Customer Reviews

An Army in Exile: The Story of the Second Polish Corps (Allied Forces Series)

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This book is a true tale of the exploits and victories of the Polish 2nd Corps of the British Army during World War II, as recounted by their Commander-in-Chief, General Wladyslaw Anders. My father served in the Carpathian Brigade of the Corps and experienced many of the events this book chronicles. It follows the history of the Poles and their commander from the earliest days of the German and Russian invasion of Poland in 1939, through imprisonment in Russia, the formation of the Corps from freed and escaped Poles, through their campaigns across Africa and up the Italian peninsula to their glorious but costly victory at Monte Cassino. The account is delivered vividly but with much restraint by General Anders, and includes the events leading up to the decision of the Poles to keep on fighting after learning their homeland had been consigned to Stalin. The brave and honorable Polish troops made this decision because they knew there were no replacements to support their British and American comrades in the field. This is a marvelous first-hand account of the war from a perspective a little different from the usual view of events provided by our history books. It will appeal to those who appreciate true tales of adventure and human drama as well as the armchair historian. Moreover, it tells a story of hope, of bravery, and of betrayal, which should be known and never forgotten. Are you listening, Mr Spielberg? (I also recommend another eye-witness account of the Polish situation during and immediately after WWII: Defeat in Victory, written by a member of the Polish government-in-exile at the time, Jan Cziechanowski).

This important work is the story the Allies did not tell their public after WWII. I believe this book will be reprinted in the future due to demand. Wladyslaw Anders not only was a brilliant general that helped the Allies cause but also saved the lives of thousands of refugees escaping Siberia during WWII. It was very smart of him to write this book immediately after the war to document what had happened as the incredible story of his II Polish Corps (also known as Anders' Army) was successfully suppressed by the Allies during the cold war. The general public only now discovers the account of how his army was betrayed by the Allies at the Yalta Conference.

The book itself is well written. There is an interesting foreword by then future British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. In the Introduction, Harold Macmillan comments that no Englishman or American can read this book without feeling a sense of shame. General Anders describes in detail how his army was formed from Polish political prisoners in Siberia and their trek from Asia to Europe. Included are many letters, orders, and speeches by him as well as conversations with leaders such as Winston Churchill. The conferences in Teheran and Yalta are described in detail as well as the Warsaw Uprising. The immediate post-war situation of his army is also discussed.

It is fascinating to read how he had continued to warn the Western leaders not to trust the Soviets but they did not listen. The rest is history: the blockade of Berlin, the Eastern Block, missiles in Cuba, and wars in Korea and Vietnam. General Anders was clearly stunned by the betrayal of his army but he had no way of knowing that the Roosevelt Administration was saturated by Soviet spies and Communist sympathizers.

General Wladyslaw Anders has written a book which rebuffs the incorrect portrayal of Poles as "passive spectators" during World War II. Poles fought at every front from Day One of the war. Even after being betrayed by the Allies, Anders commanded the Polish forces to continue fighting. He touches on aspects of history which encompassed my parents. Both sides of our family were deported to Siberia, and later released. My biological father fought at Monte Cassino. Anders (p. 182) cites General Oliver Leese, Commander of the Eighth Army: "I am glad to see you hear today. I want to tell you that the capture of Monte Cassino was entirely an achievement of the Poles." Of course, Poland was later betrayed, and my parents could not return to Poland. Neither could General Anders.

Why is it that Hollywood never made a movie about the exploits of General Anders? Likewise, why doesn't the History Channel ever do a documentary about the contribution of the Poles during the 2nd World War? All we get are these Hitlerite stories - - These are real "Reality" scripts!!!!! This book - while difficult to get and a little expensive - is worth the time and money! A must for anyone interested in World War 2. I also highly recommend General Bor-Komorowski's book about the Secret Underground Army - Armja Krajowa - which fought the Nazis during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 after 5 years of tenacious resistance against the German Occupier.

Out of the 31 books i have read on World War 2 this is by far the greatest written by the Heroic General Anders himself this book is an absolute must read

General Anders gives an interesting look into the workings of the Soviet prison system, particularly through his stay at Lubianka. Also very interesting is his account of his meeting with Stalin and Molotov. The reader can get an excellent impression of what it was like to deal with the Soviet dictator.

