3rd Carpathian Rifle Division (Poland)

3 Dywizja Strzelców Karpackich
Emblem of the division worn as a shoulder patch and painted on vehicles
Active1942–1947
CountryPoland
BranchLand forces
TypeInfantry
RoleMountain warfare
EngagementsTobruk, Alem Hamza, Bardia, Monte Cassino, Gothic Line, Ancona, Bologna
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Stanisław Kopański, Bronisław Duch
Mr Alfred Zelke, the last surviving member of the 3rd DSK camp at Riddlesworth, Norfolk, for the unveiling of the memorial, and his daughter Anna in 2018.
This Divisional badge is called Znak Pamiatkow and was instituted for soldiers of the 3rd DSK in 1st December 1945 and distributed in 1946 to troops who had fought with the Division.

The 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division (Polish: 3 Dywizja Strzelców Karpackich, sometimes translated as 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division), also commonly known as Christmas Tree Division due to the characteristic emblem of a cedar of Lebanon superimposed upon the Polish flag,[1] was an infantry division of the Polish Armed Forces in the West that fought during World War II on the Italian Front. It was formed in 1942 of the Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade and of forces of Lieutenant General Władysław Anders' Polish 2nd Corps evacuated from the Soviet Union.[2]

Plaque at the site of the former Polish camp, Hodgemoor Woods, Buckinghamshire.

The division participated in the North African and the Italian Campaigns (1941–1945) as part of the British Eighth Army. The division fought in some of the most difficult battles during the Italian campaigns of 1943-1944 and distinguished itself in numerous actions most notably the Battle of Monte Cassino, the dash for Ancona and Bologna.

  1. ^ Davies, Norman (2015). Trail of hope : the Anders Army, an odyssey across three continents (1st ed.). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. p. 240. ISBN 9781472816047. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ Liddle, Joyce (2007-07-17). "Local Government in the United Kingdom (4th ed.)20071David Wilson and Chris Game. Local Government in the United Kingdom (4th ed.). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan 2006". International Journal of Public Sector Management. 20 (5): 465–466. doi:10.1108/09513550710772558. ISSN 0951-3558.