Does anybody happen to have any information about the precise place where the surrender was signed? The best I can do is 'somewhere near Kock'....
I'm out that way next week and would much like to see anything if there is to see.
Surrender of Group Polesie 6 October 1939
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Harry in Warsaw
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Piotr Kapuscinski
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Re: Surrender of Group Polesie 6 October 1939
Hi Harry,
Although general Kleeberg decided to stop the battle yet in the late evening on 05.10.1939 and negotiations about conditions of Polish capitulation were in progress since the night from 05.10.1939 to 06.10.1939, the battle lasted until 4:00 AM on 06.10.1939. The last German attack was repulsed yet on 05.10.1939 and German soldiers retreated along the whole frontline after the successful counterattack of Cavalry Brig. "Edward" which caused the threat of being outflanked and encircled by Polish cavalry; but artillery fire from both sides and artillery duel continued even after general Kleeberg decided to surrender and negotiations were started, and it stopped not until 4:00 AM on 06.10.1939.
The capitulation was signed in the morning on 6 X in Gułów, where general Kleeberg went together with his chef of staff colonel M. Łapicki and his operational officer major Tadeusz Grzeszkiewicz. They met with general Otto there.
Source: T. Grzeszkiewicz, "Działania Samodzielnej Grupy Operacyjnej Polesie. Z relacji uczestnika walk" [in:] "Wrzesień 1939 w relacjach i wspomnieniach", Warsaw, 1989, page 805.
Polish soldiers were laying down their arms since 10:00 AM in several locations, including the village Czarna.
After the capitulation general Kleeberg was transported by Germans to Kock, where he was welcomed by the commander of XIV. Motorized Corps and one company of Wehrmacht, which saluted to gen. Kleeberg by presentation of arms. In Kock general von Witersheim was praising bravery of Polish soldiers, to which general Kleeberg replied briefly that: "what was our duty, was done". After breakfast, escorted by German cars, Kleeberg with his oficers went to Lodz. In Lodz they were lodged in "Grand Hotel" and they were presented the course of Polenfeldzug by Germans.
Germans allowed them to do some shopping and allowed them to retain their pistols and uniforms. When they entered a shop in Lodz, there was great astonishment that there are still any uniformed and armed Polish officers.
Then general Kleeberg said:
"Tell the people that yesterday there was still a battle. The war is not ended. Poles are fighting and will keep fighting."
Source: the same
The almost five-days long battle of Kock was bloody and cost SGO "Polesie" 323 killed or missing soldiers. 20 more died of wounds after the battle in the German hospital in Radom (according to J. Wroblewski, "Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Polesie 1939", Warsaw, 1989, page 183). According to some other sources Polish casualties were "only" 250 dead. Soldiers of general Kleeberg (not only those KIA during the battle of Kock, but all soldiers who lost their lives during the whole combat route of this formation, in combats against both the Red Army and the Wehrmacht) are buried at 18 different cemeteries all around Poland and Belarus. Cemeteries in the following localities:
- Adamów, Gródek, Helenów, Jabłoń, Kobryń, Kock, Krzywda, Milanowski Forest, Mokrany, Okrzeja, Parczew, Radom, Radoryż, Serokomla, Terespol, Włodawa, Wojcieszków, Wola Gułowska
German casualties during the battle of Kock were not lower than Polish - they were similar or even higher.
It should be underlined, that according to the German side (official German "Battle Calendar" and also the "Heeres Verordnungsblatt" from 02.01.1940) the battle of Kock ended on 07.10.1939, so one day after the capitulation of Kleeberg. Polish sources also confirm, that after the capitulation of Kleeberg some Polish units (mainly cavalry) continued combats. It is also known that general Kleeberg allowed everyone who wanted to keep fighting to continue combats and he even insisted, that cavalry should continue combats and break through somewhere.
According to the "Heeres Verordnungsblatt" from 02.01.1940, Polenfeldzug ended on 07.10.1939 ("Feldzug gegen Polen 1.9.1939 bis 7.10.1939"), one day later than according to major part of Polish sources.
