Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann
Border Defence Corps
Battles/wars
Awards

Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann[1] (1894–1986) was a Polish general, military commander and one of the pioneers of armoured warfare in Poland.

Early life

Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann was born on 1 August 1894 in

Lwów University of Technology. His studies, however, were halted by the outbreak of World War I. In 1914 Orlik-Rückemann volunteered for the Polish Legions, where he served with distinction at various command posts in the 6th Infantry Regiment. After the oath crisis of 1917 he was drafted to the Austro-Hungarian Army
, where he served with the 19th Rifle Regiment. In 1918 he also graduated from the Infantry Reserve Officer's School.

Polish Army

On 4 November 1918, he joined the

Polish-Bolshevik War he became one of the most successful tank commanders of the Polish forces and during the Battle of Warsaw
on 16 August 1920 he was promoted to colonel and given the command of the 1st Tank Regiment.

After the war Orlik-Rückemann remained in the Polish Army and until 1 May 1927 was the commanding officer of the 1st Tank Regiment. He also graduated from the faculty of tank combat commanders of the

23rd Infantry Division
.

On 27 February 1932 Orlik-Rückemann became the commanding officer of the

Border Defence Corps
and on 8 August 1939 became its commander.

World War II

Shortly before the start of

Polesie Independent Operational Group under general Franciszek Kleeberg
.

Until 22 September he gathered approximately 8,000 men and started his march towards Warsaw. Constant skirmishes with the

Bug river and reached the village of Wytyczno, some 20 kilometres south-east of Włodawa. The Battle of Wytyczno started the following day, when his unit was attacked by the Soviet 45th Rifle Division, reinforced with tanks and artillery. After 15 hours of heavy fighting, the supplies of the Polish forces were almost depleted and Orlik-Rückemann decided to divide his unit into small groups and order them to break through to the area occupied by the Independent Operational Group Polesie
on their own. Most of the Polish forces reached their destination unopposed and with negligible losses.

After the end of hostilities in Poland, Orlik-Rückemann managed to evade being captured and crossed the Lithuanian border. From there he managed to get to Sweden and by the end of October he was in the United Kingdom. There he served in the Polish Army in exile on various staff posts.

After World War II

Between 1945 and 1947 he was working for the Polish Resettlement Corps. He was deprived of Polish citizenship by the communist authorities of Poland and remained in exile. Initially he lived in London and in 1972 he moved to his family to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann died on October 18, 1986, in Ottawa.

Decorations

References

  1. ISBN 83-88072-53-6
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wilhelm_Orlik-Rückemann&oldid=1218849578"