Ukrainians to fight our common enemy - the Russians, but also for providing shelter & giving love & care to our refugees: women with children, elderly & disabled, civilians & combatants - wounded & maimed. Your people have a big heart. Our common history is riddled with difficult episodes of injustice & massacres. I am very sorry for the part some men from my nation played in those awful events. Please forgive them - & us. Poland is a good neighbour & a true friend in times of strife & a great need. Keep well, Mark & keep telling people of the past. When we forget the past history we are bound to re-live it again, alas... Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła!
@@ipodman1910 Thank you for reading the comments & for taking time to write to me. You made my day. Look after yourself & your relatives & friends: together we are stronger & also happier. Long live Poland! Kind regards from London, Olena.
I grew up in London in the immediate aftermath of WW2 and I remember, as a real youngster, the place being full, in a good way, of Poles and Czechs. Hard, disciplined, proud, orderly men bringing a calm dignity to delivery driving, shop work, cafe ownership, car repair work and so on. I was in awe of them - and a bit scared, too.
@@rjames3981attack is not really a right word here. There was no fighting there. They just claimed it just like Czechs did it 2 decades earlier. This situation was a result of land disputes dating all the way back to 1919 when Czechs captured the land using force.
‘In his postwar memoirs, Winston Churchill compared Germany and Poland to vultures landing on the dying carcass of Czechoslovakia The Soviet Prime Minister, Molotov, denounced the Poles as "Hitler's jackals".[59]’ ‘The Polish Army, commanded by General Władysław Bortnowski, annexed an area of 801.5 km2 with a population of 227,399 people. In November 1938, Poland crossed into Slovakia where a minor firefight took place at Spisz, .......Poland occupied some northern parts of Slovakia and received territories around Suchá Hora and Hladovka, around Javorina, and in addition the territory around Lesnica in the Pieniny Mountains, a small territory around Skalité and some other very small border regions. Poland officially received the territories on 1 November 1938.
@@rjames3981 does it change anything? I'll Say it once again Poland and Czechia had land disputes over these territories for 2 decades now at that point. Previously they werr claimed by Czechs when Poles were busy with wars elsewhere. Isn't it natural for a country to take lands it claims to belong to it when the other country that was governing them falls apart? Do you think India wouldn't take it's disputed territories with Pakistan if it was to be partitioned? That's how claiming territories work
The polish did not nearly receive the recognition her armed forces and people deserve. Then they went from Nazi occupation to Soviet occupation. Absolutely phenomenal job in research Dr. Felton!!!
@@Elcicikos Poland was dealing with Japan and Germany before the invasion. The MR pact was a last effort attempt at making time for the soviets to defend itself from German invasion after they couldn't get Europe to forge an anti-fascist coalition (every European leader was in bed with the fascists before the war).
back in the early 80's I was a Bartender and my Boss was Polish. As a 15 year old when Germany took Poland he took his paper route money and asked a Pilot at Linden Airport NJ to train him. after he got his pilots cert he asked his parents if he could go to fight for Poland and they agreed. He landed in London only to find Poland was over. He joined the RAF wing and soon the Polish Force. he fought with them until the Americans Joined and he had to be absorbed and became part of a Bomber group. The man was amazing and led quite the life from what I recall these many years later.
He was not the only one! There were American pilots who helped defend Poland in 1920 - 20 years earlier against Bolsheviks. There is a book about them - it’s called “a matter of honour” - try it! It’s a great story
As Pole, I thank You for the video. ❤ Polish soldiers fought on many fronts of WW2 but are often forgotten in Western popular history. Poland - First To Fight! 🛡🇵🇱 Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła! 👑🇵🇱
As a german i know of their contribution to the fictory of the battle of England as fighter pilots + as regular soldiers fighting alongside the allies. Greetings from germany
The Polish destroyer Piorun was attached to the Royal Navy units that finally hunted down the German battleship Bismarck in the spring of 1941. On the night before the Bismarck was finally sunk this destroyer harrassed the limping battleship in a one hour artillery duel, while taunting the Germans with transmissions of "I am a Pole".
They forced German staff inside to not go to sleep. Piorun had too weak bullets to pierce through tho polish efforts made Bismark's crew exhausted from lack of sleep and it caused them sinking their battleship.
"Nie błagamy o wolność, my walczymy o wolność" - gen. Witold Urbanowicz "We don't beg for freedom, we fight for freedom" - gen. Witold Urbanowicz Love Poland from the Czech Republic 🇵🇱❤️🇨🇿
Wydaje mi się, że przesłanka tego jest dość dziwna. Mam ponad 60 lat i zawsze byłem świadomy, że wolni Polacy byli bardzo ważną i bardzo zdeterminowaną częścią sił walczących z Hitlerem, bardzo dużą częścią sił zgromadzonych tutaj w Wielkiej Brytanii. I hope that this translation works as I had intended.
@@czechoslovakpatriot4773 I'm so happy that finally there's peace and brotherhood between our nations. Sadly it took us 45 years of communism to realise that there's more in common between us than there's differences. God bless you Czech brothers.
My father was halfway through his compulsory military service in Poland when the nazis and then the russians invaded. He was evacuated first to Norway, then France, then England and then sent to Palestine. He fought in North Africa, and in Italy, marrying my Italian mother. For me, it is a shame that he did not live long enough to see his homeland regain its strength and freedom . On behalf of my father and all those he served beside, thank you Mark for this wonderful video presentation.
@jorgegawlik8681 --- Hello. Interesting post. That is amazing that a Pole married an Italian, considering the languages are very different. How did they communicate?
@gusloader123 He learned Italian while he was fighting there, as well as learning English while he was in England and Palestine. A couple of years later, after marrying, my parents went to Argentina, where I was born. So I guess you could add Spanish to the languages that they could speak and understand.
@@jorgegawlik8681 Interesting. Thanks for the reply. Some people can do that, for others it is a difficult task. I took French class in 7th and 8th grade but could never get their weird language rules into my head. Silent letters and using Le and La in front of a word even if the word was neither male nor female, such as "Table" -> "Le Table". I do remember how to sing Silent Night-Holy Night and Jingle Bells en Francaise. 😊
I would argue Poland suffered less than the Chinese, in terms of sheer scale and brutality. However, in the European theater of the war…the Poles suffered the most indeed.
This is outstanding! The polish people are great! They are a warrior culture! I was in the us army in afghanistan and I served with many polish troops! This is outstanding!!! 🇵🇱!!!!!
I've never forgotten the Poles. They were magnificent in ww2. From Bzura to Narvik to Cassino and Falaise. I have a ww2 battle dress with Polish insignia. Obtained it from a fellow soldier, a Pole. His father served in the 3rd Carpathian.
I met the founder of the Henri Lloyd clothing company at Powerscourt Waterfall near Dublin once. He was very old and wearing a lot of medals and I spoke with him - he had fought in Italy and said how proud they were at defeating the Germans at Monte Cassino which they saw as their first victory over the Germans.. Like so many of the Poles who fought in World War II he could not return to his so-called "liberated country" and settled in the UK. His name was Henryk Strzelecki - a true hero of his country. I enjoy your videos btw
I know a felllow Polish man in my local area who was exiled into the depths of Siberia during WW2, he and a large group of people then walked to Persia but he was only a child. He remembered everything perfectly like it just happened yesterday. Niech żyje Polska 🇵🇱
I had an uncle who was in the Polish Army in 1939. He was captured by the Soviets when they attacked Poland from the east. He ended up at a prison camp in Siberia (he and his fellow Polish soldiers literally had to build their own prison barracks when they first arrived). Eventually, he was freed by the Soviets when they joined the Allies. He ended up in a Polish Army unit which fought at Monte Cassino in Italy. After the war his cousin in the U.S. sponsored his coming to the United States. One thing I recall him telling me was, "Never trust a Russian."
In the nineties an elderly gentleman knocked my door and when he spoke I recognised he had an east European accent. I spoke to him in Russian (I know a few words from my university days) and he replied in Russian saying he was Polish. Turned out he had been a teenager in E Poland in 39 when the Soviets occupied the country and had been imprisoned and tortured by the NKVD. When the Nazis invaded he was imprisoned by them but escaped into the forest and fought them as a partisan until the Soviets kicked the Nazis out when he joined a Polish unit fighting to the end of the war when he deserted and crossed into the US occupation area. He then bought and sold on the black market using the items and money to get people to the west. Later he came to Britain and worked in a coal mine before running a car sales business until he retired. He had an amazing but terrifying life and was v lucky to survive. He came back a few times to my home and was gracious enough to let me read his life story that he had typed up and which was published a couple of years later. Poland lost proportionally more of its citizens in WW2 than any other nation and suffered horrendously under both the Soviets and the Nazis. He hated both enemies but didn’t hate the peoples themselves. As he said there are good and bad people everywhere.
My grandfather was the same, he and his brothers all survived soviet prison,, though his unit took part in post-dday campaign, notably Caen then into Holland. And now Im married to a Russian! 😅
Glad he survived the war. It's really sad reading some stories in the comment ending it with "killed". All because some group of people building third reich.
Not forgotten by me. My ex wife had a Polish grandfather. When the Germans invaded Poland, the SS accused him and his brother for running messages for the allies (they weren't) . His brother was burnt to death in an oil barrel in front of him as a punishment. He was taken to a concentration camp with his mother and he and another man jumped and killed a German guard while on a work party. He then ended up In Yugoslavia fighting for the partisans. Finally he got to England and fought with the free Polish army at Monte Casino. The Polish commanders told them they may as well die at Monte Casino as Russia had invaded Poland and they had no country to go back to. Peter spent the rest of his life in England and died around 2005. Although I am no longer with his granddaughter, that man was my hero and a smashing guy too. Obviously he grew up with a hatred of all things German and Russian. The Poles were fearless and you only have to read the stories of them going up in spitfire's to try and shoot down Germans when British pilots would not fly in terrible weather.
Great story and hail to you for respecting that great man despite breaking up with his daughter! One additional thing - Poles flew hurricanes! Only later 303 and other got spitfires!