Although general Kleeberg decided to stop the battle yet in the late evening on 05.10.1939 and negotiations about conditions of Polish capitulation were in progress since the night from 05.10.1939 to 06.10.1939, the battle lasted until 4:00 AM on 06.10.1939. The last German attack was repulsed yet on 05.10.1939 and German soldiers retreated along the whole frontline after the successful counterattack of Cavalry Brig. "Edward" which caused the threat of being outflanked and encircled by Polish cavalry; but artillery fire from both sides and artillery duel continued even after general Kleeberg decided to surrender and negotiations were started, and it stopped not until 4:00 AM on 06.10.1939.
The capitulation was signed in the morning on 6 X in Gułów, where general Kleeberg went together with his chef of staff colonel M. Łapicki and his operational officer major Tadeusz Grzeszkiewicz. They met with general Otto there.
Source: T. Grzeszkiewicz, "Działania Samodzielnej Grupy Operacyjnej Polesie. Z relacji uczestnika walk" [in:] "Wrzesień 1939 w relacjach i wspomnieniach", Warsaw, 1989, page 805.
Polish soldiers were laying down their arms since 10:00 AM in several locations, including the village Czarna.
After the capitulation general Kleeberg was transported by Germans to Kock, where he was welcomed by the commander of XIV. Motorized Corps and one company of Wehrmacht, which saluted to gen. Kleeberg by presentation of arms. In Kock general von Witersheim was praising bravery of Polish soldiers, to which general Kleeberg replied briefly that: "what was our duty, was done". After breakfast, escorted by German cars, Kleeberg with his oficers went to Lodz. In Lodz they were lodged in "Grand Hotel" and they were presented the course of Polenfeldzug by Germans.
Germans allowed them to do some shopping and allowed them to retain their pistols and uniforms. When they entered a shop in Lodz, there was great astonishment that there are still any uniformed and armed Polish officers.
Then general Kleeberg said:
"Tell the people that yesterday there was still a battle. The war is not ended. Poles are fighting and will keep fighting."
Source: the same
The almost five-days long battle of Kock was bloody and cost SGO "Polesie" 323 killed or missing soldiers. 20 more died of wounds after the battle in the German hospital in Radom (according to J. Wroblewski, "Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Polesie 1939", Warsaw, 1989, page 183). According to some other sources Polish casualties were "only" 250 dead. Soldiers of general Kleeberg (not only those KIA during the battle of Kock, but all soldiers who lost their lives during the whole combat route of this formation, in combats against both the Red Army and the Wehrmacht) are buried at 18 different cemeteries all around Poland and Belarus. Cemeteries in the following localities:
- Adamów, Gródek, Helenów, Jabłoń, Kobryń, Kock, Krzywda, Milanowski Forest, Mokrany, Okrzeja, Parczew, Radom, Radoryż, Serokomla, Terespol, Włodawa, Wojcieszków, Wola Gułowska
German casualties during the battle of Kock were not lower than Polish - they were similar or even higher.
It should be underlined, that according to the German side (official German "Battle Calendar" and also the "Heeres Verordnungsblatt" from 02.01.1940) the battle of Kock ended on 07.10.1939, so one day after the capitulation of Kleeberg. Polish sources also confirm, that after the capitulation of Kleeberg some Polish units (mainly cavalry) continued combats. It is also known that general Kleeberg allowed everyone who wanted to keep fighting to continue combats and he even insisted, that cavalry should continue combats and break through somewhere.
According to the "Heeres Verordnungsblatt" from 02.01.1940, Polenfeldzug ended on 07.10.1939 ("Feldzug gegen Polen 1.9.1939 bis 7.10.1939"), one day later than according to major part of Polish sources.
Re: Surrender of Group Polesie 6 October 1939
According to the Berichte des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht:
Oct 6th 1939: The last remains of the Polish Army, about 8,000 men under the command of the Polish General Kleber, surrendered today at 10 AM near Kock, east of Deblin.
Oct 7th 1939: Among the last remains of the Polish Army, which surrendered yesterday near Kock, where two Divisional commanders and more than 100 Officers.
Oct 8th 1939: According to the latest reports, another two Divisional commanders, 1,255 Officers and 15,600 NCOs and soldiers have surrenderd near Kock. The German forces captured 10,200 Handfeuerwaffen (that would mean rifles as well as pistols), 205 maschineguns, 20 artillery pieces, more than 5,000 horses as well as several Kriegskassen. (That probably refers to divisional war chests for troop payments?)
