Polish Karpaty Army !

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The "Carpathian" Army.

In times of drought, the San River was shallow.

From its sources near the Użocka Pass to Sanok, the San is a mountain river that runs through mountain ranges. Below the estuary of the Osława river, it changes its character, first of all, in terms of the speed of falling water, as well as the bed where sand and gravel appear. The nature of the river valley is also changing: the relative heights of the hills and the slope of their banks decrease. From Sanok to Przemyśl, the San has the character of a lowland mountain river. From the Wiar estuary near Przemyśl to the Vistula estuary, the San is a lowland river. The width of the river in this section is 70-200 m, its banks are sometimes steep and cliff-like, up to 6 meters high, with a depth of 1.5 to 5 m; the bottom of the river is gravel and rock.

In 1939, there were a total of sixteen bridges on the river section between Lesko and the Vistula estuary, including four railway bridges; in addition, several dozen ferry crossings and numerous fords operated on the river. The water level had a significant impact on the value of the river as a line of defense. Based on many years of observations and measurements, carried out since 1870, it was found that the lowest levels of water in the San are found in September and October. The summer of 1939 was extremely hot and dry. If press reports are to be believed, in August 1939 in the San basin there were only three days of rain (August 03, 08 and 09) and one day with showers (August 26).

Persistent weather for many weeks had a high impact on the state of the waters of the San River. In 1939, one of the lowest water levels of this river in history was recorded: the minimum indications of the water meters were not broken until 1961. As for the destruction of the bridges, Polish sappers blew up or set fire to practically all of them, which could delay the opponent's maneuver only a few or at most a dozen hours. The San could practically be crossed on foot, at most the trouser legs were under water. This is confirmed by numerous photos taken by German soldiers.

Sources: Armia „Karpaty”. Piotr Chmielowiec. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.

Cheers. Raúl M .

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The "Carpathian" Army.

The San front is a fiction.

Since the morning of September 9, the defensive lines on the San River in the vicinity of Jarosław were occupied. The organization of the defense on the right bank of the river, in the section from Radymno to Sieniawa, was carried out by ppłk (Lieutenant Colonel) Jan Wójcik. This position was supposed to be taken over by three divisions. At the time of their arrival, the Jarosław region was to be defended by only three infantry battalions supported by a dozen cannons. The organization of the defense was hampered by the lack of communication. Kuryłówka Bridge was occupied only at night by one of the battalions of the 12th Infantry Division. On the night of 9 September, the occupation of the defense line in the critical section of the river between Radymno and Kuryłówka, where an attack by two German fast divisions was expected, was modest. In all, there were just over four infantry battalions supported by four artillery batteries. They were enough forces to protect the San line, not to defend themselves effectively.

The success of the entire operation depended on the fact that the line was manned by large units. The fundamental weakness of the plan developed by Fabrycy and his staff was the assumption that the defense positions would be taken over by large units already committed to fighting the Germans, immediately after leaving the front, without the possibility of rest, regrouping, complement of personnel and equipment, etc., the units that were in combat so far should be sent through the defense lines and carry out the necessary reorganization work in the rear of the front, while at the same time serving as a reserve. One wonders to what extent the situation in the Radymno-Sieniawa section, where the main pressure of the German fast troops was revealed, would improve the presence of the 38th Reserve Infantry Division. On September 8, General Fabrycy considered the possibility of sending it to the Medyka area. However, this division held out for the entire next day in the Dobromil area, that is, about a day and a half's walk from Medyka and two days from Radymno. The Command of the 38th Reserve Infantry Division received an order to go "about 10 km north of Przemyśl" only on September 9 at 22:00.

