First Polish Army (1944–45)
The Polish First Army (
Formation
The First Army was formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from the previously existing Polish I Corps as part of the
Personnel
Initially, the Polish personnel of the First Polish Army were recruited from Polish soldiers taken prisoner during the 1939
Until October 1944, the First Army was commanded by Lt. Gen. Zygmunt Berling. His second-in-command was Lt. Gen. Karol Świerczewski. Col. Włodzimierz Sokorski was the chief political officer.[citation needed] The corps took part in combat from September 1943.
Operational history
Operating under the auspices of the
After eventually taking control of
In the spring of 1945 the army, now numbering 78,556 soldiers, was redeployed to the front on the
The army was disbanded after the war on August 22, 1945.[10] Its constituent units went on to serve in the armed forces of the newly created Polish People's Republic.[11]
Organization
The 1st Polish Army was very similar in organisation to other standard general purpose
Organization as of May 1, 1945
1st Infantry Division (Tadeusz Kościuszko) 2nd Infantry Division (Jan Henryk Dąbrowski)- 3rd Infantry Division (Romuald Traugutt)
- 4th Infantry Division (Jan Kiliński)
- 6th Infantry Division
1st Armoured Brigade (Heroes of Westerplatte) – often detached and operating independently- 1st Cavalry Brigade
- 1st Gun Artillery Brigade (Józef Bem)
- 2nd Howitzer Artillery Brigade
- 3rd Army Artillery Brigade
- 5th Heavy Artillery Brigade
- 13th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (operating SU-85 and ISU-152)[13]
- 1st Anti-aircraft Artillery Division
- 4th Antitank Artillery Brigade
- 1st Sapper Brigade
- 2nd Sapper Brigade
- 1st Mortar Brigade (attached from High Command Reserve)
See also
- Second Army (Poland)
- Polish Armed Forces in the East
- Polish Armed Forces in the West
- Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion
- Four Tank-Men and a Dog - TV series
Notes
- ^ a b Grzelak, p. 101
- ^ Grzelak, p. 104
- ^ Grzelak, pp. 155–156
- ^ Polish Army, 1939–1945 by Steven J Zaloga, p.27[permanent dead link]
- ^ Zaloga, p. 27
- ^ a b Grzelak, p. 120
- ^ Krivosheev, p. 158, Grzelak, p. 120
- ^ Grzelak, p. 295
- ^ Polish Army in the East 1943–1945
- ^ Grzelak, p. 311
- ^ Grzelak, pp. 311–312
- ^ Grzelak, p. 121
- ^ THE ORGANIZATION AND ORDER OF BATTLE OF MILITARIES IN WORLD WAR II by Charles D. Pettibone, p.353
Sources
- Czesław Grzelak and others, Armia Berlinga i Żymierskiego, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Neriton, 2002.
- G. F. Krivosheev, Soviet casualties and combat losses in the Twentieth Century, London: Greenhill Books, 1997.
- Steven J. Zaloga, The Polish Army 1939–45, Oxford: Osprey, 1998.