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Holy, and bloody, wars have been fought before: Crusades, the Japanese
against Communism, the Spanish Catholic Church against Communism. But
this war was being fought, as no war had ever been fought before, to
keep a country together against the black forces of paganism. And it
was up to 4,000,000 men aided by the indirect action of some Allies, to
do the job. "The Army," said Edward Smigly-Rydz once, "is the national
glue."
*Pronunciation: Shmigwy-Ridzh. Meaning: nimble-mushroom.
The Marshal's family name was Rydz (Mushroom), indicating peasant origin. But
because of the quickness of both his wits and his body, his companions
in the Pilsudski Legions gave him the sobriquet Smigly (Nimble). He
sometimes wears it before, sometimes behind Rydz, prefers it behind
so that the name has less meaning.
