| 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade | |
|---|---|
| 1 Warszawska Brygada Pancerna | |
 | |
| Active | 1994–present |
| Country | Poland |
| Branch | Polish Land Forces |
| Type | Armoured |
| Size | Brigade |
| Part of | 18th "Żelazna" Mechanised Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Wesoła (Warsaw) |
| Patron | Tadeusz Kościuszko |
| Anniversaries | 23 September |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Brigadier General Artur Kozłowski |
The 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade (Polish : 1 Warszawska Brygada Pancerna) is a brigade of the Polish Armed Forces, based in Warsaw.
Polish 1st Armoured Brigade "defenders of Westerplatte" (1 Brygada Pancerna im. Bohaterów Westerplatte) or Polish 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade (Polish: 1 Warszawska Brygada Pancerna) was a military unit in the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie. It was formed on August 19, 1943, from a regiment (pułk) of the same name.
The unit fought at the Battle of Lenino (September 1943) and at the Battle of Studzianki during the Lublin-Brest Offensive (Magnuszew bridgeheads in August 1944). [1] From mid-August it was subordinate to the Polish First Army. Later the unit fought in the East Pomeranian Offensive.
In January 1945 it received another honorary name, Warszawska (of Warsaw). In July and August 1945 fought against Polish anti-Communist guerrilla. In January 1946 it was downsized to regiment (becoming 1st Warsaw Tank Regiment), and from June it was stationed in the Modlin area.
The modern version of the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade was formed in 1994 and was subordinated to the 16th Pomeranian Mechanised Division. On August 29, 2019, the brigade was transferred under the command of the newly formed 18th "Żelazna" Mechanised Division, which is intended to help safeguard Poland's eastern border. [2]
The Polish TV series Czterej pancerni i pies (Four tank men and a dog) featured the adventures of a tank crew from this brigade.
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 18,000 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.
The Polish First Army was an army unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the East. It was formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from the previously existing Polish I Corps in the Soviet Union, as part of the People's Army of Poland (LWP). The First Army fought westward, subordinated to the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front, during the offensive against Nazi Germany that led to the capture of Warsaw in January 1945, and the capture of Berlin in May 1945.
The PT-91 Twardy is a Polish main battle tank. A development of the T-72M1, it entered service in 1995. The PT-91 was designed at the OBRUM and is produced by the Bumar Łabędy company, part of the Bumar Group, a Polish technical military consortium. Changes from the T-72M include a new dual-axis stabilized fire-control system, reactive armour, a more powerful engine, transmission and new automatic loader.
The Land Forces are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stretches back a millennium – since the 10th century. Poland's modern army was formed after Poland regained independence following World War I in 1918.
The 2nd (Warsaw) Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II that existed from 1942 to 1945. From 1945 to 1947 it was redesignated as the 2nd Warsaw Armoured Division. The unit was the armoured wing of the 2nd (Polish) Corps. The state of the brigade in the Italian campaign was: 222 officers and 3362 serial. There were 160 medium tanks, 33 light tanks and 13 special tanks.
A tank corps was a type of Soviet armoured formation used during World War II.
The 16th Pomeranian Infantry Division is a military unit of the Polish Army. It was first raised on 16 August 1919 during the Polish uprising, before going on to serve during the subsequent war with the Bolsheviks. At the start of World War II the division fought briefly against the advancing German Army before being destroyed on 19 September 1939 after being surrounded in the Kampinos Forest. The division was raised once more in 1945 following the Soviet takeover of Poland; however, it did not see further action during the war. Afterwards it continued to serve, undergoing a number of changes in name and role. Today, it exists as the 16th Mechanised Division.
The Bulgarian Land Forces are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. It is administered by the Ministry of Defence, previously known as the Ministry of War during the Tsardom of Bulgaria. The Land Forces were established in 1878, when they were composed of anti-Ottoman militia (opalchentsi) and were the only branch of the Bulgarian military.
The 7th Pomeranian Coastal Defence Brigade is a mechanized infantry brigade of the Polish Land Forces.
The 18th Infantry Division is a division of the Polish Armed Forces. The division was originally part of Polish Army during the interbellum period, which took part in the Polish September Campaign. Stationed in Łomża and commanded in 1939 by Colonel Stefan Kossecki, it was part of the Narew Independent Operational Group.
The Warsaw Armoured Motorized Brigade was a motorized unit of the Polish Army during the interbellum period. The brigade was one of two such units in Poland. Not fully formed by September 1, it was nonetheless partially combat ready and immediately rushed into battle during the Polish September Campaign. Following heavy losses during the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski, it was disbanded on September 20, 1939.
The Pomeranian Military District was a military district of the Polish Armed Forces from 1945 to 2011. Formally it was subordinate to the Minister of National Defence in the operational matters of defense and detached government administration. The district command headquarters was at Torun (1945–1946), Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Koszalin, and then at Bydgoszcz. From 1947 to 2007 1 Gen. J. Dwernicki Street, from 2007 to December 2011 105th Szubinska Street.
The 1st "Warsaw" Mechanised Division was a mechanized infantry formation of the Polish Land Forces that existed from 1955 until September 1, 2011. During this entire period, the division was headquartered in Legionowo. The unit stood down in 2011 as a result of reorganizations in the Polish Army.
The 11th "Lubuska" Armoured Cavalry Division is an armoured division of the Polish Land Forces, which traces its history to the formation of the 11th Infantry Division of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in 1945.
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 full structure of the Polish Land Forces is:
The Warsaw Military District was one of three military districts in Poland, the other two being the Pomeranian Military District and the Silesian Military District. It was the regional executive body of the Ministry of National Defense of Poland in the capital of Warsaw in operational and defense matters and military administration existing from 1945 to 1998.
Media related to 1 Warszawska Brygada Pancerna im. Bohaterów Westerplatte at Wikimedia Commons