There are no further entries of figthing in Poland, the Reports stop reporting about the eastern theatre on Oct 16th 1939.
So, all in all, the Wehrmacht claimed that they had captured roughly 25,000 men near Kock.
PS: Erich Murawski wrote a book about the quality, aims and trustworthiness of the Berichte des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht: Der Deutsche Wehrmachtsbericht 1939-1945
Oct 6th 1939: The last remains of the Polish Army, about 8,000 men under the command of the Polish General Kleber, surrendered today at 10 AM near Kock, east of Deblin.
Oct 7th 1939: Among the last remains of the Polish Army, which surrendered yesterday near Kock, where two Divisional commanders and more than 100 Officers.
Oct 8th 1939: According to the latest reports, another two Divisional commanders, 1,255 Officers and 15,600 NCOs and soldiers have surrenderd near Kock. The German forces captured 10,200 Handfeuerwaffen (that would mean rifles as well as pistols), 205 maschineguns, 20 artillery pieces, more than 5,000 horses as well as several Kriegskassen. (That probably refers to divisional war chests for troop payments?)
There are no further entries of figthing in Poland, the Reports stop reporting about the eastern theatre on Oct 16th 1939.
So, all in all, the Wehrmacht claimed that they had captured roughly 25,000 men near Kock.
PS: Erich Murawski wrote a book about the quality, aims and trustworthiness of the Berichte des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht: Der Deutsche Wehrmachtsbericht 1939-1945
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Piotr Kapuscinski
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Re: Surrender of Group Polesie 6 October 1939
Hello Baltasar!
Thanks for your interesting contribution!
But some Polish historians estimate that it could have only around 20,000 or even as few as 17,000 soldiers.
This may - however - refer to combat (frontline) parts only. So called "bayonets" or "active rifles".
Certainly there were also many rear units and rear groups of soldiers.
SGO "Polesie" had got 50. and 60. reserve (in fact improvised) infantry divisions, one improvised ("Zaza") and one regular (Podlaska) cavalry brigades, as well as one squadron of Air Force (observation planes) + smaller units.
But as I wrote above, some small regular units of Polish army continued combats after SGO "Polesie" surrendered.
For example a group under command of col. Mikolaj Prus-Wieckowski from Mazowiecka Cav. Brig., called Operational Group "Prus" (but in fact it was much smaller than real operational groups) was carying out guerilla warfare since 13.09.1939 (when col. Prus-Wieckowski was cut off from the main forces of Mazowiecka brigade and started to form his improvised group using railway transports to Romanian Bridgehead which got stuck near the railwaystation Mrozy due to damaged railways) until first snows in December of 1939 near Minsk Mazowiecki - Mroza - Skrudy - Otwock.
The last Polish armoured unit - armoured semi-company of lt. Jakubowski from Group "Luck" (formed in the Eastern territories of Poland before the Soviet invasion) was fighting until 08.10.1939, despite the fact that its last operational tank (it had got Renault R-35 tanks) had a technical breakdown and had to be abandoned yet before.
As long as until 08.10.1939 battalion "Wilk" was fighting near Kock (this was one of units which did not recognize Polish capitulation). Marching (4th) battalions from 41st and 76th Infantry Regiments were fighting much longer than battalion "Wilk" and were finally destroyed somewhere near Wlodawa and their commanders were killed in action.
Remnants of 3. PSK (Horse Rifle Regiment) were carrying out minor combats since 06.10.39 (when this regiment was dispersed during the battle of Kalinowy Dol near Kock) until 12.10.39, when they decided to demobilize themselves.
Until 05.10.1939 the grouping of major Guminski (1500 riflemen, 60 HMGs, 10 AT guns and one battery of field artillery) was existing in the forest Izdebno near the town of Laskarzew.
Until 16.10.1939 the unit of leutnant Jakubowski was occupying the manor house Bramka near the town of Okrzeja.
Colonel Zbigniew Orzel - commander of 1st platoon of 8th company of 24th Uhlan Regiment - was fighting in Tucholskie Forests since the end of the battle against Guderian until the end of October 1939. They were attacking smaller units and patrols of German police and regular army. One of their actions was the night attack against German field workshops near Tuchola. By the end of October the remaining 30 - 40 Uhlans decided to stop resistance.
