Tadeusz Kutrzeba

Tadeusz Kutrzeba
Tadeusz Kutrzeba
	Second World War Invasion of Poland (1939); Battle of Bzura; Siege of Warsaw;

Tadeusz Kutrzeba (15 April 1885 – 8 January 1947) was a

Army Poznań during the 1939 German Invasion of Poland.^[1]

Biography

Tadeusz Kutrzeba was born in

assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

.

During the invasion of Poland in 1939, General Kutrzeba commanded the Poznań Army, composed of four infantry divisions (14, 17, 25, 26) and two cavalry brigades (Wielkopolska and Podolska). He devised the Polish counterattack plan of the

battle of Bzura and commanded the Poznań and Pomorze Armies during the battle. In the aftermath, he fought his way to Warsaw and arrived in the capital on September 22, where he briefly became the deputy commander of the Warsaw Army. At the behest of major general Juliusz Rómmel (commander of the Warsaw Army), he began capitulation

negotiations with the German 8th Army. On September 28, he signed the official surrender documents.

After the

prisoner of war camps: Hohenstein, Königstein and Oflag VII-A Murnau. General Kutrzeba remained a prisoner of war

until April 1945, when Oflag VII-A Murnau was liberated by American forces.

In April 1945 he was called to London, where he was offered the position of Minister of Defense in the Government-in-Exile, which he declined. Instead, he chose to head a historical commission that focused on the Polish Army’s military campaign in September 1939 and the contributions of Polish soldiers fighting in the West from 1939 to 1945.

Military promotions (Second Polish Republic)

Major (1919)
Lieutenant Colonel (1920)
Colonel (1922)
Brigadier General (1927)
Major General (1939)

Death

General Kutrzeba was given an opportunity to return to Poland. Due to poor health, however, he was unable to travel. General Kutrzeba died in London on 8 January 1947. Reportedly, the cause of his death was cancer. He was buried with military honors at Brookwood Cemetery. He was posthumously awarded the Virtuti Militari War Order III class.

In 1957, his ashes – according to his last will – were transported to Poland and buried in Aleja Zasłużonych at the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw (section A30-2 semicircle-8).^[2]

Honours and awards

Poland

Commander's Cross of the Virtuti Militari, previously awarded the Knight's Cross and the Silver Cross (1921)
Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1930), previously awarded the Officer's Cross
Cross of Valour - three times
Gold Cross of Merit

Other

Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
Commander's Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania
Commander's Cross of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
Cross of Liberty, Class II (Estonia)
Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class II (1932, Estonia)
Order of Lāčplēsis Third Class (Latvia)
Academic Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature

References

^ pl:Tadeusz Kutrzeba
^ Juliusz Jerzy Malczewski (ed.): Powązki Communal Cemetery, former Military Cemetery in . Warsaw: Sport and Tourism, 1989, p. 60. ISBN 83-217-2641-0.

[1] :Tadeusz Kutrzeba

[2] Juliusz Jerzy Malczewski (ed.): Powązki Communal Cemetery, former Military Cemetery in . Warsaw: Sport and Tourism, 1989, p. 60. ISBN 83-217-2641-0.

[1]

[2]

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