Battle of Jordanów

Battle of Jordanów
	Part of Kraków Voivodeship, Poland
Result	German victory

Belligerents

Poland

GermanyCommanders and leaders

Stanisław Maczek

Jan Wójcik

Eugen Beyer^[1]Units involved

Army Kraków:

10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade
1st Regiment of KOP
battalion from 12th IR

XVIII Panzer Corps:

Strength 5,000 soldiers
58 tanks and AFVs
16 field guns
armoured train No.51 "Pierwszy Marszałek"^[2] 3/109 heavy artillery^[1]
50,000 soldiers
498 tanks and AFVs
128 field guns^[2]Casualties and losses 3+ tanks 70+ tanks and AFVs

The Battle of Jordanów took place on 1–3 September 1939, during the

Polish 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade under Col. Stanisław Maczek

.

Opening hostilities

On 1 September 1939, the XVIII Panzer Corps, part of the German

Tatra passes and assaulted the towns of Chabówka and Nowy Targ. Their orders were to seize the town of Myślenice

not later than on 3 September thus encircling the entire Polish army fighting in the area.

Opposing forces

The area assaulted by the XVIII Corps was only lightly defended by a single infantry regiment of the

4th Light Division under Gen. Alfred Ritter von Hubicki, the Border Defence Corps, aided by the local volunteers and units of the National Defence, withstood the attack, but also suffered heavy losses. Despite stopping the Germans in the vicinity of Nowy Targ

, the town was taken by the Germans and the risk of breaking through the Polish lines became apparent.

Polish counterattack

To counter the threat, General Szylling ordered the

3rd Mountain Division

.

Losses

Altogether, in the battle of Jordanów the Germans lost approximately 50 tanks and a number of other armoured fighting vehicles. Polish losses were also significant, and especially so in the ill-equipped volunteer units.

Aftermath

Beskids withdrawal and ambush

Having reconed the German units in the area, Gen. Szylling ordered the 10th Cavalry Brigade to slowly withdraw along the

Karpaty Army successfully bombed the tanks of the 4th Light Division on the road between Nowy Targ and Chabówka

.

Ambushes of Kasina Wielka and Myślenice

Afterward, the Poles withdrew again, this time to the area of Kasina Wielka, where two ambushes were organized on 4 September. The following day the Poles followed the road towards Myślenice, where yet another ambush was organized. This tactics proved to be a good weapon against the German blitzkrieg as the Germans in the area could not advance faster than mere 10 to 20 kilometres a day and suffering heavy losses in men and equipment. Because of its success, the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade remained a fully operational unit until 19 September 1939, when it was ordered to cross the border with Hungary.

References

^ ^a ^b "Wehrmacht". Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
^
ISBN 978-83-89183-39-2
.

49°38′55″N 19°49′47″E / 49.648720°N 19.829728°E / 49.648720; 19.829728

[wrzesien.za.pl-1] "Wehrmacht". Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2012.

[Majka1-2] 
ISBN 978-83-89183-39-2
.

[1]

[2]