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Supplement To. the London Gazette, 15 January, 1948

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Supplement To. the London Gazette, 15 January, 1948 SUPPLEMENT TO. THE LONDON GAZETTE, 15 JANUARY, 1948 369 Briefly the measures taken to improve the and it fell to General Sir H..Maitland Wilson, -system of training and to ensure closer co- commanding the Ninth Army, to initiate and operation between the arms were:— maintain cordial relations with them, a duty he (»') The establishment at Saraiand in carried out most successfully. Palestine of a higher war course where The Polish Forces.—In November 1941 the potential divisional commanders were to re- Polish land forces in the Middle East numbered ceive instruction in modern methods of war. some 7,000 men. The Polish Carpathian (M) Grouping in one area in Palestine all Brigade Group, which served under General the tactical and weapon training schools, Kopanski with particular distinction during the hitherto scattered throughout the Command. siege of Tobruk and in the pursuit of the In this way it was possible to ensure that a beaten Axis forces to Gazala was the chief uniform doctrine, which took account of the component of these forces. There was also a characteristics of all three arms and was Polish Officers' Legion and a Base Depot near attuned to modern conditions, was taught Alexandria. under a single direction'. • The possibility of withdrawing a large num- The staff school at Haifa continued to pro- ber of Poles from Russia to the Middle East was gress and expand under the command of Briga- being considered at that time, and General dier G. K. Dibb, who carried on the good work Sikorski,' Prime Minister and Commander-in- of Major^General E. E. Dorman-Smith. Dur- Chief, visited Cairo in November to discuss with ing the period under review a strong Royal Air me the future organisation of the Polish Army. Force wing was added to the school, which officers of the Royal Navy also attended. A The first evacuation of Polish troops and proper atmosphere of inter-service co-operation civilians from Russia through Persia and Iraq was thereby created and the value of the course began in March 1942. The number involved, was greatly enhanced. 31,000 soldiers and 2,000 civilians, was much Training in combined operations continued larger and the rate of arrival must faster than steadily at Kabrit on the Great Bitter Lake, had been expected. This imposed a serious strain and many formations and units were put on the administrative and liaison staffs respon- through a comprehensive course of instruction. sible for the reception and transportation of the The services of Brigadier M. W. M. Macleod, new arrivals. I decided to concentrate all the who directed this branch of training, were Polish troops in Palestine where accommodation outstanding. and training facilities existed and the climate was good. The civilian refugees were accommodated Intelligence and Public Relations. temporarily near Teheran. In April, the Car- In March 1942 Brigadier E. J. Shearer under pathian Brigade Group was moved from whose energetic and skilful direction the intelli- Cyrenaica to Palestine to form the nucleus of gence service had grown from nothing into a the 3rd Carpathian Division. Palestine proved large, complex and most efficient organisation, an ideal training ground and by July an Army was replaced as Director of Military Intelli- Corps of two divisions with the proper com- gence by Brigadier F. W. de Guingand, who plement of Corps troops was beginning to take proved an able successor to him. I took this shape, the cadres for a second division being opportunity of removing the responsibility for formed. Many units were under strength, how- public relations from the Director of Military ever, and there was a serious, though unavoid- Intelligence, as I felt that it was growing so fast in scope and importance that it required able, lack of equipment. an organisation of its own with direct access to During July the Soviet . Government myself. I accordingly appointed Colonel A. B. announced their intention of evacuating further Phillpotts as my Deputy Director of Public Polish troops to the Middle East. The Ger- Relations, and he filled this post entirely to mans had resumed their offensive in Southern my satisfaction. • Russia some two months earlier, and, in view of the growing danger of an invasion through Allied Forces. the Caucasus, I decided to move the Polish The Free French Forces.—The Free French Corps to Iraq and to combine it with the new Forces continued to share in garrisoning Syria troops-from Russia, which were expected to and the Lebanon. amount to 40,000 men. The ist Free French Brigade Group joined the Eighth Army, at the end of January 1942 General Zajac took command of the Polish and fought throughout the battle of Gazala, forces in the Middle East at the end of Novem- distinguishing itself by its fine defence of Bir ber and held the appointment until I relin- ,Hacheiih. Troops from the Chad helped our quished my command. I found him a willing offensive in Cyrenaica by attacking and destroy- collaborator and a most competent adviser, and ing Italian posts in the Fezzan, some 500 miles I am glad to have had the privilege of serving south of Tripoli; these operations were ably with him. I also had the great • advantage of conducted by General Leclerc in most difficult being able to consult with General Anders on conditions some 2,500 miles in advance of his his journeys to and from Russia and wish to railhead in Nigeria. record my appreciation of his ready co-operation It was necessary to send some French- and sound advice. African units back to Equatorial Africa for dis- The Royal Greek Forces.—The organisation ciplinary reasons, but these units were eventu- and training of the ist Infantry Brigade Group ally replaced by others brought from East Africa of the Royal Greek Army in Palestine went on and elsewhere. steadily, but progress was slow, due partly to From General Catroux, who had no easy task lack of equipment and partly to the lack of to perform, I received the fullest assistance and suitable officers and instructors. An officer I gratefully acknowledge the helpful and co- training unit, started in October 1941, was not a operative spirit he always displayed. The Free success. To deal with the arrival of a con- French Forces had their headquarters in Syria, siderable number of Greeks from Greece and the.
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