Polish Troops interned in Switzerland

I hadn't realized that so many Poles had escaped to Switzerland. I wonder if any tried to get back into the fight?

"For the Polish Divisions, the capitulation by the French again left them in a quandary. Units continued to fight despite Pétain’s call for armistice and demobilization on 16th June 1940 while the Poles covered the retreat. Polish units were cut off by the retreat and many decided to sneak around German strongholds to avoid capture (Piotowski, 1943). Brigadier-General Bronislaw Prugar-Kietling defended the Belfort area with 545 senior officers, 2,373 officers and 12,912 troops. The First Division fought on until the 18th June and the 2nd Division decided to escape across the border into Switzerland on the 20 - 21st June 1940. Brigadier-General Prugar-Kietling crossed into Switzerland at 5.30am as the first German tanks overran the remains of the Franco-Polish defences.At the border the Polish soldiers abandoned their arms and became interned under the control and protection of General Henri Guisan. The interned Poles were encouraged to return to their studies and many took this option. The Universities of Fribourg and Zurich together with the HEC at St. Gall and a Lycée camp at Wetzikon provided a wide variety of courses, particularly in the sciences and maths. For others, the farms, mines and forests provided work. Some work details were based in the mountains building roads, bridges and trails that are still in use today. "

Poland in Exile - The Polish Army In France 1939 - 1940

 

Where do you find these golden nuggets of information! nice post JC.I wonder how many people in my country realize the part the Poles played in the war I somehow doubt it come to think of it half the people dont even know why WW2 started

 

Thanks . I find them in my many journeys on the web and from my readings LOL. I don't think many think about the roles that the occupied countries played in the war. The Poles certainly did far after Poland was under German control. Most just think it was the German,Soviet,British,American and Japanese that fought. I bet the Swiss were surprised to have over 13000 troop cross the border LOL. I wonder how prepared they were?

 

Great bit of info - Just wondering though, did any of the interned Polish (or other Allied personnel) cross the border back into France and rejoin the fight as the Allied armies moved up past the Swiss border in 1944?

 

I would be interested too. There were quite a few interned there that you would think some would have tried.

 

There is an article, "Fire Over the Alps: Let's Get the Hell Out of Here!", by Forrest S. Clark, 44th Bomb Group, in which he discusses being shot down over Germany and landing in Switzerland. The Swiss held him and his crew from April, 1944, until December, 1944, when he walked into France and escaped.

 

A turn-about occurred in November 1944. French I Corps advanced through the Belfort Gap and pinned a German grenadier regiment against the Swiss border. I wonder if they ended up in the same camp with the Poles from 1940 ?

Cheers

BW

 

On 22 June 1940 The French 45th Corps was pushed onto Swiss territory at St Urban by the German advance. The Corps contained 25,000 French and 13,000 Poles. The Swiss then interned them all. As the French government surrendered, the French troops were no longer belligerants, and were released.