# Anders’ Army Records: How to Trace Your Ancestor in the 2nd Polish Corps

Source: https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/polish-anders-army-records/
Last updated: 2026-10-09
Summary: Search Anders’ Army soldiers lists and 2nd Polish Corps records. Compare names, units and family details, then follow the evidence to the right archive.
Publisher: The Polish Genealogist (professional Polish genealogy research, polishgenealogist.co.uk)

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Anders’ Army records can help trace a relative from Soviet captivity to the Polish forces in the Middle East and the 2nd Polish Corps in Italy. Our commissioned research compares soldiers lists, personal questionnaires and available service files, then explains the evidence in English. The examples below show what each document can reveal - and where a separate record is needed.

> **Found a name on a list, but not sure it is your relative?** We check the soldier against personnel files, questionnaires and family records, and explain the evidence in English. [See how we can help](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/polish-military-service-records-research/)

### Who Served? How to Use the Anders’ Army Soldiers List

When people say “the Anders’ Army list”, they may mean very different things: a published roll, a unit nominal list, an award roll, a transport/evacuation list, or a post-war association index. Each has different strengths - and different traps.

A few practical points that matter in real research:

- **Not every list is comprehensive.** Many surviving lists relate to *a particular moment* (a unit, a theatre, a decoration, a hospital, a camp) rather than being a master roll of the whole force.

- **Name matching is the main difficulty.** You will often see:

  - spelling variants (e.g., Ś/ S; Ł/ L; -ski/-sky; -wicz/-vich),

  - inconsistent given names (Jan/John, Józef/Joseph),

  - missing diacritics,

  - patronymics or middle names appearing/disappearing,

  - Soviet-era transliterations for those who came out of prisons and labour camps.

- **A “hit” on a list is a lead, not proof.** The real goal is to connect the list entry to identifying details: date/place of birth, parents, pre-war residence, service number, unit, rank changes, awards, hospitalisations, next of kin, or post-war resettlement.

In practice, the most efficient approach is to treat any soldiers list as a *finding aid* that points you towards the right archive series and file type - rather than as the final answer.

### Anders’ Army Personal Card Index: a name is the beginning

The **Personal card index** in the Wladyslaw Anders collection at the Hoover Institution connects names and short biographical entries with numbered personal accounts or questionnaires. It is useful for researching Soviet captivity and displacement, but it is **not a complete Anders’ Army soldiers list**. A matching card still needs comparison with birth details, residence and the linked testimony. A missing name does not rule out military service.

Our [Polish military service records research](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/polish-military-service-records-research/) follows those connections and compares them with other records where available. The aim is an English-language account of the evidence for one person, with document copies where obtainable and a clear distinction between confirmed facts and remaining questions.

Document example / Name and prison clue

#### One sentence can identify the next research question

The W. Kisler card shows how little information a wartime index entry may contain. Its value lies in the lead it supplies, rather than a complete biography.

***01 / W. Kisler** A short entry recording imprisonment in Lwow. [View the full-size document](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/anders-collection-w-kisler-index-card.webp)*

#### Reading the card

Name and rank

**W. Kisler**

is followed by

*płk*

, the abbreviation for colonel. The initial does not establish a full given name.

Prison clue

*Siedział w więzieniu we Lwowie*

means that he was imprisoned in Lwow, now Lviv. The card gives no imprisonment date or named prison.

A number to follow

The reference at the top right is an index lead. It should not be assumed to be a military service number. The associated record must be checked before connecting this person to a unit or campaign.

**An index entry is not a service history.**

This card alone does not establish enlistment in Anders’ Army, evacuation from the USSR or service at Monte Cassino. The four documents illustrated here concern different people and record types; they are not one individual’s file.

### An Anders collection questionnaire: from Tarnopol to Soviet imprisonment

Document example / Personal questionnaire / Soviet captivity

#### Bernard Kruczkowski: places and dates behind a name

This sheet records a personal account of imprisonment and release. Unlike a brief index card, it supplies a sequence of places and dates that can be tested against other records.

