The Polish 1st Armoured Division was an armoured division of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. Created in February 1942 at Duns in Scotland, it was commanded by Major General Stanisław Maczek and at its peak numbered approximately 16,000 soldiers. The division served in the final phases of the Battle of Normandy in August 1944 during Operation Totalize and the Battle of Chambois and then continued to fight throughout the campaign in Northern Europe, mainly as part of the First Canadian Army.
Janusz Magnuski (1933–1999) was a Polish author and military historian. His principal works document the development and deployment of Polish and Soviet armor utilized during World War II and he has been called "the world's most noted historian of Soviet tank history". He was one of the authoritative sources for documentation of the hardware on display in the Museum of the Polish Army located in Warsaw.
An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railroad cars armed with artillery and machine guns. They were mostly used during the late 19th and early 20th century, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower. Most countries discontinued their use – road vehicles became much more powerful and offered more flexibility, and train tracks proved too vulnerable to sabotage as well as to attacks from the air. However, the Russian Federation used improvised armoured trains in the Second Chechen War of 1999–2009.
The Battle of Brześć Litewski was a World War II battle involving German and Polish forces that took place between 14 and 17 September 1939, near the town of Brześć Litewski. After three days of heavy fights for the stronghold in the town of Brześć, the Germans captured the fortress and the Poles withdrew.
The Battle of Mokra took place on September 1, 1939 near the village of Mokra, 5 km north from Kłobuck, 23 km north-west from Częstochowa, Poland. It was one of the first battles of the Invasion of Poland, of the Second World War and one of the few Polish victories of that campaign, as well as the first German defeat of the conflict.
The Polish 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade was an armoured formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. It was organized in France during World War II as part of the Polish Army in France, mostly by veterans of the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade who managed to escape from German and Soviet occupied Poland. Led by General Stanisław Maczek, it took part in the Battle of France in May 1940. It was later reformed in Great Britain as a part of the 1st Armoured Division.
The 30th Polesie Infantry Division, was a unit of the Polish Army in the inter-war period. It was stationed in Kobryn, as well as other towns of the Polesie Voivodeship - Brzesc nad Bugiem and Pinsk.
It was commanded by Colonel Mieczysław Mackiewicz (1921–26), General Stanisław Tessaro (1926–29), Colonel Stanisław Wrzaliński (1929–31) and General Emil Krukowicz-Przedrzymirski (1931-1938).
Armoured Train Bartosz Glowacki, also called Armoured Train number 55 or PP 55 was a Polish Army Armoured train, used during the Polish-Soviet War and the Polish September Campaign. On 11 September 1939, it was assigned to the Operational Group Wyszkow and was directed to the fortress of Brześć nad Bugiem, where it fought German units of the SS-Verfügungstruppe. After withdrawal southwards, to Lwów, it helped some of the Polish units cross the German lines, but needed to be recovered after the artillery and anti--tank guns of the 1st Mountain Division (Wehrmacht) heavily damaged it. The train might have been finished off by the Luftwaffe, since it was never recovered. Other sources indicate that it might've been hit by artillery and captured by the Red Army along with the Śmiały when Lwów fell.
The Danuta, also called armoured train number 11 was a Polish armoured train used by the Polish army during the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.
Poznańczyk was a Polish armoured train which participated in the Greater Poland Uprising, the Polish–Soviet War and in the Second World War.
Piłsudczyk was a Polish armoured train of the early 20th century. It was among the first armoured trains serving the Polish Army and took part in the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919, the subsequent Polish-Soviet War and the Silesian Uprisings. Kept in reserve during the inter-war years, it was mobilised again in 1939 to be used during the Nazi-Soviet Invasion of Poland. "Piłsudczyk" was destroyed by its crew on 20 September 1939 at the train station at Mrozy.
The Generał Sosnkowski was a Polish armoured train that was developed during the Second Polish Republic.
The Bolesław Śmiały coal mine is a large mine in the south of Poland in Łaziska Górne, Silesian Voivodeship, 172 km south-west of the capital, Warsaw. Bolesław Śmiały represents one of the largest coal reserve in Poland having estimated reserves of 50 million tonnes of coal. The annual coal production is around 2.13 million tonnes.
Armored trains of Poland mostly date to the World War I period. Many of them were modernized over the next two decades, and took part in most military conflicts of the Second Polish Republic, namely the Greater Poland Uprising, the Polish-Ukrainian War, the Polish-Bolshevik War, the Silesian Uprisings and the Polish September Campaign in World War II. Armored trains were also used by the Polish Armed Forces in the West as well as in the post-war period by the Polish Railroad Guards and the People's Army of Poland.
Bolesław Śmiały may refer to:
Twelve Polish armoured trains in Britain were manned during World War II, from October 1940 until 1942, by the Polish Armed Forces in the West. They were assigned to patrol the British railways in 1940. They saw no combat, and were disbanded in England by July 1943.
This article deals with the history and development of tanks of the Polish army from their first use after World War I, into the interwar period, during World War II, the Cold War and modern era.
The armoured train Groźny also known as PP 54 and Armoured Train number 54 was an armoured train of the Polish Army that saw action during German Invasion of Poland in September 1939 and later in German service with portions of it seeing service on the Eastern Front and the occupation of France. It was originally captured sometime between 1919-1920 from the Soviet Union in the Polish-Soviet War.
