Hitler and his forces invaded Poland in September 1939 at the start of World War II. Many members of the Polish army managed to escape Nazi control when Poland fell, making their way through Romania and into France. These exiled troops, numbering more than 85,000, united in France to form the Polish Army in France.
( Colorizer: Julius Jaaskelainen Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/juliusjaa/47953915901/)
A division of the army in exile, the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade, were sent to the Middle East and Africa. There, as this colorized photograph shows, the soldiers befriended the wildlife as they were defending the regions from the Nazi Invasion.
Sikorski’s Army
Wlasyslaw Sikorski (tvp.info)
The Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade was under the leadership of General Wlasyslaw Sikorski and was often referred to as Sikorski’s Army. Almost immediately, the brigade was sent to an outpost in Homs, a town located in what is now Syria that was once an important stop on the Silk Road. The conditions were deplorable. The barracks for the army were deteriorating and the desert climate was inhospitable. Sikorski’s men took over from a unit from the French Army. The heat of the desert had taken a toll on the French soldiers, leaving many of them in poor health.
The North African Campaign
World War II's North African Campaign. (brittanica.com)
The Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade participated in the North African campaign of World War II. This campaign, which began on June 10, 1940, and ran until May 13, 1943, included battles in Morocco, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. Most of the Allied troops in North Africa were exiled soldiers ousted from German-occupied countries or British forces, many with colonial interests in Africa. Although this colorized photograph shows the soldiers along the coast, many of the battles took place further inland, in the heat of the arid Sahara Desert.
The Siege of Tobruk
Soldiers in the Siege of Tobruk. (bundabergnow.com)
The Siege of Tobruk, which lasted for more than 240 days, was one of the more notable engagements for the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade. It began when the Axis forces advanced on the Allies in Libya in 1941. Just prior to this, much of the Allied troops were sent to other locations, such as Syria and Greece, leaving behind a poorly supplied skeleton force to defend Libya. When the Axis advanced, the Allied troops reinforced the port city of Tobruk to keep the enemy from capturing this key port. Members of the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade endured artillery bombardments until finally, with the assistance of the Royal Air Force and the Eighth Army, the Siege of Tobruk ended with the Allies victorious.
The Christmas Tree Division
It is easy to see why the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division was called the Christmas Tree Division. (en.wikipedia.org)
The Polish Independent Carpathian Rifles Brigade joined forces with an infantry division, the Polish Armed Forces in the West, to become known as the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division. This division, however, earned the nickname the Christmas Tree Division because its emblem features a bright green pine tree on a background of red and white. The group was commanded by Lieutenant-General Wladyslaw Anders who had been evacuated out of the Soviet Union.
The End of the Brigade
Most of the soldiers never returned to Poland after the war. (facebook.com)
When World War II ended, most of the remaining soldiers of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division opted not to return to their homeland, which was now Communist Poland. Most of the division was sent to Buckinghamshire, England and was integrated into the British Eighth Army. The exiled Polish soldiers stuck around Buckinghamshire through the early 1960s. In fact, the region is still home to many Polish families. The fate of the soldier seen in this photograph – and his monkey companion – remain unknown. During its existence, the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade lost a total of 156 men, nearly all of them in the Siege of Tobruk. Fifteen of the soldiers remain missing in action and an additional 467 were wounded during the war.
