Polish Armed Forces in The East - Anders Army: 1941-1942

Anders Army: 1941-1942

Further information: Anders Army and Polish Second Corps

After the German occupation of the eastern part of interwar Poland by that time effectively defeated by the German invasion, the Soviets effectively broke off diplomatic relations with the evacuated Polish government. Diplomatic relations were however re-established in 1941 after the German invasion of the Soviet Union forced Soviet premier Joseph Stalin to look for allies. Thus the military agreement of August 14 and subsequent Sikorski-Maiski Agreement of August 17, 1941, resulted in Stalin agreeing to declare the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in relation to Poland null and void, and release tens of thousands of Polish prisoners-of-war held in Soviet camps. Pursuant to an agreement between the Polish government-in-exile and Stalin, the Soviets granted "amnesty" to many Polish citizens, from whom a military force was formed.

General Władysław Sikorski, the leader of the London-based exiled government of Poland, nominated General Władysław Anders - one of the Polish officers held captive in the Soviet Union - as commander of this new formation. The formation began to organise in the Buzuluk area, and recruitment begun in the NKVD camps for Polish POWs. By the end of 1941 25,000 soldiers (including 1,000 officers) had been recruited, forming three infantry divisions: 5th, 6th and 7th. In the spring of 1942 the organising formation was moved to the area of Tashkent; the 8th and 9th divisions were also formed that year.

In the second part of 1942, during the German Caucasus offensive (the most notable part of which was the Battle of Stalingrad), Stalin agreed to use the Polish formation on the Middle Eastern front; and the unit was transferred via the Persian Corridor to Pahlevi, Iran. As such, the unit passed from Soviet control to that of the British government, and as the Polish Second Corps joined the Polish Armed Forces in the West. About 77,000 combatants and 41,000 civilians - former Polish citizens - left the USSR with the Anders Army.