Misplaced Pages

#816183

65-593: The SGO was created on the orders of the Polish Commander in Chief on 9 and 11 September due to German breakthroughs and was tasked with defending the region of Polesie (see also Polesie Voivodeship ), defined by the lines of Muchawiec and Prypeć rivers, with the towns of Brześć (Brest) and Pińsk (where the SGO HQ was located). The SGO was to prevent Polish forces in central Poland from being encircled from

130-652: A diplomatic courtesy. The formation was disbanded in 1947, many of its soldiers choosing to remain in exile rather than to return to communist-controlled Poland , where they were often seen by the Polish communists as "enemies of the state", influenced by the Western ideas, loyal to the Polish government in exile , and thus meeting with persecution and imprisonment (in extreme cases, death). Failure of allied Western governments to keep their promise to Poland, which now fell under

195-702: A loss of 15 men). From the very beginning of the war, the Royal Air Force (RAF) had welcomed foreign pilots to supplement the dwindling pool of British pilots. On 11 June 1940, the Polish government in exile signed an agreement with the British government to form a Polish army and Polish air force in the United Kingdom. The first two (of an eventual ten) Polish fighter squadrons went into action in August 1940. Four Polish squadrons eventually took part in

260-722: A new fighting force originally of about 80,000 men. Their units were subordinate to the French Army . In early 1940, a Polish Independent Highland Brigade took part in the Battles of Narvik in Norway. A Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade was formed in the French Mandate of Syria , to which many Polish troops had escaped from Poland. The Polish Air Force in France comprised 86 aircraft in four squadrons; one-and-a-half of

325-630: A number of them moved to the U.S. where, in 1952, they organized the association Polish Veterans of World War II . The Polish Army in France , which began to be organized soon after the fall of Poland in 1939, was composed of about 85,000 men. Four Polish divisions ( First Grenadier Division , Second Infantry Fusiliers Division , 3rd and 4th infantry divisions ), a Polish motorized brigade ( 10th Brigade of Armored Cavalry , 10éme Brigade de cavalerie blindée ) and infantry brigade ( Polish Independent Highland Brigade ) were organized in mainland France. Polish Independent Highland Brigade took part in

390-536: A very high standard of pilot training. No. 303 Squadron, named after the Polish-American hero, General Tadeusz Kościuszko , achieved the highest number of kills (126) of all fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it only joined the combat on 30 August 1940. These Polish pilots, representing about 5% of total Allied pilots in the Battle, were responsible for 12% of total victories (203) in

455-780: A wider area adjoining it (up to the Ukrainian border) make up the UNESCO -designated West Polesie Biosphere Reserve , which borders a similar reserve (the Shatskiy Biosphere Reserve ) on the Ukrainian side. There is also a protected area called Pribuzhskoye-Polesie in the Belarusian part of the region. The wooden architecture structures in the region were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on 30 January 2004 in

520-520: The 1st Special Service Brigade . No. 6 (Polish) Troop was under the command of Captain Smrokowski and comprised seven officers and 84 men, who were recruited from a variety of different sources. Some were former Polish civilians. Some were Polish Army soldiers taken prisoner after the 1939 German invasion of Poland and forcibly conscripted into the Wehrmacht , who had then deserted whenever they had

585-539: The Battle of Britain ( 300 and 301 Bomber Squadrons; 302 and 303 fighter squadrons), with 89 Polish pilots. Together with more than 50 Poles fighting in British squadrons, about 145 Polish pilots defended British skies. Polish pilots were among the most experienced in the battle, most of them having already fought in the 1939 September Campaign in Poland and the 1940 Battle of France. Additionally, prewar Poland had set

650-451: The Battles of Narvik in early 1940; after the German invasion of France , all Polish units were pressed into formation although, due to inefficient French logistics and policies, all Polish units were missing much equipment and supplies—particularly the 3rd and 4th divisions, which were still in the middle of organization. In French-mandated Syria , a Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade

715-794: The British Army . Whilst in this area, the Corps was reorganised and expanded. The opportunity to form another Polish army came in 1941, following an agreement between the Polish government in exile and Joseph Stalin , the Soviets releasing Polish soldiers, civilians and citizens from imprisonment. From these, a 75,000-strong army was formed in the Soviet Union under General Władysław Anders and informally known as " Anders' Army ". This army, successively gathered in Bouzoulouk, Samarkand ,

