Wladyslaw Bortnowski
Władysław Bortnowski (born November 12, 1891 in Radom , now Poland , † November 21, 1966 in Glen Cove , United States ) was a Polish division general in World War II . In 1939 he was Commander-in-Chief of the Pomeranian Army.
Life
Bortnowski graduated from secondary school in Zhitomir and then studied medicine for a year at Moscow University. He then moved to the Jagiellonian University in Krakow . After the outbreak of the First World War he interrupted his studies and from August 1914 served in the Polish legions in Galicia in the Imperial and Royal Army . He first commanded a platoon in the 1st Infantry Regiment, then a company in the 5th Infantry Regiment and then became an adjutant on the staff of the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Brigade. He was wounded on December 25, 1914 in the battle of Łowczówek. After the so-called "oath crisis" in 1917, he was interned in the Beniaminów camp, where he was held from July 1917 to April 1918. On October 31, 1918, he joined the newly formed Polish Army. He became the commander of a company, then a battalion in the 5th Infantry Regiment. In November 1918 he took part in the relief operation for Przemyśl and then for Lviv , which was carried out against national Ukrainians.
During the Soviet-Polish War he held the following positions from October 10, 1919: Operations Officer of the 1st Infantry Division, Chief of the 3rd Infantry Division of the 3rd Army and from October 1920 Chief of Staff of the 3rd Army. On November 1, 1920 he began studying at the military school in Paris . After his return to Poland in September 1922, he became First General Staff Officer of the First Army Inspection in Vilnius. In October 1925 he took command of the 37th Infantry Regiment in Kutno .
In February 1928 he was appointed commander of the 26th Infantry Division in Skierniewice and in June 1930 in the same position with the 14th Infantry Division in Poznan . In October 1930 he became a senior officer of the military inspection in Thorn. On November 1, 1931, he became commander of the 3rd Infantry Division in Zamość . On December 10, 1931, the President of the Republic, Ignacy Mościcki promoted him to Brigadier General . On October 12, 1935, he took over the position of General Inspector at the General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces in the Thorn district. In the autumn of 1938 he was commander of the independent operational group "Śląsk" for 3 months, which tried to unite Zaolzie with Poland. The latter action brought him so great popularity that he was even supposed to replace Marshal Śmigły as Commander-in-Chief after the presidential elections planned for 1940. On March 19, 1939 he was promoted to major general and inspector of the troops in Thorn. On March 23, 1939 he took command of the "Armia Pomorze". At the beginning of the attack on Poland , the "Pomeranian" army was assigned the 4th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 27th Infantry Division and from September 5th the 26th Infantry Division. His troops fought at Bory Tucholskie near Bydgoszcz and Nakło . On September 9th, he submitted the remnants of his troops to the commander of the "Armia Poznan", General Tadeusz Kutrzeba, and then took part in the Battle of the Bzura , where he defended himself against the German troops at Łowicz and Sochaczew . On September 14th he decided to withdraw his troops to the north bank of the Bzura , which led to a general retreat towards Warsaw .
He was captured by Germany on September 21 and was held on the Königstein, in Johannisbrunn and in Murnau. After his liberation by the US Army in April 1945, he first emigrated to Great Britain (Mabledon) and in 1954 to the USA. In 1947 he was one of the co-founders of the Józef Piłsudski Institute in London. After his arrival in the United States, he remained active in the Polish independence movement "Bratnia Pomoc". However, his main interest was working at the Józef Piłsudski Institute. From November 30, 1954, he became a member of the Institute Council and, from June 19, 1955, its vice-president. He died on November 21, 1966 in Glen Cove, and was buried on November 26, 1966 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania cemetery.
See also
Web links
- Władysław Bortnowski in dzieje.pl (Polish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Władysław Bortnowski in www.1939.pl (Polish)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bortnowski, Wladyslaw |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish division general |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 12, 1891 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Radome |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 21, 1966 |
| Place of death | Glen Cove , United States |