After World War 2 the majority of Polish troops who had fought alongside the western allies preferred not to return to communist dominated Poland. Reluctantly the British government allowed them to stay in Great Britain. A Polish Resettlement Corps was raised in 1946 as a corps of the British Army into which Poles were enlisted for the period of their demobilization up to 1948. Wives and dependent relatives of the soldiers who were scattered in D.P. Camps throughout Europe, Africa and India were allowed to join them bringing the total estimated numbers to over 200,000 displaced people. Many of the Polish orphans and children separated from their families by the war who lived in orphanages in Africa and India were also allowed into the UK.  America, Australia, Canada and Argentina  allowed the young and healthy Poles to settle in their countries, and many orphans went to Mexico.

In England the now disused army and air force camps were utilised as temporary accommodation for the Displaced Poles. There were many such camps, some large some small, most were short lived but many carried on into the late fifties and sixties. Some of the camps were in use by the British army before WW2  but most were built in the early 40s in rural areas, often  in the grounds of large country estates, as Military Field Hospitals, Army Bases and Airfields for use mostly by American, Canadian and other allied troops. Following the invasion of Europe many of these camps became prisoner of war camps and when the war ended  the same camps served as home to Polish soldiers returning from the battle fields of Europe, their families and dependents. These camps  were administrated by a number of organisations, National Assistance Board, Local Authorities, National Services Hostels Corporation. Some were hostels for working single men and a handful were Polish boarding schools run by the Committee for the Education of Poles. There were also a few Polish Hospitals, the best known was Hospital no. 3 in Penley in North Wales.