On the night of September 9, units of the 10th Cavalry Brigade withdrew from Łańcut and headed directly for Jarosław and Sieniawa. On the morning of September 10, płk (Colonel) Maczek arrived in Jarosław. There he met with General Wieczorkiewicz, who briefed him on the situation in the defense section. Maczek made no secret of his disappointment at the size of the forces committed to defending Jarosław. More than twenty years after the war, he described this experience as follows: It was a painful surprise for me and all my soldiers when, after a nightmare of gathering the brigade troops at night and marching to Jarosław still free , I found an almost complete void, in this Polish "Maginot" or "Siegfried" line. An infantry battalion in Jarosław, some two or three batteries on the other side of the San river, some news that here and there some loose platoons are lining up, rarely companies, without even knowing what their task was. The front of the San is a fiction: it is no less fata morgana than the vision of an oasis over a spring with lush vegetation for the tired eyes of a wanderer in the desert. I can't believe it yet! After all, we not only imagined the main Polish defense on the San, which we eagerly wanted and believed in, but even the guidelines of the Army command "Karpaty" clearly defined our role in the delay, to give those precious few days to solidify the defense of the San!

Sources: Armia „Karpaty”. Piotr Chmielowiec. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.

Cheers. Raúl M .

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The "Carpathian" Army.

The San front is a fiction.

The general situation on the southern section of the front is just as accurately reflected in the recollections of General Kazimierz Sosnkowski: On September 10, the "Karpaty" Army front existed only figuratively, and consisted of individual pockets of resistance, rarely scattered in a large area without mutual communication between them. They were mostly remnants of divisions that had already broken up several times, temporarily juxtaposed in new command relationships, devoid of internal organizational cohesion. The road to Lviv/Lwow via the Subcarpathian routes was open to the stretch for the enemy forces that had crossed the Slovakian border with a wide front in recent days. North of the road to Przemyśl, almost all directions leading to Lviv/Lwow were open to the Germans, except for the Jarosław and Radymno routes, which were currently blocked by the 10ª BK.

The general situation was not improved by the fact that the vanguard detachments of the "Boruta" Operational Group reached the localities located in the lower part of the San River. On September 10, two divisions, the 6th and 21st Mountain Divisions, began the transition to the east side of the river across the bridges of Brandwica (Rozwadów), Zarzecze (Nisko), Ulanów, Krzeszów and Kuryłówka.

Fighting outside Jarosław continued throughout the day on 10 September. When the afternoon tank attack was repulsed, the Germans confined themselves to reconnaissance and air strikes. The situation in the Radymno and Tryń area was much worse. The column of the 4. Light Div, which arrived at Rokietnica in the evening hours of September 09, attacked Radymno around 05:00 hours in the morning of September 10 and, after a short battle, drove out the Polish company out of the city.

Sources: Armia „Karpaty”. Piotr Chmielowiec. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.

Cheers. Raúl M .

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The "Carpathian" Army.

The defense breaks.

Although Polish troops managed to blow up the road bridge over the San River, the Germans captured a small bridgehead on the right bank of the river. In turn, between Trycza and Dębno, a German armored motorized unit crushed Lieutenant Colonel Herzog's battalion. On the night of 10/11 September, following General Fabrycy's order, the 10th BK headed east, while the remaining detachments defending Jarosław took up positions on the eastern bank of the San River in the Garbarze-Szówsko region. The bridge over the San river in Jarosław had been blown up.

The departure of the 10th BK towards Jaworów significantly weakened the Polish defense in the Jarosław region. Already in the early hours of 11 September, the 2. (German) Armored Division opened heavy artillery fire and then proceeded to attack the Polish positions before noon. After a few hours, the Polish defense was broken. Units of Lieutenant Colonel Wójcik's group were largely destroyed, some only retreating into the Sieniawskie woods.

On September 11, the Germans confined themselves to breaking through the positions of the forces holding the defensive borders on the San and building crossings across the river near Radymno and Jarosław. The next day, German panzer groups began an advance to the northeast, in the general direction of Tomaszów Lubelski and Rawa Ruska. On the afternoon of September 12, the units of the German 2. Armored Division occupied the Lubaczów-Oleszyce-Cieszanów communication hub, which seriously complicated the situation of the "Krakow" Army and had an impact on the defeat of the Polish forces at the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski.

On September 13, among others under the influence of the progress of the German XXII Armored Corps, Marshal Rydz-Śmigły decided to withdraw troops to the so-called Romanian Suburb, where it was intended to survive until the start of the offensive in the west. The fate of the defense on the San was decided after the river crossing on 11 September near Jarosław. Fighting on this river continued for a few more days, but was no longer of strategic importance.

