War Office: Army Records Centre (Polish Section): Records concerning Polish Forces...

This series comprises records of the Army Records Centre (Polish Section) concerning Polish forces and the Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC), set up in 1946 to ease the transition of Poles serving with Allied forces to civilian life in Britain or abroad.

The series consists mainly of records of the PRC Records Section, and the Aftermath Liaison Section of the Directorate of Personal Services. They deal with Polish service during the Second World War as well as the aftermath. An analysis of each file, prepared at the time the papers were arranged into their present form, is at WO 315/68

It should be noted that some of the records in this series are in Polish, although for ease of administration English translations were provided in most cases.

For files dealing with the administration of the Polish Resettlement Act 1947 see AST 18

• War Office, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Directorate of Administration, Polish Resettlement Corps, 1947-1949
• War Office, Polish Resettlement Corps, 1946-1947

Topics

Army

Conflict

Armed Forces (General Administration)

Operations, battles and campaigns

Following the invasion and fall of Poland in September 1939, many Polish servicemen and women made their way through France, Russia and other countries to Britain or British territories in the Middle East. They were formed into units which fought in the campaigns in North West Europe, Italy, North Africa and the Middle East.

At the end of the war, many of these Poles stayed in the United Kingdom and in order to ease the transition from a Polish military environment to British civilian life, a satisfactory means of demobilisation needed to be devised by the British authorities. This took the form of the raising, as a corps of the British Army, of the Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC), into which such Poles as wished to stay in Britain were allowed to enlist for the period of their demobilisation.

The PRC was formed in 1946 (Army Order 96 of 1946) and was disbanded after fulfilling its purpose in 1949 (Army Order 2 of 1950).