The liberation of Abbeville by the Polish army

In 1940, an armoured division of 16 000 Polish soldiers was instituted in Scotland (Polish people fled to Western Europe during the war). In July 1944 they landed in Normandy. They bypassed the city of Caen and crossed the river Dive to go to the first liberated town of France, called Jors in Calvados. It was difficult because there were no bridges on the way. Then, in Falaise, they fought three days and three nights against three German divisions: one of them had created Auschwitz. Polish soldiers won the battle and after that it was easier for them to continue to liberate French villages. On the 2nd of September 1944 they climbed the Monts Caubert and built bridges over the Somme: there werent fires, hostages or casualties. On 3rd September in the morning, they entered Abbeville and liberated the town during the day: moreover, they didnt damage any monuments, thanks to General Maczec. It claimed the lives of two people and three other people were injured. They are buried in one of the two Polish cemeteries in France. In the evening they planted the Polish flag on Place Clmenceau. The Route des Polonais in Abbeville is a tribute to these soldiers. We wanted to thank the vice-president of the Association franaise du Souvenir polonais for telling us this story.