1st Mountain Brigade (1. Brygada Górska) was a unit of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

during the interbellum period, which took part in the

Polish September Campaign The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after ...

. Commanded by Colonel Janusz Galadyk, it was part of

Bielsko Operational Group Operational Group Bielsko (''Grupa Operacyjna Bielsko'', ''GO Bielsko''), named after southern Polish city of Bielsko-Biała, was an Operational Group of the Polish Army which fought in the 1939 Invasion of Poland. Officially created on 23 March 193 ...

of the

Army Kraków An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. It consisted mostly of units of the

Border Defence Corps The Border Protection Corps ( pl, Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, KOP) was a military formation of the Second Polish Republic that was created in 1924 to defend the country's eastern borders against armed Soviet incursions and local bandits. Other b ...

(KOP), sent to southwestern Poland from

Eastern Borderlands Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic, it ...

. Created on July 7, 1939, its task was to defend southern wing of the Army, in the section between

Żywiec Żywiec () (german: Saybusch) is a town in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship.It is the capital of Ż ...

and

Rabka Rabka may refer to the following places: * Rabka, Tibet, a village in China * Rabka-Zdrój Rabka-Zdrój (, in Goral dialects: ''Robka'', colloquially: ''Rabka'') is a spa town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. It is located between Kraków an ...

. On September 1, the Brigade was attacked by four German divisions - 2nd Panzer, 4th Light, 3rd Mountain and 7th I.D. In bitter fights around Wegierska Gorka, the

Berezwecz Hlybokaye or Glubokoye ( be, Глыбокае, translit=Hłybokaje, russian: Глубокое, translit=Glubokoye, pl, Głębokie, lt, Glubokas, yi, גלובאָק, Glubok) is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus, the capital of Hlybokaye Raion ( ...

Battalion of KOP was destroyed and the following night Colonel Galadyk ordered his men to leave the valley of the

Sola Sola is a municipality and a Seaside resort in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Solakrossen. Other villages include Tananger, Hålandsm ...

river, as the neighboring Polish 21. Mountain Infantry Division had also been destroyed and further defence of the area was impossible. During retreat towards

Wadowice Wadowice (; ger, Frauenstadt – Wadowitz) is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 19,200 inhabitants (2006), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wa ...

, the Brigade fought several skirmishes with the advancing

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. It was helped for a while by the 10th Cavalry Brigade under Colonel

Stanisław Maczek Lieutenant General Stanisław Maczek (; 31 March 1892 – 11 December 1994) was a Polish tank commander of World War II, whose division was instrumental in the Allied liberation of France, closing the Falaise pocket, resulting in the destructio ...

, its task was to halt the Germans, who wanted to gain control over the

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been par ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

road. On September 4, the German XXII Army Corps defeated a Border Defence Corps Battalion in

Mszana Dolna Mszana (German: ''Mschanna'') is a village in Wodzisław County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Mszana. It lies approximately south-east of Wodzisław Śląski and s ...

, but on the same day, KOP soldiers from

Wilejka Vileyka (Instruction on transliteration of Belarusian geographical names with letters of Latin script, officially transliterated as Viliejka, be, Віле́йка , also ''Вялейка''; russian: Вилейка; lt, Vileika; pl, Wilejka) is a ...

managed to beat the Germans at

Pcim Pcim is a village in Myślenice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is located in the gmina (administrative district) of Gmina Pcim, of which it is the seat. It lies approximately south of Myślenice and south of the regi ...

. Withdrawing northwards, the Brigade was finally overcome in the area of

Bochnia Bochnia (german: Salzberg) is a town on the river Raba in southern Poland. The town lies approximately halfway between Tarnów (east) and the regional capital Kraków (west). Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning in Eu ...

, and it ceased to exist

References

Mountain infantry brigades of Poland {{Poland-stub

See also

References