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The first guerilla unit was organised in Poland in September 1939 by major Henryk Dobrzanski “Hubal”. During campaign against “Hubal” german forces not only concentrated significant forces (even tanks) but also committed several crimes, for example pacification of villages Skloby and Hucisko (probably first such crimes in revenge for supporting resistance movements during II WW).
But I wouldn’t be sure if the victor’s palm of the first anti-Axis guerilla forces belongs to Ethiopians, who (if I remember well) were fighting against Italians from the time of Italian invasion till liberation of Ethiopia in 1941, so they finished their struggles before Michailovic’s began.
Description of the above photo, could somebody "decipher" this?:
The biggest battle fought by Hubal was the battle of Huciska (30 III 1940 - 2 IV 1940), during which his unit of ca. 70 partisans confronted the German 51st Polizei Battaillon (or rather 2 companies from this battalion of ca. 200 - 250 men). The battle resulted in Polish victory (German sources claim that their units retreated because they ran out of ammo). Losses of both sides during the battle of Huciska are differently estimated by Polish and German sources:
1) German losses:
- German claim: 11 KIA, 10 WIA
- Polish claim: 68 KIA (including 13 officers, including 1 Oberst), including 28 at the main battlefield and 40 as the result of a Polish ambush on a German motorized column
2) Polish losses:
- Polish claim: 6 KIA, 2 WIA partisans; after the battle (on 11 IV 1940) Germans pacified the village and the nearby village Skloby murdering 215 - 228 inhabitants of Skloby and many inhabitants of Huciska
- German claim ("enemy losses undoubtedly certified"): 11 KIA, 8 WIA, 41 captured and 400 civilians "partially participating in combats" killed
Domen121 wrote: The biggest battle fought by Hubal was the battle of Huciska (30 III 1940 - 2 IV 1940), during which his unit of ca. 70 partisans confronted the German 51st Polizei Battaillon (or rather 2 companies from this battalion of ca. 200 - 250 men). The battle resulted in Polish victory (German sources claim that their units retreated because they ran out of ammo). Losses of both sides during the battle of Huciska are differently estimated by Polish and German sources:
1) German losses:
- German claim: 11 KIA, 10 WIA
- Polish claim: 68 KIA (including 13 officers, including 1 Oberst), including 28 at the main battlefield and 40 as the result of a Polish ambush on a German motorized column
2) Polish losses:
- Polish claim: 6 KIA, 2 WIA partisans; after the battle (on 11 IV 1940) Germans pacified the village and the nearby village Skloby murdering 215 - 228 inhabitants of Skloby and many inhabitants of Huciska
- German claim ("enemy losses undoubtedly certified"): 11 KIA, 8 WIA, 41 captured and 400 civilians "partially participating in combats" killed
Domen121 wrote: The biggest battle fought by Hubal was the battle of Huciska (30 III 1940 - 2 IV 1940), during which his unit of ca. 70 partisans confronted the German 51st Polizei Battaillon (or rather 2 companies from this battalion of ca. 200 - 250 men). The battle resulted in Polish victory (German sources claim that their units retreated because they ran out of ammo). Losses of both sides during the battle of Huciska are differently estimated by Polish and German sources:
1) German losses:
- German claim: 11 KIA, 10 WIA
- Polish claim: 68 KIA (including 13 officers, including 1 Oberst), including 28 at the main battlefield and 40 as the result of a Polish ambush on a German motorized column
2) Polish losses:
- Polish claim: 6 KIA, 2 WIA partisans; after the battle (on 11 IV 1940) Germans pacified the village and the nearby village Skloby murdering 215 - 228 inhabitants of Skloby and many inhabitants of Huciska
- German claim ("enemy losses undoubtedly certified"): 11 KIA, 8 WIA, 41 captured and 400 civilians "partially participating in combats" killed
The source from which the data originated???
Best regards Daniel
Hi Orpoman,
Huh, you have just replied to a post which is 2 years old.
But I'll try to "dig it out". German "casualty claims" I posted above are from:
- Report / "AAR" of the high commander of SS & Polizei (HSSPF) in GG, SS-Obergruppenführer F. W. Krüger. - Report of the commander of 8th SS-Totenkopfstandarte SS-Oberführer Leo von Jen dated 18 May 1940 - Report of the chief of staff of Oberost to OBdH gen. von Brauchitsch dated 9 April 1940
Which were published as attachments to the book Oddział Wydzielony Wojska Polskiego Majora "Hubala" by Zygmunt Kosztyła, Warsaw 1987. Copies of these documents can also be found in the Army Museum in Bialystok.
And here you can find an extensive bibliography to history of life & activity of Major "Hubal":
Enemy losses - "undoubtedly confirmed" (quote) - were claimed in this report (of F. W. Krüger) as:
11 KIA, 8 WIA, 41 captured and 400 killed civilians "partially participating in combats" (quote).
But Major Hubal recorded just 6 KIA & 2 WIA (& no MIA / captured) in his 70-men strong unit in this battle.
As the cause of the German defeat in the battle of Huciska the chief of staff of Oberost in his report to von Brauchitsch mentions shortage of ammo (he writes that Polizei-Bataillon 51 had to, quote: "stop the fight", as it ran out of ammo, quote: "each riflemen had just 2 ammo clips with him" - the chief of staff complained).
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PS: I found a website which lists war crimes of Polizei-Bataillon 51:
The total size of German forces involved in "hunting" for Major Hubal and his unit was 5,000 - 8,000.
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Battle of Huciska as depicted by old Polish (rather low budget ) movie about Hubal:
This movie - which was made during times when Poland and the USSR were "the best friends" - doesn't of course mention that Major Hubal fought against the Soviets in September 1939 in "regular warfare" (combats around Grodno), and only later he fought against Germans in "partisan warfare". Instead, the movie begins with Major & his soldiers retreating in some "unspecified direction" under artillery fire of some "unspecified enemy".
This is an old question, but nobody seems to have posted a reading and translation of the inscription on the back of the photo. My try: Polens „Helden-General“ in den Wäldern von Lodsch gefallen. Wurde in den Wäldern bei Lodsh an der [unlesbar] von unseren Landesschüzen [sic] Batn eingekreist. Dabei fand unser Dengler (Totengräber) den Tod. Poland’s “Hero-General” killed in the forests of Łódż. Was encircled in the forests of Lodsh on the [illegible] by our Rifle Battalion. Our Dengler (gravedigger) was killed there. [Actually, Hubal was killed at Opoczno, ca 40 km SE of Łódż. I cannot find the river named; begins with "P", the rest illegible. Neither wikipedia nor Google is much help in locating rivers, particularly not small ones.]
by RG on 05 Jul 2007 11:38 