SECTION 10

#1732782865817

780-674: The Chernobyl disaster . Huge areas were polluted by radioactive elements. The most polluted part includes the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and the adjacent Polesie State Radioecological Reserve . Some other areas in the region are considered unsuitable for living as well. The Polish part of the region includes the Polesie National Park ( Poleski Park Narodowy ), established 1990, which covers an area of 97.6 square kilometres (37.7 sq mi). This and

845-696: The German Instrument of Surrender , Polish troops took part in occupation duties in the Western Allied Occupation Zones in Germany . A Polish town was created: it was first named Lwow, then Maczkow . Polish troops were factored into the British 1945 top secret contingency plan , Operation Unthinkable , which considered a possible attack on the Soviet Union in order to enforce an independent Poland. By 1945, there

910-582: The Pinsk Marshes (after the major local city of Pinsk ). Large parts of the region were contaminated after the Chernobyl disaster and the region now includes the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and Polesie State Radioecological Reserve , named after the region. The names Polesia/Polissia/Polesye , etc. may reflect the Slavic root les 'forest', and the Slavic prefix po- 'on, in, along'. Inhabitants of Polesia are called Polishchuks . In ancient times,

975-727: The Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II . Polish forces were also raised within Soviet territories; these were the Polish Armed Forces in the East . The formations, loyal to the Polish government-in-exile , were first formed in France and its Middle East territories following the defeat and occupation of Poland by Germany and

1040-1113: The RAF Volunteer Reserve . This was due to lack of understanding in the face of Polish defeat by the Germans, as well as language barriers and British commanders' opinion of Polish attitudes. On 11 June 1940, the Polish Government in Exile signed an agreement with the British Government to form a Polish Air Force in the UK , and in July 1940 the RAF announced that it would form two Polish fighter squadrons equipped with British planes: 302 "Poznański" Squadron and 303 "Kościuszko" Squadron . The squadrons were composed of Polish pilots and ground crews, although their flight commanders and commanding officers were British. Once given

1105-695: The Romanian border (see Romanian Bridgehead ). On 22 September, cut off from his superiors, he decided to aid besieged Warsaw . As they were running low on supplies, Kleeberg decided to recapture the town of Dęblin , where the Polish Army had large stores of supplies. On 28 September Warsaw capitulated; Kleeberg - at that time having crossed the Bug river near Włodawa - decided that the units would advance west and organize large scale partisan warfare from local forest complexes near Świętokrzyskie Mountains . In

1170-595: The Soviet sphere of influence, became known as the " Western betrayal ." The number of Polish ex-soldiers unwilling to return to communist Poland was so high that a special organization was formed by the British government to assist settling them in the United Kingdom: the Polish Resettlement Corps (Polski Korpus Przysposobienia i Rozmieszczenia); 114,000 Polish soldiers went through that organization. Since many Poles had been stationed in

1235-834: The Volyn , Rivne , Zhytomyr , Kyiv and Chernihiv Oblasts ), and partly in Poland ( Lublin ). It is a flatland within the drainage basins of the Western Bug and Prypyat rivers. The two rivers are connected by the Dnieper-Bug Canal , built during the reign of Stanislaus II of Poland , the last king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Notable tributaries of the Pripyat are the Horyn , Stokhid , Styr , Ptsich , and Yaselda rivers. The largest towns in

1300-454: The 1st Independent Rifle Brigade, the 10th Motorised Cavalry Brigade (as infantry) and cadre brigades (largely manned by surplus officers at battalion strength) and took over responsibility in October 1940 for the defence of the counties of Fife and Angus ; this included reinforcing coastal defences that had already been started. I Corps was under the direct command of Scottish Command of

1365-752: The Battle and achieved the highest number of kills of any Allied squadron. The Polish Air Force also fought in 1943 in Tunisia (the Polish Fighting Team , known as " Skalski's Circus") and in raids on Germany (1940–45). In the second half of 1941 and early 1942, Polish bomber squadrons were the sixth part of forces available to RAF Bomber Command (later they suffered heavy losses, with little possibility of replenishment). Polish aircrew losses serving with Bomber Command 1940-45 were 929 killed; total Polish aircrew losses were 1,803 killed. Ultimately eight Polish fighter squadrons were formed within

