Wadysaw Anders

Arkonia. As a young ocer, he served Tsar Nicholas II

in the 1st Krechowiecki Lancers Regiment during World
War I, later joining the Polish Army and again serving in
cavalry as a commanding ocer in 15th Pozna Uhlans
Regiment.
Colonel Anders was chief of sta of the government
forces during Pisudski's May Coup of 1926 and was
bitterly opposed to President Wojciechowski's decision
to surrender to the rebels. Unlike the governments top
commander Tadeusz Rozwadowski, he avoided persecution by the Sanation regime that assumed power after the
coup.
Anders was in command of a cavalry brigade at the
time of the outbreak of World War II. The Polish forces
were no match for the larger and better equipped German Wehrmacht with their massive Blitzkrieg tactics and
were forced to retreat to the east. During the ghting
and retreat Anders was wounded a number of times.
He was later taken prisoner by Soviet forces and was
jailed, initially in Lviv (then Lww) and later in Lubyanka
prison in Moscow. During his imprisonment Anders was
tortured.[2]

The tombstone of General Anders at the Polish War Cemetery at

Monte Cassino in Italy.

The Polish War Cemetery at Monte Cassino in Italy.

Wadysaw Anders (11 August 1892 12 May 1970)

was a General in the Polish Army and later in life a
politician with the Polish government-in-exile in London.
General Anders

Biography

Shortly after the attack on the Soviet Union by Germany

on 22 June 1941, Anders was released by the Soviets with
the aim of forming a Polish Army to ght alongside the
Red Army. Continued friction with the Soviets over political issues as well as shortages of weapons, food and
clothing, led to the eventual exodus of Anders men
known as the Anders Army together with a sizeable
contingent of Polish civilians via the Persian Corridor into
Iran, Iraq and Palestine. Here, Anders formed and led the
2nd Polish Corps, ghting alongside the Western Allies,
while agitating for the release of Polish nationals still in

Anders was born on 11 August 1892 to his Baltic-German

father Albert Anders and his mother Elizabeth, born
Tauchert,[1] in the village of KroniewiceBonie, near
Kutno which at that time was part of the Russian Empire
(Partitions of Poland). He had two brothers - Karol and
Tadeusz. He was baptized as a member of the Protestant
Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland.
While an undergraduate at Riga Technical University Anders became a member of the Polish student fraternity
1

2 MEDALS

the Soviet Union.

Army Medal (four times)

Anders was the commander of the 2nd Polish Corps in

Italy 19431946, capturing Monte Cassino in the Battle
of Monte Cassino.

Commemorative Medal for War 1918-1921

After the war the Soviet-installed communist government

in Poland in 1946 deprived him of Polish citizenship and
of his military rank. Anders had, however, always been
unwilling to return to a Soviet-dominated Poland where
he probably would have been jailed and possibly executed, and remained in exile in Britain. He was prominent in the Polish Government in Exile in London and
inspector-general of the Polish forces-in-exile.
After the war Anders wrote a book covering his thoughts
and experiences. An Army in Exile was published originally by MacMillan & Co., London, in 1949. The book
has been recently re-issued under the same title.

Medal of the 10th Anniversary of Independence

Medal of 3rd May

Medal for Long Service

Silver (20 years)

Bronze (10 years)

Home Army Cross

Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross

Wound Decoration, (eight times)

In 1948 he married the actress Iryna Jarosiewicz known

2.2
under her stage name Renata Bogdaska.

Foreign

He died in London on 12 May 1970, where his body lay Czechoslovakia

in state at the church of Andrzej Bobola, where many of
his former soldiers and families came to pay their last re
Order of the White Lion
spects. He was buried, in accordance with his wishes,
amongst his fallen soldiers from the 2nd Polish Corps at
France
the Polish War Cemetery at Monte Cassino in Italy.
After the collapse of Communist Poland in 1989, his citizenship and military rank were posthumously reinstated.

