April 12, 1940 – The Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade Is Formed

Between late September 1939 and May 1940, more than 8,500 Polish airmen escaped to the West, together with some 30,000 or so Polish soldiers.

Of those who escaped, about 4,000 were routed to the Middle East by Polish Prime Minster and Commander-in-Chief Władysław Sikorski, where on April 12, 1940 Colonel Stanisław Kopański formed what became the legendary Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade.

The Brigade served as part of the Armée du Levant based in French Syria, under the overall command of French General Eugène Mittelhauser.

In June 1940, France abandoned its Allies and surrendered to Germany. General Mittelhauser decided to support the new government of Vichy France. He ordered the Carpathian Rifle Brigade to be disarmed and briefly took Kopański as a hostage.

Defying General Mittelhauser, on Sikorski’s orders Kopański and the Carpathian Rifle Brigade escaped to British Palestine.

Between 1941 and 1942, the Carpathian Rifle Brigade fought across North Africa and engaged Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps. General Kopański and his men participated in many battles, including the Siege of Tobruk and Operation Crusader.

On January 12, 1941, the Brigade was renamed as the Polish Independent Brigade Group under British command.

The brigade was reformed as the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division on May 3, 1942 and continued the war into Italy.