I have never forgotten the Polish forces in WWII. We knew one of these brave men: he escaped a German POW camp, walked across Poland to the sea. Joined the Free Polish Army un the UK. Was at Monte Casino, then after DDay fought across Europe. After the war, His wife and son were warned to not go home as the Russians were coming to arrest them. They eventually arrived in London. I believe they're contribution made a very valuable contribution to winning the war. He and is family never went back.
Some mishmash in his story - if he fought in Monte Cassino - he was not in England. If he escaped to England from Poland - he was not at Monte Cassino 1 he would have to go through russia to get there… strange!
My father fought throughout WW2, 4th Indian Div if memory serves. He never forgot the Poles. He was at Monte Cassino with them, he said he had never seen anything like it. They hated the Germans with a vengeance and were quite prepared to die. I remebering him saying to no one in particular, almost thinking out loud, something along the lines of "they continued assaulting German positions till they got them, when one fell another took his place. The Gurkhas were goind mad trying to protect them with Bren guns but they didn't seem to care. They were like machines".
@@jancyraniak the conduct of your fathers in WW2 bears no resemblance to the depraved and barbaric behaviour of the Japanese. The Poles, at least by their Allies, where admired. The Japanese loathed by anyone with a sense of morality....
Thank you Mister Felton. My Grandfather was a soldier in the polish Army and got a pov after getting captured in the battle of Modlin in the last days of September. My Grandmother was a Partisan in the woods north of Kielce and was a invalid after a fight with the occupants. A lot of my family died during the occupation. Thank you for keeping their spirit alive with your videos!
@@_Jaspy_it’s a normal “Polish” family history. My great grandpa fought against ruskies alongside Pilsudski in 1914-1918… then he fought against Ukrainians for Przemysl and Lwów, in 1920 he won against Bolsheviks. My other great grandpa died in Warsaw uprising, my grandpa fought in AK (not Africa Korps ;) - Armia Krajowa- Home Army) and lost his kidney during “Tempest” operation in 1944 the whole Polish underground was supposed to help Warsaw in uprising. They cut his kidney out in the woods after he was shot in a battle. The only anaesthesia was a glas of vodka… My other grandpa - a prisoner of Majdanek death camp. He was Polish so not meant to go to a chamber at that time - but a death march to Leipzig in 1944…
My great grandfather was forced to serve in the Wehrmacht and when he was stationed near monte Casino he defected to Polish forces, he has some really cool photos later with his Polish buddies in Rome
One of these tourists, John “Janusz” Nieduzak died in my hometown of Buffalo NY. in 2020 at age 100. He fought at Monte Cassino and was one of those who came into British service thru Syria.
@Mark Felton - As myself being a Pole, I can not be more thankful for this remarkable episode! We need more discussions about Poland especially in modern, unprecedented times! 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱
My great grandfather Zenobiusz served in the 3rd Carpathain Rifle Division in the British 8th Army, and fought in North Africa and Italy, including at the battle of Monte Cassino
@@maximkretsch7134With all good will in the world I can not let this comment pass without a reply. The level of condescension beaming from your comment Sir reveals that you would like to teach others history but you yourself seam unable to accept accounts that don’t fit your view of the world. To tell a nation it is not European in spite over 1000 years of history and even after watching MF’s film goes to show either a profound lack of knowledge or lack of good will. First one can be remedied but I get a feeling it is the second one that plays a major tune. That condescending attitude has a long history in the World. History, that Mark Felton makes movies about.
I am so proud of the sacrifices, determination and gumption of the Polish people during WW2. Terribly underrated by many historians but, in truth, not forgotten. Long live Poland, their people and the memory of their sacrifices. 🇵🇱
Thank you for the recognition of these heroes dr. Felton. This is so important for us all to know the pain the polish people endured. Also - please make a video about Witold Pilecki. The greatest hero every lived - who volunteerd to go into Aushwitz and escaped! Absolutely madness!
Thank you for this. My father was a navigator in 300 Polish Bomber Squadron RAF, flying Wellingtons in 1941-3, having served in 1939 in reconnaissance in Poland, escaped via Romania, re-formed in France and escaped to Britain. In 1944 he was seconded to the US 9th Army Air Force flying B26 Marauders and later A26 Invaders. At the end of the War he stayed on with the RAF and became a British citizen. I am very proud of his medal collection from 4 different allied nations.
There is a pretty good memories book I red about 40 years ago written by one famous in 60 and 70ties Polish cinema actor Mieczysław Pawlikowski titled "Siedmiu z Halifaxa" about his time in Polish bomber squadrons of RAF (also 300) he was fighting in. I remember it as a good source of barely known (and overshadowed by 303) information but i do not know of it was ever translated to English. Maybe they knew each other or any other interesting info for you in it?
I have said this already, but my Great grandfather was a border guard during the invasion of Poland, after he went and fought for France, after France fell, he fought in the Polish second Corps in North Africa and in Italy, Monte Casino, after the war, he was persecuted in Poland by the UB. He fought in 3 wars, WW1 for the Polish legions, Polish Soviet war, and ww2. And my Great Uncle was in the 303 in the Battle of Britain
My Dad was in the Anders army and fought in Monte Cassino before settling in England, and recently, General Sikorski has had a statue erected in the Newark Polish war cemetery!
..Sikorski who was assassinated by Russians and British together. That's why those documents are still and again State Secret and will be secret for next 50 years or so. It is not a next conspiracy theory but remote leaks from someone who had acces and red them quite some years ago.
I had heard of the the Free Polish forces, but did not know how extensively involved they were in the fighting in Europe. This was a very interesting and enlightening video.
Dr Felton. I bow low in gratitude for dedicating another episode to Polish soldiers. Their sacrifice, honor and fight against a common enemy. Respect from viewers from Poland.
I've visited the Wojtek the bear statue in Edinburgh a few times it's an interesting story. Plus a nice monument to the servicemen and women who served in the free polish forces.
In addition to these contributions, a Polish officer invented the portable mine detector. A device used by the allied military in WWII. Good report, Mark.
Having worked in Poland for three years, it's a great country and I was told they view the Germans as the little bully and the Russians as the big bullies. They also did a lot to help crack the Enigma code, having smuggled a machine to the UK and helping to develop the 'Bomb' that they had started developing to de-cipher the Enigma code
Well, it's a survivors bias. People mostly survived Soviet oppression after 1941 when USSR and Alies strated cooperating, which wasn't always the case with nazis that regurarly wiped out entire populations. Statistics are simple, nazis killed overwhelmingly more people, even excluding Polish Jewish population.
Our mathematicians had cracked the code before war and delivered the decripting machine to allies at the beginning of the war. Later the original copy was found on a submarine if I recall well. Still, it was already done before ww2. Best regards
Propaganda in the West omits the fact 200,000 Poles fought alongside the Red Army in the taking of eastern Germany in 1945. (Berling Army) One of the Red Army’s top commanders Marshall Konstantin Rokossovsky was Polish. The founder of the Cheka (forerunner of the KGB) was Polish. Felix Dzerzhinsky. He was replaced by another Pole Vyacheslav Menzhinsky between 1926 -34. (His sister Vera Menzhinsky worked closely with Lenin’s wife and entourage). There are many other examples.....
Important to note that hundreds of thousands of Europeans and Germans fought alongside the Red Army in WW2. The Czechoslovakian Legion who liberated Kiev with the Red Army, Berling’s 200,000 strong Polish Pro Communist Army, the Belarusian and Jewish Partizans, the Bulgarian army that was involved in the capture of Vienna, the Yugoslav Partizan army, the Greek Partizans and the Romanian’s who fought with the Red Army in Hungary. Even the Finns changed sides in 1944. See also below ‘Quite a number of Soviet Germans ended up in partisan detachments and resistance groups. Their knowledge of the German language made them invaluable and they were frequently used in sabotage and reconnaissance operations. One of the most effective partisan commanders of the entire war was Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander German, who was killed in 1943. His brigade succeeded in wiping out 17 German garrisons and 70 rural district administrations, blowing up 31 rail bridges and killing up to 10,000 enemy soldiers’
I have never come across a Polish person who I have not gone on with. They are all super cool. Glad to have them in the UK. Likewise, Lithuanians, great people.
@@rjames3981 In that time in Wilno was leaving 0,7% of Litauanian. Don't forget that Lituania was ally of Bolszewia in war against Polang. Lithuania took 3 times Wilno from Bolszewik hands and after the last one Bolszewik took ALL the Lithuania 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂
@@rjames3981 If you introducing information like these, context is very important Czechoslovakia took Polish part in 1919 (which was retaken by Poles in 1938) And ... that's all, there was no will to negotiate from Praga in twenty years between war
Not so forgotten amongst elderly in the UK. In March 2003 (pre-EU accession of Poland) I went to Lancaster for students exchange revisit. Very first evening I was invited to dinner at my host’s neighbour, ex-RAF crewman and photographer during WW2. My ancestors were in resistance (home army) during WW2, but not in the Polish Army in the West. Despite that it was important to this man, to tell me how much he admired his Polish collegues and how much they contributed to local community after the war (e.g. one of his Polish collegues became or was archtiect, whom designed one of bridges in Lancaster).
Thank you Dr. Felton for your excellent coverage of history others don't mention or suppress! The people of Poland deserve to have their story told and remembered; they fought and died from the first hour of the war until the last to defeat a maniac bent on enslaving and exterminating them.
Mine detector (Polish) Mark I (Polish: wykrywacz min) was a metal detector for landmines developed during World War II. Initial work on the design had started in Poland but after the invasion of Poland by the Germans in 1939, and then the Fall of France in mid-1940, it was not until the winter of 1941-1942 that work was completed by Polish lieutenant Józef Kosacki.[1][2]
The Dutch city of Breda will never forget the Polish forces, having been liberated under leadership of Maczek. He tried to avoid damaging the city as much as possible while trying to liberate them.
My grandfather fought for Breda, survived the war and later returned to Poland. I visited last year to see the city and 1st Polish Armoured Division's Memorial. Greetings.
Never see Dutch in comments thanking Canadians. However, we still receive our tulips annually to our Capital city Ottawa. Sadly our current PM knows little WW2 history.