On 06.10.39 a cavalry unit from Grup "Kowel" (with 1 HMG placed on a horse-drawn "taczanka") attacked the town of Bilgoraj by surprise and charged across the whole town, hitting ca. 21 Germans with a loss of 1 KIA and few WIA.
After the end of the defence of Wilno against the Red Army a unit under command of lieutenant colonel Jozef Dabrowski "Tyki" (around 300 soldiers) broke through towards the Rudnicka Primeval Forest, where it fought several skirmishes against the Soviet units. Later it marched towards the Skidelskie Forests and was carying out guerilla warfare against the Red Army and later NKVD units there until the Spring of 1940. Then soldiers went back homes.
And many more examples - for example unit of maj. Jan Wlodarkiewicz from 41st Infantry Division (160 soldiers - fighting until 15.10.1939); company of lieutenant Olszowski (fighting against the Soviet forces in Skidelskie Forests - destroyed by NKVD units by the end of December of 1939); group of cpt. Przemyslaw Weiss from 10th Infantry Division (did not surrender either to the Soviets nor to the Germans after the 2nd battle of Tomaszow Lubelski - fought until mid November of 1939, by the end of November it managed to escape to Hungary); unit of lt. Jozef Bruckner-Biernacki (four companies, one platoon of AT guns, mounted reconaissance unit - remaining 40 soldiers from this group fought until the end of December of 1939); group of Uhlans from 3. and 8. regiments (fighting in Sandomierska Primeval Forest until late Autumn of 1939); groups of troops from 13th Uhlan Regiment, III. battalion of 27th Inf.Rgt. and remnants of 154. Inf.Rgt. were carrying out guerilla warfare in Swietokrzyskie Mountains until mid October of 1939 (when they finally received information about the capitulation of Warsaw, which took place three weeks earlier).
Major Henryk Dobrzanki "Hubal" from 101st Uhlan Regiment (which saw combats only against the Soviet army in September of 1939) marched to the German occupation zone and resisted there until the Spring of 1940, fighting several victorious battles against German units during this time. He was finally defeated near Anielin on 30.04.1940.
Major Lupaszka - another soldier from the same regiment - was fighting against the Soviets until October of 1939.
Groups of regular soldiers from 50. Inf.Rgt. and ON battalion "Czersk" under command of maj. Fudakowski and lt. col. Sadowski were carrying out guerilla warfare in Tucholskie Forests and near Bydgoszcz. They were fighting mainly against various Polizei units. Major Fudakowski with his group managed to sruvive until mid October of 1939, while lt. col. Sadowski with his soldiers joined the newly born resistance and survived until the liberation in 1945.
Holdouts of Polish regular formations in 1939 turned out to be the bud of the future Polish resistance.
More about it can be found in this thread (in Polish):
http://www.dws.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=123754
Cheers!
Peter
Thanks for your interesting contribution!
Yes, in my opinion this number might be close to the reality, although some Polish historians say that Group "Polesie" was less numerous. In my opinion this opinion is not true - it could have ca. 24,000 men at the end of the campaign.So, all in all, the Wehrmacht claimed that they had captured roughly 25,000 men near Kock.
But some Polish historians estimate that it could have only around 20,000 or even as few as 17,000 soldiers.
This may - however - refer to combat (frontline) parts only. So called "bayonets" or "active rifles".
Certainly there were also many rear units and rear groups of soldiers.
There were some regular units which fought after the end of the battle of Kock. Kock is considered as the last battle of the Polish campaign because the last operational unit (composed of 2 divisions and 2 brigades) surrendered there.There are no further entries of figthing in Poland, the Reports stop reporting about the eastern theatre on Oct 16th
SGO "Polesie" had got 50. and 60. reserve (in fact improvised) infantry divisions, one improvised ("Zaza") and one regular (Podlaska) cavalry brigades, as well as one squadron of Air Force (observation planes) + smaller units.
But as I wrote above, some small regular units of Polish army continued combats after SGO "Polesie" surrendered.
For example a group under command of col. Mikolaj Prus-Wieckowski from Mazowiecka Cav. Brig., called Operational Group "Prus" (but in fact it was much smaller than real operational groups) was carying out guerilla warfare since 13.09.1939 (when col. Prus-Wieckowski was cut off from the main forces of Mazowiecka brigade and started to form his improvised group using railway transports to Romanian Bridgehead which got stuck near the railwaystation Mrozy due to damaged railways) until first snows in December of 1939 near Minsk Mazowiecki - Mroza - Skrudy - Otwock.
