Operational Group (Polish: Grupa Operacyjna, abbreviated GO) was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the invasion of Poland. It was corps-sized, although various Operational Groups varied in size. Operational groups first appeared in Polish tactical scheme during the Polish-Bolshevik War, most probably under the influence of French Military Mission to Poland. After the war they were dissolved.
Prior to World War II, the operational groups were recreated. Initially, in March 1939, they consisted only of staffs formed around existing corps commands. According to the Polish mobilization scheme, they were to become mobile reserves of the Polish armies and other major strategic-scale units. One of such groups, the Kutno Operational Group, was planned but never created. Also, in the autumn of 1938, the Independent Operational Group Silesia was created with the purpose of capturing Trans-Olza from Czechoslovakia.
Some groups were formed during the final mobilization of late August 1939, others were formed during the war as strategic considerations necessitated. Most were attached to armies, several however were independent.
Operational Group "Wyszków" (Grupa Operacyjna Wyszków) under gen. Wincenty Kowalski. Created on September 1.
Operational Group "Grodno" (Grupa Operacyjna Grodno) under gen. Józef Olszyna-Wilczyński. Created in early September; disbanded on September 10 before the battle of Grodno begun; most units moved towards Lwów.
Cavalry Operational Group (or Operational Group of Cavalry)
Cavalry Operational Group Abraham (Grupa Operacyjna Kawalerii Abraham) under Roman Abraham
Cavalry Operational Group Anders (Grupa Operacyjna Kawalerii Anders) under gen. Władysław Anders
Cavalry Operational Group No.1 (Grupa Operacyjna Kawalerii Nr 1)
Cavalry Operational Group No.2 (Grupa Operacyjna Kawalerii Nr 2)
Operational Group "Koło" (Grupa Operacyjna Koło) under gen. Edmund Knoll-Kownacki (on September 6 renamed to Operational Group "Knoll-Kownacki") (Grupa Operacyjna Knoll-Kownacki)
Operational Group "Piotrków" (Grupa Operacyjna Piotrków) under gen. Wiktor Thommée (on September 6 renamed to Operational Group "Thommée") (Grupa Operacyjna Thommée)
Southern Operational Group (Południowa Grupa Operacyjna) under gen. Stanisław Skwarczyński
Northern Operational Group (Pólnocna Grupa Operacyjna) under gen. Jan Kruszewski
Operational Group "Śląsk" (Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Śląsk) under gen. Jan Jagmin-Sadowski (on September 3 renamed to Operational Group "Jagmin" (Grupa Operacyjna Jagmin))
Eastern Operational Group (Wschodnia Grupa Operacyjna) under gen. Mikołaj Bołtuć (on September 9 renamed to Operational Group "Bołtuć") (Grupa Operacyjna Bołtuć)
In addition, during the invasion of Poland in 1939, several other corps-sized units were formed or improvised. All of them were named after their commanding officers:
Operational Group Dreszer (Grupa Operacyjna Dreszer) under Rudolf Dreszer
Operational Group Orlik-Łukoski (Grupa Operacyjn Orlik-Łukoski) under Kazimierz Orlik-Łukoski
Independent Operational Group Polesie was one of the Polish Army Corps 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.
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".
Stanisław Grzmot-Skotnicki was a Polish military commander and a general of the Polish Army. During the invasion of Poland of 1939 he commanded the Czersk Operational Group and was among the highest ranking Polish officers to be killed in action in that war.
Oflag VII-A Murnau was a German Army prisoner-of-war camp for Polish Army officers during World War II. It was located 2 km (1.2 mi) north of the Bavarian town of Murnau am Staffelsee.
Oflag VIII-E was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for Allied general officers (Offizierlager) located in Jánské Koupele in German-occupied Czechoslovakia.
General Michał Tadeusz Tokarzewski-Karaszewicz, Coat of arms of Trąby pseudonym Doktor, Stolarski, Torwid was a Polish general, founder of the resistance movement "Polish Victory Service".
