3rd Carpathian Rifle Division (Poland)
The 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division, also commonly known as Christmas Tree Division due to the characteristic emblem of a cedar of Lebanon superimposed upon the Polish flag, was an infantry division of the Polish Armed Forces in the West that fought during World War II on the Italian Front. It was formed in 1942 of the Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade and of forces of Lieutenant General Władysław Anders' Polish 2nd Corps evacuated from the Soviet Union.
Mr Alfred Zelke, the last surviving member of the 3rd DSK camp at Riddlesworth, Norfolk, for the unveiling of the memorial, and his daughter Anna in 2018.
This Divisional badge is called Znak Pamiatkow and was instituted for soldiers of the 3rd DSK in 1st December 1945 and distributed in 1946 to troops who had fought with the Division.
Plaque at the site of the former Polish camp, Hodgemoor Woods, Buckinghamshire.
Gen Stanislaw Kopanski
Polish Armed Forces in the West
The Polish Armed Forces in the West refers to the Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II. Polish forces were also raised within Soviet territories; these were the Polish Armed Forces in the East.
Shoulder sleeve insignia of the Polish Armed Forces in the West
Polish soldiers welcomed by the residents of Breda, Netherlands, 1944
Polish military grave (the text reads "unknown soldiers") in the cemetery at Grainville-Langannerie, France
126 German airplanes shot down by the 303 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. Painted on a Hurricane.