SECTION 20

#1732782865817

1430-588: The British eventually invited Polish veterans of the RAF that then represented the Polish Air Force under British Command, to attend in their place. They, in turn, refused to attend in protest at similar invitations not being extended to the Polish Army and Navy. The only Polish representative at the parade was Colonel Józef Kuropieska, the military attaché of the Communist regime in Warsaw, who attended as

1495-494: The British. In February 1946, Time reported "Britain's Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin told a tense House of Commons last week that terror had become an instrument of national policy in the new Poland. Many members of Vice Premier Stanislaw Mikolajczyk's Polish Peasant Party who opposed the Communist-dominated Warsaw Government had been murdered. "Circumstances in many cases appear to point to

1560-689: The Communist-Socialist groups would fight for a late fall election, when the popularity of the Polish Peasant Party, sure winner of an election now, might have waned. Nevertheless, Bevin argued that, elections or no, the Poles in Anders' army should go home. In January 1946, Bevin protested against killings by the Polish provisional government, which defended its actions saying it was fighting terrorists loyal to Anders and funded by

1625-661: The Cultural category. There are areas in Russia traditionally called Polesie ( Russian : Полесье ) as well. However there the origin of the term is different: historically it referred to transitional areas from woodless fields to densely wooded territory. Polish Armed Forces in the West The Polish Armed Forces in the West ( Polish : Polskie Siły Zbrojne na Zachodzie ) refers to

1690-577: The German battleship, Bismarck . With their 26 ships (2 cruisers, 9 destroyers , 5 submarines and 11 torpedo boats ), the Polish Navy sailed a total of 1.2 million nautical miles during the war, escorted 787 convoys, conducted 1,162 patrols and combat operations, sank 12 enemy ships (including 5 submarines) and 41 merchant vessels, damaged 24 more (including 8 submarines) and shot down 20 aircraft. The number of seamen who lost their lives in action

1755-535: The Polish Army , which is credited with being the first Polish partisan unit and was active until the spring of 1940. The SGO was commanded by general Franciszek Kleeberg , his chief of staff was colonel M. Łapicki. Kleeberg was tasked with organizing his group from various small units in the Polesie region; most of them were either reserve and mobilizing or second line such as the National Defense units;

1820-549: The Polish Government promised elections this spring. Bevin, too, wanted immediate Polish elections, but both men knew that the chances were becoming slimmer. In Poland the split between the Communist-Socialist groups and shrewd Stanislaw Mikolajczyk's Polish Peasant Party was deepening. Security Police raids on Peasant Party headquarters were reported last week. If efforts to smash the Mikolajczyk forces failed, then

1885-541: The Polish flag was raised on the ruined abbey on 18 May 1944, as well as in the Battle of Bologna and the Battle of Ancona (both also in Italy), and Hill 262 in France in 1944. The Polish Armed Forces in the West were disbanded after the war, in 1947, with many former servicemen forced to remain in exile. After Poland's defeat in September–October 1939, the Polish government-in-exile quickly organized in France

1950-648: The Polish military. The unit was recreated in France in 1940 and fought in 1944 and 1945 alongside the British ( Polish Armed Forces in the West ). Polesie Polesia , also called Polissia , Polesie , or Polesye , is a natural (geographic) and historical region in Eastern Europe within the bigger East European Plain , including part of eastern Poland and the Belarus–Ukraine border region . This region should not be confused with parts of Russia also traditionally called "Polesie" . One of

2015-626: The Pripyat basin are Pinsk , Stolin , Davyd-Haradok . Huge marshes were reclaimed from the 1960s to the 1980s for farmland . The region is subdivided into several subregions among which are: According to the late 19th-century Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland Polesie was divided into Northern Polesia, itself divided into Upper Polesia or Pinsk Polesia and Lower Polesia or Mazyr Polesia, and Southern Polesia, itself divided into Volhynian Polesia (overlapping northern Volhynia ) and Drevlian Polesia. This region suffered severely from

