The Southern Front (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

''Front Południowy'') was one of two fronts 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 stre ...

created during the

Invasion of Poland 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 aft ...

of 1939 against the allied forces of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. It was established on September 12 out of the Polish Armies '' Karpaty'' and ''

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 ...

'', as well as several military units created behind the front-lines. Its commander was Gen.

Kazimierz Sosnkowski General Kazimierz Sosnkowski (; Warsaw, 19 November 1885 – 11 October 1969, Arundel, Quebec) was a Polish independence fighter, general, diplomat, and architect. He was a major political figure and an accomplished commander, notable in p ...

, who was ordered by the Commander in Chief

Edward Rydz-Śmigły Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941; nom de guerre ''Śmigły, Tarłowski, Adam Zawisza''), also called Edward Śmigły-Rydz, was a Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland ...

to organize the Polish defence in the area of

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

and

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

and to prepare a last stand for the Polish defence in the so-called

Romanian Bridgehead __NOTOC__ The Romanian Bridgehead ( pl, Przedmoście rumuńskie; ro, Capul de pod român) was an area in southeastern Poland that is now located in Ukraine. During the invasion of Poland in 1939 at the start of the Second World War), the Polish ...

. Created too late to be able to change the fate of the war, the front was never established as a single entity and the entry of the

on the side of Nazi Germany to the war against Poland made the plans for the front's creation obsolete. Polish Southern Front 1939-9-17

On September 13, 1939, Gen. Kazimierz Sosnkowski came by plane to the location of Karpaty Army, renamed into Malopolska Army, which had already been encircled by the Wehrmacht. Since German units had established several bridgeheads along eastern bank of the

San river The San ( pl, San; uk, Сян ''Sian''; german: Saan) is a river in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, a tributary of the river Vistula, with a length of (it is the 6th-longest Polish river) and a basin area of 16,877 km2 (14,42 ...

, Sosnkowski decided to break through enemy lines in order to reach

Lwow Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

. The general had no idea that on September 12, the Germans had destroyed 24th Infantry Division near

Bircza Bircza ( ua, Бірча, Bircha) is a village in Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Bircza. It lies approximately south-west of Przemyśl and ...

, and 3rd Mountain Brigade near Sambor. In the north, German forces pushed 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade to Jaworow, while 1st Mountain Division attacked Lwow (see Battle of Lwow (1939)). On September 14 Przemysl fell to the Wehrmacht, and Sosnkowski's forces retreated to Sadowa Wisznia, where they concentrated and marched to Lwow. On September 15 and 16, Poles managed to repel German attacks in the forests of Jaworow, destroying among others, SS Germania Regiment. On September 17, Sosnkowski was ordered to march to the

, but was unable to achieve this, due to German encirclement of his army. In the area of

Grodek Jagiellonski __NOTOC__ Horodok ( uk, Городо́к, pl, Gródek) is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Horodok urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: . History Horodok was first men ...

, remains of what was Polish Southern Front were destroyed by the Wehrmacht. Several soldiers managed to escape to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, but the front as such ceased to exist.

Bibliography

* Tadeusz Jurga: U kresu II Rzeczypospolitej, Książka i Wiedza 1985, * Tadeusz Jurga: Wojsko Polskie : krótki informator historyczny o Wojsku Polskim w latach II wojny światowej. 7, Regularne jednostki Wojska Polskiego w 1939 : organizacja, działania bojowe, uzbrojenie, metryki związków operacyjnych, dywizji i brygad. Warszawa : Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej 1975. Invasion of Poland Army units and formations of Poland {{World-War-II-stub

See also

Bibliography