General Władysław Anders |
|
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Birth name | Władysław Albert Anders |
Born |
Krośniewice-Błonie, Warsaw Governorate, Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire |
11 August 1892
Died | 12 May 1970 London, England |
(aged 77)
Years of service | 1913–1946 |
Rank |
Lieutenant General (Polish: Generał Broni) |
Battles/wars | World War I Polish-Bolshevik War World War II • Invasion of Poland • Monte Cassino |
Awards | See list below |
Spouse(s) | 1st Irena Maria Anders (Jordan-Krąkowska) 2nd Irena Anders |
Relations |
Tadeusz Anders Karol Anders |
Władysław Albert Anders (11 August 1892 – 12 May 1970) was a General in the Polish Army and later in life a politician and prominent member of the Polish government-in-exile in London.
Anders was born on 11 August 1892 to his father Albert Anders and mother Elizabeth (maiden name Tauchert) in the village of Krośniewice–Błonie, sixty miles west of Warsaw, in what was then a part of the Russian Empire. At the time of his birth Poland did not exist as an independent state, as a result of the Partitions of Poland at the end of the eighteenth century.
Both his parents were of Baltic-German origin and he was baptised as a member of the Protestant Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland. Anders had three brothers - Karol, Tadeusz and Jerzy, all of whom also went on to pursue careers in the military. Anders attended a technical high school in Warsaw and later studied at Riga Technical University, where he became a member of the Polish student fraternity Arkonia. After graduation Anders was accepted into the Russian Military School for reserve officers. As a young officer, he served in the 1st Krechowiecki Lancers Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I.
When Poland regained independence in November 1918 he joined the newly created Polish Army. During the Polish–Soviet War he commanded the 15th Poznań Uhlans Regiment and was awarded the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari. After the war Anders continued his military education in France at the Ecole Superieur de Guerre and upon graduation he returned to Poland, where he served on the general staff of the Polish Army under General Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski.