Battle of Osuchy
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Battle of Osuchy | |||||||
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Part of Operation Tempest in the Eastern Front of World War II | |||||||
Historical recreation of battle of Osuchy; summer 2009 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Bataliony Chłopskie ) | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
General Friedrich Altrichter | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
~1,200 | ~30,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
~400 | Unknown |
The Battle of Osuchy (
Background
The Nazi terror since 1942 - part of the
The Germans carried out a major
On 22 June the
German losses in Sturmwind operations amounted to about 1,300 fatalities and similar amount of wounded; partisan losses were similar.[2]
Opposing forces
Polish resistance:
- Armia Krajowa
- Kurs Młodszych Dowódców Piechoty Obwodu AK Biłgoraj, irregular unit under lt. Konrad Bartoszewski "Wir",
- 1 Kompania Sztabowa Inspektoratu Zamojskiego AK irregular unit under lt. Adam Haniewicz "Woyna"
- irregular unit under lt. Józef Stegliński "Cord" (commander of AK Region Biłgoraj)
- irregular unit under lt. Jan Kryk "Topola"
- irregular medical unit "Szpital Leśny Obwodu AK Biłgoraj 665" under lt. md. Lucjan Kopeć "Radwan"
- Bataliony Chłopskie
- part of I Battalion Hrubieszowski under mjr. Stanisław Basaj "Ryś" (left the region before the battle)
- irregular unit under lt. Jan Kędra "Błyskawica"
- irregular unit under lt. Antoni Wróbel "Burza"
- irregular unit under lt. Józef Mazur "Skrzypik"
German forces:
- 154th Reserve Division
- 174th Reserve Division
- 213th Security Division
- 4th Panzer Army
- 115 Country Rifleman Regiment
- air support from Luftflotte 4
Battle
On the night of 24-25 June, the units of Lt. Jan Kryk "Topola" (AK) and Lt. Jozef Mazur "Skrzypik" (BCh) attempted to break through the road near the villages Fryszarka and Borowiec, but were stopped by the German forces and dispersed; both commanders died.
In the meantime, the main partisan forces reached the village of
Account of the battle by Franciszek Nizio,
"We began our charge. At one point, the Germans opened fire with their heavy machine gun on the Krzywa Gorka hill. A hurricane barrage of fire ever-increasing in racket and fury. Our attack continued despite the strong enemy fire. I continued to ran as fast as I could through the crop field dragging my light machine gun along. At times, when the enemy fire was growing stronger and ever more deadly, I fell to the ground and crawled. The German machine gun was causing greater and greater carnage. All around me I could hear screams of the wounded and moans of the dying. The heavy machine gun on the Krzywa Gorka, and the barrage of the enemy fire was causing us heavy losses. At one point, crawling in the crops, I noticed a wire from the German field telephone. I cut it. Moments later, I reached the edge of the grain field and found myself right in front of the enemy machine gun nest. I cocked my light machine gun, but was shocked to realize that it wouldn’t fire. As I ran through the rye field the ripened grain ears must have jammed my gun. All I had now was a revolver and some English grenades. Without thinking too much, I removed the pin from the grenade and threw it in the direction of the furiously firing German machine gun. I realized in horror that the grenade didn’t explode. I forgot, however, that it was, after all, an English grenade with a delayed fuse; you had to wait a moment before throwing it. I thought, 'God, apparently you want us all to die today.' At that moment the grenade went off and the German machine gun fell silent. I got up to my feet and rushed towards the German line. Moments later, our other soldiers reached my position. The fighting went on. On both sides of the enemy line, our soldiers liquidated the remaining German positions. We broke through the German lines."[4]
Aftermath
It is estimated that about 400 out of the 1,200-strong partisan forces that engaged the Germans on 24–25 June were killed (approximately half of the Polish losses during the Sturmwind II). Most of the rest surrendered; some were executed on the spot, and many were tortured for additional information about the resistance; survivors were sent to
Currently in Osuchy there is a military cemetery dedicated to the partisans who fell in the battle.
References
- Notes
- ISBN 978-83-87893-45-3.
- ^ Franciszek Nizio, nom de guerre “Jagoda”, “Franek”, “Spalony”, b. January 8, 1916, d. April 23, 1992. Franciszek was a Corporal in the Polish Army and was trained as a sniper before WW II. After Poland was defeated in 1939, he was responsible for establishing the Armia Krajowa (Home Army), National Military Union units, their intelligence cells, and was an underground courier. He was a participant in the Battle of Osuchy, during which he lost two brothers: the 25-year old Szczepan, nom de guerre “Seroka” (KIA) and the 42-year old Jozef, who was taken prisoner. Jozef was later executed by the Germans along with the other captured partisans. His action during the battle allowed the surrounded partisan of the “Cord” and “Wir” units to pierce through the German encirclement and to escape. The Battle of Osuchy was the largest partisan battle of the Second World War.
- ^ Markiewicz, Jerzy. “Paprocie zakwitły krwią partyzantów” [eng. “The ferns bloomed with the blood of partisans”], Wydwanictwo Lubelskie, Lublin, 1987, p. 146
- Sources
- (in Polish) Marian Kurzyna, Osuchy 1944 - tekst wystąpienia na cmentarzu wojennym w dn. 08.09.06[permanent dead link] on the pages of Regionalna Dyrekcja Lasów Państwowych w Lublinie
- (in Polish) Krzysztof Czubara, STRZAŁY NAD SOPOTEM, Tygodnik Zamojski, 28.06.2006
- (in Polish) Osuchy 2004, a project of High School in Księżpole
- (in Polish) Schedule and photos from the 2006 anniversary of the battle in Osuchy
External links
- (in Polish) Map of the battle
Further reading
- Jan Grygiel, Zygmunt Mańkowski, Związek Walki Zbrojnej – Armia Krajowa w obwodzie zamojskim 1939–1944, Państwowe Wydawn. Nauk., 1995, ISBN 83-01-05379-8
- Zygmunt Mańkowski, Jerzy Markiewicz, Jan Naumiuk, Bataliony Chłopskie na Lubelszczyźnie, 1940–1944, Wydawnictwo Lubelskie, 1962
- Waldemar Tuszyński, Walki partyzanckie w lasach lipskich, janowskich i Puszczy Solskiej, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, 1954
- Wojciech Sulew, Lasy w ogniu: Zamojszczyzna, 1939–1944, Czytelnik, 1965
- Various authors, Zamojszczyzna w okresie okupacji hitlerowskiej, PAX, 1968