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For Your Freedom and Ours: Poles who fought for others

Guide · Polish soldiers abroad, 1776 to 1945 · ~6 min read · Updated October 2026

By Echoes of Battle

The ruins of the monastery of Monte Cassino, 1944

At a glance

Motto
For Your Freedom and Ours
Span
1776 to 1945
In America
Pulaski and Kościuszko
In Hungary
General Józef Bem
In the air
No. 303 Squadron, 1940
In Italy
Monte Cassino, 1944

For much of its history Poland had no state of its own, and many Poles carried their fight for freedom abroad. The motto "For Your Freedom and Ours", born in the November Uprising of 1830 to 1831, now sums up a longer tradition: Polish soldiers fought for American independence, for Italy and Hungary, and in the Second World War on almost every Allied front.

Poles who fought for other nations

Casimir Pulaski, America · the father of the American cavalry, mortally wounded at Savannah in 1779.

Painted portrait of an 18th century cavalry officer in a fur-trimmed coat
Casimir Pulaski on a postcard after a painting by Jan Styka, published in Lwów in the early 20th century. National Library of Poland. Public domain

Tadeusz Kościuszko, America · the engineer whose fortifications helped win Saratoga1 and who designed the defences of West Point.

Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, Italy · his Polish Legions fought for Napoleon in Italy from 1797, and their marching song became2 Poland's national anthem.

Painting of a general on a white horse leading uniformed cavalry through a Roman street before cheering crowds
The Entry of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski into Rome with his Polish Legions, painted by January Suchodolski in the 1850s. National Museum in Warsaw. Public domain

Józef Bem, Hungary · a Polish general who led Hungarian forces in Transylvania in the revolution of 1848 to 1849, and is honoured as a hero in Hungary3.

No. 303 Squadron, Britain · Polish fighter pilots who became one of the highest-scoring RAF squadrons in the Battle of Britain, 19404.

Black and white photograph of a group of airmen in flying jackets and life vests walking towards the camera in front of a fighter plane
Pilots of No. 303 (Polish) Squadron walk away from one of their Hawker Hurricanes in October 1940, among them Mirosław Ferić, Witold Łokuciewski and Zdzisław Henneberg. Royal Air Force official photograph by Stanley Devon. Public domain

Monte Cassino, Italy · the Polish II Corps under General Anders raised the Polish flag over the ruined monastery on 18 May 19445.

Stanisław Maczek, Normandy and the Netherlands · his 1st Armoured Division helped close the Falaise pocket in 1944 and liberated the Dutch city of Breda, where he is buried6.

Stanisław Sosabowski, Arnhem · his 1st Independent Parachute Brigade fought at Arnhem in September 1944.

Why they fought

For Poles of the partition era, every war against tyranny anywhere was also a step toward the return of Poland. Kościuszko, after helping win American independence, went home and in 1794 led an uprising of his own1. In the Second World War Polish soldiers, sailors and airmen fought beside the Western Allies from 1939 to 1945, hoping to return to a free Poland at the end.

Painting of a crowd of soldiers and townspeople gathered around a man raising his hand in an oath on a city square
Kościuszko takes his oath in the Market Square of Kraków on 24 March 1794, opening the uprising, painted by Franciszek Smuglewicz in 1797. National Museum in Poznań. Public domain

A bitter end

For many of them that hope was not fulfilled. After 1945 Poland fell under Soviet domination, and many veterans of Monte Cassino, Arnhem and the Battle of Britain chose to remain in exile in Britain and elsewhere4. Their story is told today with pride in Poland and in the countries they fought for. See also Polish heroes of the American Revolution.

Frequently asked questions

What does For Your Freedom and Ours mean?

It is an unofficial Polish motto, often traced to the November Uprising of 1830 to 18317, expressing the idea that fighting for another nation's freedom also served Poland's.

Which Poles fought in the American Revolution?

Above all Casimir Pulaski, the father of the American cavalry, and Tadeusz Kościuszko, the engineer of Saratoga and West Point.

What was No. 303 Squadron?

A Polish fighter squadron of the RAF that became one of the most successful Allied squadrons in the Battle of Britain in 1940.

Who took Monte Cassino?

The Polish II Corps under General Władysław Anders raised the Polish flag over the ruined monastery on 18 May 1944, after earlier Allied assaults had failed.

Why is General Maczek honoured in the Netherlands?

His 1st Armoured Division liberated Breda in 1944 without destroying the city, and he chose to be buried there among his soldiers.

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

  1. Alex Storozynski, The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution (St. Martin's Press (Thomas Dunne Books), 2009). ↩ a b
  2. dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski), “Mazurek Dąbrowskiego” ↩
  3. dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP), “Józef Bem. „Panienka” idzie na Moskwę” ↩
  4. Lynne Olson, Stanley Cloud, A Question of Honor: The Kościuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II (Alfred A. Knopf, 2003). ↩ a b
  5. dzieje.pl (Muzeum Historii Polski / PAP), “67. rocznica zdobycia Monte Cassino” ↩
  6. Instytut Pamięci Narodowej (P. Chmielowiec, K. A. Tochman, seria Patroni naszych ulic), “Generał broni Stanisław Maczek (1892-1994)” ↩
  7. Władysław Bortnowski, W sprawie aktu detronizacji Romanowów ze stycznia 1831 (Przegląd Historyczny, t. 50, nr 4, s. 856-863, 1959). ↩

Fight for freedom across the centuries

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