An Army in Exile; The Story of the Second Polish Corps
London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd, 1949. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. xvi, 319, [1] pages. Frontispiece illustration. Illustrations. Maps. Index. Some endpaper discoloration. DJ is in a plastic sleeve with tears, chips and soiling. Foreword by Field-Marshal Viscount Alexander of Tunis. Introduction by the Right Honourable Harold Macmillan. Inscription is to Edward Nurkiewicz signed and dated by the author [9 7 50]. W adys aw Albert Anders (11 August 1892 – 12 May 1970) was a general in the Polish Army and later in life a politician and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London. Anders commanded the Nowogródzka Cavalry Brigade during the German Army's invasion of Poland in September 1939 and was immediately called into action, taking part in the Battle of M awa. After learning about the Soviet invasion of Poland, Anders retreated south in the direction of Lwów (Lviv), hoping to reach the Hungarian or Romanian border, but was intercepted by Soviet forces and captured, after being wounded twice. He was jailed in the Lubyanka prison in Moscow. During his imprisonment Anders was interrogated, tortured and unsuccessfully urged to join the Red Army. Anders was released and later formed and led the Polish 2nd Corps, while continuing to agitate for the release of Polish nationals still in the Soviet Union. The Polish 2nd Corps became a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Anders commanded the Corps throughout the Italian Campaign, capturing Monte Cassino on 18 May 1944, Ancona on 18 July 1944; afterward his Corps took part in the breaking of the Gothic Line and in the final spring offensive. This book describes the political conflicts which marked the birth of the unit in Russian POW camps in 1942, its training in Iraq under British supervision, and the heavy combat operations in Italy from the battle of Monte Cassino to victory at the River PO. Also covered is the monumental task of the Polish government in exile to find new homes for its men after the Russian occupation of their homeland. In An Army in Exile, General Anders gives both his personal wartime reminiscences and the story of the thousands of Poles who, like himself, were taken prisoner by the Russians entering their country from the east, and were then confined under appalling conditions in Soviet prisons and camps where General Anders ranks singled him our for special attention. He describes how, after long months of brutal treatment, first in Poland and then in the infamous Luybianka prison in Moscow, he was suddenly released and allowed to form an army out of the thousands of Poles who, like skeletons clad in rags, emerged from distant prison camps to join him at Buzuluk, and, at last, after endless prevarications, were evacuated to Persia. After a period of intensive training in the Middle East, the Second Polish Army Corps was sent to Italy. In exploits three, notably the capture of Monte Cassino and of Ancona, are how history, but General Anders, who tells the story of them in graphic detail, puts there achievement in a new perspective. General Anders's book is a historical document of the first importance. Condition: Good / Good.
Keywords: WWII, Second World War, Second Polish Corps, NKVD, N.K.V.D., Lubianka, Koluma, Sikorski, Katyn Massacre, Monte Cassino, Ancona, Battle of Warsaw, Mikolajczyk, Prisoners of War, Oliver Leese, Zhukov, Sosnkowski, Lubyanka
[Book #84214]
Price: $2,500.00