Polish 16th Infantry Division
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 16th Pomeranian Infantry Division (Polish: 16. Pomorska Dywizja Piechoty) was a Polish military unit of the Polish Army. It was created August 16, 1919 during the Greater Poland Uprising under the name of Pomeranian Rifle Division (Polish: 4. Dywizja Strzelców Pomorskich). After the uprising it was officially accepted into the Polish Army and took part in the Polish-Bolshevik War. Commanded by gen.dyw. Kazimierz Ładoś, the division never reached its planned strength and was dispatched to the front without some of its forces. It was then composed of
- 31st Infantry Brigade (under Col. Mischke)
- 32nd Infantry Brigade (65th Infantry Regiment without 1,5 battalion; under Krauss)
- 16th Artillery Brigade (understrength)
As part of the Polish 4th Army the division took part in the Kiev Offensive. Withdrawn to the area of Wieprz, it was attached to Piłsudski's army group to commence the Polish counter-assault during the battle of Warsaw of 1920. It continued its front-line service during the battle of the Niemen River, where it advanced along the Kobryń-Pińsk railway and highway, and on to the signing of the Treaty of Riga. Partially demobilized, it retained its geographical description as an unofficial nick-name (thus the division is often referred to as 16. Pomorska Dywizja Piechoty).
After the war the division was stationed in its home region of Pomerania. It's regiments were stationed in Starogard and Gniew (65th), Toruń (63rd), Grudziądz (64th and 16th artillery), Kościerzyna, Kartuzy and Chełmno (66th). During the May Coup d'Etat of 1926 the division remained loyal to the government. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, in June of 1939, the division was partially mobilized and, under command of Col. Stanisław Świtalski, attached to Gen. Bołtuć's Operational Group East of the Polish Pomorze Army. It was then dispatched to the area of Grudziądz, where it was to shield the approaches towards Toruń.
After the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War the division entered in contact with the enemy on the first hours of the conflict. Attacked by the German XXI Corps of the 3rd Army, the division was pushed back to the other side of the Osa river. Suffering from a nervous breakdown commanding officer ordered his forces to retreat, but was soon replaced with Col. Zygmunt Szyszko-Bohusz, until then the deputy commander of the division. The latter prepared the plan of a counter-attack on the flank of the advancing Germans, but the fast pace of their advance has cut out the Pomorze Army in two and the attack was called off. After a successful withdrawal through Włocławek (September 7) and Toruń, the division took part in the battle of Bzura. It successfully assaulted the German positions and liberated Łowicz, the main pivot of the German defences in the area. However, in the effect of conflicting orders from Gen. Władysław Bortnowski, the division was then withdrawn back to its initial positions on the northern bank of the Bzura river, and was then ordered to recapture the town again. The task was accomplished, but this time with much higher casualties. In the effect of heavy city fights the town was almost razed to the ground and the division was reduced to merely 1/3rd of its initial strength and had to be withdrawn from combat. The remnants of the division broke through from the battle, but were then surrounded and destroyed in the battle of the Kampinos Forest of September 19.
During the World War II, the traditions of the 16th Pomeranian were inherited by the Polish 16th Pomeranian Infantry Brigade fighting as part of Gen. Władysław Anders' Polish II Corps. After the Soviet take-over of Poland, the division was recreated in Gdańsk in 1945. It was formed too late to take part in World War II and instead it served in a variety of roles in the rear. Renamed to 16th Kashubian Infantry Division, in 1949 it was reformed into an Armoured Division and then in 1952 into the modern Polish 16th Mechanized Division.