Independent Operational Group Polesie - Misplaced Pages Continue

2080-603: The RAF and had claimed 621 Axis aircraft destroyed by May 1945. By the end of the war, around 19,400 Poles were serving in the RAF. Polish squadrons in the United Kingdom: Just on the eve of war, three destroyers—representing most of the major Polish Navy ships—had been sent for safety to the British Isles ( Operation Peking ). There they fought alongside the Royal Navy (RN). At various stages of

2145-540: The SGO was 18,000 soldiers. On 29 September, after reorganization, the group was composed of: a Stanisław Maczek , another Polish commander with the reputation of being undefeated, was promoted from colonel to general in November 1939 after his 10. Cavalry Brigade AKA "Die Schwarze Brigade" – "The Black Brigade", a fully motorized and mechanized unit, outperformed any other such unit (including tank brigades) in

2210-765: The Soviet Union in September 1939 . After the fall of France in June 1940, the formations were recreated in the United Kingdom . Making a large contribution to the war effort, the Polish Armed Forces in the West was composed of army , air and naval forces. The Poles soon became shock troops in Allied service, most notably in the Battle of Monte Cassino during the Italian Campaign , where

2275-491: The United Kingdom (estimates range from 20,000 to 35,000 ). The Polish I Corps was formed from these soldiers. It comprised the Polish 1st Armoured Division (which later became attached to the First Canadian Army ) and the Polish Independent Parachute Brigade , and other formations, such as the 4th Infantry Division , and the 16th Independent Armoured Brigade . It was commanded by Gen. Stanisław Maczek and Marian Kukiel . Despite its name, it never reached corps strength and

2340-460: The United Kingdom and served alongside British units in the war, the Polish Resettlement Act 1947 permitted all of them to settle in the United Kingdom after the war, multiplying the size of the Polish minority in the UK . Many also joined the Polish Canadian and Polish Australian communities. After the United States Congress passed a 1948 law, amended in 1950, which allowed the immigration of Polish soldiers who were demobilized in Great Britain,

2405-404: The areas of today's western and west-central Polesia were inhabited by the people of the Milograd culture , the Neuri . In the late Middle Ages Polesia became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , following it into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569). It was annexed by Russia in the late-18th-century Partitions of Poland . Polesia was largely part of Poland from 1921 to 1939, when

2470-443: The bloodshed there. It is often said that the Polish Armed Forces in the West were not invited to the London Victory Parade of 1946 . At first the British Government invited representatives of the newly recognised regime in Warsaw to march in the Parade, but the delegation from Poland never arrived, the reason never being adequately explained; pressure from Moscow is the most likely explanation. Bowing to press and public pressure,

2535-523: The chance. Some came from the 13,000 Polish personnel who were interned by the Swiss government, but who managed to escape Swiss custody and make their way to Great Britain via the British consulates in Switzerland. In 1941, following an agreement between the Polish government in exile and Joseph Stalin , the Soviets released Polish citizens, from whom a 75,000-strong army was formed in the Soviet Union under General Władysław Anders ( Anders' Army ). This army, successively gathered in Bouzoulouk, Samarkand,

2600-448: The common chain of command . Resistance gathered and passed vital intelligence to the West (for example on Nazi concentration camps and about the V-1 flying bomb and the V-2 rocket ); while in the West supplies were gathered for the resistance, and elite commandos, the Cichociemni , were trained. The Polish government also wanted to use the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade in Poland, particularly during Operation Tempest , but

2665-413: The complicity of the Polish Security Police. ... I regard it as imperative that the Polish Provisional Government should put an immediate stop to these crimes in order that free and unfettered elections may be held as soon as possible, in accordance with the Crimea decision . ... I am looking forward to the end of these police states ...", while the Polish government blamed Anders and his British backers for

Independent Operational Group Polesie - Misplaced Pages Continue

2730-427: The country's largest province, the Polesie Voivodeship , bore that name, with the eastern part forming part of the Byelorussian SSR , within which the Polesia Region was created in 1938. From 1931 to 1944, it was explicitly mentioned as constituent part of the short-lived ( Byzantine Rite ) Ukrainian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Volhynia, Polesia and Pidliashia . Following the 1939 invasion of Poland , most of