The reader can also learn how General Anders fought to save the lives of thousands of Poles being worked and starved to death across the Soviet Union. I have found no other account that can give the insight on that fight that this book provides. He also gives a look at the Polish government in exile and how it was usurped by the Soviet created Polish government.

This book tells little about how the Polish Second Corps was formed, what challenges it faced, how its training proceeded, or its order of battle, as one might expect from the title. General Anders merely summarized the operations of the Second Corps, only going into some detail on the battle for Monte Cassino, in which the Second Corps was victorious.

A significant portion of the book was dedicated to how he witnessed Poland slowly being sold out to the Soviets. Obviously, as it was written in 1949, the war was behind General Anders and Poland's oppresive occupation was ongoing. He tells the tale of the Allies' sellout to the Soviets as he saw it develop. He did not know what was truly happening in the British or U.S. governments and does not claim to know. "A Question of Honor" by Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud gives an excellent view of what was going on in the British and U.S. governments at that time and is a better source on that topic.

It is difficult to find better information on General Anders and his achievements. Poland and the world owe much to General Anders; a true professional and a genuine Polish patriot.

Why read fiction stories about WW2 when true stories like this can be read. The story of the Polish deportees from eastern Poland and how they ended up fighting in Italy is largely unknown to most people but is one of the great epics to come out of WW2.

The British seemed only to think of defeating the Nazis with no thought beyond short term objectives even when it was clear Geman defeat was inevitable. The Americans seem to have lived in a cocoon of self delusion with regard to the Soviets and their evil leader. For the free Poles it must have been a time of immense frustration knowing what Soviet liberation of eastern Europe would mean for its people.

General Anders' gives a masterly, insightful and gripping account of how he survived imprisonment and torture in the NKVD headquarters in Moscow at the Lubianka after the fall of Poland following the Nazi invasion of 1939 and the overrunning of eastern Poland by Soviet forces under the Nazi-Soviet pact.
Gen. Anders' description of how he outwitted Stalin, together with Sikorski, so as to spirit an army of starving Polish troops out of the far-flung corners of the Soviet Union is an epic of military diplomacy and human endurance.
There is much to interest historians and military buffs alike in his humble description of how he built up the Polish II Corps into the army that had the honour of taking Monte Cassino only to see the hopes of its soldiers for a free Poland dashed at Yalta. Essential reading for an understanding of modern Poland.
John Phillips, Rome

The picture of the Communist evil side, given by General Anders, is precious, clear and shocking because it comes from an extraordinary person, able to express in an effective and simple way his feelings and thoughts during the endless effort to rescue as much survivors as possible from the Russian territory.
The General Anders is not just a military commander, he has a very sensible character able to observe, to discover and to understand the behavior of Russian officers driven by the ideal of the total control of human lives, deprived of dignity as persons. The goal of this superpower being so different from the Nazism, aiming just to kill bodies: the communism target was to destroy the soul and any hope of an entire population and all coming generations!
This is why the long journey of the Polish Army is so similar to the Exodus of the Old Testament, as later will say the famous historian Norman Davies, calling Poland the God's Playground! God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present
General Anders is involved as decision maker between a mass of prisoners coming with all their stories from every Soviet prison camp, entire families survived at polar temperatures and conditions of starvation, who will became an excellent Army Corps, and Soviet leaders playing their strategy to don't let the truth being known outside the Imperial borders.
The book contains detailed dialogs with Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, English and American commanders of the Italian campaign. In each situation the author is capable to give evidence of why he said or did something. He is putting the reader in front of those leaders, who shaped today's history, sharing his personal opinion.
Behind the scene there is the growing threat of a necessary sacrifice of half of the European population to satisfy Stalin's appetite, in order to let the enormous human power of the Soviet Union flooding Hitler's Reich, considered the real enemy to eradicate.
This pact with the devil causing 40 years of Russian domination of Eastern European countries, a wound not yet recovered. For Poles a long exile before to get access to the Promised Land.

I have to say what a wonderful and true book! I wish that history channels would spend some time on the real truth of Poland in WW2. General Anders went from hell and back with one thing in his mind and in his heart "Free Poland one Day" the book is epic telling us readers what happened in the first days of WW2 and through out the War. I take my hat down for those who died for Poland and her freedom.