Recorded birth year

**1910**

Pre-war residence

**Tarnopol**

Recorded release

**1 December 1941**

***02 / Personal questionnaire** Selected readings from the visible sheet; later military postings are not shown. [View the full-size document](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/anders-collection-bernard-kruczkowski-questionnaire.webp)*

#### What the completed fields tell us

Identity and occupation

The name reads

**Bernard Kruczkowski**

, followed by

*ppor.*

(second lieutenant). His occupation is entered as

*urzędnik*

, an official or clerk; P.K.P. points to the Polish State Railways.

Residence, not birthplace

**Tarnopol**

appears under permanent residence and the last places of stay in Poland. This sheet does not identify it as his birthplace.

Loss of freedom

The recorded date is

**27 January 1940**

. The departure-from-Poland field gives

**March 1940**

; these are separate entries and should not be merged into one event.

Prisons and labour camp

The prison field names

**Odessa and Charkow**

. The labour-camp field reads

**Buchta - Nachodka - Dalstroj**

. Keep the written forms when tracing the geography; a short entry does not establish every stage of a transport route.

Release and later whereabouts

The release date reads

**1 December 1941**

. The post-amnesty location names

**Omsk**

, with an abbreviation for western Siberia. Forestry work is also recorded.

**Captivity evidence and military evidence answer different questions.**

Blank nationality and religion fields are not answers. This page does not give an enlistment date, a II Corps unit or a Monte Cassino award. Those connections need separate evidence.

> **Turn a questionnaire into a documented family history.** We compare names, dates and places with other available records and explain the findings in English. [Research your relative’s records](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/polish-military-service-records-research/)

### Cards for Poles who died or were lost in the USSR

The Anders collection also includes a separate index concerning people who died or were lost in the USSR. Such an entry may explain the fate of a relative who never reached the army. It must not be presented as proof that every named person was an Anders’ Army soldier.

Document example / Reported death / Soviet labour colony

#### Czeslaw Jaxa-Roken: an age, a locality and a reported cause of death

***03 / Czeslaw Jaxa-Roken** The card reports a death, but supplies no date of death. [View the full-size document](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/anders-collection-czeslaw-jaxa-roken-death-card.webp)*

#### Read the statement and its limits

Identity

The name appears to read

**Czesław Jaxa-Roken**

, aged

**43**

, with

*obyw. z Łomży*

, indicating an association with Lomza. This is not a completed date or place of birth.

Reported death

The card states that he died of

**pneumonia**

at corrective labour colony no. 10 in the Volzhsko-Mari district of the Mari ASSR, using Polish transliterations.

What is missing

No death date, burial place, witness or military unit is given on this card. It is an archival report of a death, not a civil death certificate. His age cannot produce a reliable birth year without a dated event.

**A death or missing-person entry needs corroboration.**

We would compare the surname and Lomza connection with family records and seek the underlying account. A relative’s reported death in Soviet captivity and another family member’s service with Anders may belong to related, but distinct, evidence trails.

### A post-war registration list: Polish soldiers returning from abroad

Document example / Return to Poland / Post-war records

#### A wide register connects service abroad with a civilian address

The heading describes soldiers returning to Poland for permanent residence from military units abroad. The visible service columns include references to the 2nd Corps, but the register’s heading does not limit it to that formation.

***04 / Return registration list** Ten visible entries bring together personal details, military history and intended residence. [View the full-size document](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/polish-soldiers-return-registration-list-scaled.webp)*

#### Identity and service clues

The printed columns ask for the soldier’s name and father’s name, rank, date and place of birth, civilian occupation, education and pre-1939 Polish Army service. Later columns cover service abroad, units, battles and decorations. Each row must be read separately; a completed field in one row says nothing about the next man.

#### Return is a separate event

The right-hand columns record return dates, family status, an intended address in Poland, attitude to further military service, the recruiting office and remarks. Several visible entries appear to give **5 November 1946** as the return date. An intended address is a lead for residence research, not proof of arrival or permanent occupation.