Sources: Armia „Karpaty”. Piotr Chmielowiec. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.

It´s all. Cheers. Raúl M .

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The "Carpathian" Army.

Pacification of Rodziela.

With the outbreak of war in 1939, Wehrmacht soldiers took an active part in the crimes committed against the civilian population and against captured Polish soldiers. In southern Poland, an example of this is the little-known pacification of Rozdziela, which was carried out on September 08, 1939 by the I. Battalion of the Mountain Hunters Regiment 100 (I./GJR 100) of the 1. German Mountain Division.

Mountain Hunter Regiment (Gebirgsjäger-Regiment) 100 was formed on October 15, 1935 in Military District VII. The I. Battalion was created with parts of the 19th Infantry Regiment. The II. Battalion was created from the state police. the III. Battalion emerged from the II. Instruction Battalion of the 19th Infantry Regiment. The General Staff of the Regiment, the II. Battalion and the III. Battalion was stationed at Bad Reichenhall, in Military District VII. The I. Battalion was provisionally stationed at Traunstein, also in Military District VII. After formation, the regiment was initially subordinate to the mountain brigade. On October 1, 1936, the I. Battalion moved from Traunstein to Brannenburg, also in Military District VII.

In defense of their own houses.

Before the outbreak of the war, the village of Rozdziele was located in the Gorlice District in the Lipinki commune. In 1936, the majority of the inhabitants were Lemkos (*). In the town itself there were 690 Greek Catholics, 33 Latin Church, 12 Protestants and 9 Jews. In August 1939, some inhabitants of Rozdziela mobilized. The ranks of the Polish Army included: Wasyl Bajus, Iwan Dudra, Michał Mościwski and Stefan Chanas. They joined the National Defense Battalion (ON) "Gorlice" established in May 1939.

After July 11, 1939, it became available to the "Karpaty" (Carpathian) Army. During the war, it was one of the battalions included in the 2nd Mountain Brigade (BG). The battalion was to defend the roads leading from the Slovak border to Gorlice. Their soldiers came from the areas they were supposed to defend. Therefore, as Henryk Malinowski emphasized: The enthusiasm for fighting among the ON soldiers was great. After all, they were supposed to defend their own homeland, places where they were born and lived, houses where they left their parents, wives and children.

The first days of the war.

During the first days of the war, the Battalion ON "Gorlice" did not participate in combat operations. Indeed, on September 5, 1939, the Mountain Hunters Regiment 100 crossed the German-Polish border from Presow in Slovakia, east of the High Tatras, without enemy action. There was also no contact with the enemy on September 6, 1939. That same September 6, the Battalion ON "Gorlice" came into contact with German patrols in the Klimkówka area. Due to the fact that units of the German 1. Mountain Division (GD) were preparing to attack from the Polanka Niżna region to Nowy Żmigród, it was decided to withdraw the 2nd BG to the Gorlice, Biecz, Bednarka, Harklow region. On the night of September 7, the main forces of the German 1. GD crossed the border at the Ożenna Customs Post and led the attack on Żmigród. In turn, the I. Battalion of the 100th Mountain Hunter Regiment of the 1. GD crossed the state border at Konieczna, via Zdynia, Sękowa, Męcinę, Wapienne to Rozdziele.

To delay the enemy's march, the C.O. of Battalion ON "Gorlice", Cap. Stanisław Czwiertnia left the 3rd platoon of the 2nd Company in Zdynia together with the heavy machine gun team. On September 7, after intense fighting with the enemy, it retreats to Magura. Then, following the rest of the battalion, the rearguard reached Małastów, where the assembly area was located. It was not until September 7, 1939 that the I./GJR 100 encountered resistance for the first time at Ozenna customs, but the enemy quickly withdrew. In addition, in the subsequent advance there was no resistance worth mentioning, due to which walking performances of up to 60 km per day were obtained. Captain Czwiertnia, after reconnaissance at Konieczna, ordered the battalion to march towards Ropica Ruska. However, when he discovered that there were already Germans in Gorlice, he led them through Kornuty towards Folusz and Żmigród.

