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Independent Operational Group Polesie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Independent Operational Group Polesie (Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Polesie, SGO Polesie) was one of the Polish Army Corps (Operational Groups) that defended Poland during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. It was created on 11 September 1939 and was commanded by general Franciszek Kleeberg. The SGO is most notable for fighting in the battle of Kock, the last battle of the Invasion of Poland.[1][2]

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I was born in January 24, 1917 in a farming family. I completed the primary school in Olbięcin. When I was 14, I joined the rifle club. We practiced every Sunday and Wednesday – always two meetings. We were all volunteers. And nobody was ever even a minute late, that’s what the discipline was. A very patriotic generation was brought up in the interwar period. That is why the polish underground organisation, the Home Army, was the strongest and best organised army in the countries occupied by the Germans. The Home Army, was the strongest and best organised army... And how we were thanked after the war.... We, the veterans, those who took part in the Second World War, are the generation whose roads are coming to an end. I was very eager to serve in the Polish army. When I went to the draft commission, my heart started pounding. I was afraid that they wouldn’t take me with such heart. The doctor asked me “What’s wrong with you, boy? Is your heart OK?” I just laughed and said “yes, my heart is just pounding because I’m anxious to be drafted”. “Don’t worry – he stroked my head – you will be drafted” So I was taken to the army by the commission in 1938, and in 1939 I was assigned to the 9th Regiment of Light Artillery. I was very happy to serve in the artillery... To walk in expensive, high-top boots, to come home on a leave with a sabre... The spurs were clinging when walking on the pavement, it was fantastic. We were very proud compared to the infantry. The service was very tough. The drill was like in the infantry. Horse riding like in the cavalry, and operating the cannons. But we loved this regiment. I served in a very patriotic town of Siedlce. Every Sunday, we would go to the garrison church. The masses were very ceremonious, with many soldiers, officers and non-coms with wives and many civilians, who loved the army. When we were leaving the church or the cinema, people would stand on the pavement and applaud. It was something, it was sacred. Our regiment was mobilised when Hitler demanded the corridor to the East Prussia and the free city. Poland answered with partial mobilisation. It was to take place on the 23rd of March. But in the meantime something happened – alert in the regiment, mobilisation. In two hours time, the reservists were being dressed and sent to the villages. For example one battery was sent 4 km from Olbięcin, the second 4 km further than that.... It was like that till May. In May the standard was bid farewell and the regiment went to the border with Prussia, to Chojnice. Our soldiers fought there. I’m proud of the fact that the commander of my battery destroyed the armored train. First he destroyed the watch tower, then the train. I stayed in the barracks. We didn’t go because we were young and untrained. It was easier to train the infantry, but the artillery is a profession. Siedlce was heavily bombed on the first of September. There was a raid every half an hour. We were leaving the barracks because as early as 6th or 7th of September the Germans were near Rzężyn. We were surprised because I knew that Germany is to the West, but I didn’t realise that the Prussia was to the North, and close to our border. The Germans approached Siedlce. Alert in the regiment, evacuation. The whole equipment was taken and we cried that we had to leave Siedlce. We were retreating at nights through Międzyrzec and Biała Podlaska. We couldn’t go during the day because of the constant raids. All that we left in Siedlce was the ground and some chimneys. We were going through Polesie to Kobryń. You cannot imagine what kind of march it was. On many occasions, I didn’t eat for four days. It wasn’t just that there was nothing to eat – there was nothing to drink. It was a dry year, there were no water supply, the wells were used by thousands of people because there was no war, and many troops were retreating from Warsaw to Siedlce. We were given coffee in cubes, very tough. We used to chew it, but there was nothing to drink. When I dropped the bucket to a well, I only found some mud. There was nothing to drink. I and thirteen colleagues of mine volunteered to the advance guard. I didn’t realise where we were going. A young man desires adventures... Advance guard would just disappear. There were fourteen of us in the guard and behind us a column of 1150 people was going – the administration of the regiment and everything. We joined the fight under the command of Epler – such surname. He was a colonel, I believe. Brzoza, Brzezina – these are the places where the Germans attacked. We fought off. On the 19th of September, we fought off the cavalry going to Kobryń. During the war, we were called Polesie Protection Corps, but now it is called Independent Operational Group Polesie. Poland wouldn’t have finished the campaign so quickly if the Soviets hadn’t attacked because if the bridges had been destroyed, the tanks wouldn’t have moved forward and we would have been able to defend much longer. But when the Soviets entered, lieutenant Szarkowski called us and said “the situation is as follows, today the Soviets attacked our homeland. We are going to fight our way to Romania. Who volunteers?” I volunteered as the first. In total, out of 150 people, over 50 volunteered. But later we learned that the border is closed in Subcarpathia, so we came back. We went to Dywino because that was in the