History of the 1st Polish Armored division

Sully

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Hi all,

I'm kicking around the idea of doing some research and analysis on the closing of the Falaise Pocket with an eye towards trying my hand at creating a scenario or two.

How does one go about getting ahold of the official histories of the units involved? I'd like to start initially with the Polish 1st armored as they played a key role in plugging the gap.

I've found this and a few other articles on the web:
http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol15/iss2/7

And this book seems like a must have:
McGilvray, Evan. The Black Devils March-A Doomed Odyssey: The 1st Polish Armored Division 1939-1945. Helion
& Company. West Midlans, England. 2005.

Any way to find the official unit history or historical documents? E.g. daily reports, etc.

Thanks, David
 

Kevin Kenneally

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Hi all,

I'm kicking around the idea of doing some research and analysis on the closing of the Falaise Pocket with an eye towards trying my hand at creating a scenario or two.

How does one go about getting ahold of the official histories of the units involved? I'd like to start initially with the Polish 1st armored as they played a key role in plugging the gap.

I've found this and a few other articles on the web:
http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol15/iss2/7

And this book seems like a must have:
McGilvray, Evan. The Black Devils March-A Doomed Odyssey: The 1st Polish Armored Division 1939-1945. Helion
& Company. West Midlans, England. 2005.

Any way to find the official unit history or historical documents? E.g. daily reports, etc.

Thanks, David

Thanks Dave.
 

xenovin

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Any way to find the official unit history or historical documents? E.g. daily reports, etc.
I would do the Google/Amazon search to find existing books on the battle/unit(s) you are interested in simulating. These may already have the information you are looking for. What you really want is the bibliography in each book which will help you track down the primary source data you are looking to obtain (you may want to inter-library loan to get some of the rare stuff). I don't usually research British units so others here will have to point you to wherever the British military keep their records (Sandhurst?). A search or query on Axis History forum may point you in the direction for primary or secondary source data for the German units. This is the tip of the iceberg for starting your research depending on how far down you want to drill down. There is a surprising amount of primary source data available on the web these days if you have the stamina to search for it! For example, searching Google in polish may turn up interviews or first-hand accounts. The translations are usually a little "wonky" but gets you pretty close. Do the same for German. Like I said, depends on how long you want to keep searching. Good luck!
 

KED

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Hi all,

I'm kicking around the idea of doing some research and analysis on the closing of the Falaise Pocket with an eye towards trying my hand at creating a scenario or two.

How does one go about getting ahold of the official histories of the units involved? I'd like to start initially with the Polish 1st armored as they played a key role in plugging the gap.

I've found this and a few other articles on the web:
http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol15/iss2/7

And this book seems like a must have:
McGilvray, Evan. The Black Devils March-A Doomed Odyssey: The 1st Polish Armored Division 1939-1945. Helion
& Company. West Midlans, England. 2005.

Any way to find the official unit history or historical documents? E.g. daily reports, etc.

Thanks, David
They made a CG for Peiper why not for the 1st Polish in Normandy?
 

clavain

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Hi all,

I'm kicking around the idea of doing some research and analysis on the closing of the Falaise Pocket with an eye towards trying my hand at creating a scenario or two.

How does one go about getting ahold of the official histories of the units involved? I'd like to start initially with the Polish 1st armored...<snip>

Any way to find the official unit history or historical documents? E.g. daily reports, etc.

Thanks, David
Not to be pedantic or anything, but it was 1st Polish Armoured Division, with a "u". Part of 1st Canadian Army.

Surprisingly, the wikipedia page actually has some good secondary source references:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Armoured_Division_(Poland)

I do not believe there was ever an Official Polish history of the Second World War due to the government-in-exile Polish Army vs Communist Polish Army issues, although I could be wrong and there might be unofficial histories (probably in Polish) floating around somewhere. That said, in addition to the works mentioned above (particularly Keegan's Six Armies which discusses the events in detail and several actions one of which at least is already portrayed in the ASL Normandy pack by Ian Dalglish, and Copp), you might find the Canadian Army Official History of use:

http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/oh-ho/detail-eng.asp?BfBookLang=1&BfId=29

Also available online as HTML here: http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Canada/CA/Victory/index.html

Similarly, the relevant US Army Official History volume (no reference handy) would undoubtedly discuss its role in the closing of the Gap as well.

Finally, the war diaries of the division and each of its units would be held at The National Archives (TNA) in Kew, west London, England. If you are very lucky they have already been digitized and might be available at relatively small cost. If not expect to pay in body parts to have them digitized if you cannot get over to look at them. It is possible some of them, i.e. Div HQ, _might_ be available at Library and Archives Canada in the First Canadian Army records (worth checking with a reference archivist there online) or perhaps even at the Directorate of History and Heritage at National Defence HQ in Ottawa (see link above with Official History details and go to "DHH Home" for contact details). If you are very lucky some of the battalion/regiment level war diaries might be in with the Canadian stuff too, but my guess would be not, as if they were one of several Canadian military historians, beginning with Terry Copp among others, would have made use of them (would be worth checking Copps book to see if he references Polish records and if so where they live). Not even sure if the unit war diairies would have been in English or Polish, or a mix (possible that Div HQ was likely in English and lower-level units more Polish, not sure).

Hope this helps. Just be aware that archival research into this sort of thing is never as straightforward as one would hope (or as cheap).
 
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