Commander of the Legion d'Honneur

Croix de Guerre avec Palme

Medals

Mdaille Interallie de la Victoire 1914

1918

Anders received numerous awards and decorations:[3]

2.1

Italy

Poland

Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (1st

class)

Order of the White Eagle (awarded posthumously on 11 November 1995 by Lech Walesa)

Virtuti Militari

Commanders Cross (2nd class)

Knights Cross (3rd class)

Golden Cross (4th class)

Silver Cross (5th class)

Order of Polonia Restituta

Commanders Cross (3rd class)

Ocers Cross (4th class)

Cross of Independence

War Cross for Military Valor

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Grand Cross of Merit
Persia

Order of Homayoun (1st class)

Imperial Russia

Order of St. George (4th class, 1915)

Cross of Valour (four times: Polish-Soviet

War (3) & Polish Defensive War)

Order of St. Vladimir with Swords (4th

class, 1915)

Gold Cross of Merit with Swords (four

Order of St. Anna with Swords (2nd, 3rd

(1918) and 4th class)

times)

Order of Saint Stanislas with Swords (2nd

and 3rd classes, 1918)

United Kingdom

Honorary Companion of the Order of the

Bath

19391945 Star

Italy Star

Defence Medal

War Medal

United States of America

Commander of the Legion of Merit

Order of Lafayette
Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Commander of the Order of St. Sava

See also
List of Poles
Polish contribution to World War II
Polish Armed Forces in the West
Anders Army
Anders (tank)
Western betrayal

External links
Wadysaw Anders Collection at the Hoover Institution Archives

Notes

[1] Genera Broni Wadysaw Anders. Rzeszw University

of Technology (in Polish). 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
[2] Sarner, Harvey (2006). Genera Anders i onierze II Korpusu Polskiego [General Anders and Soldiers of the Polish
II Corps]. Pozna: Zysk i S-ka. p. 37. ISBN 83-7506003-8.
[3] Odznaczenia Gen. Broni Wadysawa Andersa [Medals
of Lt. Gen. Wladyslaw Anders]. Rzeszw University of
Technology (in Polish). 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2015.

6 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

Wadysaw Anders Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Anders?oldid=672618040 Contributors: Akumiszcza, EdH, Phr, Dimadick, PBS, RedWolf, Altenmann, Halibutt, Radomil, Guy Peters, Lysy, Folks at 137, Bobblewik, Piotrus, Emax,
PolishPoliticians, Klemen Kocjancic, Kevin Rector, D6, Rich Farmbrough, YUL89YYZ, Susvolans, Art LaPella, Darwinek, Fawcett5,
Gene Nygaard, Alai, Woohookitty, AshishG, Mrc, Emerson7, Witkacy, YurikBot, Alma Pater, Retired username, Wknight94, Curpsbotunicodify, West Virginian, Sardanaphalus, David Straub, SmackBot, Haymaker, Commander Keane bot, Bluebot, Colonies Chris, Chlewbot, Orczar, PolishMan, Mathiasrex, MrDolomite, Cydebot, After Midnight, Thijs!bot, Biruitorul, James086, Dawkeye, Nick Number,
Klackenfus, Txomin, Magioladitis, Connormah, Avicennasis, Grzegorz Wysocki, JRWalko, Erpbridge, Rettetast, CommonsDelinker,
Aboutmovies, STBotD, Idioma-bot, VolkovBot, TXiKiBoT, EricSerge, Vanished user ikijeirw34iuaeolaseric, Mkpumphrey, Nedrutland, M0RD00R, Felsztyn, AlleborgoBot, PeterBFZ, Gbawden, Britlawyer, SieBot, Kernel Saunters, Alex Middleton, A. Carty, Monegasque, Darth Kalwejt, Maralia, ClueBot, Scartboy, Blancoduno~enwiki, Krzyzowiec, Kelvin, 1ForTheMoney, Loosmark, RogDel, Addbot, MarekZielinski, MilkFloat, Tassedethe, Yobot, Ajh1492, AnomieBOT, Galoubet, Ulric1313, Citation bot, Jun Nijo, Dinamik-bot,
Ivanevian, RjwilmsiBot, EmausBot, ZroBot, RaptureBot, Bths83Cu87Aiu06, J.elizabeth.golden, Vanquisher.UA, , VIAFbot, Lekoren, Thaddeus.schneiss, ArmbrustBot, Oliszydlowski, Sobiepan, 1982vdven, Why should I have a User Name?, Adamstasz,
Spiderjerky, KasparBot and Anonymous: 58

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zal1/?on=21.12.1992'>Zacznik do rozporzdzenia Prezydenta RP z dnia 10 listopada 1992 r. (Dz. U. Nr 90, poz. 452)</a>
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