Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
Certainly not en toto, but there's nothing saying that a couple dozen Polish Marines or so haven't turned coats and joined the Leathernecks.
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I agree some Poles may be found in evidence, but whole units of greater than a cobbled together Company is extremely unlikely for a number of reasons.
Firstly, we have no evidence of Polish Marines defecting. This isn't to say none did, just that no
unit did. Also, it's quite possible some of the recent additions to the US Marines would have been given at least
some training, if only to familiarise them with US doctrines and techniques.
Secondly, Poland as a country has a much longer standing "disagreement" with Germany. Throughout several centuries, Poland has been invaded, split up, portioned out, traded and the people generally given little say in their own well-being and interests. Half of Poland even speaks German in preference to Polish because of this relative lack of national history.
Thirdly, Germany, supported by Nato (which as we know includes the US) are the aggressors in all versions of the game. Germany invaded Poland
again in 1996. The USSR were one of the only countries in the world which stood shoulder to shoulder with them right from the beginning even though they were heavily involved in a war with another superpower, China at the time.
Since the Pact counter offensive in 1997, Nato has been kept out of Poland allowing both the USSR and loyal Polish governments (what's left of them anyway) virtually free reign to spread their own propaganda. The Soviets might not be the nicest of neighbours, but at least they're helping keep out the western invaders.
Fourthly, Nato instigated a scorched earth policy when they were withdrawing in late 1997 using everything from a lit match right up to and including nuclear weapons. Yes, the USSR also used nukes, however they've had three years to convince the Poles that a) it was the only way and b) Nato are responsible for the vast majority of them.
Given those (and other) factors, my guess is those in the higher echelons of the US 2nd Marines would have been very, very keen to keep Polish troops well away from the more critical areas of the 2000 Offensive, Elblag being one of those locations. This isn't to say
no Poles would have been there, but you can be sure they'd have had to prove their loyalty to the west many many times, and still be in small numbers. Most likely that handful of Poles would still only be included as guides and possibly interpreters and kept as far from the task force HQ (and the sensitive information it contained) as possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
Considering the light rioting that went on earlier this week in Poland when the home country played Russia in the Euros, it's clear that even twenty years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, there's still a lot of bad blood between Poles and Russians.
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Polish football "fans" have been developing a rightly deserved reputation for violence for a few years now. Many of them are more of a problem than the more well known British football hooligans of previous generations. There are two football teams in Krakow. Their "supporters" are the worst of the lot and bloodshed between them is commonplace. It's not unknown for murders to occur almost weekly just because somebody wanders into the wrong part of town wearing the wrong colour.
Therefore, if the Poles are that violent to each other in the same city, how well are they going to take somebody from another country!?