**This is not a list of settlers in Britain.**

For a family whose relative remained in the UK, a return register may concern a namesake or a different branch. Compare birth details and service entries before making a match. The archive of origin of this particular sheet has not been independently established.

> **Follow the soldier beyond the end of the war.** Commission research into the available service and family records, with the evidence and its limits explained. [View military research packages](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/polish-military-service-records-research/)

### Polish 2nd Corps records for families in Britain

For descendants in Britain, **Polish 2nd Corps records** may need to be connected with a UK-held service file, a [Polish Resettlement Corps record](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/polish-veterans-resettlement-in-britain/) or later civilian papers. A Soviet questionnaire explains captivity; a service file may record units and postings; post-war documents may help establish where the person went next. One source cannot substitute for all three.

Our [guide to UK-held Polish service records](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/ministry-of-defence-mod-polish-service-records/) explains the MOD context. GOV.UK treats Polish personnel who served under British command during the Second World War as a specific application category. Access requirements and redactions still apply; online access to the Anders collection does not mean that every UK personnel file is publicly available.

For a **Monte Cassino Polish soldiers list** or an award number, see our [Monte Cassino Cross records guide](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/monte-cassino-cross-records/). A named award entry is a different source from a captivity questionnaire. The name, birth details and unit must agree before the two can be joined into a service history.

### Where Are the 2nd Polish Corps Records Held Today?

This is where many families lose time: they assume “Polish Army records are in Poland” or “everything is in the UK”. The reality is more dispersed because the II Corps fought under Allied command in the Italian campaign and then remained part of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, while Poland fell under a new post-war system.

In broad terms, you should expect records to be split across:

- **Hoover Institution Library & Archives** - the Wladyslaw Anders collection contains personal accounts, questionnaires and indexes relating to Soviet captivity and displacement. Its digitised records complement military personnel files.

- **UK-held Polish service records** - personnel who served under British command during the Second World War have a specific MOD request route. Our research combines available service documentation with other sources, subject to access rules.

- **The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum (PISM), London** - a central repository for materials of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, including many II [Corps-related collections and lists](https://pism.org.uk/)(and, crucially, the kind of documentation that can bridge wartime service with post-war émigré life).

- **Polish state institutions dealing with wartime repression and post-war consequences**, especially where a person’s story intersects with arrests, deportations, prisons, camps, or later communist-era files. [The Institute of National Remembrance (IPN)](https://eng.ipn.gov.pl/) holds extensive holdings for 1917-1990, including WWII occupation authorities and repression-related documentation, and it operates an archive/information framework for victims.

- **Specialist databases and museum-led projects** which can provide biographical [sketches, unit context](https://2korpus.org/en/home-en/), and sometimes structured entries that help confirm identity (useful when you have only a name and a rough year of birth).

A professional search plan normally starts with the question: *what kind of record do we likely need* (a personal service file, an award entitlement, a casualty/hospital record, a list tied to Monte Cassino, an evacuation trail, post-war resettlement paperwork), and *which institution is most likely to hold it*.

*2nd Polish Corps in the Battle of Monte Cassino, 1944, National Digital Archives*

### Polish II Corps Members: How to Identify If Your Relative Was on the List

Identifying the correct person is often harder than locating the list itself - especially for common surnames, wartime name changes, and incomplete family memory.

What genuinely helps (and what I typically ask clients to gather before commissioning research):

- **Full name(s)** as used before 1939, during the war, and after the war (including anglicised versions).

- **Date and place of birth** (even an approximate year and a district/region can be decisive).

- **Parents’ names** (often the single best way to separate two men with the same name).

- **Pre-war residence** (town/village, county/powiat if known).

- **Religion/rite** (Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish) - it affects which civil/church records you can use to confirm identity.

- **Post-war location** (UK, Argentina, Australia, Canada, etc.), plus any evidence of demobilisation, veteran associations, or cemetery records.

- **Any military clues**: rank, unit type (infantry, artillery, transport), known battles, photographs with badges, medal ribbons, “Monte Cassino Cross” references, etc.

