Armoured trains of Poland

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Armored train "Danuta" in 1939

People's Army of Poland
.

1918–1939

The crew of armored train Odsiecz in 1919, during the Polish-Soviet War

The first use of armored trains by Polish forces dates to late in World War I and the

Polish Armed Forces in the East (Polish I Corps in Russia and other units) operated seven different armored trains (six improvised and one captured).[1]

From 1918 through 1920 the newly created

Polish Military Organization.[2]

Several armored trains fought supporting the Polish forces in the

Third Silesian Uprising.[2]

Artillery wagon, used in Polish armored trains "Śmiały" and "Piłsudczyk" (before 1939)

In 1921 the armored trains forces were reorganized into 6 divisions, each composed of two trains, attached to train engineers regiments (1st in Kraków, 2nd in Jabłonna (Legionowo) and 3rd in Poznań).[4] In 1924 the 3rd Regiment was disbanded, and the remaining armored train divisions were transformed into the Armored Trains Training Division in Jabłonna (Legionowo).[4] The Training Division, in 1925 renamed to Educational Division, in 1927 was reorganized into the 1st Armored Train Division. In 1928 the 2nd Armored Train Division was formed in Niepołomice.[4] Each division had 6 trains.[4] In 1929, the Polish Engineering Force was reorganized, with the 1st and 2nd Train Engineer Regiments being transformed into Train Bridges Battalions.[4]

In 1931 the modernization of armored trains was finished with similar armament installed on most units.

FT-17s or tankettes).[4] Each train had its own supply train that contained living quarters, kitchen, workshop, a compartment for the wounded personnel, and supplies. Together, a train (combat and supply) had a crew of 8 officers, 59 warrant officers and 124 regular infantrymen.[4] Around the mid-1930s, revisions to Poland's tactical and strategic doctrines meant that armored trains, previously considered a high-quality force, begun to be seen as increasingly obsolete on the battlefield.[4]

1939–1945 (WWII)

Combat operations of Polish armored trains in the Polish September Campaign (1939)

The ten trains of the 1st and 2nd Armored Trains Divisions were mobilized in late August to early September, and received numbers 11–5 (1st Division) and 51–5 (2nd Division).

start of hostilities on 1 September.[4] The 2nd Division also fielded a lightly armed training armored train, although it was not supposed to be used in the frontline combat.[4]

The command of the

ORP Orkan and Huragan destroyers.[5] The first train was destroyed after four days of fighting on 4 September, the second, less than a day after it entered service (it entered service on 3 September and was destroyed on the night of 3 to 4 September).[5] The last train, "Smok Kaszubski" (Kashubian Dragon) entered combat on 7 September, and was operational till 12 September.[5]

On 20 September, during the siege of Warsaw, two improvised armored trains were formed (Nr. 1 and Nr. 2). Not much is known about their combat operations; the first train entered service on 22 September, and the second a day later.[6]

The following armored trains fought with the Polish Army in the September Campaign:[5][7]

  • Army Poznań
    . Destroyed on 16 September.
  • Armored Train no 12 (Pociąg Pancerny nr 12), formerly "Poznańczyk" – kpt. Kazimierz Majewski, attached to Army Poznań. Destroyed on 9 September.
  • Army Modlin
    . Destroyed on 10 September.
  • Army Pomorze
    . Destroyed on 16 September.
  • Armored Train no 15 (Pociąg Pancerny nr 15), formerly "Śmierć" – kpt. Kazimierz Kubaszewski, reserve of the High Command. Destroyed on 28 September.
  • Army Kraków
    . Destroyed on 22 September.
  • Army Łódź
    . Destroyed on 20 September.
  • Armored Train no 53 (Pociąg Pancerny nr 53), formerly "Śmiały" – kpt. Mieczysław Malinowski, attached to Army Łódź. Surrendered on 22 September.
  • Armored Train no 54 (Pociąg Pancerny nr 54), formerly "Groźny" – kpt. Jan Rybczyński, from 2 September kpt. Józef Kulesza, attached to Army Kraków. Destroyed on 7 September.
  • Army Prusy
    . Destroyed on 19 September.
  • Training Armored Train – kpt. Franciszek Pietrzak. Destroyed on 10 September.
  • (Improvised) Armored Train no 1 (Pociąg Pancerny nr 1) – improvised for the defense of Warsaw, por. rez. br. panc. Tadeusz Studziński. Presumed destroyed at an unknown date.
  • (Improvised) Armored Train no 2 (Pociąg Pancerny nr 2) – improvised for the defense of Warsaw – por. rez. br. panc. Stanisław Waskiewicz. Presumed destroyed at an unknown date.
  • First Improvised Train of the Land Coastal Defense (Pierwszy improwizowany pociąg pancerny Obrony Wybrzeża) – por. Zygmunt Budzyński. Destroyed on 4 September.
  • Second Improvised Train of the Land Coastal Defense (Drugi improwizowany pociąg pancerny Obrony Wybrzeża) – por. A. Matuszak. Destroyed on 4 September.
  • Third Improvised Train of the Land Coastal Defense "Kashubian Dragon" (Trzeci improwizowany pociąg pancerny Obrony Wybrzeża "Smok Kaszubski") – kpt. mar. Jerzy Tadeusz Bleszynski, and later por. mar. Adrian F. Hubick. Destroyed on 12 September.
Wreck of the Armored Train no 13, surveyed by the Germans, some time after its destruction.

During the Polish September Campaign, Polish armored trains took part in roughly 90 clashes with the German units.[5] They played a significant role in several encounters, most notably, no 53 made an important contribution to the Polish victory in the Battle of Mokra, and no 54 was used very successfully in the defense of Silesia.[5] Armored trains were responsible for destroying or damaging several dozens of armored vehicles, including tanks, shot down or damaged three airplanes, and inflicted numerous infantry casualties.[5] Only two trains (no 11 and 55) were destroyed in direct combat by the German land forces, and only no 13 was destroyed by the German air force.[5] Remaining trains were abandoned and destroyed by their own crews when they ran out of munitions and could no longer retreat.[5] The successful role of the armored trains, considered obsolete by both Polish and German strategists, caused the revision of that judgment by both sides.[5]

About a dozen

Polish armoured trains in Britain were formed by the Polish Armed Forces in the West, and were assigned to patrol the British railways in 1940. They saw no combat, and were disbanded by July 1943.[8]

1945–1952

After the war, in the

Railroad Guards (Straż Ochrony Kolei) used four armored trains from 1945 to 1950.[9] In 1947, a Train Artillery Division was formed, and disbanded in 1952.[10]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Armoured trains of Poland.
  1. ISBN 83-05-11723-5
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 83-05-11723-5
    .
  3. ^ Rezler, Marek (2008), Powstanie Wielkopolskie 1918–1919: spojrzenie po 90 latach (in Polish), Dom Wydawniczy Rebis, p. 313.
  4. ^
    ISBN 83-05-11723-5
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 83-05-11723-5
    . pp. 172–207
  6. ISBN 83-05-11723-5
    . pp. 172–205
  7. ISBN 83-05-11723-5
    . p. 35
  8. ^ Zbigniew Lalak: Bron pancerna w PSZ 1939–1945. pp. 31–38
  9. ^ (in Polish) Improwizowane pociagi pancerne Sluzby Ochrony Kolei (SOK) Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ (in Polish) Francuski, ciezki pociag pancerny[permanent dead link]
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