Ilana, can't reply to te two questions you raised, other than in general terms.
1. I assume by "Soviets used fine battalions" you mean the penal (prisoner) battalions where Soviets charged with offences (theft, desertion, being late for work, etc) would redeem themselves by going into battle, usually in suicidal situations. So far as I know, neither the US nor Britain had penal battalions used in that way. In fact, I don't know that they had penal battalions at all - troops were punished in jail and then usually returned to their original unit. Polish Home Forces - mainly Poles that had escaped to the West early in WW2 - made up a part of the British forces. There were Polish Army units as well as Air Force Squadrons, even a couple of Polish naval ships. All operated under Polish command in conjunction with British forces, although the British were effectively the Supreme Commanders for the forces. The Poles were used in some attacks - Monte Cassino in Italy being a major one, as well as Polish paratroops used in the airborne landings at Aarnhem in 1944. Poles also fought at El Alamein and other battles in North Africa in 1941-43. The were Polish bomber and fighter squadrons operating with the Royal Air Force, as were Norwegian, Czech and Free French. The British tend to use troops that will get the job done well, over and over again. That was one reason the Poles were often in battle. The Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders and Scots were often used in the same way, often as the spearhead troops in an attack. But these were not in the same way as the Russian (or German) penal battalions - they were never quite so suicidal, just being ordinary duty for the infantry, really. Politically, the Poles also wanted to be seen to be continuing the fight against the Nazis to be treated as a proper Allied Force, and I think they had some say in how their troops were used. 2. Re the return of orphanages, I don't have any idea. Don't know if this is similar or not, but any Polish (or Soviet) troops captured after fighting in German forces, such as the SS volunteer units, were handed over to the Russians. The Russians soon either executed or sent to prison (which ended up much the same) most of these captured troops. Hundreds of Cossacks were handed over in 1945, even though the British were pretty well certain they would be executed. They were. On the other hand, those Poles who had fought on the Allied side were allowed to stay in Britain after the war, although I believe most wanted to return to Poland, and did so. This probably also applies to almost all other refugees (Displaced Persons as they were called then). If someone didn't want to return to a Soviet controlled area, and no evidence could be found for them being involved either in the German Forces or in a war crime, they could remain in the refugee camps. Certainly thousands of poles, Latvians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, etc were able to migrate to Canada, Australia and the US after the war. Some were later found to be wanted for war crimes - even recently - yet most were simply refugees who didn't want live under the Russians. Cheers, Brett > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On > Behalf Of Halupovich Ilana > Sent: Monday, 28 January 2002 3:38 PM > To: Brin-L > Subject: Talking about WWII - I have a question > > > I made order on my shelves not long ago and threw away some books that > belonged to garbage can long ago. But I re-read them before doing > it (or, at > least, skimmed through). Those are children books that I brought with me > from SU, intended for ages 10-13, now, it's, probably, anti-American > propaganda, but given the way SU knows how to twist facts... So > can somebody > answer me, pls - One - During WWII American used Polish soldiers > as Soviets > used fine battalions. Two - After WWII Americans and Brits tried > to prevent > evacuated Soviet orphanages (sp) from returning back. True or false? > > Ilana, former of Latvia republic of Soviet Union. >
