1. In May 1944, 40,000 Polish soldiers attacked
and captured the hilltops of Monte Cassino,
bringing to a close one of the largest and
bloodiest battles fought by the Western Allies
in the Second World War. Days later the
Allied armies marched into Rome seizing the
first Axis capital.
Yet no-one in 1939 could have foreseen
an entire Polish Corps engaged on the
Italian Front. Most had been held prisoner
in the USSR following Poland’s defeat and
their release was only achieved through the
intense diplomatic negotiations with Stalin
by British and Polish politicians, diplomats
and generals, notably Sikorski and Anders.
Remarkably this resulted in the evacuation
en masse of the exiled Polish Army to Iran
in 1942 and their subsequent incorporation
into the British Army as the Polish II Corps.
By contrast, as this fascinating book reveals,
there was a disgraceful lack of post-conflict
planning which led to the shameful fate
suffered by many of these loyal and tenacious
allies.
From Warsaw to Rome charts the
extraordinary wartime story of the exiled
Polish Army in the east, making extensive use
of undiscovered archive material. It examines
in depth the relations between the British and
Polish General Staffs, the Polish II Corps’
distinguished fighting record, the sacrifice
and hardships of the Polish soldiers and their
ultimate betrayal by their allies.
Martin Williams was born in
Plymouth and educated at the University
of Gloucestershire graduating in Landscape
Architecture. He has spent the last fifteen
years at sea as a Deck Officer in the
Merchant Navy where he lived and worked
with a great variety of characters from
around the world. The tales from the
Polish crews inspired him to find out more
concerning past relations between Britain
and Poland. Upon uncovering aspects of
the Polish II Corps he began to explore
their history in depth, and this book is the
culmination of nine years’ work.
Jacket design: Jon Wilkinson
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FROM WARSAW TO ROME jckt.indd 1 25/10/2016 17:07