Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów Koło nr 18 w Calgary

Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów 
THE POLISH COMBATANTS' ( Vetterans)  ASSOCIATION IN CALGARY

The Polish Combatants' Association (PCA) is an organization composed primarily of the Polish veterans of the Polish 2nd Corps who fought alongside British and Canadian troops during the Italian Campaign, 1943-45, under the operational command of the British Eighth Army. Most of these men had been prisoners of the Soviet Union during 1939-1941, languishing in Soviet prisons or toiling in the slave labour camps. Many of these men lost friends and family members due to executions or the brutal conditions in the camps and prisons. Because Poland was occupied by the Soviet Union towards the end of the war, most Poles could not safely return home. As a result, the PCA was established after the war to help the demobilized Polish soldiers adjust to their new lives as civilians and exiles, to continue military traditions, and also to keep everyone at the ready, as many were expecting World War Three to soon erupt.