Sikorski The Savant

• Post Eagle
• August 17, 2019
• Our Polonia
• 0 Comments

He died in an air crash at Gibraltar in 1943. His death was a tragedy and a mystery that provoked worldwide reverberations. I speak of none other than GENERAL WLADYSLAW SIKORSKI — a man who belongs to the front rank of the outstanding military leaders and statesmen of World War II.

  General Sikorski was 62 years old at the time of his death. He had been Chief of the Polish General Staff earlier in his career and he became Prime Minister of Poland in 1922 at a time when the country had faced many external difficulties. By his domestic and foreign policy he had changed the country’s whole position in the four years before he retired into private life. After Poland’s defeat and her division between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, Sikorski escaped to Paris and there he was approached to form a new Polish Government-in-exile.

  When he set it up, Sikorski was granted territorial rights in France and formed several Infantry divisions, renovated the Polish Air Force and upgraded the Polish Navy which consisted of four submarines, two cruisers and various other marine craft. He moved all the force to Great Britain after the debacle of France at Dunkirk.

  At this time, when the fate of England and of the Western World hung in the balance, the Polish Army guarded Scotland, the Polish Navy contributed to the destruction of the dreaded German pocket battleships and the Polish Air Force accounted for one third of the German aircraft destroyed during the crucial Battle of Great Britain in 1940.

  Simultaneously, the Polish Army expanded its armored brigade, trained and outfitted its airborne brigade and took part in the invasion of Germany going through its baptism of fire with flying colors in Falaise. Other Polish units gained military fame in battle from Harvik to Tobruk and crowned their heroic achievements with the conquest of Monte Cassino.

  In the midst of this war, General Sikorski controlled the organization and effectiveness of the Polish Home Army as it tied down approximately 40 German divisions in Poland throughout the war. He was also instrumental in organizing effective aid to the Jews that were scheduled for complete annihilation. As a matter of fact, his was the only official and organized Jewish assistance during the war.

  General Sikorski had gone as far as to procure from the Russians and Joseph Stalin an agreement that would back Poland and denounce Germany. But Sikorski was not allowed to see his far-reaching plans come to fruition. His plane crashed in Gibraltar on July 4, 1943. The circumstances of his death and the crash are still shrouded in mystery and we may never know if he and his staff died accidentally or were sabotaged.

  Who was this famed leader who rose to the forefront  of the Polish republic. Well, he was born in Tuszow, Poland, on May 20, 1881. In 1908, Sikorski received his masters degree in engineering from the Lwow Polytechnic. As a student and later as a young professional man, he was very active in organizing Poland youth into para-military units with infantry training.

  In 1918, Sikorski became commander of the military districts of southern Poland and Silesia and in an epic struggle with the Bolshevik forces he recaptured Lwow. One of his greatest military coups was in the decisive Battle of Warsaw on August 15, 1920, known as the “Miracle of the Vistula”, where the General commanded the Fifth Polish Army on the left flank of the main force defending Warsaw. With successful assaults on Soviet forces in Nasielk, Plonski and Pultusak, he helped to rout the Red Army that was posted at the gates of Warsaw and threatened to march westward to Berlin and Paris. In 1921-22, General Sikorski reorganized the Polish Armed Forces as Army Chief of Staff.

  In December 1922, in the dark hours, of the reborn Polish Republic, immediately after the assassination of its first elected President, Sikorski became Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. Through his political wisdom, he brought peace to the land and under his premiership, the port of Gdynia was planned and began to rise as one of the most modern ports of Europe.

  General Sikorski retired from military and public service in 1928 to devote his time to students of modern military science.  One of his most perceptive writings on military matters was a study entitled “The Future War – Its Possibilities and Character.” It received the highest award of the French Military Academy and in the 1930’s became a “must” reading for French and British Officers.

  From October 1939 till April 1940, Sikorski devoted his time and energy to organize the Polish Government-in-exile. After the fall of Poland, he signed a Polish-British treaty in August 1940 setting up the Polish Armed Forces in England and the Polish Government in London.

  When Germany invaded Russia in July 1941, Sikorski signed a Polish-Soviet treaty that provided for the liberation of hundreds of thousands of Polish prisoners-of-war and the formation of the Polish Army under General Anders.

  Russia soon broke its treaty, however, and was responsible for the Katyn Forest Massacre where the Russians murdered 15,000 Polish officers captured in 1939 as P.O.W.’s. To save face, Russia denied the charges and accused Poland of collaborating with Germany — threatening to sever relations with the London-based Polish government.

  During these crises, General Sikorski came to the U.S. twice to confer with President Roosevelt on Poland’s future. He also undertook an inspection tour of the Near East where Polish military units were formed by those who managed to get out of Russia. After six weeks in inspections, conferences, etc., Sikorski was returning to England with a stopover in Gibraltar. Tragedy struck and a great military mind was lost forever.

  . . . . SEE YOU SOON, GOD BE WILLING . . .