Polish soldiers fought on many fronts of WW2 but are often forgotten in popular history. Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła! 👑🇵🇱 As Pole, I thank You very much for the video. ❤
During the war my grandmother had a number of Polish officers billited in her house in Harthill in central Scotland. They correspondent with the officers until 1958 and then nothing. Always wondered what happened to these men, were they forbidden to write?, did they die? Free Polish Forces have never been forgotten in the Netherlands.
I met an old polish man at a job I was on in Scotland in the 1990s (he was a digger driver) who had settled in Scotland after the war and he told me how he had walked from Poland to Palestine after fighting the Russians. Said they kept alive by hunting for game on the way. Also told me that he was a tank driver and was under his tank fixing it when it was hit and he was the only survivor.
The Poles were never forgotten where I grew up in Lincolnshire, in fact I went to school with several of their descendants whose Grandfathers had served alongside the British Army and in Polish Bomber Command Squadrons. These men stayed on in the UK after the war, married and had families. Their fanatical hatred of the Germans was legendary and my own Grandfather (who was unfit for military service but served in the NFS) got to know several of them when a Polish Fighter Squadron was based temporarily at a nearby airfield, he'd invite them over for tea sometimes and said they were always very cheerful and polite, but you only had to make the merest mention of the Germans and it was like a black cloud passed across their faces..
One of my Grandfathers in WW2 was in the Cheshire regiment and fought from Tobruk all the way to Monte Cassino, I don't remember much that he told me about that time but I do remember his admiration for his Polish comrades.
As Pole, I thank You cery much for the video. ❤ They fought on North African, Italian and Western front, just to witness their country being overrun by the Soviets at the end. Many did not see free Poland, dying before 1989. 😔
Videos like this also help provide context to the current situation on the Poland-Belarus border. The Poles are determined to never let the Russians, or their proxies, on their soil again. And this time they have the weapons to do so.
Eh, just the normal stuff we learn in Poland on history lessons. But I enjoyed the footage. And of course the fact that it is broadcast in English to people abroad.
Interesting to see that shot of the Polish Airmen in uniform. Dc comics have a slightly forgotten character called Blackhawk. He was big in the forties and just gets mentioned occasionally now. A polish pilot who after the fall of Poland puts together a team of international flyers and calls them the Blackhawks. I'd never realised before just how close Blackhawk's costume was to the real uniform. He's worth a google.
Never to old to learn! Thanks for your info and indeed at DC Comics it is a Polish Janos Prohaska but by Marvel it is an American Pilot fighting for poles. Strange. Got to research it further. Thanks a lot!
The Polish destroyer Piorun attempted to punch above her weight against the Bismarck. Not sure if she scored any hits but the crew definitely put themselves out there in the effort.
I didn't really know to much about the Polish army in WWII thank you. The air force was quite revered though. And can't forget the little destroyer charging the Bismark that's pretty legendary.
Dziękujemy doktorze Felton za ten jakże wartościowy materiał. Jak zwykłe Pański profesjonalizm w atrakcyjnej formie sięga najwyższego poziomu. Gratuluję materiału Polish your Polish dr Felton :)
Thank you for the recognition of my country. Poland was so butually effected by the war that every single Pole today is a decendant of the greatest genocide that ever existed. (that hadn't migrated prior to the war). It's not like in the west where you may have had family serving in a war abroad. Everyone was effected in Poland regardless of gender or age etc
The Allies, especially France and England really betrayed Poland even after the war was over when they let Soviet Union control Poland afterwards even when they were allies.
In 1920 the Cheka (forerunner of the The NKVD and KGB) was led by Felix Dzerzhinsky. He set up The Bolsheviks Security Service. He was Polish (as was his successor Vyacheslav Menzhinsky)
My father was in the Polish, French & British Armies in WW2. He was in signals. He was injured in the invasion of Sept 1939. When in hospital, he heard how captured Polish soldiers were being sent to Germany as slave labour. So he used the red cross to message a friend, who smuggled in civilian clothes to my dad. Dad escaped that nigh down the potato chute & had to run through freezing Krakow streets to his friends house. He crossed many guarded borders. One had snow waist deep. His guide said "even the wolves will stay in tonight". When he got to Yugoslavia, he was given a Royal Mail jacket with a ten shilling note pinned inside the pocket. British civilians had donated clothes to Polish escapees. He got a boat to France & joined the French Army. He was stationed at Versailles. When France was falling, his unit escaped West. His lorry was attacked by Stukas & the driver shot. No one else knew how to drive, but dad had some lessons, so the others told him to drive. He protested he did not have a licence & the others laughed "who is going to ask you for it?" He crashed the gears of that Peugeot truck, all the way to Le Verdun, where the last 4 British ships took the Poles to Liverpool. Dad was sent to Scotland. In Dundee he took down German messages for a group of Polish professors working on the enigma code. That was shut down, so he moved to Falkirk to train agents being dropped into Poland how to use radios. Once he was sent to london, where he was sent to an airfield & put in a Lysander. He sat on a box of dynamite all the way to France. They landed & hid the plane. He spent the day teaching Poles in the resistance how to use the radio & flew back that night. Because of his 1939 injury, he was not dropped into Poland. 30 of the guys he trained, were dropped into the Warsaw uprising. Only 2 survived the war.
Thank you for this video - and you're right, we poles didn't have much to return to. My great grandfather fought in 39 as an infantryman. The worst part for him was going from the Frontlines of ww2 to being a fugitive after the war in his own country and seeing Russian propaganda being presented to the next generation. My grandmother still recalls how she got into an argument with her dad, saying that the Russians saved Poland from the Germans, while my grandfather had to flee persecution after the war.
My sister in laws Dad Frank was at Arnhem with the free Polish and ended up in a German POW camp. After the war he settled n the UK in Etwall, Derbyshire and married my sisters mum. He died a few years back and lies in the local churchyard. May he rest in peace forever in the land he helped keep free.
I had a girl friend who lived in nearby Eggington and I remember talking to a former Polish soldier in a pub in Etwall - must have been Frank. Around 25 years ago
My Dad fought with the Polish Armoured Brigade based at Galashiels. He drove a Quad Gun Tractor pulling an ammo box and a 25 Pounder Gun. Thank you Mr Felton, he would have been 102 this year and would certainly have enjoyed watching this. 👍
Glad you put this video out, so many people forget the amount of sacrifice the the Polish forces endured and how hard they fought to stay free from oppression, it’s absolutely shocking how we deserted them after the war and let them be occupied by another oppressor after Germany was defeated.
I want to thank Dr. Felton for taking the time out and making the past couple of videos regarding the Polish contribution to WWII. The little candles that he ignited regarding these topics burn bright and intensely bringing knowledge to people that were not given their proper due after wars end and the decades after. Thank you Dr. Felton, I will always be grateful to you and all the work you have done regarding this topic.
A tip for future is to look in to Polish paratroopers called “Cichocemni” they were basically trained the same SAS is now and Polish special forces GROM are inspired from them. It’s an awesome story
My mother and her sister were among the civilians,orphans of the regiment,who went to Persia and eventually ended up in a refugee in India.My father was rotating home from the CBI and of Polish ancestry and ended getting both of them to the USA. I also had an uncle who was able to join Anders army and fight at Monte Cassino after being released from a Soviet labor camp.All became US citizens and proud Americans.
As unconditionally PROUD of my heros countrymen for EVERY bit of their fight, the older I grow the stronger is the feeling that it WAS NOT a greatest idea to "give away" the blood of our Nation in this way… WE FIGHT for generations, that we know, it is "in our blood"… but our "elites" often lack of political sense and TOO MANY times we were taken advantage of, "shooting the enemy with diamonds", giving away our national substance for what? To be put aside and forgotten. PS. My late grandfather (1914-2014), 2nd Lieutenant of infantry, captured by the Soviets in September 1939, managed to escape during the railroad transport from Shepetovka camp to Kozielsk camp (from Kozielsk they were ALL sent to Katyn). Others from my family fought on Westerplatte (1st KIA there, and maybe in the whole war, was my great-grandmother sister's son), others were in Anders 2nd Corps, some in the "popular" Polish Army along USSR too. I will NEVER underestimate that, NEVER, and A LOT of Polish families are just like that. But sometimes I just wish my country was clever enough to say "we pass"…
Thank you Dr. Felton for this video and all your work. As a Pole I'm so grateful for your effort in giving my countrymen their well-deserved recognition. Have you considered making a video about polish forces on the Eastern Front? Their story is similar and many of them wanted the same Poland, like their western brothers in arms.
In the late 1960s and early 70's making demeaning jokes about the Polish was a wide spread thing. After reading about their history of how the Polish Winged Hussars saved Vienna and Europe from the Ottoman army, and the events covered here by Mr. Felton, made me angry how ignorant those who made those racist jokes of a nation that suffered so much, fought heroically, but were betrayed by the Allies to the USSR.
Most of my family was exiled to Siberia, my great grandfather was a Polish officer. He was later found in a mass grave in Russia. My great grandmother and her children survived a work camp in Siberia. My great uncle did an interview about the events.
If I may ask, do you know the camp where your family were sent? I know there were many but my grandparents were deported in 1940 and it would be good to know where they ended up. Not many records exist. Mostly it is memories which now are fewer and fewer. Thanks
The Poles deserve more love, as they got thoroughly shafted. But the contributions of the Free Polish armies are remembered wherever they fought. You are not forgotten! We love you guys! Justice for Maczek and Sosabowski! I would argue though that the contributions of the Indians is more forgotten though, if only because they did not fought in Western Europe, only the Middle East, Italy and Greece. 3 Indian divisions fought in Italy and Greece. Many more fought in the Middle East and in Burma. They were the biggest volunteer army in history.
