Hello Everyone.

     I have never thought about creating my own blog, but was inspired by one of my airsoft friends.
This blog was created to show you my Polish WW2 Uniforms that I use in airsoft. I don't use them too often, only during the Milsims at POW (Players of War) site, whis is located in Bonnybridge (Scotland).
     When I started playing airsoft in 2009 I always thought that I'll be only using modern kit and uniforms, I even said that there will be no WW2 Uniform ever . . . but as you can all see I was wrong.

Model 36 Uniform - Poland, 1939
     So, lets start with my 1st ever WW2 Uniform.
Most of my friends have German, British or US WW2 Uniforms, but it was not good for me. I always wanted to have something different from everyone else arround. The choice was obvious - Polish Uniform. We as a team (Polish Marine Corps) have played at different airsoft sites in Scotland but I have never seen anyone in Polish WW2 Uniform.
    That is why my 1st Uniform had to be the one and only wz. 36 which was used by Polish Army in 1939.

     It has not been easy to find a Uniform of this kind anywhere but after doing some research I have came across a company that makes Polish WW2 Uniforms. They are all made to measure which means the price is quite high but after 3 weeks of waiting I finally got it - and I can truly say that it was worth to wait so long.

My wz.36 Uniform of Staff Sergeant consists of:
- Jacket Model 36
- Trousers model 36
- Field Cap model 37 (it is calleg "rogatywka" in Polish)
- Puttees
- Backpack Model 33 with Blanket
- Mess Kit Model 33
- Leather Ammo Pouches
- Main Belt
- Canteen Model 38
- Breadbag Model 33

 The 1st Polish Armoured Division
     Just after the Kelly's Heroes Milsim Event at POW I started thinking about the 2nd WW2 Uniform. I decided to recreate the Uniform of The 1st Polish Armoured Division (also known as The Black Devils) of General Maczek - who after the War lived in Scotland, worked as a bartender in the Learmouth Hotel in Edinburgh and died in 1994.

     General Stanisław Maczek was a Polish tank commander of World War II, whose division was instrumental in the Allied liberation of France, closing the Falaise pocket, resulting in the destruction of 14 German Wehrmacht and SS divisions. A veteran of World War I, the Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Bolshevik Wars, Maczek was the commander of Poland's only major armoured formation during the September 1939 campaign, and later commanded a Polish armoured formation in France in 1940. He was the commander of the famous First Polish Armoured Division, and later of the First Polish Army Corps under Allied Command in 1942-45.
     Initially, the British high command wanted to use the recreated Polish Army solely for defense of the Scottish coastline between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and the veterans of the Polish tank formations who arrived to the UK were pressed into the Polish 2nd Rifle Brigade under General Rudolf Orlicz-Dreszer. However, immediately on Maczek's arrival the idea was abandoned and General Władysław Sikorski managed to convince the British government to create instead a Polish armored unit. After years of training at the Blairgowrie training ground, in February 1942 General Maczek formed the 1st Polish Armoured Division. Initially serving in defense of the Scottish coast between Montrose and the Firth of Forth, the Division was equipped by the British authorities with state-of-the-art Churchill and M4 Sherman tanks in preparation for the Normandy landings.

     I have started with buying a Battledress (unfortunatelly it is a 1947 pattern) and I have sent it to Poland to have all the work made by my mom's friend. All the work has been done within 2 weeks and the Uniform arrived in Edinburgh 2 weeks before another Milsim event at POW.


The 1st Polish Armoured Division Uniform consists of:
- Battledress Blouse 1949 Pattern
- Battledress Trousers 1949 Pattern
- A Black Beret with Polish Eagle
- Original British Khaki Gaiters
- The 1st Armoured Division Patch
- Poland Patch
- A Shirt (Khaki)
-  A Tie
- 2 x British Ammo Pouch
- WW2 British 1937 Pattern Belt
- Bayonet (custom made by my friend BigAl)

Polish Home Army Uniform (Armia Krajowa)

This Uniform (lets call it like that) is a different one. There is no definite pattern to follow because mainly normal clothes were used. I will be using different piece of equipment from my previous uniforms plus some extra gear.

This Uniform will consist of:
- My Grandfather's old Jack Boots (found on the attic)
- Trousers model 36
- Field Cap model 37 (it is calleg "rogatywka" in Polish)
- Polish Flag Arm Band

Those are just exemplary pictures which might change if I get other clothes

Tuesday, 04 March 2014

Hi again.
Sorry I didn't write anything for such a long time but I have lost all my data and couldn't find the address of this web site.

There was a great WW2 milsim at my local Airsoft site - Players of War on 02/06/2013. We had some players from Germany and Spain. Me and my team played as Polish Resistance - AK (Polish Home Army). I'd like to show you some of the pictures (pics taken by Ernie, the POW site owner).

The idea was simple - to make the uniforms with the lowest cost possible. My uniform consists of:
- My grandfather's Jackboots 
- Battledress Trousers 1949 Pattern
- Black sweater
- Field Cap model 37
-  Main Belt with Ammo Pouches

- Polish Home Army (AK) Arm Band

Because the Jackboots were very uncomfortable, I replaced them with the modern Army boots and British Khaki Gaiters.

My latest items I managed to buy are: 
- Original Polish 1939 Bayonet for my 1939 Uniform

- Polish Shovel with holder (replica) for my 1939 Uniform

- Polish WW2 Paratroopers Badge (replica)

Polish WW2 Paratroopers - called the "Silent-Dark Ones" or "The Unseen and Silent" were elite special-operations paratroops of the Polish Home Army (Polish: Cichociemni Spadochroniarze Armii Krajowej) of the Polish Army in exile, created in Great Britain during World War II to operate in occupied Poland. They were trained in Scotland. 

The "Cichociemni" took over various duties in occupied countries:

• 37 started working for the intelligence
• 50 were radio operators and envoys
• 24 were staff officers
• 22 were airmen and airdrop coordinators
• 11 were instructors of armoured forces and professors of anti-tank warfare in secret military schools
• 3 were trained in forging documents
• 169 were trained in covert operations, diversion and partisan warfare
• 28 were envoys of the Polish Governmen

Out of 344 men transported to Poland, 112 were killed in action:

• 84 in fights against the Germans or tortured to death by the Gestapo after being arrested
• 10 committed suicide in German prisons and concentration camps
• 10 executed by the Communists during and after the war
• 9 were shot down with their planes before reaching their targets

Out of 91 "Cichociemni" who took part in the Warsaw Uprising, 18 were killed in action.

Some pictures of "Cichociemni" taken from Polish National Digital Archives (http://www.audiovis.nac.gov.pl/)