Battle of Mława
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Battle of Mława | |
---|---|
Part of the Warsaw Voivodeship, Poland | |
Result | German victory |
Emil Krukowicz-Przedrzymirski
- 1st Infantry Division
- 12th Infantry Division
- 1st Cavalry Brigade
- 20th Infantry Division
- 8th Infantry Division
- Nowogródzka Cavalry Brigade
- Mazowiecka Cavalry Brigade
3,000 wounded
1,000 missing
72 tanks destroyed
1,500 wounded
The Battle of Mława, otherwise known as the Defence of the Mława position, took place to the north of the town of
History
Eve of the Battle
As a result of the
The main line of defence of the army was located along the line of
After the Polish secret mobilization had started in March 1939, the
The line of trenches and concrete bunkers, shielded by anti-tank trenches and obstacles, was to be constructed along a low glacial hill overlooking the valley of the Mławka river, to the north of the town. The river itself could be blocked by a dam to enhance the defensive capability of the area. In the center, the swampy terrain of the Niemyje Marshes was located, which was virtually impassable to enemy armored vehicles. This swamp divided the area into two separate flanks. The western section was to be reinforced with 68 concrete bunkers while the eastern, much shorter, with 25.
In peacetime the 20th Division was located in
The construction of bunkers in the western section of the front, near the town of Mława, was started on 14 July. It was carried out mostly by the soldiers themselves, under the command of the head of the 20th engineering battalion, Maj. Juliusz Levittoux. The construction of the eastern flank bunkers near the village of Rzęgnowo started on 12 August. Soon the soldiers were joined by a number of civilian volunteers, helping to dig the trenches. However, the positions were not finished until the outbreak of World War II and many of the bunkers were not completed.
Battle
At noon on 1 September 1939 the Polish line of defence manned by the 20th Infantry Division was attacked by the
The following afternoon the German units started heavy artillery bombardment of the Polish positions, in coordination with an aerial attack by
The 8th Division arrived in the area in the early hours of 3 September. As the Mazowiecka Cavalry Brigade operating further eastwards was also endangered by German armoured troops, the army commander ordered the division to split its forces and attack in two directions: towards Grudusk east of Mława and towards Przasnysz. However, conflicting orders and German saboteurs operating in the rear disrupted both attacks and led to chaos in the Polish ranks. Communication broke down and friendly fire incidents occurred between the 13th and 32nd Infantry Regiments during the night, resulting in the retreat of the latter. By 22:00 the division was mostly destroyed and only the 21st Infantry Regiment of Colonel (later General) Stanisław Sosabowski managed to withdraw from the fights towards the Modlin Fortress.[4] Despite this, the German attacks towards both flanks of the 20th Infantry Division were unsuccessful.
On 3 September the German engineers finally managed to cut through Polish antitank barriers. The Germans used the local civilians as human shields,[5][6][7] which allowed them to finally capture several bunkers on the left flank of the Polish forces, but were unable to push forwards. On the right flank, in the Rzegnów section of the front to the east of the swamps, the attacks were more successful and in the late evening elements of German Wodrig Corps finally broke through the lines of the 79th Infantry Regiment to the rear of the Poles. This widened the front gap in the area of Grudusk.
At 09:00 on September 4, General Emil Krukowicz-Przedrzymirski, facing the risk of his forces being outflanked and surrounded, ordered the 20th division and the remnants of the 8th to withdraw towards Warsaw and Modlin, finally abandoning the fortified positions.
Aftermath
The withdrawal was started in the early morning of 4 September. Although the German mechanized units suffered heavy losses and were unable to maintain pursuit, the area to the south of Mława was very lightly forested and the Polish forces were constantly bombarded and strafed by the German Luftwaffe, suffering heavy losses both in troops and equipment.
Although the position was abandoned, the German forces suffered substantial losses and it was not until 13 September that they finally managed to reach the Modlin Fortress, located less than 100 kilometres to the south.
Opposing forces
Poland
Polish Army | Army | Division | Unit | Remarks | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Edward Rydz-Śmigły HQ in Warsaw |
Modlin Army Krukowicz-Przedrzymirski |
20th Infantry Division
Lawicz-Liszka |
78th Słuck Infantry Regiment Dudziński |
NE of Mława | |||||||||
79th Lew Sapieha Regiment of Słonim Rifles Zaborowski |
Rzegnowo position | ||||||||||||
80th Nowogródek Rifles Infantry Regiment
Fedorczyk |
N of Mława | ||||||||||||
8th Infantry Division
Wyrwa-Furgalski |
13th Infantry Regiment |
in reserve | |||||||||||
21st Warsaw Infantry Regiment Sosabowski |
in reserve | ||||||||||||
32nd Infantry Regiment |
in reserve |
Germany
Wehrmacht | Army | Division | Unit | Remarks | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3rd Army Georg von Küchler |
I Corps Petzel |
Kempf Panzer Division
Kempf |
7th Panzer Regiment |
||||||||||
Motorized Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland |
|||||||||||||
11th Infantry Division Bock |
2nd Infantry Regiment |
||||||||||||
23rd Infantry Regiment |
|||||||||||||
44th Infantry Regiment |
|||||||||||||
61st Infantry Division
Hänicke |
151st Infantry Regiment |
||||||||||||
162nd Infantry Regiment |
|||||||||||||
176th Infantry Regiment |
|||||||||||||
Wodrig Corps
Wodrig |
1st Infantry Division von Kortzfleisch |
1st Infantry Regiment |
|||||||||||
22nd Infantry Regiment |
|||||||||||||
43rd Infantry Regiment |
|||||||||||||
12th Infantry Division
von der Leyen |
27th Infantry Regiment |
||||||||||||
48th Infantry Regiment |
|||||||||||||
89th Infantry Regiment |
|||||||||||||
3rd Army Reserves Wodrig |
217th Infantry Division
Baltzer |
311th Infantry Regiment |
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346th Infantry Regiment |
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389th Infantry Regiment |
See also
References
- ISBN 9781841764085
- OCLC 1112373170.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link - OCLC 1112373170.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link - OCLC 1112373170.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link - ^ Stanisław Brzozowski. "Brutalność Wehrmachtu". Gazeta Olsztyńska (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2012-02-06.
- ^ Zalewski, op.cit.
- ISBN 83-05-11720-0.
Sources
- ISBN 83-86217-31-6.
- "Pozycja Mława". Fortyfikacje polskie II Rzeczypospolitej (1918–1939) (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2005-04-02. Retrieved 2005-05-29.