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Brotherhood-in-Arms Jeffrey Grey, author of the highly acclaimed book A Military History of Australia, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, 2008, has noted on p 137, a participation of some forty Australians in the Communist, International Brigades in Spain in 1936. However, on describing the battle for Tobruk in 1941 on p 163, he made no reference to the Polish Self-Dependent Brigade of the Carpathian Riflemen under command of General Stanisław Kopański. A Polish cadet who was awarded with a distinction as an outstanding soldier on two counts, brought from the Army training camp in Kapooka, New South Wales, the book which described the combat involvement of his unit in Tobruk. A History of the 2/17 Australian Infantry Battalion, 1940-1945, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 1998, has stated on p 64-65 as follows: On 29 Aug the advance party of 2nd Bn Polish Brigade arrived to get a thorough knowledge of the sector and fortress routine. This Polish Bde arrived to replace 18 Aust Bde in the garrison and the 2nd Bn would in due course, take over from 2/17 Bn when the Polish Brigade relieved 20 Bde between 3 and 5 Sept. Patrolling continued each night, now including a Pole in each patrol as the battalion did their utmost to pass on every bit of useful information they could to their new friends before being relieved. On the night of 31 Aug/1 Sept an unfortunate incident occurred in which two D Coy patrols clashed resulting in 5 being wounded one of whom was a Pole. The conclusion reached following all statements after the clash was that loss of direction had resulted in the protective patrol going beyond its limit, and coming into direct collision with the fighting patrol. In reporting all the circumstances to Bde HQ Lt Col Crawford concluded, “The night was an extremely dark one and such a collision is likely to occur at any time unless adequate numbers of prismatic compasses are available”. On the night of 3/4 Sept the Poles took over from 2/17 Bn, with the CO and coy rear parties remaining with the Polish Bn for 48 hours to assist them in settling into their new role. (…) The arrival of the Polish Brigade, and their relief of 18 Aust Bde who were evacuated back to Alexandria and Palestine, was the first phase of the relief of the original Tobruk garrison. To follow the Polish Brigade was 70 British Division including British 14, 16 and 23 Bdes, and also 32 Army Tank Brigade and British AA regiments. |
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