The 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade (Polish: ''1 Warszawska Brygada Pancerna'') is a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

of the

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, abbreviated ''SZ RP''; popularly called ''Wojsko Polskie'' in Poland, abbreviated ''WP''—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national armed forces of ...

, based in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

History

Polish 1st Armoured Brigade " defenders of Westerplatte" ( pl, 1 Brygada Pancerna im. Bohaterów Westerplatte) or Polish 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade (Polish: ''1 Warszawska Brygada Pancerna'') was a military unit in the

Ludowe Wojsko Polskie The Polish People's Army ( pl, Ludowe Wojsko Polskie , LWP) constituted the second formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in 1943–1945, and in 1945–1989 the armed forces of the Polish communist state ( from 1952, the Polish Peo ...

. It was formed on August 19, 1943, from a regiment (pułk) of the same name. The unit fought at the

Battle of Lenino The Battle of Lenino was a tactical World War II engagement that took place on 12 and 13 October 1943, north of the village of Lenino, Mahilyow Voblast, Lenino in the Mogilev region of Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussia. The battle itself was a part ...

(September 1943) and at the

Battle of Studzianki The Battle of Studzianki was a tactical engagement between elements of the Soviet Red Army's 2nd Guards Tank Army employed as a cavalry mechanized group of the 1st Belorussian Front, together with Polish 1st Armoured Brigade and elements of th ...

during the Lublin-Brest Offensive (

Magnuszew Magnuszew is a village in Kozienice County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Magnuszew. It lies approximately north-west of Kozienice and south-east of Warsaw. ...

bridgeheads in August 1944).''The Polish Army 1939-45'' By

Steven J. Zaloga Steven J. Zaloga (born February 1, 1952) is an American author and defense consultant. He received a bachelor's degree ''cum laude'' at Union College and a master's degree at Columbia University, both in history. He has published many books d ...

, Richard Hook,

Osprey Publishing Osprey Publishing is a British, Oxford-based, publishing company specializing in military history. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company produces ov ...

br>
/ref> From mid-August it was subordinate to the First Polish Army (1944-1945), Polish First Army. Later the unit fought in the East Pomeranian Offensive. In January 1945 it received another honorary name, ''Warszawska'' (of Warsaw). In July and August 1945 fought against Polish anti-Communist guerrilla. In January 1946 it was downsized to regiment (becoming 1st Warsaw Tank Regiment), and from June it was stationed in the Modlin area. The modern version of the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade was formed in 1994 and was subordinated to the 16th Pomeranian Mechanised Division. On August 29, 2019, the brigade was transferred under the command of the newly formed 18th "Żelazna" Mechanised Division, which is intended to help safeguard Poland's eastern border.

Structure

* The 1st ''Warsaw'' Armoured Brigade ''"

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ( be, Andréj Tadévuš Banavientúra Kasciúška, en, Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, an ...

"'' is headquartered in

Wesoła Wesoła () is one of the districts of Warsaw, and has been as such since October 27, 2002. Wesoła is located in the south-eastern part of city. Wesoła received town privileges on December 17, 1968. Then, the town included Wola Grzybowska, We ...

and structured as follows: ** Command Battalion in Wesoła ** Tank Battalion in Wesoła with Leopard 2A5

main battle tank A main battle tank (MBT), also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the role of armor-protected direct fire and maneuver in many modern armies. Cold War-era development of more powerful engines, better suspension sys ...

s ** 1st Mechanised Battalion in

Chełm Chełm (; uk, Холм, Kholm; german: Cholm; yi, כעלם, Khelm) is a city in southeastern Poland with 60,231 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some ...

with

BWP-1 The BMP-1 is a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle, in service 1966–present. BMP stands for ''Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty 1'' (russian: link=no, Боевая Машина Пехоты 1; БМП-1), meaning "infantry fighting ...

infantry fighting vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forc ...

s ** 3rd Mechanised Battalion in

Zamość Zamość (; yi, זאמאשטש, Zamoshtsh; la, Zamoscia) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021. ...

with BWP-1 infantry fighting vehicles ** Self-propelled Artillery Group in Chełm with

2S1 Gvozdika The 2S1 ''Gvozdika'' (russian: link=no, 2С1 «Гвоздика», "Carnation") is a Soviet self-propelled howitzer based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis, mounting a 122 mm 2A18 howitzer. "2S1" is its GRAU designation. An alternative Rus ...

122mm self-propelled howitzers ** Anti-aircraft Group in

Siedlce Siedlce [] ( yi, שעדליץ ) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship (1975–1998). The city is situated b ...

with ZUR-23-2 kg "Jodek-G" anti-aircraft systems and

Grom Grom may refer to: Military * JW GROM, a Polish special forces unit * ORP ''Grom'', several ships of the Polish Navy * Grom (missile), a Polish anti-aircraft missile * A Yugoslav/Serbian version of the Kh-23 (AS-9 'Kyle') air-to-surface missi ...

surface-to-air missiles ** Reconnaissance Company in Siedlce with

BRDM-2 The BRDM-2 (''Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina'', Боевая Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle") is an amphibious armoured scout car used by states that we ...

vehicles ** Engineer Company in Siedlce ** Logistic Battalion in Wesoła

Popular culture

The Polish TV series

Czterej pancerni i pies ''Four Tank-Men and a Dog'' (Polish: ''Czterej pancerni i pies'', ) was a Polish black and white TV series based on the book by Janusz Przymanowski. Made between 1966 and 1970, the series is composed of 21 episodes of 55 minutes each, divided i ...

(Four tank men and a dog) featured the adventures of a tank crew from this brigade.

References

External link

{{Authority control Armoured brigades of Poland Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations of Poland in World War II