10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade ( Poland ) The Polish 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade ( Polish " 10 Brygada Kawalerii Pancernej " , French " 10e Brigade de cavalerie blindée polonaise " ) was an armoured formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the West . It was organized in France during World War II as part of the Polish Army in France , mostly by the veterans of the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade who managed to escape from Nazi and Soviet occupied Poland . Led by general Stanisław Maczek , it took part in the Battle of France of 1940 . It was later recreated in Great Britain as a part of the 1st Armoured Division . 1939 - 40 . France and Poland had been allies in the leadup to World War II , concluding the Franco - Polish Military Alliance . After Poland was defeated by Germany in 1939 , many Polish soldiers went to France to create a new army ( the Polish Army in France ) to fight the Nazis . These forces were commanded by general Władysław Sikorski , who was also the prime minister of the Polish government in exile . Unfortunately , French generals were not interested in Polish information about the campaign in Poland and German tactics of Blitzkrieg . There was a general belief among the French High Command that the Polish armed forces were incompetent , and they also believed in the impregnability of the Maginot Line . When General Maczek and his veterans tried to create a Polish mechanized division , they were not able to get the equipment necessary for training fast enough , so the new unit grew very slowly . Everything changed when Germany invaded the Low Countries in 1940 , out - flanking the French fortifications . General Maczek ' s unit suddenly received all the equipment they had asked for , with one condition : they had to go into action immediately . That was impossible , because many Polish soldiers had no idea how to use the new equipment and there was no time for training . General Maczek decided to lead a small force of his best trained men , hoping that the rest of his unit would join them later . That small force was called the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade ( " 10 Brygada Kawalerii Pancernej " ) in honour of the " Black Brigade " from 1939 . On June 6 , 10th Brigade had one tank battalion , two strong motorized cavalry squadrons , one anti - tank battery and one anti - aircraft battery . The brigade was attached to the French Fourth Army near Reims , and was ordered to cover its left flank . However , Maczek ' s unit was much too weak to successfully hold back full German armoured divisions . Polish soldiers managed only to cover one retreating French infantry division by attacking German forces in Champaubert - Montgivroux . Later the brigade had to withdraw with the rest of French troops , and joined the French XXIII Corps . On June 16 the brigade attacked , by night , the town of Montbard over the Burgundy Canal . Maczek ' s soldiers completely surprised the Germans and took many prisoners . The 10th Brigade was fighting alone by this time , with the French units on both flanks either routed or in retreat . There were no French forces to exploit that victory , and the decimated Polish unit found itself surrounded and without fuel . On June 18 , General Maczek decided to destroy most of his equipment and to withdraw on foot . Later that day he had to split the remnants of his brigade into small groups , so they could pass through enemy lines . Many of Maczek ' s men , including the general himself , found their way to the United Kingdom , where a Polish armoured unit was recreated , while others joined the Polish and French resistance organizations in France and Belgium . The 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade was a small formation , but with an excellent fighting spirit . Most of its soldiers managed to get to Great Britain , where the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade was recreated as a part of General Maczek ' s 1st Armoured Division . Formation in Britain and Post Cold War . The brigade fought with the 1st Armoured Division in north - west Europe in 1944 - 45 , but was disbanded after the war . However it was reformed in 1995 and later equipped with Leopard II tanks purchased from Germany ( see ) . It is now part of the 11th Armoured Cavalry Division headquartered at Żagań . References . Reference : " With the tanks of the 1st Polish Armoured Division " A Tomaszewska ( H L Smit and zn , Hengelo , Holland , 1946 )