Polish army before World War II

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Division formation in August 1939
Tactical symbol for the army: red and white standard with XXXX

The Polish army under Edward Rydz-Śmigły as bedeutendster part of that total armed forces of the Second Polish Republic was before the start of World War II from different armies as its strategic base structure which divisions were subordinated among others organizations. There were also associations of the air force and the navy. This line-up of armies changed immediately after the German raid began on September 1st. Further changes followed in the course of the war, which initially lasted a few weeks, in 1939. In the further course of the war until 1945, troop members were re-established as troop units in very different organizations with different objectives.

In September 1939 the army lost tens of thousands of dead, over 100,000 wounded and several hundred thousand prisoners. Poland did not formally surrender during the war. There were surrenders from regionally active units.

Structure and division of the individual armies

7TP tanks on maneuvers
Polish soldiers in helmets pattern 31
Polish bomber planes PZL.37 Łoś
ORP Grom and ORP Błyskawica

Army commanders, associations and their locations (below the army level), the armies were named after regions or cities and had the following names - from north to south:

Armia Karpaty

Kazimierz Fabrycy :

  • 2nd Mountain Brigade ( 2 Brygada Górska )
  • 3rd Mountain Brigade ( 3 Brygada Górska )
  • Carpathian Half-Brigade of National Defense ( Karpacka Półbrygada ON )
  • 1st Border Defense Regiment
  • 1st motorized artillery regiment
  • 9th heavy artillery regiment

Armia Kraków

Antoni Szylling ; Main strategic force against Germany

Armia Łódź

Juliusz Rómmel , Wiktor Thommée :

Armia Modlin

Emil Krukowicz-Przedrzymirski :

  • 8th and 20th Infantry Divisions, Mazowiecka and Nowogródzka Cavalry Brigade, BON Warszawa

Armia Pomorze

Under Władysław Bortnowski :

  • 4th, 9th, 15th, 16th and 27th Infantry Division, Pomerania. Cav. Brig., Pomorze and Chełm National Defense Brigade, Wisła Unit

Armia Poznań

Tadeusz Kutrzeba :

  • 14., 17., 25. u. 26th Infantry Division, Podolska and Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade, Poznań and Kalisz National Defense Brigade.

Armia Prusy

Stefan Dąb-Biernacki :

  • 3rd Legion, 12th, 13th, 19th, 29th and 36th Infantry Divisions, Wileńska Cavalry Brigade

See also