British-Polish Political Co-operation and the Beginning of Special Operations, 1939–1940

Abstract

The fundamental objective of the guarantees given by Great Britain to Poland on 31 March 1939 was to prevent war by making Hitler realize that any potential conflict involving Germany and Poland would be not local, but international in nature. Co-operation between the countries’ armed forces became a significant element of the Polish-British alliance, although the possibilities of providing Poland with tangible military assistance in the event of German aggression were limited. The handing over to the British of the Enigma code, which was broken by the Polish intelligence services, is one of the best-known results of this partnership. A somewhat more obscure aspect are the secret Polish-British discussions and bilateral meetings concerned with the exchange of information on tactics of sabotage and unconventional warfare as a method of conducting combat in the approaching conflict. This exchange of information, ideas and technical data, developing prior to the outbreak of war, laid the foundations for fuller collaboration during the period of armed struggle. The course of fighting in September 1939 was closely observed by Lt Col Colin Gubbins, the Chief of Staff of the British Military Mission to Poland. Following the German victory, the Polish government was forced to evacuate the country and move to France, where it remained until June 1940. Throughout this time, the Polish military au­thorities continued co-operation with the British in the field of unconventional warfare. The newly created Special Operations Executive, an organization tasked by Winston Churchill with co-ordinating the destruction of economic and industrial infrastructure in occupied Europe, acquired the majority of the British officers who had previously worked together with Polish specialists in the field. The tradition of Polish national uprisings and partisan operations was one of the key factors which convinced London to continue with the develop­ment of unconventional combat in co-operation with their Polish counterparts.