(*) The Lemkos are a quantitatively and territorially small ethnic group that traditionally call themselves Rusnaks or Rusinos, being one of the four large groups of inhabitants in the mountains of the eastern Carpathians.

Sources: Pacyfikacja Rozdziela. Michał Kalisz. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... R100-R.htm
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... y_1939.png

Cheers. Raúl M .

[henryk]

Before the outbreak of the war, the village of Rozdziele was located in the Gorlice District in the Lipinki commune. In 1936, the majority of the inhabitants were Lemkos (*). In the town itself there were 690 Greek Catholics (Orthodox), 33 Catholics, 12 Protestants and 9 Jews.

Greek Catholics are not Orthodox. In this region it is more exactly Ukrainian Greek Catholic.
"Catholics" are more exactly Roman Catholic Latin Rite.
https://blessedisshe.net/blog/rites-cat ... 0tradition.

Latin Rite
Again, the Latin (or Roman) Rite is the largest rite and the only Western Church.
Byzantine Rite
When most people think of Eastern Catholicism, they think of the Byzantine tradition. It comprises of fourteen unique churches:
Albanian Catholic Church
Belarusian Catholic Church
Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
Byzantine Church of Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro
Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
Italo-Albanian Catholic Church (never split)
Macedonian Catholic Church
Melkite Greek Catholic Church
Romanian Catholic Church
Russian Catholic Church
Ruthenian Catholic Church
Slovak Catholic Church
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (In North America now: Ukrainian Catholic Church.

All these Rites are Roman Catholic under the Pope.

[tigre]

Hello henryk ;

All these Rites are Roman Catholic under the Pope.

All clear .

[henryk]

Thank you for the information on the Polish Karpaty Army. I had two cousins in it.

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The "Carpathian" Army.

Pacification of Rodziela.

The first days of the war.

Fighting at Rodziele.

The soldiers of the Battalion ON "Gorlice", retreating towards Nowy Żmigród, were to delay the occupation of the area by the German army by fighting them. One of the delaying combats took place in Rozdziele where some Polish soldiers armed with a machine gun tried to stop the Germans. They located their defensive position at a wooden derrick, which was located near the intersection, on a hill by the road to Wójtowa. One of the soldiers from the Battalion ON "Gorlice", who was in the tower, was Lieutenant Stefan Chanas from Rozdiele, and the other was a corporal with an unknown name.

In addition, Chanas was ordered to maintain order in Rodziele, so that the Lipinki - Sękowa crossing could be easily used by the army and civilians. However, soon, on September 07, the German soldiers of the I. Battalion of the 100th Mountain Hunters Regiment, who wanted to cut off the route of the retreating Polish Army soldiers, reached Rozdziela, along a side road through Wapienne. In the vicinity of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a car stopped near the intersection, in which a German officer was leafing through the map to see the area. At the same time, when the German was getting acquainted with the topography, a grenade was thrown from a haystack that was located near Teodor Bubniak's house. As a result of the explosion, the car was damaged, and the officer who was riding in it was killed.

According to Adam Barna's memoirs, the grenade was thrown by Stefan Chanas and the explosion caused a fierce and long lasting fight. However, the advantage of the Germans was much greater, so the soldiers of the Battalion ON "Gorlice", who responded with fire from the farm buildings, began to withdraw. Along with the retreating soldiers, local civilians began to flee, who, while hiding in neighboring buildings, were fired upon by the Germans.

Sources: Pacyfikacja Rozdziela. Michał Kalisz. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... R100-R.htm
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... y_1939.png

Cheers. Raúl M .

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The "Carpathian" Army.

Pacification of Rodziela - The first victims.

As a result of the fighting, the aforementioned Stefan Chanas and the corporal wounded in the head were captured, while the four remaining soldiers managed to escape from Rozdziela. This version of events was given by the inhabitants of Rozdziela: S. Czajka, Mikołaj Dudra, Bazyli and Maria Jurczak. In turn, another resident of the village Stefan Tylawski, during an investigation conducted in the 1980s by the Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Rzeszów, gave a different version of the events: It was probably on Saturday evening. The day before the entry of the German army, troops of the Polish army withdrew. However, not all Polish soldiers withdrew from the village. There are some left, but how many, I do not know. Throughout the night between the withdrawal of the Polish troops and the entry of the German troops, shooting was heard and the area around the village of Rozdziele was illuminated.

