Help Needed Unlocking Polish History.

Hey there, just a bit of background to start of. My grandfather is a Polish veteran of the second world war. Following the war he decided to settle in the UK and marry a Ukranian women also seeking refuge in Britain following conscription and forced resettlement by the Germans during the war. I am the son of there daughter and, as a keen historian, am eager to gain as much knowledge from my grandfather as possable.

Having talked to him recently i am begining to bring together some knowledge through reaserch in order to better understand the journey that he took through the second world war. In my last visit i took some basic information of my grandfathers division in order to reaserch it in specific. Unfortunatly as of yet i have not been able to find this specific division. My grandfather has written in my notebook , " 3 divi Kotpock Sivis ". The S in Sivis is an S with what looks like a reverse J in its underhalf. Im an unsure as to whether this is a part of the Polish alphabetic system or simply my grandfathers poor writing - excuse my ignorance.

Knowing that my Grandfather fought at Monte Cassino i am begining to presume that this may be or itleast part of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division simply lost in translation, but i could not say for sure. Some doubt to this is given due to the knowledge that my grandfather was not part of the 'Anders Army' imprisoned in the USSR, but joined the fighting on the side of the Allies after deserting from the Wermacht. If anyone could shed any light it would be much appreciated.

the 2nd under Gen. Anders fought Monte Cassino.

Your doubt is unfounded, even though your grandfather was not a part of original “Anders Army” it is precisely this army that grew in numbers due to the large influx of Poles serving in Wermacht that either deserted and switched sides or were captured and switched sides. These were the Poles mainly from Silesia, Greater Poland and Pomerania that were forced to serve in the German Army as conscripts. These were the parts of Poland that were directly incorporated into Germany.


I can’t help you solving this mystery; I simply have no clue as to what it might be. Perhaps if you made a picture of it and posted a link to it here someone might be willing to translate the hand writing.

This might be of some use in your research. Polish II Corps under General Anders was part of British 8th army. When it was formed II Corps consisted of two Infantry divisions, one panzer brigade, one independent altirely unit and couple more smaller units. Since it was growing in numbers throughout the campaign, mainly because the former Wermancht soldiers were joining the ranks, new units were established as part of II Corps. These were; 3rd brigades in both of the original infantry divisions (this most likely is the place where your grandfather served, so search for either one of them), created few more units of altirely, 2nd Panzer division became much larger and renamed as 2nd Warsaw Panzer division due to the new recruits and creation of a new 14th Greater Poland Panzer brigade

You can get his military records, if they are still in existence, at:

Centralne Archiwum Polskiego
Blok 126
Warsaw-Rembertwo, Poland, 00-910

Give them as much factual information, such as years of service, his correct name, a copy of some Polish record and a COPY of your birth certificate. It may take a while to get a copy of the records.

Good luck.

Henry

I was thinking the same, ask him If he ment division or some smaller unit.

cheers guys thanks for the help.