The last Polish armoured unit - armoured semi-company of lt. Jakubowski from Group "Luck" (formed in the Eastern territories of Poland before the Soviet invasion) was fighting until 08.10.1939, despite the fact that its last operational tank (it had got Renault R-35 tanks) had a technical breakdown and had to be abandoned yet before.
As long as until 08.10.1939 battalion "Wilk" was fighting near Kock (this was one of units which did not recognize Polish capitulation). Marching (4th) battalions from 41st and 76th Infantry Regiments were fighting much longer than battalion "Wilk" and were finally destroyed somewhere near Wlodawa and their commanders were killed in action.
Remnants of 3. PSK (Horse Rifle Regiment) were carrying out minor combats since 06.10.39 (when this regiment was dispersed during the battle of Kalinowy Dol near Kock) until 12.10.39, when they decided to demobilize themselves.
Until 05.10.1939 the grouping of major Guminski (1500 riflemen, 60 HMGs, 10 AT guns and one battery of field artillery) was existing in the forest Izdebno near the town of Laskarzew.
Until 16.10.1939 the unit of leutnant Jakubowski was occupying the manor house Bramka near the town of Okrzeja.
Colonel Zbigniew Orzel - commander of 1st platoon of 8th company of 24th Uhlan Regiment - was fighting in Tucholskie Forests since the end of the battle against Guderian until the end of October 1939. They were attacking smaller units and patrols of German police and regular army. One of their actions was the night attack against German field workshops near Tuchola. By the end of October the remaining 30 - 40 Uhlans decided to stop resistance.
On 06.10.39 a cavalry unit from Grup "Kowel" (with 1 HMG placed on a horse-drawn "taczanka") attacked the town of Bilgoraj by surprise and charged across the whole town, hitting ca. 21 Germans with a loss of 1 KIA and few WIA.
After the end of the defence of Wilno against the Red Army a unit under command of lieutenant colonel Jozef Dabrowski "Tyki" (around 300 soldiers) broke through towards the Rudnicka Primeval Forest, where it fought several skirmishes against the Soviet units. Later it marched towards the Skidelskie Forests and was carying out guerilla warfare against the Red Army and later NKVD units there until the Spring of 1940. Then soldiers went back homes.
And many more examples - for example unit of maj. Jan Wlodarkiewicz from 41st Infantry Division (160 soldiers - fighting until 15.10.1939); company of lieutenant Olszowski (fighting against the Soviet forces in Skidelskie Forests - destroyed by NKVD units by the end of December of 1939); group of cpt. Przemyslaw Weiss from 10th Infantry Division (did not surrender either to the Soviets nor to the Germans after the 2nd battle of Tomaszow Lubelski - fought until mid November of 1939, by the end of November it managed to escape to Hungary); unit of lt. Jozef Bruckner-Biernacki (four companies, one platoon of AT guns, mounted reconaissance unit - remaining 40 soldiers from this group fought until the end of December of 1939); group of Uhlans from 3. and 8. regiments (fighting in Sandomierska Primeval Forest until late Autumn of 1939); groups of troops from 13th Uhlan Regiment, III. battalion of 27th Inf.Rgt. and remnants of 154. Inf.Rgt. were carrying out guerilla warfare in Swietokrzyskie Mountains until mid October of 1939 (when they finally received information about the capitulation of Warsaw, which took place three weeks earlier).
Major Henryk Dobrzanki "Hubal" from 101st Uhlan Regiment (which saw combats only against the Soviet army in September of 1939) marched to the German occupation zone and resisted there until the Spring of 1940, fighting several victorious battles against German units during this time. He was finally defeated near Anielin on 30.04.1940.
Major Lupaszka - another soldier from the same regiment - was fighting against the Soviets until October of 1939.
Groups of regular soldiers from 50. Inf.Rgt. and ON battalion "Czersk" under command of maj. Fudakowski and lt. col. Sadowski were carrying out guerilla warfare in Tucholskie Forests and near Bydgoszcz. They were fighting mainly against various Polizei units. Major Fudakowski with his group managed to sruvive until mid October of 1939, while lt. col. Sadowski with his soldiers joined the newly born resistance and survived until the liberation in 1945.