It was probably because the Polish troops were defending themselves against the advancing German troops. The day after the entry of the German army, an officer of the German army was shot dead in the village in the morning hours. This version of the events was also supported by other interviewed residents of Rozdziele: Jan Karp, Stefan Wanca and Michał Rusyn. According to witnesses, the Germans captured three Polish soldiers on that day, and one of them was Stefan Chanas. The aforementioned Jan Karp confirmed during the interrogation that he recognized Stefan Chanas, who was captured by the Germans through the village. Moreover, he testified: According to the stories of people from Rozdziela, a German officer was probably supposed to be shot by three Polish soldiers who, while retreating with their army, hid in a pile of straw behind the house of Jan Bubniak [the son of Teodor]. These soldiers probably burned with the straw stack.

The above fragment shows that the soldiers of the Polish Army were the first victims of the fighting in Rozdziele. This account is confirmed by a document in the Archives of the Museum of the Biecz Land in Biecz. In the letter of January 20, 1986 entitled: Description of fights and executions in the years of World War II in the village of Rozdziele, signed by Ludwik Setlak, the chairman of the Board of the ZBoWiD Circle in Biecz, there is a mention of the death of three soldiers. According to this document, on September 8, 1939, three Polish soldiers, whose bodies were thrown into burning houses, were killed in the town. Probably among those who died were Stefan Chanas, captured in the village, and an unknown wounded corporal. However, due to the lack of sources, the circumstances of their death could not be confirmed.

Sources: Pacyfikacja Rozdziela. Michał Kalisz. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... R100-R.htm
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... y_1939.png

Cheers. Raúl M .

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The "Carpathian" Army.

Pacification of Rodziela - September 08, 1939

According to Czajka, Dudra and Jurczak, on the morning of September 8, the Germans walked through the village with their dogs and burned the houses that were marked. This version was not confirmed by other witnesses (Karp, Wanca, Rusyn and Tylawski). They indicated that the houses closest to the place where the officer died and other German soldiers are injured as a result of the fighting were surrounded.

Soldiers of the I. Battalion Gebirgsjagerregiment 100 then captured their owners and shot them in retaliation. On that day, German soldiers killed: Stefan Bajus - 26, Jan Dragan - 63, Justyna Dragan - 62, Teodor Borsuk - 33, Jan Bubniak - 38, Teodor Bubniak - 69. Germans then set fire to their houses and threw the bodies of the murdered inhabitants of Rozdziela inside the burning buildings.

According to the account of Rozdziela resident Stefan Wancy, Justyna Dragan was shot when she was carrying water from a well to extinguish the flames on her belongings. Her body, like the others, was thrown into a burning house. A slightly different version was given by Czajka, Dudra and Jurczak, who confirmed that the aforementioned were shot and their bodies thrown into burning houses. However, according to them, Stefan Bajus was thrown into the fire alive, and during the shooting Nikita Popiwczak also died. However, the death of the latter was not confirmed by the Lipinki Registry Office. Furthermore, the witnesses mentioned above reported that the houses of Olena Bubniak, Michał Rak, Jan Wanc and Ivan Dziadek were also burned on the day of the pacification of Rozdziela.

Sources: Pacyfikacja Rozdziela. Michał Kalisz. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... R100-R.htm
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... y_1939.png

Cheers. Raúl M .

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The "Carpathian" Army.

Pacification of Rodziela.

"Partisans" from Rozdziela.

In the album of a German soldier from the 1st Battalion of the 100th Mountain Rifle Regiment, the photos of which are presented in the article, under the photos from Rozdziela, there is a description: Fight with partisans in Rodziele. This description proves that the Germans recognized the local population as partisans who fired at them. In this case, they decided to base their actions on special instructions to the quartermaster orders issued by the Supreme Command of the Land Forces.