They weren't forgotten by all. I grew up in Coventry during "the cold war" with it's fairly large Polish veteran community and the many British/Polish blended families that resulted from the Polish expats remaining after WWII. They were my Grandparents and parent's colleagues, their Children and Grandchildren were my classmates, neighbours and mates knocking around Coventry in the 1970s and 80s. As a teen, when I started getting interested in this sort of thing in the usual gung ho teenage way, I remember being totally grounded by a conversation with someone I knew's Polish Grandfather. He didn't explain how he got to be in North Africa in the first place but he'd gone through North Africa,Italy and Normandy (although he made it clear he hadn't landed on D-Day). I think the conversation had started over the issue of "A Bridge too far" because I recall he joked that "They should have sent the Polish in first!" The bit that grounded me was when he said so many of his friends didn't come back but none could go home alive or dead. That's stuck with me over SO many years. I doubt he saw the end of the cold War but really hope he did. That brings me on to another story that touched me with a Polish WWII connection; Following Polish accession to the EU and the ability for Poles to settle here; Within a couple of weeks of a small group of very young Polish people starting work in our Warehouse a notice appeared. It was in Polish but had a picture of the local Church. I asked one of them to explain what it was all about so he did; 9 Polish Airmen who served at Baginton in 1940-41 are buried there and these young people were trying to organise a memorial service for them. That really, really touched me. I remember thinking that I doubted many British people of that age, in similar circumstances would do the same.
I just watched A Bridge Too Far and Gene Hackman played the Polish general who deals with High Command’s belittling comments and slights in almost every scene. We need more stories on this brave contribution to the effort.
My Grandfather escaped German forces , then managed to join allied forces (polish ) and ended up in Italy near Cassino. We've only just started to delve into his war records... And so far it's rather interesting!
I've been wishing for more Poland coverage! Thanks! The Polish were the founder's of Monty's feast at Falaise! Would love to see coverage of 'Monty's(Maczek's) Meatgrinder' someday
Dear Dr. Felton, I and my family as Poles appreciate this particular video. Both my Grandparents were in the Polish Army. My Grandfather was a Dr. Anyway, 1 point you brought up was the "Katyn Massacre" my Grandfather's Father was taken by the Soviet Military. Until a few years ago my Father had thought, just as his Father thought. That his Grandfather had died in a camp. But in fact he was one of those killed. This devastated my father but also felt terrible for his father not ever really know what happened. Who's to say? Better to never have known? Thank you again for all of your hard work and dedication. From The Dr. John Gabriel Lipski family
Many, many years ago in a farm north of Oxford, I talked with a British farmer who, as a young enlisted man, had interacted extensively with Polish soldiers during the war. He described them as the toughest, most resilient people he had ever met. "Tough as nails, tough as nails," he kept repeating, his head shaking in amazement at the memories of seeing the Poles endure without hesitation the ugliest weathers, the harshest conditions, the most hopeless missions and above all, the perpetual disillusionment with their allies and their own fate. Poland is a martyred country that lives on because of its people. It is not a country made exclusively of earth and water, but of the flesh, the blood and the strength of mind and soul of its people. God bless them and keep them all. Long live Poland.
they were also 1 of the best fighters in the raf because they came very close to the enemy
thx
We were forged between the anvil of Russia and hammer of Germany…since 996.
Polish expatriates also had an outsized influence in America’s war of independence, establishing the cavalry and building defenses especially at West Point
Watching this video and thinking about the way Britain and Poland have been supporting the Ukrainians, it seems that these two countries have far and away the most sincere aversion to totalitarianism in all of Europe... When I think about that, and when I remember the very risky and brave Polish labor movement that got the ball rolling and eventually led to the fall of the Iron Curtain, I simply cannot express my overwhelming gratitude to the Polish people... except to just say "thank you"
My hometown, Breda (Netherlands), was liberated by the 1st Polish Armoured Division. They were certainly not forgotten here. Many are buried here in the polish warcemetary, including their commanding officer general Maczek. Many also ended staying here after the war, marrying local women and build a new life here rather than returning to newly communist Poland. The local war-memorial is in fact a german panther-tank the polish captured somwhere and put on a pedestal here.
My grandfather was in that division (tank driver), and he ended up marrying my dutch grandmother. I have his mediocre hairline and her superior height! He settled in Canada eventually.
@@jon4139great story with what I hope is a happy ending
@@neilturner6749 like many of his generation it was the smoking that killed him before his time. But he kickstarted a large happy family and I carry his (unpronounceable) surname :)
@@jon4139 ah u just made my day ;)
Here in Poland it is quite a common knowledge that people of Netherlands take care of memorial points for Polish sacrifice. It is commendable and you have ours respect for this.
As a Pakistani, we have a lot to thank Polish military officers, especially in aeronautics. One man in particular needs to be mentioned. Often overlooked by the majority, but not entirely forgotten, Air Commodore Władysław Józef Marian Turowicz, commonly known as W. J. M. Turowicz, played a crucial role in the formation of the Pakistan Air Force and gained recognition as a key figure in Pakistan's space and missile program. Hailing from Poland, he emerged as a celebrated national hero in Pakistan.
very love pakistan in polska polish himelaist wanda rutkowska name mama wanda birth 1933
I heard about that story long time ago from TV documentary. Incredible story.
Thanks for posting. My father was one of the 19 pilots that accompanied Turowicz. At the time the option was returning to Poland and being tried as a terrorist or going to Pakistan. They were paid half the salaries of the departing British and Indian pilots. As you said, a wonderful story.
@@markmelvin299 a warm and humble thank you from all Pakistanis who remember. ♥
As you wrote, mostly forgotten. Due to communist regime, after the war heroes were persecuted and many of them killed in prisons by the Russian ocupant and its Polish colaborants. The history was not taught in schools properly, just propaganda. The reason why a lot of people knows about it today is only because of the peoples passion to uncover the truth and because people like you write about it. Thank you so much, I didn't know about Turowicz, I'll surelu dig deeper thanks to your comment. 😍
1st Polish Armoured Division has a special place in our hearts. Greetings and Dziękuję from Breda (NL)
Thank you ❤
It was very nice to read that you remember about Polish soldiers which liberated your city. Thank you, dziękuję! The best regards from Poland!
This was division of general Maczek
@@virginiawolf6431 Yes, he is buried here next to his brothers in arms.
I used to drink with Jerry a Polish soldier who fought at Monte Cassino. He said it was a terrible battle. He was friends with a Para, they had previously encountered each other at Monte Cassino and became best friends when meeting again 40 years later in the pub and recognising each other. I spent many evenings listening to the two of them telling their war stories. Both heroes.
Para? You mean German paradhooter?
his name was surely Jerzy, which is george, whereas Jerry would be Jeremiasz, which is not common in PL
Here in The Netherlands we never forgotten the Polish men who fought here, we have several monuments remembering their bravery. There is also a dedicated Polish Airborne memorial-walk every year in Driel, and in Museum Hartenstein there is much info about the actions around Arnhem.The memorial walk is not the more well-known Airborne March in Oosterbeek,, but still well visited.
❤️
Well hello there my another self
👍
Jammer dat schoolen leren klein bijtje informatie over tweede wereld oorlog
My Grandfather was one of those men❤
The Polish forces were prevented from being present at the Victory Parade in London, as it was feared that their presence there would anger Stalin. A school friend's father (who was Polish) had fought with the British Army and was particularly bitter about that event. Also many Poles were shipped back to Poland after the war and were immediately sent to Gulags, usually never to return. Not very good treatment by the British Government of the day.
Oh, Jesus Christ, why do we, Poles gotta complain on that V-day parade every-goddamned-time? The Brits let the Polish people stay, live and thrive in the UK or around the world of the Commonwealth. Litości, proszę. Nie było to super fair, ale chyba lepiej kłaść glazurę w Londynie, niż być "przesłuchiwanym" przez Lunę Brystigierową w Warszawie.
🤔Did Stalin (or anyone(s) “known” to be “connected” to him) *actually* demand that the Poles not be present?
That was back when the West worshiped Communism. Not much has chanegd since...
TOO Are SHAME, NO GREATER AILLED THAN THE POLES
Churchill was involved in the decision I understand. Perhaps Mark could illuminate this dark corner of British military history?
Mr Felton, we Poles are eternally grateful for what you're doing to give our warriors a worldwide recognition, as they fully deserve it. Also I would like to amend something in your video. 2nd Armored Cavalry Brigade wasn't actually a brigade, nor the Cavalry one, in fact it was 2nd PSK - 2 Pułk Strzelców Konnych- 2nd Mounted Rifles Regiment, which was the first one to be motorised in Polish Army before the outbreak of the war. Thank you and God bless you.
@@carlharris2808It was not quite as simple as all that Carl.
@@Matt.Willoughby True, first person to blame was actually Roosevelt, as he "fell in love" with Stalin, Churchill opposed that stance, but had little to say in the matter due to being dependent on American Lend-Lease, unfortunately.
@@carlharris2808 You owe us nothing except recognition, if you're truly an ally, than stand with us next time another totalitarianism emerge. Poland do not desert her allies and we expect the same.
@@lm157 well said friend.
True!
My late father was the son of a Polish officer murdered at Katyn, he came out of Russia via Persia and India to eventually arrive in England and joined the Polish navy, he was on a ship called the ORP Dragon which took part I. The D-Day landings, shelling German army positions around Caen. A German mini sub attacked the destroyer and badly damaged it, 30 Polish sailors died in the attack and ship was towed into the coastline and was scuttled to form part of a Mulberry harbour. He was reposted to another ship via Plymouth and was demobbed and settled in London as he could not return to Poland after the war. One small episode in the history of Polish forces during WW2…….it is also worth mentioning the memorial in the Gunnersbury Park cemetery to the murdered Polish officers at Katyn which was finally erected decades after the end of the war, again due to the fear of upsetting Anglo Soviet relations post war…..
Thank you for telling a story of your valiant father, Mark. I remember visiting a few years ago a permanent part of an exhibition in Gunnersbury Park Museum about "Enigma" computer. A Polish family has donated a few artefacts to the Museum: there was a black & white photo of a Polish scientist and a typed description of how he, a fine mathematician agreed to share his knowledge & his calculations with the British intelligence on one condition - that they let in, into the safety of the UK, not just him, but also his wife & children. His request was fulfilled. He has made an important contribution into the solving of the "Enigma" code. On a separate note, I would like to thank the Polish nation for not only helping my fellow Ukrainians to fight our common enemy - the Russians, but also for providing shelter & giving love & care to our refugees: women with children, elderly & disabled, civilians & combatants - wounded & maimed. Your people have a big heart. Our common history is riddled with difficult episodes of injustice & massacres. I am very sorry for the part some men from my nation played in those awful events. Please forgive them - & us. Poland is a good neighbour & a true friend in times of strife & a great need. Keep well, Mark & keep telling people of the past. When we forget the past history we are bound to re-live it again, alas... Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła!
