Wiktor Thommée

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Wiktor Thommée
Polish-Bolshevik War, Invasion of Poland
AwardsVirtuti Militari Golden Cross Virtuti Militari Silver Medal Polonia Restituta Commander's Cross Golden Krzyż Zasługi
Krzyz Walecznych, 4 times Medal of Independence

Wiktor Thommée (1881–1962) was a Polish military commander and a

Polish Army. A veteran of the Great War and the Russian Civil War, he is best known for his command over Piotrków Operational Group and the battle of the Bzura during the Invasion of Poland
of 1939.

Early life

Wiktor Thommée was born 30 December 1881 in

Kharkov (modern Kharkiv, Ukraine). In 1912 he was again admitted to the Russian Army
and until 1914 he studied at the Academy of the General Staff in St. Petersburg.

First World War

After the outbreak of the

Polish 1st Army under Gen. Franciszek Latinik
.

A skilled officer of intelligence service, Thommée asked his superiors to move him to front-line service and on 17 June 1920 he was made the commanding officer of the famous

Polish-Bolshevik War, he commanded the 19th Infantry and then 20th Infantry Brigades. For his service during the conflict, in 1922 he was promoted to the rank of colonel
(with precedence of 1 June 1919).

After the

Ecole Superieure de Guerre. Upon his return to Poland, he continued his service at various posts, including the command over the Toruń-based 8th Military Area Command (DOK VIII; 1934–1938) and then the Łódź
-based 4th Military Area Command (DOK IV).

Second World War

At the outbreak of the

battle of Cyrusowa Wola on 8 September, in which he defeated the German 10th Infantry Division. After the battle, on 13 September his forces moved to the Modlin Fortress, where Thommée assumed the command of the Modlin Army
. Besieged, the forces under his command defended the area until 29 September. Due to lack of supplies, food and water, Gen. Thommée negotiated the capitulation of his forces under the condition that all the soldiers were to be treated as prisoners of war and were to be set free.

Although initially the Germans honoured the treaty, on 7 November 1939, Thommée was arrested along with a large part of his staff and was sent to Germany. He spent the remaining part of

Stalag I-B Hohenstein, he was transferred to Oflag VIII-E Johannisbrunn. In 1942 he was sent to Oflag VII-A Murnau, from where he undertook numerous escape attempts and was finally sent to Oflag VI-B Dössel
.

Liberated in 1945, he moved to the United Kingdom, where in April he joined the Polish Armed Forces in the West. Unlike most of his war-time colleagues, in January 1947 he returned to communist Poland. Formally accepted into the army, he was retired and deprived of his pension. He lived in poverty in Gdynia, at times working as a janitor. It was not until the death of Bolesław Bierut and the political thaw of 1956 that Wiktor Thommée was granted with a pension and a flat in Warsaw.

He died on 12 September 1962 and was buried in the Alley of the Meritorious in Warsaw's

division general
(Lt. Gen.).

Awards

Throughout his life, Thommée was awarded with some of the highest Polish military decorations. Among them were:

References

  1. "Kowalski Wincenty (1892-1984)". Gazeta Wyborcza (in Polish) (November 14). 2005.
  2. "Kampania wrześniowa 1939 roku - próba bilansu". Oblicza Historii (in Polish) (2/2004). 2004.
  3. "THOMMÉE, WIKTOR-". Wielka Encyklopedia PWN (in Polish) (web ed.). 2003.
  4. Zbigniew Mierzwiński (1990). Generałowie II Rzeczypospolitej (in Polish). Warsaw, Polonia.
    ISBN 83-7021-096-1
    .
  5. Jacek Macyszyn (1999). Generałowie polscy (in Polish). Pruszków, Ajaks.
    ISBN 83-87103-72-1
    .
  6. Tadeusz Kryska-Karski (1991). Generałowie Polski niepodległej (in Polish). Stanisław Żurakowski. Warsaw, Editions Spotkania.
  7. Томме Виктор Эдуардович // Русская армия в Первой мировой войне (in Russian).
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