[ Map Room ]
[ Master IndexPage ]
[ FEEFHS FrontPage ]
[ Website Index ]
Polish Army in France (WW I)
"Haller's Army"
Recruitment Record Database
Background
by James J. Czuchra
Latest Update: 12 January 1999 (Links updated)
An estimated 20,000 Polish persons answered the call to fight for
freedom and the
opportunity to regain Poland's independence during World War I in
the Polish Army in
France (in Polish, Armia Polska we Francyi). They were
recruited from among the
Polish immigrants who came to America to fight with France.
The Polish Army in France was also called "Haller's Army," after
the general who
commanded it, or the "Blue Army," for the blue uniforms the
soldiers wore. [See Polish
Genealogical Society Newsletter, Vol. X, #1, Spring 1987,
pages 1, 3-4, "World War I
Polish American Military Records," Jospeh T. Hapak, a brief
history of the Polish Army in
France; and Searchers, the Newsletter of the PGS of
Western New York, #8, January
1993, pp. 17-20. "Buffalonians in Polish Army," compiled by Ted
Smardz, a listing of
Buffalo recruits.]
Most of the recruitment papers for these persons are preserved in
the archives of the Polish
Museum of America. The recruitment papers for an individual
usually consist of a set of
three forms, A, B, and C.
- Form A is an intention to volunteer and contains the name,
address, age, and marital
status.
- Form B is a medical examination report for the volunteer.
- Form C: The most genealogically significant information
appears on Form C. It includes
date and place of birth and usually the name and address of a
parent or other close
relative.
So what about the index? The index is arranged alphabetically by
name so that you can
easily find persons of interest. The city and state give the
place the person was from when
volunteering. This is helpful to narrow the choices if the
person of interest has a common
name. The last column is labelled "Form" but serves as a
location code. It describes which
record group the information will be found in.
There are three groups, A, C, and L. Group A is a collection of
form A papers described
above. Group C is a collection of form C papers. Each of these
collections are bound into
volumes. To locate the record, the page number, volume, and
record group must be provided.
Group L is a collection of loose papers. The page column of the
index tells you which forms
you can expect to find among the loose papers. A single
individual might appear in the index
three times-- having paperwork in each collection.
To obtain copies of the recruitment papers, include the
information given in the
index with a donation of US$10.00 per name payable to the
Polish Genealogical Society of
America (PGSA). Please mail your request to:
Polish Genealogical Society of America
Attn: Haller's Army Search
984 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60622-4101
Much of this article appeared in the Polish Genealogical
Society of America Bulletin,
Vol. 1, #3, Summer 1993, pp. 10-11, "Polish-American Military
Records Organized" by Jim
Czuchra. The article includes photocopies of representative
forms.
Many of the expenses incurred in the creation of the Haller's
Army index were paid for by
the Polish Genealogical Society of
America.
This index is broken into a series of 42 files. To find the
specific file that includes the name
you are seeking, please either refer to the Haller's Army
Index on another server or use the FEEFHS Full Text [search engine] Web
Site Index
First page of the index
[ Map Room ]
[ Master IndexPage ]
[ FEEFHS FrontPage ]
[ Website Index ]