The Volhynian Cavalry Brigade was a Polish cavalry brigade, which saw action against the invading Germans during the Invasion of Poland, a part of World War II. Raised from recruits in the area of Wołyń, the division was posted to the Łódź Army. During several desperate counter-attacks, the brigade suffered heavy casualties near Łódź. It was commanded by Colonel Julian Filipowicz. Most notably, the unit took part in one of the first battles of the German invasion of Poland, the battle of Mokra.
Wiktor Thommée (1881–1962) was a Polish military commander and a brigadier general of the Polish Army. A veteran of the Great War and the Russian Civil War, he is best known for his command over Piotrków Operational Group and the battle of the Bzura during the Invasion of Poland of 1939.
Kraków Army was one of the Polish armies which took part in the Polish Defensive War of 1939. It was officially created on March 23, 1939 as the main pivot of Polish defence. It was commanded by Gen. Antoni Szylling. Originally, Kraków Army was to be made of seven infantry divisions, two cavalry brigades and one mountain brigade. On September 1, 1939, General Szylling had the force which consisted of five infantry divisions, two cavalry brigades and one brigade of mountain infantry. Altogether, the army was made of 59 battalions, 29 squadrons, 352 cannons, 90 tanks, two armoured trains and 44 planes. These forces were not enough to halt German advance, especially in the area north of Częstochowa, where Kraków Army connected with Łódź Army. Main thrust of Wehrmacht panzer units was directed there, and this area was defended only by the Polish 7th I.D., which was destroyed in the early days of September 1939, opening the way towards central Poland.
Maciej Kalenkiewicz was a Polish engineer and lieutenant colonel of the Polish Army. During World War II was a soldier of Henryk Dobrzański's military unit, member of cichociemni, officer of the Home Army, partisan commander in the Nowogródek District of the Home Army.
The Warszawa Army was one of the Polish armies to take part in the Polish Defensive War of 1939. Created on 8 September, eight days after the invasion begun, it was an improvised formation charged with the defence of the Polish capital of Warsaw (Warszawa).
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.
Czersk Operational Group was an Operational Group of the Polish Army. Formed in 1939 under the name of Tuchola Detachment as part of the Intervention Corps created in order to counter a possible German action in the Free City of Danzig, it was not disbanded after the end of the Danzig Crisis. Instead it was pressed into the newly formed Pomorze Army of Gen. Władysław Bortnowski and took part in the fights against the German and Soviet Invasion of Poland later that year.
Independent Operational Group Narew was one of the Polish Army Corps that defended Poland during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. It was created on 23 March 1939 and was commanded by general Czesław Młot-Fijałkowski.
Independent Operational Group Silesia was an Operational Group of the Polish Army, created in September 1938 to annex Trans-Olza (Zaolzie) from Czechoslovakia.
A Dowództwo Okręgu Korpusu was a military district of the Ministry of Military Affairs of the Second Polish Republic. It served as an organizational, mobilisational, and administrative body of the Polish Army and all local military units of the country were subject to the Corps commands. Also, the DOKs ran all Military Draft Offices of Poland. The system of DOKs was modeled after the French Army, and according to Polish planners, each district located along either Soviet or German border was supposed to field one army. It meant that all districts except for District X, were subject to this rule. The borders of the DOKs did not reflect the Administrative division of Second Polish Republic.
Suwalska Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry unit of the Polish Armed Forces of the Second Polish Republic in the interbellum period. It was created on April 1, 1937, out of the 4th Independent Cavalry Brigade. Its headquarters were stationed in Suwałki and the brigade consisted of these units:
Operational Group Bielsko, named after southern Polish city of Bielsko-Biała, was an Operational Group of the Polish Army which fought in the 1939 Invasion of Poland. Officially created on 23 March 1939, it belonged to Kraków Army, concentrated in southwestern corner of the Second Polish Republic. In the night of 2/3 September 1939, it was renamed into Operational Group Boruta, after General Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
