Język Polski
English
Monte Cassino
Abstract
This article is devoted to the soldiers of General Władysław Anders’ Second Polish Corps, the most extraordinary army in Polish history and the most extraordinary of all Allied armies during the Second World War. It was the only “wandering army” consisting exclusively of prisoners of war, prisoners and exiles, and the only one commanded by prisoners of war (those who did not fall victim to the Soviet Katyn massacre in 1940). It was also the only Allied army whose route led across half the world and three continents – from Europe through Asia and Africa back to Europe. Its soldiers, 75% of whom came from eight Polish provinces east of the Curzon Line, wanted to follow in the footsteps of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski’s Legions 150 years earlier and march “from Italian soil to Poland”. And it was these soldiers who victoriously decided the six-month-long “battle of seven nations” for Monte Cassino (called “the fiercest battle of World War II”), opening the only route to Rome for the Allies. American radio commentator R.G. Swing called the victors “the best soldiers the current war has produced”. The soldiers of Anders’ “wandering army” also became heroes of a legend about their care for both their fallen comrades and the inhabitants of the liberated Italian cities, as well as their concern for Italian monuments and cultural heritage.
Keywords:
gen. Władysław Anders, „wandering army”, Second Polish Corps, „battle of seven nations”, route to Rome, Curzon lineDetails
References
Statistics
Authors
Cited by / Share
Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.