@@olenagoncharuk5061great post! Greetings from Poland!
@@ipodman1910 Thank you for reading the comments & for taking time to write to me. You made my day. Look after yourself & your relatives & friends: together we are stronger & also happier. Long live Poland! Kind regards from London, Olena.
I grew up in London in the immediate aftermath of WW2 and I remember, as a real youngster, the place being full, in a good way, of Poles and Czechs. Hard, disciplined, proud, orderly men bringing a calm dignity to delivery driving, shop work, cafe ownership, car repair work and so on. I was in awe of them - and a bit scared, too.
Poland attacked Czechoslovakia with Germany after the Munich agreement in 1938/9.
@@rjames3981attack is not really a right word here. There was no fighting there.
They just claimed it just like Czechs did it 2 decades earlier. This situation was a result of land disputes dating all the way back to 1919 when Czechs captured the land using force.
‘In his postwar memoirs, Winston Churchill compared Germany and Poland to vultures landing on the dying carcass of Czechoslovakia
The Soviet Prime Minister, Molotov, denounced the Poles as "Hitler's jackals".[59]’
‘The Polish Army, commanded by General Władysław Bortnowski, annexed an area of 801.5 km2 with a population of 227,399 people.
In November 1938, Poland crossed into Slovakia where a minor firefight took place at Spisz, .......Poland occupied some northern parts of Slovakia and received territories around Suchá Hora and Hladovka, around Javorina, and in addition the territory around Lesnica in the Pieniny Mountains, a small territory around Skalité and some other very small border regions. Poland officially received the territories on 1 November 1938.
@@rjames3981 does it change anything? I'll Say it once again Poland and Czechia had land disputes over these territories for 2 decades now at that point. Previously they werr claimed by Czechs when Poles were busy with wars elsewhere.
Isn't it natural for a country to take lands it claims to belong to it when the other country that was governing them falls apart?
Do you think India wouldn't take it's disputed territories with Pakistan if it was to be partitioned?
That's how claiming territories work
That’s right! Poland invaded Czechoslovakia.
The polish did not nearly receive the recognition her armed forces and people deserve.
Then they went from Nazi occupation to Soviet occupation.
Absolutely phenomenal job in research Dr. Felton!!!
soviet occupation? do you mean liberation and reconstruction?
@@heheheha5726 no. It was occupation. They attacked us in 1939 and occupied us until 1993 when the last Russian soldier left Poland
respect to our polish brothers!
@@heheheha5726You’re joking right?
@@Elcicikos Poland was dealing with Japan and Germany before the invasion. The MR pact was a last effort attempt at making time for the soviets to defend itself from German invasion after they couldn't get Europe to forge an anti-fascist coalition (every European leader was in bed with the fascists before the war).
back in the early 80's I was a Bartender and my Boss was Polish. As a 15 year old when Germany took Poland he took his paper route money and asked a Pilot at Linden Airport NJ to train him. after he got his pilots cert he asked his parents if he could go to fight for Poland and they agreed. He landed in London only to find Poland was over. He joined the RAF wing and soon the Polish Force. he fought with them until the Americans Joined and he had to be absorbed and became part of a Bomber group. The man was amazing and led quite the life from what I recall these many years later.
He was not the only one! There were American pilots who helped defend Poland in 1920 - 20 years earlier against Bolsheviks. There is a book about them - it’s called “a matter of honour” - try it! It’s a great story
As Pole, I thank You for the video. ❤ Polish soldiers fought on many fronts of WW2 but are often forgotten in Western popular history. Poland - First To Fight! 🛡🇵🇱 Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła! 👑🇵🇱
As a german i know of their contribution to the fictory of the battle of England as fighter pilots + as regular soldiers fighting alongside the allies.
Greetings from germany
I have worked with many Polish engineers over the years and respect them greatly. I think that fighting spirit is still alive and well.
The Poles Are A Brave And Noble People God Bless Them ALL
As a Pole thank you for betrayal and sold Poland in WWII.
And now GB is AGAIN on our side.
@@joachimgauckler8555 Is this known in german history >? is this fact mentioned anywhere in books/videos/documents about Polish airmen ?
The Polish destroyer Piorun was attached to the Royal Navy units that finally hunted down the German battleship Bismarck in the spring of 1941. On the night before the Bismarck was finally sunk this destroyer harrassed the limping battleship in a one hour artillery duel, while taunting the Germans with transmissions of "I am a Pole".
"I am a pole" (proceeds to hit Bismarck over the head with said pole)
They forced German staff inside to not go to sleep. Piorun had too weak bullets to pierce through tho polish efforts made Bismark's crew exhausted from lack of sleep and it caused them sinking their battleship.
"Nie błagamy o wolność, my walczymy o wolność" - gen. Witold Urbanowicz
"We don't beg for freedom, we fight for freedom" - gen. Witold Urbanowicz
Love Poland from the Czech Republic 🇵🇱❤️🇨🇿
Wydaje mi się, że przesłanka tego jest dość dziwna.
Mam ponad 60 lat i zawsze byłem świadomy, że wolni Polacy byli bardzo ważną i bardzo zdeterminowaną częścią sił walczących z Hitlerem, bardzo dużą częścią sił zgromadzonych tutaj w Wielkiej Brytanii.
I hope that this translation works as I had intended.
we are sorry for Pražské jaro. 🇵🇱❤🇨🇿
We mustn't forget the heroic Czech pilots that fought in the Battle of Britain too.
@@anakandu703
We are sorry for the war between us in 1919. No more wars between us. 🇵🇱❤️🇨🇿❤️🇸🇰
@@czechoslovakpatriot4773 I'm so happy that finally there's peace and brotherhood between our nations. Sadly it took us 45 years of communism to realise that there's more in common between us than there's differences. God bless you Czech brothers.
My father was halfway through his compulsory military service in Poland when the nazis and then the russians invaded. He was evacuated first to Norway, then France, then England and then sent to Palestine. He fought in North Africa, and in Italy, marrying my Italian mother. For me, it is a shame that he did not live long enough to see his homeland regain its strength and freedom . On behalf of my father and all those he served beside, thank you Mark for this wonderful video presentation.
@jorgegawlik8681 --- Hello. Interesting post. That is amazing that a Pole married an Italian, considering the languages are very different. How did they communicate?
@gusloader123 He learned Italian while he was fighting there, as well as learning English while he was in England and Palestine. A couple of years later, after marrying, my parents went to Argentina, where I was born. So I guess you could add Spanish to the languages that they could speak and understand.
@@jorgegawlik8681 Interesting. Thanks for the reply. Some people can do that, for others it is a difficult task. I took French class in 7th and 8th grade but could never get their weird language rules into my head. Silent letters and using Le and La in front of a word even if the word was neither male nor female, such as "Table" -> "Le Table". I do remember how to sing Silent Night-Holy Night and Jingle Bells en Francaise. 😊
@@gusloader123Polish language is ultra complex- it’s a superpower to know it! I speak four other languages;)
@@ipodman1910 They have surnames with ten consonants and two vowels! 🙃🤪
The Polish Forces suffered the most in the war. Imagine fighting to free your country, only for it to be taken over by another tyrant.
One of the many tragedies of the aftermath of the war.
I would argue Poland suffered less than the Chinese, in terms of sheer scale and brutality. However, in the European theater of the war…the Poles suffered the most indeed.
Now a new tyrant threatens again.
And beautiful cities and villages completely destroyed or taken by Stalin :(
@@nadomedia Poland had a lot of cool historical buildings before the war, it’s such a shame the majority of them were so shamelessly destroyed.
My grandparents where liberated by the brave Poles.
Eternally grateful!
Amazing. I can only imagine this time and these struggles....so happy they got to taste freedom again.
This is outstanding! The polish people are great! They are a warrior culture! I was in the us army in afghanistan and I served with many polish troops! This is outstanding!!! 🇵🇱!!!!!
I've never forgotten the Poles. They were magnificent in ww2. From Bzura to Narvik to Cassino and Falaise. I have a ww2 battle dress with Polish insignia. Obtained it from a fellow soldier, a Pole. His father served in the 3rd Carpathian.
I met the founder of the Henri Lloyd clothing company at Powerscourt Waterfall near Dublin once. He was very old and wearing a lot of medals and I spoke with him - he had fought in Italy and said how proud they were at defeating the Germans at Monte Cassino which they saw as their first victory over the Germans.. Like so many of the Poles who fought in World War II he could not return to his so-called "liberated country" and settled in the UK. His name was Henryk Strzelecki - a true hero of his country. I enjoy your videos btw
I know a felllow Polish man in my local area who was exiled into the depths of Siberia during WW2, he and a large group of people then walked to Persia but he was only a child. He remembered everything perfectly like it just happened yesterday. Niech żyje Polska 🇵🇱
I had an uncle who was in the Polish Army in 1939. He was captured by the Soviets when they attacked Poland from the east. He ended up at a prison camp in Siberia (he and his fellow Polish soldiers literally had to build their own prison barracks when they first arrived). Eventually, he was freed by the Soviets when they joined the Allies. He ended up in a Polish Army unit which fought at Monte Cassino in Italy. After the war his cousin in the U.S. sponsored his coming to the United States. One thing I recall him telling me was, "Never trust a Russian."
I have a very similar story! Wonderful to read your post.
In the nineties an elderly gentleman knocked my door and when he spoke I recognised he had an east European accent. I spoke to him in Russian (I know a few words from my university days) and he replied in Russian saying he was Polish.
Turned out he had been a teenager in E Poland in 39 when the Soviets occupied the country and had been imprisoned and tortured by the NKVD.
When the Nazis invaded he was imprisoned by them but escaped into the forest and fought them as a partisan until the Soviets kicked the Nazis out when he joined a Polish unit fighting to the end of the war when he deserted and crossed into the US occupation area. He then bought and sold on the black market using the items and money to get people to the west.
