The British Government will be prepared to make an arrangement whereby Polish nationals resident here can discharge their military obligations with the British forces instead of the Polish Legion if the Polish authorities request it, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency was authoritatively informed today.
It was stressed, however, that the Polish Government has a prior claim on the services of its citizens.
Special consideration will be accorded to Polish citizens resident here who are unable to speak Polish or for other reasons prefer to serve with the British Army instead of in the Polish Legion, for which they have been mobilized, Polish circles said.
All Polish citizens subject to the general levy must register with the Polish military commission at the consulate. At that time they may present applications for permission to serve in the British Army instead, giving their reasons. It is indicated authoritatively that an applicant’s inability to speak Polish would be considered as a serious reason for granting the application.
Generally, the same principles are applicable here as in France, where Polish citizens are given the option of serving with the French or Polish forces.
Polish circles here stressed the desire of the authorities to make it as easy as possible for those Polish citizens who were raised here and do not speak Polish and who would be more valuable to the British Army than in the Polish Legion, where they would not understand commands.
This ruling is expected considerably to allay the anxieties of some hundreds of Jew here who acquired Polish nationality after the war, although never resident in the Polish State nor speaking Polish, and who are worried about having to serve in an army in which they would not know the language of command and would have no friends or associates.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
