Czersk Operational Group ( pl, Grupa Operacyjna Czersk, otherwise known as ''Shielding Group Czersk''; named after the town of
Czersk, Poland) was an
Operational Group
{{Unreferenced, date=October 2008
Operational Group ( pl, 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 variou ...
(a type of tactical military 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 str ...
. Formed in 1939 under the name of ''
Tuchola
Tuchola (german: Tuchel; csb, Tëchòlô) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. The Pomeranian town, which is the seat of Tuchola County, had a population of 13,418 .
Geographical location
Tuchola lies about n ...
Detachment'' ( pl, Zgrupowanie Tuchola) as part of the ''Intervention Corps'' created in order to counter a possible German action in the
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
, it was not disbanded after the end of the
Danzig Crisis. Instead it was pressed into the newly formed
Pomorze Army of Gen.
Władysław Bortnowski
Władysław Bortnowski (12 November 1891 – 21 November 1966) was a Polish historian, military commander and one of the highest ranking generals of the Polish Army. He is most famous for commanding the Pomorze Army in the Battle of Bzura during ...
and took part in the fights against the
German and Soviet Invasion of Poland later that year.
Commanded by Gen.
Stanisław Grzmot-Skotnicki
Stanisław Grzmot-Skotnicki (; 13 January 1894 – 19 September 1939) was a Polish military commander and a general of the Polish Army. During the invasion of Poland of 1939 he commanded the Czersk Operational Group and was among the highest ra ...
, it was composed of one cavalry brigade and one brigade-strong reserve infantry detachment, as well as numerous smaller units. In total, the unit had a force equivalent to one and a half divisions. Along with the rest of the army it took part in the early stages of the war, notably in the
Battle of Tuchola Forest.
OOB
*
Pomorska Cavalry Brigade
** Headquarters
** 8th Mounted Rifles Regiment
**
16th Greater Poland Uhlan Regiment 16th Greater Poland Uhlan Regiment of General Gustaw Orlicz-Dreszer (Polish language: 16 Pulk Ulanow Wielkopolskich im. gen. dyw. Gustawa Orlicz-Dreszera, 16 p.ul.) was a cavalry unit of the Polish Army in the Second Polish Republic. In the interbel ...
** 11th Mounted Artillery Battalion (1st battery)
** 81st Armoured Battalion (9
wz. 34 armoured cars and 13
TKS tankettes)
*
Kościerzyna Detachment ( pl, Oddział Wydzielony Kościerzyna)
** ''Kościerzyna'' Battalion of
National Defence
** ''Gdynia II'' Battalion of National Defence (detached from ''Kartuzy'' Detachment on September 1, 1939)
** 11th Mounted Artillery Battalion (3rd battery)
*
Chojnice
Chojnice (; , or ''Chòjnice''; german: Konitz or ''Conitz'') is a town in northern Poland with 39,423 inhabitants as of December 2021, near the Tuchola Forest. It is the capital of the Chojnice County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
History
Pi ...
Detachment
** 1st Rifles Battalion
** ''Czersk'' Battalion of National Defence
** ''Tuchola'' Battalion of National Defence
**
Border Protection 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 ...
engineering company ''Hoszcza''
** 11th Mounted Artillery Battalion (2nd battery)
** 1st Battalion of the 9th Light Artillery Regiment (detached from
9th Infantry Division)
References
* {{cite book, author=Ciechanowski, first=Konrad, title=Armia "Pomorze", year=1983, publisher=Wydawnictwo MON, location=Warsaw, isbn=83-11-06793-7, language=pl
Corps of Poland
Military units and formations established in 1939