direction of Romania, and we still wanted to fight our way there. We were surprised what was going on. Because as the Germans seized this region, they were retreating through Radno to Włodawa. They retreated on Saturday and we took Włodawa on Monday. General Kleeberg recreated the organisation. But we didn’t stay long in Włodawa. We went through Parczew to Kock. I will not tell you what I saw in Kock, how many dead soldiers. I was wounded in my leg. I was in captivity but escaped. The German guards who were escorting us started shooting because something had happened in the front. Our guard ran off, then I and my friend with whom I spent the entire war jumped among the farmer’s buildings and stayed. We came back by forests because there were Germans on the roads. We came to a village to find a place to spend the night, because we learned that the Germans were in another one. The farmer said to us “You want me to put you up through the night? Have you defended Poland? You lost the war”. He didn’t want to put us up. We were refused a place to sleep three times. Some widow put us up eventually. We were thanked in such way for defending the homeland. When I came back home, on the 26th of November, I joined the underground organisation. Service for Poland’s Victory – it was for the officers and non-coms. I was a non-com. I finished school and got the rank of corporal. Back then I was very proud, today it is funny but then it was something. I joined the underground organisation. We were training young boys. In Olbięcin, we were in great danger because there was always a company or a battalion of Germans in the Szczeciński and Ludnicki property. And nobody betrayed. We had the strongest organisation. The commander of our company was from this village. In 1944, by the order of general “Bór” Komorowski and as a part of the “Burza” action, a guerrilla squad was formed. 10th company of the 8th regiment of the Home Army Legions. This 10th company was made up of few posts. An entire platoon was brought from 25 km away, from Borów, where 5 villages had been destroyed. Do you know about it? Borów, Szczecyn, Wólka Szczecka i Dwa Łążki were attacked on the 2nd of February, 1300 people were killed and the villages destroyed to the ground. The 10th company was created from 102 people from few posts - Olbięcin, Wólka Olbięcka, Dąbrowa, Gościeradów, that 10 km from here, Borów and Janiszów that’s 20 km. Two platoons were created from these villages, the third one came from Borów, which is 25 km away. It was created in the forests near Olbięcin. The commander of the company came from our village, it was capitan Piotr Sieradzki, nom de guerre Andrzej. We engaged in a few skirmishes with the Germans here, in the forests near Gościeradów. Somebody said that a huge train of carts, maybe 500 or 800, was coming. It was when the Germans were retreating. We had a good strategist because the commander of the company had been given maps from the forestry management, that’s why he was able to save us. He called us in for a council and gave order not to attack but to let them past. Only when there would be 20 or 30 carts left, we were to shoot them through and cut them off so that the rest wouldn’t be able to come and help because the road was narrow with ditches on the sides, so they wouldn’t be able to turn around. But it happened differently. One of the cadets, the commander of a platoon had a white cap. The Germans saw him when they entered the woods. There was the order not to shoot. But a German saw this white cap, which was really unnecessary in the forest. When the German was unbuttoning his holster, two our soldiers shot at this German. We opened fire, and the German officer ordered his soldiers not to shoot. A part of the train ran away to Gościeradów, another part retreated to Manopole, but we took the middle – 35 carts filled with goods and weapon. There were so many goods... 24 cows. In that time, a cow meant something, it was meat. We took 6 Germans 27 Ukrainians who were going with them in captivity. The German reported to our commander and asked to be released because he ordered his soldiers not to shoot. Because he wanted to survive the war. On the cart there was also a beautiful German woman, his lover. Because he wanted to survive the war. On the cart there was also a beautiful German woman, his lover. Those Germans were released, and the Ukrainians worked in our camp. On the 28th of August 1944, the commander summoned us and asked what to do, because we were enveloped. Should we fight our way to Czeskie Doły – that’s a forest. I was in favor of fighting, but he was right. He said “when we go out in the open field they will use the light from the rockets and kill us”. It was necessary first to break the German circle because huge masses of Germans were moving through every clearing and forest. We were in a big column, which wasn’t easy to hide – we had many carts and so on. He led us into a lowland, young forest. But earlier – we decided to stay. The following day in the morning, the commander said “We will try to break free. We will attack a German battery.” This battery was shooting at Zaklichów and Rzeczyce because the Soviets were already there. Before the attack, a man called Bryczek, he later was sentenced to death, came to me and said “you are an artilleryman and we are attacking a cannon. If we win, we will shoot”. We started shooting when we were close to this battery. There were three cannons. Some of the Germans put their hands up, others squatted down with machine guns. Now I think that they thought we were Russians, who came from behind. When they saw the guerrillas, young boys in plain clothing, I heard a German shouting to catch the weapon. When they opened fire, the bullets cut through the undergrowth. They pointed the guns at us and started shooting – it was hell. As we entered their protection, I saw a German on the right and heard “bang bang bang” - the noise of bullets hitting the sand. I took my Sten, but I