Later he came to Britain and worked in a coal mine before running a car sales business until he retired.
He had an amazing but terrifying life and was v lucky to survive.
He came back a few times to my home and was gracious enough to let me read his life story that he had typed up and which was published a couple of years later.
Poland lost proportionally more of its citizens in WW2 than any other nation and suffered horrendously under both the Soviets and the Nazis.
He hated both enemies but didn’t hate the peoples themselves. As he said there are good and bad people everywhere.
"Never trust a Russian." Incredible how well that holds up in history.
My grandfather was the same, he and his brothers all survived soviet prison,, though his unit took part in post-dday campaign, notably Caen then into Holland. And now Im married to a Russian! 😅
Glad he survived the war. It's really sad reading some stories in the comment ending it with "killed". All because some group of people building third reich.
Not forgotten by me. My ex wife had a Polish grandfather. When the Germans invaded Poland, the SS accused him and his brother for running messages for the allies (they weren't) . His brother was burnt to death in an oil barrel in front of him as a punishment. He was taken to a concentration camp with his mother and he and another man jumped and killed a German guard while on a work party. He then ended up In Yugoslavia fighting for the partisans. Finally he got to England and fought with the free Polish army at Monte Casino. The Polish commanders told them they may as well die at Monte Casino as Russia had invaded Poland and they had no country to go back to. Peter spent the rest of his life in England and died around 2005. Although I am no longer with his granddaughter, that man was my hero and a smashing guy too. Obviously he grew up with a hatred of all things German and Russian.
The Poles were fearless and you only have to read the stories of them going up in spitfire's to try and shoot down Germans when British pilots would not fly in terrible weather.
Yeah, the fact that there were brave Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain is extraordinary. I think there were other men from the colonies too.
That was some man, wow.
Thanks for sharing
People who has less to lose has also less to fear. They knew that if the war wasn't won, Poland, Polish people, language and culture would be erased.
Great story and hail to you for respecting that great man despite breaking up with his daughter!
One additional thing - Poles flew hurricanes! Only later 303 and other got spitfires!
I have never forgotten the Polish forces in WWII. We knew one of these brave men: he escaped a German POW camp, walked across Poland to the sea. Joined the Free Polish Army un the UK. Was at Monte Casino, then after DDay fought across Europe. After the war, His wife and son were warned to not go home as the Russians were coming to arrest them. They eventually arrived in London. I believe they're contribution made a very valuable contribution to winning the war. He and is family never went back.
Some mishmash in his story - if he fought in Monte Cassino - he was not in England. If he escaped to England from Poland - he was not at Monte Cassino 1 he would have to go through russia to get there… strange!
My father fought throughout WW2, 4th Indian Div if memory serves. He never forgot the Poles. He was at Monte Cassino with them, he said he had never seen anything like it. They hated the Germans with a vengeance and were quite prepared to die. I remebering him saying to no one in particular, almost thinking out loud, something along the lines of "they continued assaulting German positions till they got them, when one fell another took his place. The Gurkhas were goind mad trying to protect them with Bren guns but they didn't seem to care. They were like machines".
All of our soldier songs are about death in combat. It's almost as if we are the Japanese of Europe.
@@jancyraniak the conduct of your fathers in WW2 bears no resemblance to the depraved and barbaric behaviour of the Japanese. The Poles, at least by their Allies, where admired. The Japanese loathed by anyone with a sense of morality....
@@xne1592 Yet again my attempt to make Poles seem scary backfires ;_;
@@xne1592 However, the Japanese respected us, which can be seen in the introduction of the book "Bushido". They had a strange sense of honor.
@@Litwinus they are generally strange people
Thank you Mister Felton. My Grandfather was a soldier in the polish Army and got a pov after getting captured in the battle of Modlin in the last days of September. My Grandmother was a Partisan in the woods north of Kielce and was a invalid after a fight with the occupants. A lot of my family died during the occupation. Thank you for keeping their spirit alive with your videos!
Wow, very interesting family history. I bet your grandmother was a tough lady!
@@_Jaspy_it’s a normal “Polish” family history. My great grandpa fought against ruskies alongside Pilsudski in 1914-1918… then he fought against Ukrainians for Przemysl and Lwów, in 1920 he won against Bolsheviks. My other great grandpa died in Warsaw uprising, my grandpa fought in AK (not Africa Korps ;) - Armia Krajowa- Home Army) and lost his kidney during “Tempest” operation in 1944 the whole Polish underground was supposed to help Warsaw in uprising. They cut his kidney out in the woods after he was shot in a battle. The only anaesthesia was a glas of vodka…
My other grandpa - a prisoner of Majdanek death camp. He was Polish so not meant to go to a chamber at that time - but a death march to Leipzig in 1944…
My great grandfather was forced to serve in the Wehrmacht and when he was stationed near monte Casino he defected to Polish forces, he has some really cool photos later with his Polish buddies in Rome
One of these tourists, John “Janusz” Nieduzak died in my hometown of Buffalo NY. in 2020 at age 100. He fought at Monte Cassino and was one of those who came into British service thru Syria.
@Mark Felton - As myself being a Pole, I can not be more thankful for this remarkable episode! We need more discussions about Poland especially in modern, unprecedented times! 🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱
My great grandfather Zenobiusz served in the 3rd Carpathain Rifle Division in the British 8th Army, and fought in North Africa and Italy, including at the battle of Monte Cassino
Never forgotten ! God bless Poland and all her people's. 👊💛👍
We do not forgot real who sold us to Sralin in Jalta
One think I enjoyed about being in Poland is learning about their history and how proud they are and how much they fought for their independence.
Kudos from Germany, good folks over there, beautiful woman, strong liquor and some of the best craftsmenship.
@@connycontainer9459 I wouldn't view beautiful woman and strong liquor as determinate factors but fair enough
@@nopeoppeln 2 out of 4 - I can live with that.
And if they once learn about history from another than their own perspective they will actually become Europeans.
@@maximkretsch7134With all good will in the world I can not let this comment pass without a reply.
The level of condescension beaming from your comment Sir reveals that you would like to teach others history but you yourself seam unable to accept accounts that don’t fit your view of the world. To tell a nation it is not European in spite over 1000 years of history and even after watching MF’s film goes to show either a profound lack of knowledge or lack of good will. First one can be remedied but I get a feeling it is the second one that plays a major tune. That condescending attitude has a long history in the World. History, that Mark Felton makes movies about.
I am so proud of the sacrifices, determination and gumption of the Polish people during WW2. Terribly underrated by many historians but, in truth, not forgotten.
Long live Poland, their people and the memory of their sacrifices.
🇵🇱
My favorite Polish anecdote about WW2, is that a Polish destroyer signaled the Bismarck while she was under attack, saying "I am a Pol!"
It must have been "ORP Piorun" (Former HMS Nerissa) which took a part in final chase.
He signaled to him that he was a Pole by shooting at him with everything he had on board.
Poles don't ask how many enemies there are? But where are they? !!!!!!!
Can't believe /pol/ fought in WW2
Thank you for the recognition of these heroes dr. Felton. This is so important for us all to know the pain the polish people endured. Also - please make a video about Witold Pilecki. The greatest hero every lived - who volunteerd to go into Aushwitz and escaped! Absolutely madness!
👍👍👍
Thanks to Poland and those that served. May we never forget their sacrifices. Thanks Mark for reminding us of those who sacrificed and served.
Thank you for this. My father was a navigator in 300 Polish Bomber Squadron RAF, flying Wellingtons in 1941-3, having served in 1939 in reconnaissance in Poland, escaped via Romania, re-formed in France and escaped to Britain. In 1944 he was seconded to the US 9th Army Air Force flying B26 Marauders and later A26 Invaders. At the end of the War he stayed on with the RAF and became a British citizen. I am very proud of his medal collection from 4 different allied nations.
There is a pretty good memories book I red about 40 years ago written by one famous in 60 and 70ties Polish cinema actor Mieczysław Pawlikowski titled "Siedmiu z Halifaxa" about his time in Polish bomber squadrons of RAF (also 300) he was fighting in. I remember it as a good source of barely known (and overshadowed by 303) information but i do not know of it was ever translated to English. Maybe they knew each other or any other interesting info for you in it?
@@abominabelle Thank you - I shall check it out 🙂
So your father was one of a few Polish airmen who transitioned to the USAAF before 1945.
Amazing!
Thank you Dr Fulton, as a Pole I feel honoured by this video.
I ja też dziękuję 👍👍👍.
Pozdrawiam z Polski 👍💪🇵🇱❤🇵🇱💪👍
I have said this already, but my Great grandfather was a border guard during the invasion of Poland, after he went and fought for France, after France fell, he fought in the Polish second Corps in North Africa and in Italy, Monte Casino, after the war, he was persecuted in Poland by the UB. He fought in 3 wars, WW1 for the Polish legions, Polish Soviet war, and ww2. And my Great Uncle was in the 303 in the Battle of Britain
My Dad was in the Anders army and fought in Monte Cassino before settling in England, and recently, General Sikorski has had a statue erected in the Newark Polish war cemetery!
..Sikorski who was assassinated by Russians and British together. That's why those documents are still and again State Secret and will be secret for next 50 years or so. It is not a next conspiracy theory but remote leaks from someone who had acces and red them quite some years ago.
Newark New Jersey?
@historyandhorseplaying7374 England my friend!
I had heard of the the Free Polish forces, but did not know how extensively involved they were in the fighting in Europe. This was a very interesting and enlightening video.
Dr Felton. I bow low in gratitude for dedicating another episode to Polish soldiers. Their sacrifice, honor and fight against a common enemy. Respect from viewers from Poland.
I've visited the Wojtek the bear statue in Edinburgh a few times it's an interesting story. Plus a nice monument to the servicemen and women who served in the free polish forces.
I thank you. Wojtek(Voytek)
In addition to these contributions, a Polish officer invented the portable mine detector. A device used by the allied military in WWII. Good report, Mark.
Not to mention it was Poles who cracked the German enigma code machine.
