Mieczysław Ludwik Boruta-Spiechowicz (20 February 1894, in Rzeszów – 13 October 1985, in Zakopane) was a Polish military officer, a general of the Polish Army and a notable member of the post-war anti-communist opposition in Poland. He joined the army in 1914 and served at various posts within the Polish Legions. After Poland regained her independence in 1918 he remained in active service and took part in both the Polish-Ukrainian War and the Battle of Lwów, in which he commanded a separate defence line, and later a ''Lwów Infantry Regiment'' formed out of local volunteers. Dispatched to France, he became the commander of two regiments of the Blue Army, with which he returned to Poland in 1919. During the Polish-Bolshevik War he distinguished himself as a skilled commander of the Polish mountain infantry units, of which he formed a regiment and commanded it on various fronts of the conflict. Szczecin-Skolwin Glaz Boruty-Spiechowicza

Szczecin-Skolwin Glaz Boruty-Spiechowicza

After the war he was sent to the

Higher War School The National Defence University of Warsaw ( – AON) was the civil-military highest defence academic institution in Poland, located in Warszawa–Rembertów. In 2016 it was succeeded by the War Studies University. The National Defence Universit ...

in Warsaw and received professional military training. He served at various commanding posts in a number of Polish infantry units, both standard and mountain. He was also a notable military theorist and writer of several books on the history and practice of warfare. During the Invasion of Poland he served as the commanding officer of the ''Boruta Operational Group'', a part of the

Kraków Army Kraków Army ( pl, Armia Kraków) was one of the Polish armies which took 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. Original ...

. Taken prisoner by the USSR, he was held in various Gulags and NKVD prisons until set free by the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement of 1941. He then joined the Anders'

Polish Army in the East The Polish Armed Forces in the East ( pl, Polskie Siły Zbrojne na Wschodzie), also called Polish Army in the USSR, were the Polish military forces established in the Soviet Union during World War II. Two armies were formed separately and at ...

and became the commanding officer of the newly formed Polish 5th Infantry Division. He spent the rest of World War II as the commander of the Polish 1st Armoured Corps, combining the Polish 1st Armoured Division and the

Polish Independent Parachute Brigade The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute infantry brigade of the Polish Armed Forces in the West under the command of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski, created in September 1941 during the Second World War and based in S ...

. As one of the very few Polish pre-war generals to return to Communist-held Poland in 1945, he was initially accepted into the Polish Army. However, following a conflict with Karol Świerczewski he was demobilized and retired. He settled in Zakopane, where he became a farmer. He also remained an active member of the anti-communist opposition in Poland and in 1977 became one of the founding members of the ROPCiO movement.

Honours and awards

* Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari * Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta * Cross of Independence with Swords * Cross of Valour (seven times) * Gold Cross of Merit

Bibliography

* Tadeusz Krawczak. Pro fide et patria: generał Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz. Szczecin: "Pogranicze". 2004 * Wojciech Grobelski - Generał brygady Ludwik Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz (1894-1985), Warszawa, 2010 * Zbigniew Mierzwiński: Generałowie II Rzeczypospolitej. Warszawa 1990: Wydawnictwo Polonia, s. 53-58. . * Tadeusz Jurga: Obrona Polski 1939. Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy PAX, 1990, s. 753-754. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Boruta-Spiechowicz, Mieczyslaw 1894 births 1985 deaths People from Rzeszów People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Polish Austro-Hungarians Polish generals of the Second Polish Republic Polish Rifle Squads members Polish Military Organisation members Polish legionnaires (World War I) Blue Army (Poland) personnel Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish people of the Polish–Ukrainian War People of the Polish May Coup (pro-government side) Polish military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Cross of Independence with Swords Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)