had already shot two magazines. I had 50 more bullets in the box and 30 loose. There was no time to load. I had a hand grenade, a German one with green head. Inside this grenade there was a bent wire and a string. You had to unscrew it, pull it out and it exploded as a result of friction. I got up and threw it at this German. It was about 30 meters. But the grenade misfired. I thought “that’s bad”. I didn’t have time to load the gun. I said to the lieutenant to give me his gun. He gave me a Vis. I shot three times and hid, but the German was shooting all the time. I shot two more times. I took out the magazine – no ammo. I took out the barrel, there was the last bullet. I thought “this one’s for me”. Was I to be caught by the Germans, I’d rather be killed with the bayonet. I leaned out and then I got hit. I thought that in the heart because I yelled “lieutenant, I got hit in the heart” If it had been really in the heart, I’m not sure if I would have been able to yell. It may seem funny, but I tell exactly what it looked like. He said “Bolek, you must save yourself”. We were on good terms because he lived not far away. He rescued me. He dragged me for 30 meters, he wanted to throw me about his shoulders but he wasn’t strong enough. Then Żuber and Orzechowski came and put me on a cart. We were retreating to the copse. It was very good strategy to lead us there. I got hit and had a wound the size of a plate. The nurses and the doctor, his name was Pałucha, dressed it and I fainted. It was good because I didn’t feel any pain. When I got hit, I sweated on the fingers, back, ears, the sweat was dripping from my beard – and I fainted. I was unconscious when they entered the forest so don’t know what it was like. I was just lying on the cart. We had four wounded and four killed in this attack. Some of ours went back to the battlefield the following day, because the Russians had already been there, and found 39 German bodies. So we won this fight. Those 39 German bodies were buried with honours. In the morning, our commander, captain Jeracki, had to report to the commander of the Russian front. The commander of the regiment here was called Łagino, or Łagina. Our commander, smartly dressed, went there on a trophy horse. The Russians, on the other hand, they were so poor... They had some dirty cauldrons and were cooking something. But they were the front-line soldiers. And the Germans were looking smart till the end. He reported to this colonel Łagina, and he said “let’s go and fight the Germans together”. Our commander said, that his soldiers were wounded and exhausted, that he lacked food and ammo. He answered that they would give us food, but no ammo because they had different weapons. So our commander sent a messenger to Krasnik to find out what to do because our 10th company was supposed to help the Warsaw Uprising. I was in Dąbrowa so I know only what the people told me. A messenger went to Kraśnik, to the command to ask what to do next, should we go and help the insurgents? And the commanding officer in Kraśnik said “disarm immediately because the troops going to Warsaw are disarmed and sent to Siberia”. But the tragedy of the 10th Company started when the Red Army entered. The commander of our battery, you will see him here, was sent to Siberia. The commander of the post, who organised and stored weapons, turned over the weapons but kept the better ones. Our People’s Authorities thanked us in such ways: detentions began, people were sent to Siberia. They divided the corral, a third part was given to this commander who had brought a platoon from Borów. In other words, a third part was given to divide among those partisans. But the Russians started taking things from those carts. There was a guard, and he called for this commander of the platoon, lieutenant Jaśkiewicz. He said that we had our own government, and the Russian said “take this front seat”. He took the seat. And a simple man, a commander of a post, who was in our unit said to him “Władek – because he knew that lieutenant – I will sit next to you, I’ll take a liter of vodka, the Russians like to drink so we’ll settle this” And he said that they were going to Zaklików. When they entered the woods, they put one in the front seat, the second at the back, shot them and threw the bodies out. That was the beginning of the liberation, the first day. The commander of our battery was sent to Siberia. The one who sits next to me on this photo, commander Bryczek – triple capital punishment. The executive officer, Antosiewicz, was imprisoned in Wronki – there was a very hard prison. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Nearly everyone who had been in the Home Army was imprisoned. And I... My father used to live here, he had a wooden house. I was brought to this house from Dąbrowa Olbięcka, where I had been lying for three days. I was taken to the house, and the tanks and other armored vehicles were driving on this road so that the house was trembling, which made my wound hurt. So I was carried out, 15 or 20 meters behind the river to our neighbour. He is already dead. I was taken out so that I wouldn’t suffer because of those trembles. My brother Edward, the one who had fought in Tomaszów, was the head of the neighbouring village. They came to him and said “Let’s go and kill Kuznietzov - that is Kowalski - that White Army soldier” I had been taken away, and my brother said to them “he is dead, the Germans shot him”. They didn’t believe him. They searched the barn, shed, house – but they didn’t find me. He went behind the barn, wrote something and left. If he had found me, he would have killed me. Such was the gratitude – instead of decorations and medals, we got prisons, capital punishments and tortures. And the biggest shame is that it was the Poles who prepared such fate for other Poles. I apologise for saying this so angrily, but it was the act of Providence that I survived. Such was our fortune. We fought there for 3 days and retreated to the West.