I've made a video about it!
Walkie Talkie is also Polish invention - barely anybody knows that!
Also a rotary periscope...this Polish design was invented and patented by Pole - Rudolf Gundlach in 1936
@@abominabelleHenryk Magnuski, as the RF engineer on the team that developed the walkie-talkie, he's credited as the primary contributor to it.
Having worked in Poland for three years, it's a great country and I was told they view the Germans as the little bully and the Russians as the big bullies. They also did a lot to help crack the Enigma code, having smuggled a machine to the UK and helping to develop the 'Bomb' that they had started developing to de-cipher the Enigma code
Well, it's a survivors bias. People mostly survived Soviet oppression after 1941 when USSR and Alies strated cooperating, which wasn't always the case with nazis that regurarly wiped out entire populations.
Statistics are simple, nazis killed overwhelmingly more people, even excluding Polish Jewish population.
Our mathematicians had cracked the code before war and delivered the decripting machine to allies at the beginning of the war. Later the original copy was found on a submarine if I recall well. Still, it was already done before ww2. Best regards
Propaganda in the West omits the fact 200,000 Poles fought alongside the Red Army in the taking of eastern Germany in 1945. (Berling Army)
One of the Red Army’s top commanders Marshall Konstantin Rokossovsky was Polish.
The founder of the Cheka (forerunner of the KGB) was Polish. Felix Dzerzhinsky. He was replaced by another Pole Vyacheslav Menzhinsky between 1926 -34. (His sister Vera Menzhinsky worked closely with Lenin’s wife and entourage).
There are many other examples.....
Poles in berling army were victims of gulag. Menzynski was a jew not a Pole.
Important to note that hundreds of thousands of Europeans and Germans fought alongside the Red Army in WW2.
The Czechoslovakian Legion who liberated Kiev with the Red Army, Berling’s 200,000 strong Polish Pro Communist Army, the Belarusian and Jewish Partizans, the Bulgarian army that was involved in the capture of Vienna, the Yugoslav Partizan army, the Greek Partizans and the Romanian’s who fought with the Red Army in Hungary.
Even the Finns changed sides in 1944. See also below
‘Quite a number of Soviet Germans ended up in partisan detachments and resistance groups. Their knowledge of the German language made them invaluable and they were frequently used in sabotage and reconnaissance operations. One of the most effective partisan commanders of the entire war was Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander German, who was killed in 1943. His brigade succeeded in wiping out 17 German garrisons and 70 rural district administrations, blowing up 31 rail bridges and killing up to 10,000 enemy soldiers’
Well said and timely .
I grew up in the 70s and thanks to my father was always aware the Polish forces fought as lions .
Hoorah for the Galant Men of Poland! Thank you for your service and thank you Dr Felton for your tribute to Poland.
🇵🇱🇺🇦🇵🇱🇺🇦🇵🇱
NO Greater Ailles Than The Poles
@@1960caesar Expect England 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂
Thank You Dear Friend ! 😓 Greetings from Poland.
I have never come across a Polish person who I have not gone on with. They are all super cool. Glad to have them in the UK. Likewise, Lithuanians, great people.
Thank you Dr Felton ! Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła !
I NIE zginie 👍💪🇵🇱❤🇵🇱💪👍❗.
🤍🤍❤️❤️
Poland attacked Czechoslovakia with Germany in 1938/9 and also collaborated with Germany to occupy the southern third of Lithuania including Vilnius.
@@rjames3981 In that time in Wilno was leaving 0,7% of Litauanian.
Don't forget that Lituania was ally of Bolszewia in war against Polang. Lithuania took 3 times Wilno from Bolszewik hands and after the last one Bolszewik took ALL the Lithuania 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂
@@rjames3981 If you introducing information like these, context is very important
Czechoslovakia took Polish part in 1919 (which was retaken by Poles in 1938)
And ... that's all, there was no will to negotiate from Praga in twenty years between war
Not so forgotten amongst elderly in the UK. In March 2003 (pre-EU accession of Poland) I went to Lancaster for students exchange revisit. Very first evening I was invited to dinner at my host’s neighbour, ex-RAF crewman and photographer during WW2. My ancestors were in resistance (home army) during WW2, but not in the Polish Army in the West. Despite that it was important to this man, to tell me how much he admired his Polish collegues and how much they contributed to local community after the war (e.g. one of his Polish collegues became or was archtiect, whom designed one of bridges in Lancaster).
Thank you Dr. Felton for your excellent coverage of history others don't mention or suppress! The people of Poland deserve to have their story told and remembered; they fought and died from the first hour of the war until the last to defeat a maniac bent on enslaving and exterminating them.
Mine detector (Polish) Mark I (Polish: wykrywacz min) was a metal detector for landmines developed during World War II. Initial work on the design had started in Poland but after the invasion of Poland by the Germans in 1939, and then the Fall of France in mid-1940, it was not until the winter of 1941-1942 that work was completed by Polish lieutenant Józef Kosacki.[1][2]
This detector was crucial in defeating Rommel in Tobruk.
Thanks for telling an often overlooked story. I knew the Polish were significantly involved, but I had no idea how much.
The Dutch city of Breda will never forget the Polish forces, having been liberated under leadership of Maczek. He tried to avoid damaging the city as much as possible while trying to liberate them.
And the parachutists of Sosabowski jumped just south of Arnhem to support the British and help them to evacuate
I was a little bit early, to give comments in this video. But a sign that we don’t forget the efforts of the Poles in WO II
My grandfather fought for Breda, survived the war and later returned to Poland. I visited last year to see the city and 1st Polish Armoured Division's Memorial. Greetings.
Obviously, it was worth spilling the blood for Breda. Thanks to all the Breda citizens.
Never see Dutch in comments thanking Canadians. However, we still receive our tulips annually to our Capital city Ottawa. Sadly our current PM knows little WW2 history.
Polish soldiers fought on many fronts of WW2 but are often forgotten in popular history. Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła! 👑🇵🇱 As Pole, I thank You very much for the video. ❤
During the war my grandmother had a number of Polish officers billited in her house in Harthill in central Scotland. They correspondent with the officers until 1958 and then nothing. Always wondered what happened to these men, were they forbidden to write?, did they die?
Free Polish Forces have never been forgotten in the Netherlands.
Bedankt. Met vriendelijke groeten van Polen
I met an old polish man at a job I was on in Scotland in the 1990s (he was a digger driver) who had settled in Scotland after the war and he told me how he had walked from Poland to Palestine after fighting the Russians. Said they kept alive by hunting for game on the way. Also told me that he was a tank driver and was under his tank fixing it when it was hit and he was the only survivor.
The Poles were never forgotten where I grew up in Lincolnshire, in fact I went to school with several of their descendants whose Grandfathers had served alongside the British Army and in Polish Bomber Command Squadrons. These men stayed on in the UK after the war, married and had families. Their fanatical hatred of the Germans was legendary and my own Grandfather (who was unfit for military service but served in the NFS) got to know several of them when a Polish Fighter Squadron was based temporarily at a nearby airfield, he'd invite them over for tea sometimes and said they were always very cheerful and polite, but you only had to make the merest mention of the Germans and it was like a black cloud passed across their faces..
And we have same level of hatred to Russia ;D
Thank you for telling us the interresting story.
@@marsmars2895 ..And the reasons for that are several and very obvious..
@@chicagochopinfoundation4845 we don't hate for hate we just simply remember what they are.
My father had the honour to serve alongside them in Italy.
Battered from "pillar to post" And when the dust of war settles, They're still there. Amazing Poland.
One of my Grandfathers in WW2 was in the Cheshire regiment and fought from Tobruk all the way to Monte Cassino, I don't remember much that he told me about that time but I do remember his admiration for his Polish comrades.
As Pole, I thank You cery much for the video. ❤ They fought on North African, Italian and Western front, just to witness their country being overrun by the Soviets at the end. Many did not see free Poland, dying before 1989. 😔
Dr Felton, thank you for the videos you’ve made about Polish soldiers in the Allied armies. Let’s hope they get the recognition they deserve.
Videos like this also help provide context to the current situation on the Poland-Belarus border. The Poles are determined to never let the Russians, or their proxies, on their soil again. And this time they have the weapons to do so.
The only nations in Europe the Russians would not invade today would be France and England.
Impeccable research, incredibly informative and most importantly, a fitting tribute to those oft overlooked, Polish, men and women. Thank you Mark.
Eh, just the normal stuff we learn in Poland on history lessons. But I enjoyed the footage. And of course the fact that it is broadcast in English to people abroad.
Thank you Dr F for the generosity you've shown the Polish forces in this episode.
Interesting to see that shot of the Polish Airmen in uniform. Dc comics have a slightly forgotten character called Blackhawk. He was big in the forties and just gets mentioned occasionally now. A polish pilot who after the fall of Poland puts together a team of international flyers and calls them the Blackhawks. I'd never realised before just how close Blackhawk's costume was to the real uniform. He's worth a google.
Never to old to learn! Thanks for your info and indeed at DC Comics it is a Polish Janos Prohaska but by Marvel it is an American Pilot fighting for poles. Strange. Got to research it further. Thanks a lot!
Jokes about poles are much more popular, right?
The Polish destroyer Piorun attempted to punch above her weight against the Bismarck. Not sure if she scored any hits but the crew definitely put themselves out there in the effort.
I didn't really know to much about the Polish army in WWII thank you. The air force was quite revered though. And can't forget the little destroyer charging the Bismark that's pretty legendary.
Dziękujemy doktorze Felton za ten jakże wartościowy materiał. Jak zwykłe Pański profesjonalizm w atrakcyjnej formie sięga najwyższego poziomu. Gratuluję materiału
Polish your Polish dr Felton :)
Thank you for the recognition of my country. Poland was so butually effected by the war that every single Pole today is a decendant of the greatest genocide that ever existed. (that hadn't migrated prior to the war). It's not like in the west where you may have had family serving in a war abroad. Everyone was effected in Poland regardless of gender or age etc
The Poles always tend to get the short end of the stick in European affairs, yet they still stand. A testament to a truly resilient people
Arguably the Bulgarians get the shortest end of all, as they've had it rough in one way or another for generations 😅
The Allies, especially France and England really betrayed Poland even after the war was over when they let Soviet Union control Poland afterwards even when they were allies.