2795-521: The days of 29–30 September the units were engaged by the Soviet Red Army but were able to defeat them. From 2 October the SGO, at that point the last organized regular unit of the Polish Army, fought against the German forces of XIV Mechanized Corps in the battle of Kock . Despite immense German numerical superiority, the Polish forces were able to score several tactical victories; however they were increasingly running low on supplies, including ammunition. Hence on 5 October Kleeberg decided to capitulate ;

2860-401: The dominant Armia Krajowa organization) were also loyal to the government in exile with the Government Delegate's Office at Home being the highest authority of the Polish Secret State . Although military actions of the Polish resistance operating in Poland and its armed forces operating in the West are not commonly grouped together, several important links existed between them, in addition to

2925-444: The east. From 14 September the units of the SGO faced the German XIX Panzer Corps under Heinz Guderian . The forces under general Konstanty Plisowski defended the town of Brześć (Brest) from 16 to 19 September while the forces under colonel Adam Epler defended Kobryń from 16 to 18 September. After the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17 , Kleeberg at first followed orders from Polish High Command and retreated towards

2990-494: The fight with a dash and enthusiasm which is beyond praise. They were inspired by a burning hatred for the Germans which made them very deadly opponents." Dowding later stated further that "had it not been for the magnificent [work of] the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle would have been the same." As for ground troops, some Polish ground units regrouped in southern Scotland. These units, as Polish I Corps , comprised

3055-438: The fighting ended in the early hours of October 6. He was the last Polish general to capitulate in the Polish Defensive War; he is also considered one of the few Polish generals of the September 1939 campaign to have not been defeated in battle (along with Gen. Maczek). Not all of the Polesie Group soldiers capitulated; many dispersed and continued guerrilla warfare, most notably major Henryk Dobrzański and his Detached Unit of

3120-399: The historic region of Podlachia , and is also referred to as such. The modern Polish part was not considered part of Polesia by the late 19th-century Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland , which defined the region as roughly a triangle between the cities of Brest in the west, Mogilev in the northeast and Kyiv in the southeast. The swampy areas of central Polesia are known as

3185-409: The largest forest areas on the continent, Polesia is located in the southwestern part of the Eastern-European Lowland , the Polesian Lowland . On the western side, Polesia originates at the crossing of the Bug River valley in Poland and the Pripyat River valley of Western Ukraine . The westernmost part of the region, located in Poland and around Brest, Belarus , historically also formed part of

3250-433: The largest intelligence networks in Nazi Germany . Many Poles also served in other Allied intelligence services, including the celebrated Krystyna Skarbek (" Christine Granville ") in the United Kingdom's Special Operations Executive . Forty-three percent of all the reports received by the British secret services from continental Europe in 1939-45 came from Polish sources. The majority of Polish resistance (particularly

3315-418: The new Poland could find asylum in the British Empire. Argentina and Brazil were also reported ready to offer them homes. But Britain thought the best solution would be for them to return to Poland, and Britain was circulating an appeal through the Polish Army containing the Polish Government's pledge to treat the soldier exiles fairly. Anders argued that he could not advise the soldiers to return to Poland unless

SECTION 50

#1732782865817

3380-515: The newcomers being released prisoners-of-war and ex- labor camp inmates. The Polish Armed Forces in the West fought in most Allied operations against Nazi Germany in the Mediterranean and Middle East and European theatres : the North African Campaign , the Italian Campaign (with the Battle of Monte Cassino being one of the most notable), the Western European Campaign (from Dieppe Raid and D-Day through Battle of Normandy and latter operations, especially Operation Market Garden ). After

3445-417: The notable exception were the elite Border Protection Corps (KOP) units and the Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy . On 14 September, when the group was engaged by German forces, it was composed of: Over the next two weeks the group sustained casualties but it was also reinforced by various units from the disintegrating Polish army, including defenders of the Sarny Fortified Area . The total strength of

3510-474: The opportunity to fly, it did not take long for their British counterparts to appreciate the tenacity of the Poles. Even Air Officer Commanding Hugh Dowding , who had been one of the first to voice his doubt of the Poles, said: "I must confess that I had been a little doubtful of the effect which their experience in their own countries and in France might have had upon the Polish and Czech pilots, but my doubts were laid to rest, because all three squadrons swung into

