Poland Alone - Britain, SOE and the collapse of the Polish Resistance, 1944

Poland was the `tripwire' that brought Britain into the Second World War, but it was largely the fear of the new Nazi-Soviet Pact rather than the cementing of an old relationship that created the formal alliance. But neither Britain, nor Poland's older ally, France, had the material means to prevent Poland being overrun in 1939. The broadcast, `Poland is no longer alone' had a distinctly hollow ring. During the next four years the Polish Government in exile and armed forces made a significant
contribution to the allied war effort; in return the Polish Home Army received a paltry 600 tons of supplies.