Poland had one of the largest armies in the world in 1939, and was equiped with about 1,000 armored vehicles of which about 800 were in service. Each cavalry brigade had an armored troop section equiped with thirteen TK3 units and 8 wz. 34 armoured cars. Each infantry division had an independent scout tank company equiped with thirteen TK3 tankettes. The only armored formations were the 10th Mechanised Cavalry Brigade and the Warsaw Mechanised Brigade. The 10th possessed two independent scout tank companies each equiped with thirteen TK3 units. Also, there were three light tank battalions, two equiped with fourty nine 7TP tanks, the other with fourty five R35s. There were four light tank companies with three equiped with fifteen  FT-17s, and the fourth with seventeen Vickers 6-Ton Mk E's. The Warsaw Mechanised Brigade consisted of two independent scout tank companies equiped with thirteen TK3 units. There was a light tank company equiped with seventeen Vickers 6-Ton Mk E's. All command tanks were radio equiped.

England, look what you have done!

A NAZI poster, printed for Poland, attempting to shift the blame for the German invasion of Poland onto England.

----------

HIGHLIGHTS OF HISTORY OF POLAND
The German's did not always have it their way...

     September brought an onslaught by the German war machine to Poland. In the north, as part of the German 4th Army, General Heinz Guderian commanded the XIX Army Corps with the 2nd and 20th Motorized Infantry Divisions and the 3rd Panzer Division. It was Guderian's chance to prove the value of the armored forces and justify all the hard work and training which had gone into developing them. The first serious fighting for Guderian's panzer troops took place on September 2nd southwest of Tuchel, around the village of Gross-Klonia. As the early morning mist began to lift, the leading elements of the 3rd Pz Division suddenly found themselves face to face with a number of Polish tanks, cavalry and elements of the 61st Regiment/15 Infantry Division. The inexperienced Germans were surprised, allowing the determined Polish anti-tank gunners to score many direct hits and draw "First Blood" before their superior training and equipment won the day.
     By the second week of Germany's "Lighting War" against Poland, General von Rundstedt commanding the southern wing of the attack, had advanced so fast that he was running out of troops to guard his left flank along the Bzura River. He asked for more cavalry to keep track of the Poles in this wooded area, but the German Army was short of mounted troops and he was forced instead to press motorized detachments from the reserve 29th Motorized Division into service to screen his advance towards Warsaw. Conditions were ripe for the Polish defenders to strike back at their invaders. On September 9th General Kutrzeba's Poznan Army came charging southward across the Bzura. Near Sobota, cavalry and light armor from the Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade struck Kampfgruppe Fiedler strung out along the motor highway. Even though guarding against just such an attack, the inexperienced motor troops were surprised at the ferocity and determination of the charging Poles and reacted slowly. One of the few major victories for the Poles.


Map of the German invasion of Poland.
George Forty writes in his book, World War Two Tanks, that in 1939,  "the entire Polish tank force comprised approximately: 400-500 TK and TKS tankettes; 150-170 7TP light tanks; 50 Vickers 6 ton light tanks; 50 Renault R35 light tanks, and 50 Renault FT-17 light tanks."  He also states that "Figures vary as to the exact strength of the Polish armoured forces at the outbreak of the war, however, it would appear that under 1,000 light tanks and tankettes were available to face the 3,000 plus tanks of the Panzerwaffe."
A photograph of a bombed out Polish Armored Train, September 9th. 1939
The photo shows the effect of a Stuka attack using a 550lb High Explosive Bomb. Note the crater size and the men to the left.

ANATOMY OF DEFEAT:
THE POLISH ARMY IN THE SEPTEMBER 1939 CAMPAIGN
Major Mark Rutkowski
3rd Battalion/6th Brigade/85th Division (EX)

ohoh.jpg (5772 bytes)