An excerpt from one of them, issued on September 4, concerning the supply of the rear services of the 8th Army stated: It happened that Polish civilians suspected of shooting at German troops were handed over to the security police in order to find out whether they had actually committed the alleged acts. This type of procedure is pointless, as only in exceptional cases can sufficient evidence of guilt be gathered afterwards. One should pay attention to the order of the commander-in-chief, ordering the execution of assassins and partisans, as well as civilians caught with weapons or ammunition.

Polish civilians in the homes and farms from which our soldiers were shot are to be treated in this way. Therefore, the Germans considered the inhabitants of Rodziele as hostile and intended to shoot them. While the houses on fire were still burning, German soldiers scattered around the village and arrested all those who had not escaped from the village in time, and, after searching, led them to the meadow near the cemetery.

According to the testimony of Rusyn, Wanc and Tylawski, about 80 men were arrested on September 8, surrounded by a tight cordon by the Germans. In turn, Adam Barna in his memoirs said that during the round-up, the Germans led about 150 men, 100 women and children to the center of the village. This version was confirmed by another inhabitant of the village, Jan Karp, who said that on that day the Germans led men and women with children to the meadow near the church. Three machine guns were set up in front of the inhabitants of Rozdziela, about 50 meters away, in order to execute them.

Sources: Pacyfikacja Rozdziela. Michał Kalisz. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... R100-R.htm
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... y_1939.png

Cheers. Raúl M .

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The "Carpathian" Army.

Pacification of Rodziela.

Karol Gross saves the inhabitants of Rodziele.

Fortunately, among the gathered crowd was Karol Gross, of Austrian origin, who, after the Battle of Gorlice in 1915, raised a family and took up farming in Rodziele, on several hectares of land. Thanks to his intercession, he saved all those who were about to be shot by the Germans. This is how Adam Barna remembered this situation: The villagers were counting on him. Many pairs of eyes turned in his direction, waiting for him to speak. A quarter of a century away from his native country made it difficult for him to pronounce a few words in his mother tongue. As he emerged from the crowd and spoke the words: Meine Bruder! (My brothers). The Germans approached him and ordered him to speak. The conversation lasted quite a long time, in which he told his own story of meeting in Rodziele and the respect he enjoys among the inhabitants of it. He convinced the Nazis of the innocence of the civilian population. They released everyone. During the conversation, Gross convinced the Germans that only Polish soldiers fired at them during fighting. That is why they gave up carrying out the execution, but told the assembled villagers that if they were shot within a 3 km radius of the village, they would come back and burn all of Rozdziele.

The German soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 100th Mountain Hunter Regiment of the 1st GD were responsible for the pacification that took place in Rodziele on September 08, 1939. The ashes of the 6 murdered civilian victims and probably 3 soldiers of the Polish army were buried in the Lipinki parish cemetery.

Sources: Pacyfikacja Rozdziela. Michał Kalisz. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... R100-R.htm
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... y_1939.png

It's all. Cheers. Raúl M .

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Military operations in southern Poland.

The National Defense Battalion "Rzeszów".

The National Defense Battalion "Rzeszów" was one of eight battalions of the Subcarpathian National Defense Brigade in Przemyśl. In the summer of 1939, it was placed at the disposal of the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the KOP "Karpaty", who held the position "Slovakia". It participated in hostilities as part of the 3rd Mountain Brigade.

The Battalion Commander was Major Tadeusz Ochęduszko. The various companies were commanded by: 1st ("Rzeszów"), Lieutenant Marian Pobożniak, 2nd ("Łańcut"), Captain Stanisław Kwak, 3rd ("Leżajsk"), Captain Stanisław Saniński. The battalion also included a heavy machine gun platoon and a battalion command unit (adjutant, medic, patrols: sanitary, communications, engineers, non-commissioned officers, and quartermaster). Total battalion strength was 3 senior officers, 13 reserves, and 396 enlisted men, including 45 pre-recruitment volunteers. The armament consisted of French weapons: 2 heavy machine guns Hotchkiss wz. 14, 27 light machine guns Chauchat wz. 15 and kb Berthier wz. 16. Machine guns were not received until August 25, so the soldiers were trained while traveling by rail to defensive positions and already in their positions. However, uniforms and equipment were incomplete, blankets, bandages, sanitary equipment and helmets were completely missing.