A realistic warning: families sometimes have the right *story* but the wrong *formation*. Not every Polish soldier who fought in Italy was necessarily in the II Corps, and not everyone who was “with Anders” ended up in the same paper trail. Treat family narrative as a starting hypothesis and verify it with records.

*2nd Polish Corps in the fighting on the Gothic Line, 1944, National Digital Archives*

Sample report · genuine records

A sergeant’s road to Anders’ Army

A four-page questionnaire from 1942 traces a Border Protection Corps sergeant from September 1939 to an NKVD arrest in June 1940, an eight-year sentence and his release at Chibyu in the Komi ASSR in August 1941, after the amnesty. His German-language birth record from 1901 confirms the same date of birth and names his parents, and a later note records his death in Kielce in 1992. Records like this often fill the gap between 1939 and a family’s first letters from the army.

[Research your relative’s service](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/polish-military-service-records-research/)

[Read the sample report](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/sample-report-anders-army.pdf?v=6)

### Anders’ Army in WW2: The Route from Soviet Gulags to Italy

Anders’ Army is inseparable from the wider wartime catastrophe experienced by Polish citizens in the East: Soviet arrests, prisons, deportations, and labour camps - followed by the chaotic formation of Polish forces on Soviet territory after the 1941 agreement that allowed many to be released.

This matters for genealogy because it creates **two distinct record universes** that may both apply to your relative:

1. **Soviet repression / displacement documentation** (arrest, transport, camp, “special settlement”, missing persons, later inquiries).

2. **Military formation and service documentation** (enlistment into Polish forces, unit assignments, evacuation, training, then combat service in the Middle East/Italy).

Even when no single “perfect personnel file” survives, a combination of partial traces can reconstruct the route: an early list showing presence in the USSR phase, later II Corps unit listings, hospital entries, award paperwork, and post-war demobilisation/resettlement records.

Where there is a repression component, IPN can be relevant because it holds extensive materials connected to WWII and repression-related matters within its archival remit.

### Battle of Monte Cassino: Was Your Ancestor There?

Monte Cassino is often the focal point because it is both historically famous and well commemorated in Polish family memory. However, “served in the II Corps” does not automatically mean “fought at Monte Cassino”, and conversely some families under-estimate how many support units were present (transport, medical, supply, engineers), not only front-line infantry.

One of the most practical routes is to look for **award evidence connected to the campaign**, because award documentation is often more structured than narrative histories. The Monte Cassino Commemorative Cross is widely discussed in the context of II Corps participation, and sources note that named recipient lists are held at the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum.

In professional work, the key is to use such leads carefully:

- confirm identity first (to avoid false matches),

- then link the person to a unit at a particular time,

- and only then draw conclusions about Monte Cassino participation.

*2nd Polish Corps in the Italian Campaign, 1944-1945, National Digital Archives (Poland)*

> **Was your relative at Monte Cassino?** A service record can show the unit, dates and decorations. We identify the right records in Poland, Britain and the Hoover Institution and explain what they show. [Trace their service](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/polish-military-service-records-research/)

### Polish Army WW2 Records: Key Archives and Online Databases

For families researching Polish WWII military service, there is rarely a single website that “has everything”. A productive strategy is to combine:

- **Military collections outside Poland (especially London-based émigré holdings)** for the Polish Armed Forces in the West, including II Corps lists and related documentation.

- **Polish wartime/victimhood and repression-focused repositories**, where your relative’s story includes arrest, deportation, imprisonment, camp survival, or post-war investigative files. IPN is central in this landscape.

- **Institutional and project-led databases** that can help you triangulate details (names, dates, units, post-war biographies) and confirm whether you are pursuing the right person before you invest time in formal requests.

- **Core Polish civil and church records** to prove identity (especially when the military record only gives a name). In Poland, access to modern civil status records is shaped by retention and privacy rules: as a practical rule of thumb, civil registers are transferred to state archives after **100 years for births** and **80 years for marriages and deaths**, while newer records are typically held by the local civil register office (USC) with restricted access.