3575-513: The region was under Soviet occupation , with the western outskirts under German occupation until 1941, and then the entire region, including the pre-war Soviet-controlled part, was under German occupation until 1943–1944. Since the end of World War II, the region has encompassed areas in eastern Poland, southern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. Polesia is a marshy region lining the Pripyat River ( Pripyat Marshes ) in Southern Belarus ( Brest , Pinsk , Kalinkavichy , Gomel ), Northern Ukraine (in

3640-475: The ships used were of British manufacture. By 1940, the sailors had already impressed Winston Churchill , who remarked that he had "rarely seen a finer body of men". After being evacuated after the defeat of France, Polish fliers had an important role in the Battle of Britain . At first, the Polish pilots were overlooked, despite being numerous (close to 8,500 by mid-1940). Despite having flown for years, most of them were posted either to RAF bomber squadrons or

3705-420: The squadrons were fully operational, while the rest were in various stages of training. Two Polish divisions ( First Grenadier Division , and Second Infantry Fusiliers Division ) took part in the defence of France , while a Polish motorized brigade and two infantry divisions were being formed. At the capitulation of France, General Władysław Sikorski (the Polish commander-in-chief and prime minister )

3770-400: The war, the Polish Navy comprised two cruisers and a large number of smaller ships; most were RN ships loaned to take advantage of availability of Polish crews at a time when the Royal Navy had insufficient manpower to crew all its ships. The Polish Navy fought with great distinction alongside the other Allied navies in many important and successful operations, including those conducted against

3835-428: Was 450 out of over 4,000. As well as the above, there were a number of minor ships, transports, merchant-marine auxiliary vessels, and patrol boats. The Polish intelligence structure remained mostly intact following the fall of Poland in 1939 and continued to report to the Polish Government in Exile. Known as the 'Second Department', it cooperated with the other Allies in every European country and operated one of

3900-464: Was able to evacuate many Polish troops—probably over 20,000—to the United Kingdom. The Polish Navy had been the first to regroup off the shores of the United Kingdom. Polish ships and sailors had been sent to Britain in mid-1939 by General Sikorski, and a Polish-British Naval agreement was signed in November of the same year. Under this agreement, Polish sailors were permitted to don Polish uniforms, and their commanding officers were Polish; however,

3965-428: Was formed to which about 4,000 Polish troops had escaped, mostly through Romania and would later fight in the North African Campaign . After the fall of France (during which about 6,000 Polish soldiers died fighting), about 13,000 Polish personnel had been interned in Switzerland . Nevertheless, Polish commander-in-chief and prime minister General Władysław Sikorski was able to evacuate many Polish troops to

SECTION 60

#1732782865817

4030-449: Was growing anti-Polish sentiment in Britain, particularly among the trade unions —which feared competition for jobs from Polish immigrants—and from Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin . At the same time, there was British and American concern about a police state being built in Poland. In March 1945, Time reported on Polish "Surplus Heroes", stating that Bevin promised Anders that those of his soldiers who did not want to return to

4095-491: Was later ferried from Krasnovodsk across the Caspian Sea to the Middle East ( Iran ) where Polish II Corps was formed from it and other units in 1943. By March 1944, the Polish Armed Forces in the West, fighting under British command, numbered 165,000 at the end of that year, including about 20,000 personnel in the Polish Air Force and 3,000 in the Polish Navy . By the end of the Second World War, they were 195,000 strong, and by July 1945 had increased to 228,000, most of

4160-558: Was later ferried from Krasnovodsk to the Middle East (Iran) through the Caspian Sea (in March and August 1942). The Polish units later formed the Polish II Corps . It was composed of Polish 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division , Polish 5th Kresowa Infantry Division , Polish 2nd Armoured Brigade and other units. The Polish Air Force fought in the Battle of France as one fighter squadron GC 1/145 , several small units detached to French squadrons, and numerous flights of industry defence (approximately 130 pilots, who achieved 55 victories at

4225-415: Was not used as a tactical unit until after the war, when it took part in the occupation of Germany as part of the Allied forces stationed around the port of Wilhelmshaven . Prior to that date, its two main units fought separately and were grouped together mostly for logistical reasons. In August 1942, the British Commandos formed No. 6 troop which was integrated into No.10 (Inter-Allied) Commando attached to

#816183