The Polish 5th Kresowa Infantry Division ( pl, 5 Kresowa Dywizja Piechoty) was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

division of the

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; thes ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Formed in March 1943, it fought in the Italian Campaign as part of

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Władysław Anders ) , birth_name = Władysław Albert Anders , birth_date = , birth_place = Krośniewice-Błonie, Warsaw Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = London, England, United Kingdom , serviceyears ...

Polish II Corps The Polish II Corps ( pl, Drugi Korpus Wojska Polskiego), 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and fought wit ...

, affiliated with the Western Allies, under command of the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Forces, ...

History

The division was formed in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

in March 1943. Stefan Orzechowski:

n Polish N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

Historia walk 5 Kresowej Dywizji Piechoty (History of fights of 5th Kresowa Infantry Division), Warszawa 1998, ed. by Oficyna Wydawnicza Volumen –

Dom Wydawniczy Bellona Bellona Publishing House ( pl, Wydawnictwo Bellona, formerly also ''Dom Wydawniczy Bellona'') is a private publishing house based in Warsaw, Poland. It was created in 1990 from restructuring of the state-run Wydawnictwo MON. It specialises in book ...

, ( Bellona Publ.), pp.19–23

Fighting in Italy

The division landed in southern Italy in February 1944 and entered the line in March, as part of

, destined to fight in the Italian Campaign. In May it took part in the fourth and final

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

, in which it suffered a 15% casualty rate. In June/July the division participated in the Battle of Ancona. In the fall of 1944 it fought on the approaches to the

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

. After the front line stabilized for the winter, the division renewed active operations in April 1945, where it took part in the final offensive in Italy, advancing to liberate

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

at the end of the war. During its war service in Italy the division suffered 5,127 casualties, including 1,063 killed in action. The majority of these losses were sustained by the infantry battalions.

After the war

The division remained in Italy as part of

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

occupation forces until May 1946 when it was transported to Britain and then disbanded in 1947. The majority of its soldiers did not choose to return to Communist Poland, and were resettled in various Western countries (mainly Great Britain and Canada).

Commanders

It was commanded by Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko (1943) and

Nikodem Sulik Nikodem Sulik-Sarnowski (August 15, 1893 – January 14, 1954; noms de guerre Jodko, Jod, Karol, and Sarnowski) was an officer of the Russian Imperial Army, and Generał brygady of the Polish Army. Biography Born August 15, 1893 in the village of ...

(from 1943 to 1946).

Composition

The division consisted of 14446 men, including 820 officers. Its component units were: *4th

Wołyń Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

Infantry Brigade(added in 1945) *5th

Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

Infantry Brigade *6th

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

Infantry Brigade *

15th Poznań Uhlans Regiment 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious num ...

*smaller divisional units The division was named after the Kresy region (eastern borderlands of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

References

05th Military units and formations established in 1943

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 {{WWII-stub