Operation Tempest was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II against occupying German forces by the Polish Home Army, the dominant force in the Polish resistance.
This article discusses the Polish order of battle during the invasion of Poland. In the late 1930s Polish headquarters prepared "Plan Zachód", a plan of mobilization of Polish Army in case of war with Germany. Earlier, the Poles did not regard the Germans as their main threat, priority was given to threat from the Soviets.
The Border Protection Corps was a military formation of the Second Polish Republic that was created in 1924 to defend the country's eastern borders against armed Soviet incursions and local bandits. Other borders were under the jurisdiction of a separate, regular Border Guard state security agency.
The siege of Warsaw in 1939 was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army garrisoned and entrenched in Warsaw and the invading German Army.
The Battle of the Bzura was the largest Polish counter-attack of the German invasion of Poland and was fought from 9 to 19 September. The battle took place west of Warsaw, near the Bzura River. It began as a Polish counter-offensive, which gained initial success, but the Germans outflanked the Polish forces with a concentrated counter-attack. That weakened Polish forces and the Poznań and Pomorze Armies were destroyed. Western Poland was now under German occupation. The battle has been described as "the bloodiest and most bitter battle of the entire Polish campaign". Winston Churchill called the battle an "ever-glorious struggle".
The Prusy Army was one of the Polish armies to fight during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Created in the summer of 1939 as the main reserve of the Commander in Chief, it was commanded by Gen. Stefan Dąb-Biernacki. The word Prusy in the Polish language means Prussia, but this name only served as a codename and the region of operations of this army was far from East Prussia. This is in contrast to other Polish armies in 1939 which were named after the geographical regions where they formed. The Prusy Army, whose original name was Warszawa Army, was named so after a folwark in central Poland called Prusy, which served as the headquarters of General Dąb-Biernacki.
The Battle of Radom, also known as the Battle of Iłża, was part of the Invasion of Poland during the Second World War. It lasted from 8 September 1939 to 9 September 1939. Polish troops of the Prusy Army, under General Stanisław Skwarczyński, defended the city of Iłża and the road from Sandomierz to Radom. The Poles were not ready to meet head on overwhelming German XV Army Corps, and were easily defeated after two days of fighting. Prusy Army, in the aftermath of the battle, ceased to exist. Some of the army's units joined other tactical groupings of the Polish armed forces.
The 19th Infantry Division of the Polish Army was established in 1923 after the incorporation of Central Lithuania into Poland. It was part of the Prusy Army during the German-led Invasion of Poland. Later during the war, in the summer of 1944, the division was recreated as a Home Army unit, taking part in the Operation Ostra Brama in the summer of 1944.
The Battle of Jarosław took place between 10 and 11 September 1939 in the city of Jarosław on the San River. During the battle the Polish forces of General Stanisław Maczek successfully held the river crossings in the town for two days against the Nazi German Wehrmacht, which was enough time for the Polish 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade to cross the river and retreat further eastwards.
The Polish 4th Infantry Division was created following Polish independence after the end of World War I. The division participated in the Polish–Ukrainian War in 1919. During World War II, the division existed as three wholly separate organizations, the original incarnation of the division as part of the pre-war Polish Army, the second incarnation armed and equipped by the western Allies, and another division armed and equipped and controlled by the Soviet Union. The second and third incarnations of this division existed simultaneously from 1944 until 1947.
Lublin Army was an improvised Polish Army created on September 4, 1939 from the Warsaw Armoured Motorized Brigade and various smaller units concentrated around the cities of Lublin, Sandomierz and upper Vistula river. It was commanded by Maj. Gen. Tadeusz Piskor. Lublin Army was not part of prewar Polish operational plans. It was improvised when it became obvious that quickly advancing Wehrmacht armored and motorized units would reach the Vistula river line.
Battle of Grudziądz was a military engagement between German and Polish forces during the early days of the Invasion of Poland in September 1939. It started on 1 September and ended with a German victory on 4 September. German historiography has dealt with the fighting in the larger context of the Battle of Tuchola Forest.
Polish 3rd Legions Infantry Division was a tactical unit of the Polish Army between the World Wars. Formed in 1919, as a third unit composed significantly of veterans of the Polish Legions in World War I, it saw extensive action during the Polish-Bolshevik War and the Invasion of Poland. In the interbellum period, the headquarters of the division was stationed in Zamość, while its regiments were garrisoned in Chelm, Lublin, Zamosc and other locations.
13th Kresy Infantry Division was a unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period. Its origins go back to the World War I, when in June 1918 the 1st Division of Polish Rifles was formed in the French town of Villers-Marmery. On July 8, 1918, the Division consisted of 227 officers and 10.000 soldiers, and it had been planned to be used in French attack on the German town of Saarbrücken, in the fall of 1918. Armistice, signed in November 1918, changed those plans.
The 12th Bolesław KrzywoustySzczecin Mechanised Division is a division of the Polish Armed Forces, headquartered in Szczecin.
Wileńska Cavalry Brigade was a unit of the Polish Army, created on 1 April 1937 out of the 3rd Independent Cavalry Brigade. Its headquarters were stationed in Wilno (Vilnius), with some regiments garrisoned in the neighboring towns. In late 1930s it consisted of these units:
The Battle of Piotrków Trybunalski was a battle in the German Invasion of Poland from 4 to 6 September 1939, which involved Polish and German tank formations.
4th Niemen Uhlan Regiment was a cavalry unit of the Polish Army in the Second Polish Republic. It was garrisoned in the city of Vilnius, and it celebrated its day on 9 July, the anniversary of the 1920 Charge of Hrebionka.
The Battle of Barak was fought on September 7–8 between Polish and German forces during the 1939 German Invasion of Poland
