In January 1940, it was divided into two parts: Formally, the Union of Armed Struggle was directed from Paris, by General Kazimierz Sosnkowski (nom de guerre Józef Godziemba), who after Poland's defeat escaped to France via Hungary.
The instruction of General Sosnkowski, in which he ordered his subordinates to create regional branches of the Union of Armed Struggle, was brought to Warsaw on 4 December 1939.
According to Sosnkowski, the Union of Armed Struggle was supposed to be a national military organization, without regard to political differences and social ranks.
After the fall of France, on 18 June 1940, General Władysław Sikorski named Colonel Stefan Rowecki his deputy, with the right to take urgent decisions without consent of the Polish government-in-exile.
After the arrest of General Michał Tokarzewski-Karaszewicz, who was captured by the NKVD on the way from Warsaw to Lwów, the Union of Armed Struggle in Eastern Poland was left without a leader.