About 85,000 troops were in the process of being organized into fighting formations (four infantry divisions, two independent brigades and air support) when the Battle of France started.

[2] Polish units fought in the southern section of the front[7] and all continued to fight despite Philippe Pétain’s call for an armistice and demobilization on 16 June.

[4] The Polish commander-in-chief, General Władysław Sikorski, on June 19, announced in a radio bulletin that Poland would continue to fight as an ally of the United Kingdom.

Polish units were ordered to reach the French ports in the north, west and south in preparation for naval evacuation to Great Britain, or if that would prove impossible, to cross the Swiss frontier.

After two days, having withstood German assaults on its positions near Lagarde, it was forced to fall back, covering the retreat of the disintegrating French 52nd Division.

[2] The Second Infantry Fusiliers Division (15,830 soldiers) under Bronisław Prugar-Ketling was based between late December 1939 and May 1940 at Parthenay in Western France.

[7] The Polish Independent Highland Brigade (5,000 soldiers) under General Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko took part in the Battles of Narvik, Norway, in 1940 (28 May – 4 June).

[2] Returning to France, together with some formations quickly formed from the Polish recruits in the nearby training camps,[1] it took part in the defence of Brittany.

Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade (4,000 soldiers) under General Stanisław Kopański in Syria refused to follow the Vichy government and joined British troops in nearby Palestine.

A creation of other units was not completed, but sixteen flights of Polish pilots and ground crew were detached to French fighter squadrons, and took part in combat.

[12] Apart from typical French fighter aircraft, like Morane-Saulnier MS.406, Dewoitine D.520, Bloch MB.152, Curtiss H.75, Polish pilots flew Caudron C.714 and Koolhoven F.K.58.