Poland, Free Forces. A 1st Independent Parachute Brigade Kapral Battledress, 1945

This is an untouched and unaltered tunic, that comes from an older collection. A size 12 1940 pattern Battledress Blouse manufactured by COHEN & Co, of khaki serge featuring a stand & fall collar with double hook and eye closing, fixed epaulettes, fly-front opening, pleated breast pockets.  Sewn to each epaulette are two braided silver stripes with narrow red stripes on the edges, denoting the rank of Kapral (Corporal). At the lower points of the collar are diamond-shaped grey canvas patches with faded yellow at the top, badges having been removed. Three piece ribbon bar over left pocket, each shoulders is a deeply stitched embroidered POLAND shoulder flash, worn on felt, very fine overall. 

Footnote: The Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade was formed on 23 September 1941 and was made up of Polish exiles who had made their way to the United Kingdom after escaping from Nazi-occupied Poland. Based in Scotland initially, the Brigade was moved to England in July 1944 and made part of the FirEUst Allied Airborne Army, which was the supreme command of all Allied airborne forces in Western Europe from August 1944 to May 1945. At the same time it was made operational and placed under the command of Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski. The original intention of the Brigade was to use it to support resistance operations in Nazi-occupied Poland, however it was later decided to employ it in Western Europe. Desperate pleas by the Polish Government in Exile to use the Brigade to support the Warsaw Uprising was denied on the grounds of it not being logistically feasible, coupled with a refusal by the Red Army to use its airfields for such an operation. In September 1944, the Brigade was attached to the British 1st Airborne Division and took part in Operation Market Garden, its first airborne operation. Dropping near Driel, they captured the town and crossed the Rhine under fire the next day, covering the withdrawal of the 1st Airborne Division.