The Prusy Army ( pl, Armia Prusy) was one of the
Polish armies to fight during the
Invasion of Poland in 1939. Created in the summer of 1939 as the main reserve of the Commander in Chief, it was commanded by Gen.
Stefan Dąb-Biernacki
Stefan Dąb-Biernacki (7 January 1890 – 9 February 1959) was a Polish commander who served as the commander of the Prusy Army during the invasion of Poland in 1939.
Early career
He was a member of the Polish Legions in World War I, and he lat ...
. The word ''Prusy'' in the Polish language means
Prussia, but this name only served as a codename and the region of operations of this army was far from
East Prussia. This is in contrast to other Polish armies in 1939 which were named after the geographical regions where they formed. The Prusy Army, whose original name was Warszawa Army, was named so after a
folwark in central Poland called Prusy, which served as the headquarters of General Dąb-Biernacki.
Tasks
According to the "Plan West" (''
Plan Zachód'', the code name for the Polish mobilization plan) it was to be composed of units mobilized as the second and third waves, and its main purpose was to cooperate with the nearby armies "
Łódź" and "
Kraków". It was being mobilized in two groups after the outbreak of hostilities. It consisted of 6 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry brigade and a battalion of tanks. Once ready, it was supposed to stop the main German thrust. The army, divided into two groups, northern and southern, was concentrated southwest of Warsaw (in the triangle between
Kielce,
Radom, and
Tomaszów Mazowiecki), as Marshall
Edward Śmigły-Rydz
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
was convinced that main German thrust would be directed at Warsaw, via
Łódź.
Northern group of Prusy Army was planned to be concentrated in the area
Koluszki
Koluszki is a town, and a major railway junction, in central Poland, in Łódź Voivodeship, about 20 km east of Łódź with a population of 12,776 (2020). The junction in Koluszki serves trains that go from Warsaw to Łódź, Wrocław, Cz� ...
-
Łowicz
Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,896 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a m ...
-
Skierniewice
Skierniewice is a city in central Poland with 47,031 inhabitants (2021), situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), previously capital of Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Skierniewice County. The town is situate ...
, while its southern group was located in the area marked by the towns of
Skarżysko-Kamienna-
Opoczno-
Radom. After detraining, the units of the Army were to take positions in the following towns: 44th I.D. - Sochaczew, 13th I.D -
Regny, 19th I.D. - Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Wilno Cavalry Brigade - Piotrków Trybunalski, 29th I.D. -
Sulejów
Sulejów is a town in central Poland with 6,130 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been in Piotrków Voivodeship (1975–1998). Sulejów gives its name to the protected area known as Sulej� ...
, 36th I.D. - Opoczno, 12th I.D. - Końskie, 3rd I.D. - Skarżysko-Kamienna, 39th I.D. - Kozienice.
Polish military strategists correctly predicted that German forces would try to push in between the armies "Łódź" and "Krakow," but they failed to predict the fast pace of the German advance. Therefore, in Polish plans "Armia Prusy" was to be fully mobilized only by 14 September 1939, while in reality, it needed to be ready as soon as the late night of 3 September 1939. As Polish historians Czesław Grzelak and Henryk Stańczyk wrote: "Polish planners miscalculated the speed of the advance of German panzer and motorized units, and plans for the conflict were based on the experiences of the First World War".
[Czesław Grzelak, Henryk Stańczyk Kampania polska 1939 roku, page 182. Oficyna Wydawnicza RYTM Warszawa, 2005. ]
The Poles were surprised by how fast they would have to fall back to prevent the destruction of their units. This miscalculation led to the capture of the city of
Łódź - a major setback to the Polish plan of defending the country west from the
Vistula river at least until October 1939. More surprising should be that the "Polish schedule" was followed by the French one year later; they did refuse to read the report pointing out mistakes of the Polish military, and drawing conclusions on how to avoid them in the future. The report was prepared by the Polish generals and handed to the French, and the British in their respective languages, in late 1939.
Operational history
The northern group was to back up the Łódź Army near
Łódź and
Sieradz, while the southern group was to support Kraków Army by preparing the defence of central Vistula river area. Because of fast German advance both groups entered combat separately and most units did not reach full mobilization. Due to the deteriorating situation in the
battle of the border, it was decided to push partially mobilized units of Prusy Army to the front as soon as possible. In original Polish plans, the
10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade belonged to the Prusy Army. In late July 1939, Marshall Śmigły-Rydz decided to move this unit to
Kraków Army.
The northern group, seriously damaged in the battles of
Piotrków and
Tomaszów Mazowiecki (September 5 - September 6) was forced to cross the Vistula. The southern group, much less organized and poorly commanded, fought in the
Battle of Iłża
The Battle of Radom, also known as the Battle of Iłża, was part of the Invasion of Poland during the Second World War. It lasted from 8 September 1939 to 9 September 1939. Polish troops of the Prusy Army, under General Stanisław Skwarczyński ...
, after which it was cut off from the Vistula, encircled near
Radom and destroyed (September 8–9). Units of the Army which retained cohesion or broke through the German lines later fought in the
defense of Warsaw or joined the other Armies in the northern-central Poland.
Organization
The army was commanded by General Stefan Dąb-Biernacki; his chief of staff was
Tomasz Obertyński. Biernacki was in direct command of the Northern Group; the Southern Group was commanded by General
Stanisław Skwarczyński Stanisław Skwarczyński (1888–1981) was a soldier of the Austro-Hungarian Army, officer of Polish Legions in World War I, and General brygady of the Polish Army. He fought in several conflicts, including World War I, Polish-Czechoslovak War, ...
.
----
References
Armie i samodzielne grupy operacyjne Wojska Polskiego 1939 WIEM Encyklopedia
Further reading
*Jan Wróblewski. ''Armia Prusy'', Warszawa 1986.
{{Polish Armies 1939
Polish armies
Military units and formations of Poland in World War II
Military units and formations established in 1939