Operational Group

For Serbian police Operational Group see Operational Group (Serbia).

Operational Group (Polish: Grupa Operacyjna, abbreviated GO) was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the Invasion of Poland. It was corps-sized, although various Operational Groups varied in size. Operational groups first appeared in Polish tactical scheme during the Polish-Bolshevik War, most probably under the influence of French Military Mission to Poland. After the war they were dissolved.

Prior to World War II, the operational groups were recreated. Initially, in March 1939, they consisted only of staffs formed around existing corps commands. According to the Polish mobilization scheme, they were to become mobile reserves of the Polish armies and other major strategic-scale units. One of such groups, the Kutno Operational Group, was planned but never created. Also, in the autumn of 1938, the Independent Operational Group Silesia was created with the purpose of capturing Zaolzie from Czechoslovakia.

Some groups were formed during the final mobilization of late August 1939, others were formed during the war as strategic considerations necessitated. Most were attached to armies, several however were independent.

  1. Independent Operational Group "Polesie" (Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Narew) under gen. Franciszek Kleeberg. Created around September 9th-11th.
  2. Independent Operational Group "Narew" (Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Polesie) under gen. Czes艂aw M艂ot-Fija艂kowski. Created on March 23
  3. Operational Group "Wyszk贸w" (Grupa Operacyjna Wyszk贸w) under gen. Wincenty Kowalski. Created on September 1.
  4. Operational Group "Grodno" (Grupa Operacyjna Grodno) under gen. J贸zef Olszyna-Wilczy艅ski. Created in early September; disbanded on September 10 before the battle of Grodno begun; most units moved towards Lw贸w.
  1. Cavalry Operational Group Abraham (Grupa Operacyjna Kawalerii Abraham) under Roman Abraham
  2. Cavalry Operational Group Anders (Grupa Operacyjna Kawalerii Anders) under gen. W艂adys艂aw Anders
  3. Cavalry Operational Group No.1 (Grupa Operacyjna Kawalerii Nr 1)
  4. Cavalry Operational Group No.2 (Grupa Operacyjna Kawalerii Nr 2)
  1. Operational Group "Bielsko"" (Grupa Operacyjna Bielsko) under gen. Mieczys艂aw Boruta-Spiechowicz (on September 3 renamed to Operational Group "Boruta") (Grupa Operacyjna Boruta)
  2. Operational Group "Czersk" (Grupa Operacyjna Czersk) under gen. Stanis艂aw Grzmot-Skotnicki
  3. Operational Group "Ko艂o" (Grupa Operacyjna Ko艂o) under gen. Edmund Knoll-Kownacki (on September 6 renamed to Operational Group "Knoll-Kownacki") (Grupa Operacyjna Knoll-Kownacki)
  4. Operational Group "Piotrk贸w" (Grupa Operacyjna Piotrk贸w) under gen. Wiktor Thomm茅e (on September 6 renamed to Operational Group "Thomm茅e") (Grupa Operacyjna Thomm茅e)
  5. Southern Operational Group (Po艂udniowa Grupa Operacyjna) under gen. Stanis艂aw Skwarczy艅ski
  6. Northern Operational Group (P贸lnocna Grupa Operacyjna) under gen. Jan Kruszewski
  7. Operational Group "Sieradz" (Grupa Operacyjna Sieradz) under gen. Franciszek Dindorf-Ankowicz
  8. Operational Group "艢l膮sk" (Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna 艢l膮sk) under gen. Jan Jagmin-Sadowski (on September 3 renamed to Operational Group "Jagmin" (Grupa Operacyjna Jagmin))
  9. Eastern Operational Group (Wschodnia Grupa Operacyjna) under gen. Miko艂aj Bo艂tu膰 (on September 9 renamed to Operational Group "Bo艂tu膰") (Grupa Operacyjna Bo艂tu膰)

In addition, during the Invasion of Poland in 1939, several other corps-sized units were formed or improvised. All of them were named after their commanding officers:

  1. Operational Group Dreszer (Grupa Operacyjna Dreszer) under Rudolf Dreszer
  2. Operational Group Orlik-艁ukoski (Grupa Operacyjn Orlik-艁ukoski) under Kazimierz Orlik-艁ukoski
  3. Operational Group Grzmot-Skotnicki (Grupa Operacyjna Grzmot-Skotnicki) under Stanis艂aw Grzmot-Skotnicki
  4. Operational Group Kareszewicz-Tokarzewski (Grupa Operacyjna Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski) under Micha艂 Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski
  5. Operational Group Zaulauf under (Grupa Operacyjna Zulauf) Juliusz Zulauf

There were also several operational groups created by the Polish People's Army (Ludowe Wojsko Polskie) after the war in the years 1946-1947.

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 15, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.