Holdouts of Polish regular formations in 1939 turned out to be the bud of the future Polish resistance.
More about it can be found in this thread (in Polish):
http://www.dws.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=123754
Cheers!
Peter
Last edited by Piotr Kapuscinski on 25 Aug 2009, 00:26, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Surrender of Group Polesie 6 October 1939
Hi Domor,
I didn't mean to deny that some Polish forces continued to fight, I merely quoted the Berichte des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht. There are no reports of fightings after the surrender at Kock and by October 16th, the reports on the Polish front stop. All I can find is reports about German and Russian forces moving toward their respective area of interest.
I didn't mean to deny that some Polish forces continued to fight, I merely quoted the Berichte des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht. There are no reports of fightings after the surrender at Kock and by October 16th, the reports on the Polish front stop. All I can find is reports about German and Russian forces moving toward their respective area of interest.
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Piotr Kapuscinski
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Re: Surrender of Group Polesie 6 October 1939
Yes, I know that you didn't mean to deny this. 
I just wanted to present this unknown part of history here.
I know some part of these reports because they are quoted by Janusz Piekalkiewicz in his book (it is also available in German language) or by Christoph Avender on "ww2 day by day". Piekalkiewicz's book is valuable for me mainly because of these reports and fragments from German newspapers or propaganda instructions quoted there.
As far as I know "Berichte des OKW" also didn't report about the battles fought against major Hubal in 1940.
So it is not surprising for me that they didn't report about minor skirmishes and combats which took place after Kock.
Also the campaign officialy ended on 7 IX, so after that, for Germans, it was already occupation and the resistance.
Kock was the last large battle of the campaign (ca. 40,000 German soldiers and 24,000 Polish soldiers involved + some minor encounters with Soviet patrols also took place by some Polish units) and is considered as the official end of it.
/ Peter
I just wanted to present this unknown part of history here.I know some part of these reports because they are quoted by Janusz Piekalkiewicz in his book (it is also available in German language) or by Christoph Avender on "ww2 day by day". Piekalkiewicz's book is valuable for me mainly because of these reports and fragments from German newspapers or propaganda instructions quoted there.
As far as I know "Berichte des OKW" also didn't report about the battles fought against major Hubal in 1940.
So it is not surprising for me that they didn't report about minor skirmishes and combats which took place after Kock.
Also the campaign officialy ended on 7 IX, so after that, for Germans, it was already occupation and the resistance.
Kock was the last large battle of the campaign (ca. 40,000 German soldiers and 24,000 Polish soldiers involved + some minor encounters with Soviet patrols also took place by some Polish units) and is considered as the official end of it.
/ Peter
Re: Surrender of Group Polesie 6 October 1939
Hello
I was wondering if you guys can help me.
I'm trying to track down some history on my grand father 'Julian' Jakubowski.
I know that he was in the polish cavalry during the invasion and later ended up driving tanks.
He was highly decorated however I do not know what rank he was.
Could this be the same Lt Jakubowski of group "luck" ? it sounds like him, he had a bullet fly past and scrape the side of his head.. thats lucky.
After the war he moved to Australia, started a family and changed his last name and possibly his first name.
any help would be greatly appreciated
I was wondering if you guys can help me.
I'm trying to track down some history on my grand father 'Julian' Jakubowski.
I know that he was in the polish cavalry during the invasion and later ended up driving tanks.
He was highly decorated however I do not know what rank he was.
Could this be the same Lt Jakubowski of group "luck" ? it sounds like him, he had a bullet fly past and scrape the side of his head.. thats lucky.
After the war he moved to Australia, started a family and changed his last name and possibly his first name.
any help would be greatly appreciated
-
Piotr Kapuscinski
- Host - Allied sections
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Re: Surrender of Group Polesie 6 October 1939
Here is the German document from 08.10.1939 that you mentioned above (it mentions 16,862 POWs):Baltasar wrote:According to the Berichte des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht:
Oct 6th 1939: The last remains of the Polish Army, about 8,000 men under the command of the Polish General Kleber, surrendered today at 10 AM near Kock, east of Deblin.
