Sikorski, General Władysław

Sikorski, General Władysław (1881–1943),Polish Army officer and politician who, having been prime minister and minister of war during the 1920s, took command of the Polish Army which began forming on French soil after the Polish campaign. On 30 September 1939 he became prime minister of a Polish government-in-exile in France; and, on 7 November, C-in-C of all Polish forces. He organized Polish forces which fought during the Norwegian campaign and in the fighting which preceded the fall of France in June 1940. When France capitulated 24,000 Polish troops were evacuated to the UK, and Sikorski moved his government to London and announced his intention of fighting on. After Germany invaded the USSR in June 1941 (see BARBAROSSA) he signed the Polish–Soviet Treaty (see Poland, 2(e)); and his meeting with Stalin in Moscow that December resulted in the agreement to form Anders' Army. He was an untiring and vocal spokesman for the Polish cause and gained an early supporter in Roosevelt whom he visited several times. He was killed when, returning from an inspection of Anders' Army in Iraq, his aircraft crashed on take-off from Gibraltar. He was succeeded as prime minister by Stanisław Mikołajczyk and as C-in-C by General Sosnkowski.