On August 27, 1939, at 3:00 p.m. Major T. Ochęduszko received a dispatch from the Commander of OK No. X Przemyśl, Brig. Gen. Wacław Wieczorkiewicz, on getting the battalion into combat readiness. All its subunits mobilized for 8:00 p.m. on the same day. Despite a series of difficulties, on August 28, 1939, at 7:00 a.m. the battalion was embarked for rail transport and at 1330 hours it arrived at Iwonicz station. Then, after unloading, lunch and rest, he marched to the city of Iwla (10:00 p.m.) and subordinated to the Commander of the 2nd Regiment KOP "Karpaty", Lieutenant Colonel Janowi Zachodnemu as a reserve. Immediately, even before midnight, the battalion was ordered to move to the town of Myscowo (about 6 km from Iwla) and carry out fortification works in the Krępno section. The next morning, separate groups, that is, those who did not participate in the training, began the fortification work.

On August 31, the excavation of firing positions continued and training was given in the handling of machine guns and sanitary patrols. At that time, the strength of the battalion decreased as the 1st Platoon, left for the ON Battalion "Krosno" to occupy the hill 610 - "Ropianka". That day, in the morning, Major Ochęduszko left for Krosno, where he reported the status of the battalion to Colonel Jan Stefan Kotowicz, Commander of the ON Subcarpathian Brigade (renamed 3rd Mountain Brigade, BG). In addition, the Commander of the 2nd KOP Regiment "Karpaty" took over the defensive section "Iwonicz". The battalion had only 1/2 fire units, the rest being given to a separate platoon.

Sources: Batalion Obrony Narodowej „Rzeszów”. Krzysztof A. Tochman. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.

Cheers. Raúl M .

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Military operations in southern Poland.

The National Defense Battalion "Rzeszów".

On September 1, 1939 at 05:30 hours, about 35 enemy bombers flew over Myscowa towards Krosno. They flew several more times that day, bombing targets in the Krosno, Jasło and Jedlicze areas. Next, the machine gun servants, the communications team and the sanitary patrols were trained. On September 02, further defensive work was carried out in the Krępna section and training of the 1st Company of Lieutenant Pobożniak. By order of the commander of the "Iwonicz" section, it was conducted a night raid on a Slovak-Ruthenian-German subversive unit in the Huta Polańska area, which the day before overwhelmed the outpost of Battalion ON Krosno, wounding three soldiers of the polish army. A detachment consisting of two platoons attacked the gang with a force of more than one rifle company, supported by 2 heavy machine guns. It was located in a safe position in a wooded border area.

On September 03 at approximately 07:00 hours the enemy was forced to flee to Slovakia, leaving 2 dead and 3 seriously wounded, as well as weapons and equipment, including 3 machine guns, 16 carbines and 19 fully equipped backpacks. The outpost of Battalion ON "Krosno" regained its previously lost position. The rest of the battalion continued to carry out fortification work and machine gun exercises.

On the afternoon of September 04, a telephone order was received from the commander of the "Iwonicz" section to make an excursion to point 664 "Dębi Wierch", 2 km to the southeast. from the city of Radocyna, distant from the battalion's position about 24 km and attack point 675 "Czeremcha", 1 km south of the city of Ożenna, 18 km from the battalion.

On September 06 at 03:30 hours both raids carried out by forces of the 3rd Company at "Dębie Wierch" under the command of Captain Saniński and by the 1st Platoon of the 1st Company at the point "Czeremcha" (under the command of the 2nd Lieutenant Józef Patryn) did not produce the expected effect, because the enemy (Slovaks) was well secured and was not taken by surprise. The Chief of the 3rd Company, Captain Stanisław Saniński, who was killed, did not return from action.

Sources: Batalion Obrony Narodowej „Rzeszów”. Krzysztof A. Tochman. Dodatek historyczny Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej. Oddział w Rzeszowie.

Cheers. Raúl M .