In 1920 the Cheka (forerunner of the The NKVD and KGB) was led by Felix Dzerzhinsky.
He set up The Bolsheviks Security Service. He was Polish (as was his successor Vyacheslav Menzhinsky)
@@jimtaylor294 they got off easy in both wars
My father was in the Polish, French & British Armies in WW2. He was in signals. He was injured in the invasion of Sept 1939. When in hospital, he heard how captured Polish soldiers were being sent to Germany as slave labour. So he used the red cross to message a friend, who smuggled in civilian clothes to my dad. Dad escaped that nigh down the potato chute & had to run through freezing Krakow streets to his friends house. He crossed many guarded borders. One had snow waist deep. His guide said "even the wolves will stay in tonight". When he got to Yugoslavia, he was given a Royal Mail jacket with a ten shilling note pinned inside the pocket. British civilians had donated clothes to Polish escapees. He got a boat to France & joined the French Army. He was stationed at Versailles. When France was falling, his unit escaped West. His lorry was attacked by Stukas & the driver shot. No one else knew how to drive, but dad had some lessons, so the others told him to drive. He protested he did not have a licence & the others laughed "who is going to ask you for it?" He crashed the gears of that Peugeot truck, all the way to Le Verdun, where the last 4 British ships took the Poles to Liverpool. Dad was sent to Scotland. In Dundee he took down German messages for a group of Polish professors working on the enigma code. That was shut down, so he moved to Falkirk to train agents being dropped into Poland how to use radios. Once he was sent to london, where he was sent to an airfield & put in a Lysander. He sat on a box of dynamite all the way to France. They landed & hid the plane. He spent the day teaching Poles in the resistance how to use the radio & flew back that night. Because of his 1939 injury, he was not dropped into Poland. 30 of the guys he trained, were dropped into the Warsaw uprising. Only 2 survived the war.
Absolutely book worthy and great story!
What a crazy lifestory!
Thank you for this video - and you're right, we poles didn't have much to return to. My great grandfather fought in 39 as an infantryman. The worst part for him was going from the Frontlines of ww2 to being a fugitive after the war in his own country and seeing Russian propaganda being presented to the next generation. My grandmother still recalls how she got into an argument with her dad, saying that the Russians saved Poland from the Germans, while my grandfather had to flee persecution after the war.
They Soviets were a slave master who saved us from a German butcher. An improvement to be sure, but nonetheless nowhere near positive result.
Yet again, highlighting those little gem's in history. Those key, almost forgotten, points in history that general history overlooks. Great piece.
My sister in laws Dad Frank was at Arnhem with the free Polish and ended up in a German POW camp.
After the war he settled n the UK in Etwall, Derbyshire and married my sisters mum.
He died a few years back and lies in the local churchyard.
May he rest in peace forever in the land he helped keep free.
I had a girl friend who lived in nearby Eggington and I remember talking to a former Polish soldier in a pub in Etwall - must have been Frank. Around 25 years ago
Mr Felton, this is a superb piece of work. You are to be congratulated for your efforts. Thank you ever so much.
My great uncle fought in montecassino and North Africa thank you for covering this
My Dad fought with the Polish Armoured Brigade based at Galashiels. He drove a Quad Gun Tractor pulling an ammo box and a 25 Pounder Gun. Thank you Mr Felton, he would have been 102 this year and would certainly have enjoyed watching this. 👍
Glad you put this video out, so many people forget the amount of sacrifice the the Polish forces endured and how hard they fought to stay free from oppression, it’s absolutely shocking how we deserted them after the war and let them be occupied by another oppressor after Germany was defeated.
I want to thank Dr. Felton for taking the time out and making the past couple of videos regarding the Polish contribution to WWII. The little candles that he ignited regarding these topics burn bright and intensely bringing knowledge to people that were not given their proper due after wars end and the decades after. Thank you Dr. Felton, I will always be grateful to you and all the work you have done regarding this topic.
Could not have clicked that notification quicker still my hero Dr.Felton I thank you for all your hard work and dedication good sir.
A tip for future is to look in to Polish paratroopers called “Cichocemni” they were basically trained the same SAS is now and Polish special forces GROM are inspired from them. It’s an awesome story
My mother and her sister were among the civilians,orphans of the regiment,who went to Persia and eventually ended up in a refugee in India.My father was rotating home from the CBI and of Polish ancestry and ended getting both of them to the USA. I also had an uncle who was able to join Anders army and fight at Monte Cassino after being released from a Soviet labor camp.All became US citizens and proud Americans.
I red about it but long ago. Rather less known story but not completely unknown.
Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła, kiedy my żyjemy! 👑🇵🇱 As a Pole I really thank You for tye video. Poland's effort in the West od often forgotten. o7
As unconditionally PROUD of my heros countrymen for EVERY bit of their fight, the older I grow the stronger is the feeling that it WAS NOT a greatest idea to "give away" the blood of our Nation in this way…
WE FIGHT for generations, that we know, it is "in our blood"… but our "elites" often lack of political sense and TOO MANY times we were taken advantage of, "shooting the enemy with diamonds", giving away our national substance for what? To be put aside and forgotten.
PS. My late grandfather (1914-2014), 2nd Lieutenant of infantry, captured by the Soviets in September 1939, managed to escape during the railroad transport from Shepetovka camp to Kozielsk camp (from Kozielsk they were ALL sent to Katyn). Others from my family fought on Westerplatte (1st KIA there, and maybe in the whole war, was my great-grandmother sister's son), others were in Anders 2nd Corps, some in the "popular" Polish Army along USSR too. I will NEVER underestimate that, NEVER, and A LOT of Polish families are just like that. But sometimes I just wish my country was clever enough to say "we pass"…
Thank you Dr. Felton for this video and all your work. As a Pole I'm so grateful for your effort in giving my countrymen their well-deserved recognition. Have you considered making a video about polish forces on the Eastern Front? Their story is similar and many of them wanted the same Poland, like their western brothers in arms.
In the late 1960s and early 70's making demeaning jokes about the Polish was a wide spread thing. After reading about their history of how the Polish Winged Hussars saved Vienna and Europe from the Ottoman army, and the events covered here by Mr. Felton, made me angry how ignorant those who made those racist jokes of a nation that suffered so much, fought heroically, but were betrayed by the Allies to the USSR.
Most of my family was exiled to Siberia, my great grandfather was a Polish officer. He was later found in a mass grave in Russia. My great grandmother and her children survived a work camp in Siberia. My great uncle did an interview about the events.
If I may ask, do you know the camp where your family were sent? I know there were many but my grandparents were deported in 1940 and it would be good to know where they ended up. Not many records exist. Mostly it is memories which now are fewer and fewer. Thanks
I'm glad you mentioned that exiled situation the Poles faced after the war. Great day to you and your family! God bless
The Poles deserve more love, as they got thoroughly shafted. But the contributions of the Free Polish armies are remembered wherever they fought. You are not forgotten! We love you guys! Justice for Maczek and Sosabowski!
I would argue though that the contributions of the Indians is more forgotten though, if only because they did not fought in Western Europe, only the Middle East, Italy and Greece. 3 Indian divisions fought in Italy and Greece. Many more fought in the Middle East and in Burma. They were the biggest volunteer army in history.
Thank You for this video! Cheers from Poland🇵🇱
Mark, you can be guaranteed that when it comes to Poland and the war, they have a lot to say.
They weren't forgotten by all.
I grew up in Coventry during "the cold war" with it's fairly large Polish veteran community and the many British/Polish blended families that resulted from the Polish expats remaining after WWII. They were my Grandparents and parent's colleagues, their Children and Grandchildren were my classmates, neighbours and mates knocking around Coventry in the 1970s and 80s. As a teen, when I started getting interested in this sort of thing in the usual gung ho teenage way, I remember being totally grounded by a conversation with someone I knew's Polish Grandfather. He didn't explain how he got to be in North Africa in the first place but he'd gone through North Africa,Italy and Normandy (although he made it clear he hadn't landed on D-Day). I think the conversation had started over the issue of "A Bridge too far" because I recall he joked that "They should have sent the Polish in first!"
The bit that grounded me was when he said so many of his friends didn't come back but none could go home alive or dead. That's stuck with me over SO many years. I doubt he saw the end of the cold War but really hope he did.
That brings me on to another story that touched me with a Polish WWII connection; Following Polish accession to the EU and the ability for Poles to settle here; Within a couple of weeks of a small group of very young Polish people starting work in our Warehouse a notice appeared. It was in Polish but had a picture of the local Church. I asked one of them to explain what it was all about so he did; 9 Polish Airmen who served at Baginton in 1940-41 are buried there and these young people were trying to organise a memorial service for them. That really, really touched me. I remember thinking that I doubted many British people of that age, in similar circumstances would do the same.
I just watched A Bridge Too Far and Gene Hackman played the Polish general who deals with High Command’s belittling comments and slights in almost every scene. We need more stories on this brave contribution to the effort.
And then they blamed him on failure of that mission. Britain has no honor.
I have great admiration for the Poles. Thoroughly enjoyed a recent trip to Poland.
My Grandfather escaped German forces , then managed to join allied forces (polish ) and ended up in Italy near Cassino.
We've only just started to delve into his war records...
And so far it's rather interesting!
I've been wishing for more Poland coverage! Thanks! The Polish were the founder's of Monty's feast at Falaise! Would love to see coverage of 'Monty's(Maczek's) Meatgrinder' someday
Dear Dr. Felton, I and my family as Poles appreciate this particular video. Both my Grandparents were in the Polish Army. My Grandfather was a Dr. Anyway, 1 point you brought up was the "Katyn Massacre" my Grandfather's Father was taken by the Soviet Military. Until a few years ago my Father had thought, just as his Father thought.
That his Grandfather had died in a camp. But in fact he was one of those killed.
This devastated my father but also felt terrible for his father not ever really know what happened. Who's to say? Better to never have known?
Thank you again for all of your hard work and dedication. From The Dr.
John Gabriel Lipski family