Tasks

Forces as of 31 August and German plan of attack.
Forces as of 14 September with troop movements up to this date.
Forces after 14 September with troop movements after this date; note Polesie Group near Kock

The SGO was created on the orders of the Polish Commander in Chief on 9 and 11 September due to German breakthroughs and was tasked with defending the region of Polesie (see also Polesie Voivodeship), defined by the lines of Muchawiec and Prypeć rivers, with the towns of Brześć (Brest) and Pińsk (where the SGO HQ was located). The SGO was to prevent Polish forces in central Poland from being encircled from the east.[3]

Operational history

From 14 September the units of the SGO faced the German XIX Panzer Corps under Heinz Guderian. The forces under general Konstanty Plisowski defended the town of Brześć (Brest) from 16 to 19 September while the forces under colonel Adam Epler defended Kobryń from 16 to 18 September.[3]

After the Soviet invasion of Poland on September 17, Kleeberg at first followed orders from Polish High Command and retreated towards the Romanian border (see Romanian Bridgehead). On 22 September, cut off from his superiors, he decided to aid besieged Warsaw. As they were running low on supplies, Kleeberg decided to recapture the town of Dęblin, where the Polish Army had large stores of supplies.[3] On 28 September Warsaw capitulated; Kleeberg - at that time having crossed the Bug river near Włodawa - decided that the units would advance west and organize large scale partisan warfare from local forest complexes near Świętokrzyskie Mountains. In the days of 29–30 September the units were engaged by the Soviet Red Army but were able to defeat them. From 2 October the SGO, at that point the last organized regular unit of the Polish Army, fought against the German forces of XIV Mechanized Corps in the battle of Kock. Despite immense German numerical superiority, the Polish forces were able to score several tactical victories; however they were increasingly running low on supplies, including ammunition. Hence on 5 October Kleeberg decided to capitulate; the fighting ended in the early hours of October 6.[2] He was the last Polish general to capitulate in the Polish Defensive War; he is also considered one of the few Polish generals of the September 1939 campaign to have not been defeated in battle (along with Gen. Maczek).[a]

Not all of the Polesie Group soldiers capitulated; many dispersed and continued guerrilla warfare, most notably major Henryk Dobrzański and his Detached Unit of the Polish Army, which is credited with being the first Polish partisan unit and was active until the spring of 1940.[4]

Organization

The SGO was commanded by general Franciszek Kleeberg, his chief of staff was colonel M. Łapicki. Kleeberg was tasked with organizing his group from various small units in the Polesie region; most of them were either reserve and mobilizing or second line such as the National Defense units; the notable exception were the elite Border Protection Corps (KOP) units and the Riverine Flotilla of the Polish Navy.

On 14 September, when the group was engaged by German forces, it was composed of:

Over the next two weeks the group sustained casualties but it was also reinforced by various units from the disintegrating Polish army, including defenders of the Sarny Fortified Area. The total strength of the SGO was 18,000 soldiers.

On 29 September, after reorganization, the group was composed of:

Notes

a ^ Stanisław Maczek, another Polish commander with the reputation of being undefeated, was promoted from colonel to general in November 1939 after his 10. Cavalry Brigade AKA "Die Schwarze Brigade" – "The Black Brigade", a fully motorized and mechanized unit, outperformed any other such unit (including tank brigades) in the Polish military. The unit was recreated in France in 1940 and fought in 1944 and 1945 alongside the British (Polish Armed Forces in the West).

References

Inline:
  1. ^ Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978.
  2. ^ a b WIEM Encyklopedia
  3. ^ a b c Stanley S.Seidner, Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978.
  4. ^ Latawski, Paul (2010), Shepherd, Ben; Pattinson, Juliette (eds.), "The Armia Krajowa and Polish Partisan Warfare, 1939–43", War in a Twilight World: Partisan and Anti-Partisan Warfare in Eastern Europe, 1939–45, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 137–155, doi:10.1057/9780230290488_6, ISBN 978-0-230-29048-8, retrieved 2022-12-29
General:

Further reading

  • Seidner, Stanley S. Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz Rydz and the Defense of Poland, New York, 1978.
  • Jan Wróblewski, Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Polesie 1939, MON, 1989, ISBN 83-11-07659-6

External links

This page was last edited on 22 January 2023, at 17:09
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