Kraków Army

Kraków Army (Polish: Armia Kraków) was one of the Polish armies to take part in the Polish Defensive War of 1939. It was officially created on March 23, 1939 as the main pivot of Polish defence. It was commanded by Gen. Antoni Szylling.

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Tasks

Its main task was to delay advancing German troops and withdraw eastwards along the northern line of the Carpathians and defend the heavily industrialized Upper Silesia region.

Operational history

During the war it was forced to retreat when German push penetrated Polish defences to the north and flanked it. It tried to organize lines of defense on the rivers of Nida, Dunajec and later, San. Later in the course of war it joined the Armia Karpaty, forming the Małopolska Army. Together they fought at the first battle of Tomaszów Lubelski (September 17–20), capitulating afterwards.

Organization

The Army was commanded by general Antoni Szylling; his chief of staff was colonel S. Wiloch.

It consisted of four infantry divisions, two mountain infantry divisions, one motorized cavalry brigade, one mountain brigade and one cavalry brigade.

Kraków Army Unit Polish name Commander Remarks
  Army units - gen. Antoni Szylling
6th Infantry Division 6 Dywizja Piechoty Bernard Mond
7th Infantry Division 7 Dywizja Piechoty gen. bryg. Janusz Gąsiorowski
Krakowska Cavalry Brigade Krakowska Brygada Kawalerii gen.bryg. Zygmunt Piasecki
10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade 10 Brygada Kawalerii Zmotoryzowanej płk. Stanisław Maczek
22nd Mountain Infantry Division 22. Dywizja Piechoty Górskiej col. Leopold Engel-Ragis in theory reserve of Łódź Army, in practice delays made it unavailable on that part of the front (part of Karpaty Army till 2 September, Kraków Army afterwards
  Śląsk Operational Group - gen. Jan Jagmin-Sadowski
23rd Infantry Division 23 Dywizja Piechoty płk. Władysław Powierza Upper Silesian
55th Infantry Division 55 Dywizja Piechoty płk. Stanisław Kalabiński reserve
  Bielsko Operational Group - gen. Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz
21st Mountain Infantry Division 21 Dywizja Piechoty Górskiej gen. Józef Kustroń
1st Mountain Brigade 1 Brygada Górska płk Janusz Gaładyk mostly elite KOP troops

References

Further reading

See also