Oct 7th 1939: Among the last remains of the Polish Army, which surrendered yesterday near Kock, where two Divisional commanders and more than 100 Officers.
Oct 8th 1939: According to the latest reports, another two Divisional commanders, 1,255 Officers and 15,600 NCOs and soldiers have surrenderd near Kock. The German forces captured 10,200 Handfeuerwaffen (that would mean rifles as well as pistols), 205 maschineguns, 20 artillery pieces, more than 5,000 horses as well as several Kriegskassen. (That probably refers to divisional war chests for troop payments?)
There are no further entries of figthing in Poland, the Reports stop reporting about the eastern theatre on Oct 16th 1939.
So, all in all, the Wehrmacht claimed that they had captured roughly 25,000 men near Kock.
PS: Erich Murawski wrote a book about the quality, aims and trustworthiness of the Berichte des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht: Der Deutsche Wehrmachtsbericht 1939-1945
http://www.historycy.org/index.php?show ... t&p=601048
http://www.historycy.org/index.php?show ... t&p=528130
^^^ But there exist also alternative estimates of its strength, which say about around 18,000 or 20,000.Liczebność (po uwzględnieniu szacunkowych strat):
BK „Plis” [cavalry brigade]:
2 puł – 2 szwadrony liniowe + szwadron ckm i część służb (ok. 400)
10 puł – pełny skład (ok. 700 - 750)
połowa 5 puł – dywizjon (ok. 350)
2 szwadron pionierów – ok. 50 - 70
14 dak (jedna bateria z 4 działami) – ok. 150 – 200
Służby i tabory – 500 - 600
Razem: 2150 - 2350
BK „Edward” [cavalry brigade]:
3 psz (ok. 700 - 750)
1 puł – 3 szwadrony po 2 plutony, drużyna ckm, pluton ppanc, pluton ckm na taczankach i sekcja pionierów (ok. 300)
3 psk – poniósł duże straty (ok. 500 - 600)
11 szwadron pionierów – ok. 50 - 70
4 dak (trzy baterie po 2 działa każda) – 250 – 300
Służby i tabory – 500 – 600
Razem: 2300 - 2600
Baony "Wilk" i "Olek" - 800
Podlaska BK [cavalry brigade]:
9 psk (ok. 700 - 750)
połowa 5 puł – dywizjon (ok. 350 - 400)
Dywizjon kawalerii KOP „Niewirków” (ok. 350)
3 szwadrony z OZ Nowogórdzkiej BK – ok. 210
Artyleria (3 baterie, jedna z 3 działami, dwie z 2 działami + służby) - 280
Służby i tabory – 500 – 600
Razem: 2400 - 2600
Razem [Total] kawaleria [cavalry] + baony "Wilk" i "Olek": 7650 - 8350 (ok. 8000)
50 DP - GO "Brzoza" (4700) + baon por. Cereniewicza (500) + Grupa "Drohiczyn" (3 baony - szac. 1500) + dywizjony pomiarowe (sześciobateryjny = ok. 800 + drugi, zapewne trzybateryjny, szac. ok. 500) = 8000
60 DP - szac. ok. 8000 - 10000
Improwizowany Pułk "Bohdan" - szac. ok. 500
135 pp - 800 - 900
II./32 pal (1 lub 2 baterie ?, w tym jedna bez dział ?) - ok. 150 - 300
Razem oddziały pozadywizyjne: ok. 1450 - 1700
Razem [Total]: ok. [ca.] 25000 - 28000
There are words which carry the presage of defeat. Defence is such a word. What is the result of an even victorious defence? The next attempt of imposing it to that weaker, defender. The attacker, despite temporary setback, feels the master of situation.
Re: Surrender of Group Polesie 6 October 1939
Hello to all 
; a complement..........................................
The road of SGO Polesie 1939.
Source: Okruchy Historii_ Ostatnie bitwy kampanii wrześniowej cz.3 - Porażka_files/szlak+bojowy+sgo+polesie.jpg
Cheers. Raúl M
.
; a complement..........................................The road of SGO Polesie 1939.
Source: Okruchy Historii_ Ostatnie bitwy kampanii wrześniowej cz.3 - Porażka_files/szlak+bojowy+sgo+polesie.jpg
Cheers. Raúl M
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