The men that stayed behind in Poland were organised into theĬzech and Slovak Legion by the Polish Army, approximately 900-strong and posted to the Tarnopol area.Īn anti-aircraft unit with 12 machineguns (and no uniforms) was captured by advancing Soviet forces in Racowiec in Eastern Poland, but around 200 Czechs managed to escape to Romania along with retreating Polish forces. Of the men that went to Poland, a total of 1,260 sailed west to France, where around 600 eventually joined the Foreign Legion. Thus, many Czechs made their way to Romania and Poland before borders were closed completely, intending eventually to make their way west to France or UK. Despite feeling betrayed by the Allies, the only option was to volunteer to fight in one of the Allied armies at the time. In March 1939, Germany occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia – essentially the regions of Bohemia and Moravia.Īlthough the Czechoslovak Army was formally disbanded as part of this process, plenty of army personnel still wanted to fight the Germans. In addition there were a total of 138 battalions manning border fortresses along the borders, split into 12 border sections and seven “defensive regional groups” responsible for securing lines-of-communication behind the border fortresses. The Czechoslovak Armed Forces had been fully mobilised since late September that year, and counted a total of 20 infantry divisions (each with three infantry brigades and one or two artillery regiments), two motorised divisions, and four armoured cavalry divisions, each with one tank and one cavalry brigade (modelled on the “fast divisions” used in the French army at the time. Slovakia declared independence under a fascist government, and Ruthenia (part of modern Ukraine) tried to do the same, but was promptly invaded and annexed by Hungary. As had been decided in Munich, a third of Slovakia was ceded to Hungary and Poland occupied the Zaolizie region. In rapid succession, the Sudetenland was formally ceded to Germany. SAARF – Special Allied Airborne Recon Force Tiger 131: The mysterious British reports The Loss of Argonaut, Amberjack, Grampus, and Triton
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