That last point is often overlooked: to obtain the *right* military file, you frequently need civilian proof ([birth record](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/vital-records/finding-a-birth-entry-in-poland/), marriage record, parents’ details) - and navigating Polish access rules and office practice is part of what slows down DIY attempts.

### An Army in Exile: Understanding Anders’ Corps Before You Search

The II Corps was not just a combat formation; it was part of a broader Polish wartime community in exile, with its own administration, medical services, training structure, chaplaincy, welfare support, and later demobilisation pathways. That context is not “nice to know” - it directly affects what records exist.

A few realities that shape searches:

- **Border changes and shifting citizenship categories** mean the same person might be described differently across documents (pre-war Poland vs wartime displacement vs post-war resettlement).

- **Multiple languages appear in the paperwork**: Polish, Russian (or Russian-style transliteration), English, sometimes Italian or German depending on the record type.

- **Records can be fragmented**: a unit list may survive without a full personnel dossier; an award record may survive without an enlistment form; post-war resettlement material may be richer than wartime service paperwork.

If you want a result you can rely on, you normally need a *bundle of evidence* built from several collections - and you need to know which institutions are likely to respond, what proof they require, and how to frame a request so it is processed rather than stalled.

Polish soldiers killed in Italy are commemorated at several cemeteries, including Monte Cassino, Bologna and Loreto. Poland’s Ministry of Culture describes its care of these Polish war cemeteries. Establish the correct name, unit and death details before matching a grave; do not assume that every Polish burial appears in the CWGC database.

No. Some settled in Britain, while others returned to Poland or moved elsewhere. After the war, soldiers who could not safely return to communist-controlled Poland were offered settlement in Britain through the [Polish Resettlement Corps](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/polish-veterans-resettlement-in-britain/) (1946-1949). Others settled in Italy, the Middle East, or emigrated to Canada, Australia, and the United States.

Yes. The Anders collection has digitised questionnaires, personal accounts and card indexes available online. Other websites provide transcriptions and biographical leads. Online coverage varies by collection, and an index entry is not a complete military service file. Our research compares the available evidence and explains the findings in English.

Yes. Our Polish military research service investigates one person’s service using the available records and agreed research time. We compare identity details, units, captivity accounts and post-war clues, and provide an English-language report with references and copies where available. Record survival and access restrictions may leave gaps.

### Sources and further reading

The document descriptions above are selected readings of the reproduced sheets. Archive collection descriptions explain the wider context; they do not independently verify each personal detail.

- [Hoover Institution: Wladyslaw Anders collection guide](https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf0p3000tg) - the personal index and linked accounts, and the separate death and missing-person index.

- [Dokumenty Władysława Andersa](https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/zespol/-/zespol/22991) - digitised collection in the Polish State Archives catalogue.

- [British Army: Army Personnel Centre](https://www.army.mod.uk/army-careers/careers/army-personnel-centre/) - current direction for Polish Second World War personnel record applications.

- [Polish Ministry of Culture: Monte Cassino commemoration and cemetery care](https://www.gov.pl/web/kultura/76-rocznica-zwyciestwa-w-bitwie-o-monte-cassino).

### Related guides

- [Monte Cassino Cross records and recipient identification](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/monte-cassino-cross-records/)

- [Polish service records held in the UK](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/ministry-of-defence-mod-polish-service-records/)

- [Polish Prisoner of War Records - How to obtain WW2 POW Documents](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/polish-prisoner-of-war-records/)

- [The Polish Resettlement Corps](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/polish-veterans-resettlement-in-britain/)

- [Choose the next source for a Polish military service search](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/military/tracing-polish-military-service/)

- [Wojtek the soldier bear and his company](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/polish-britain/wojtek-the-soldier-bear/)

- [Sikorski Institute archives (PISM)](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/polish-britain/sikorski-institute-archives/)

- [Polish resettlement camps and hostels in Britain](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/polish-britain/polish-resettlement-camps-hostels/)

> **Research service:** Trace a relative’s service in Anders’ Army · One person and one defined research question · [Explore military research packages](https://www.polishgenealogist.co.uk/services/polish-military-service-records-research/)

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