{{unreferenced, date=January 2013 2nd Mountain Brigade ( pl, 2. Brygada Gorska) was a 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 stre ...

, which took part in the

Polish September Campaign 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 af ...

. Commanded by Colonel Aleksander Stawarz, it was part of Operational Group "Jasło" of Army Karpaty. Its purpose was to defend an 80-kilometer section of Polish-Slovak border, from

Czorsztyn Czorsztyn (German: ''Schorstin'') is a village in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Nowy Targ County. The village lies in Pieniny, the mountain range on the current Polish- Slovak border. It is famous for the ruins of a 14th-17th-century ca ...

to the Beskid Mountain Pass. Facing the Poles to the south, in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, were two German Mountain Divisions and one Slovak division, which would attack north, along valleys of the Dunajec and the Biała rivers. In the morning of 1 September 1939, 2nd Mountain Brigade was attacked both by the Slovaks (in the area of Mniszek) and the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

(in the area of Spisz). Slovak units did not succeed, but the Germans managed to capture such towns as

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been ...

, Czorsztyn and

Szczawnica Szczawnica is a resort town in Nowy Targ County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. As of June 30, 2007, its population was 7,378. Szczawnica has been a well-known resort town since the mid nineteenth century. Due to the presence o ...

. Thus, the Brigade was forced to retreat north, fighting continuously along the way. In the morning of 5 September, units of the Brigade were located in Nowy Sącz. The 2. battalion, led by major Miłek, withdrew on 5 September to the elevated advantageous positions, but against the orders. Also against the gist of the orders, the second battalion did not blow the bridges. Soon afterwards, the Germans, taking advantage of the situation, captured Nowy Sącz, together with bridges, which Polish troops had not destroyed in time. The Brigade withdrew to

Gorlice Gorlice ( uk, Горлиці, translit=''Horlytsi'') is a city and an urban municipality ("gmina") in south eastern Poland with around 29,500 inhabitants (2008). It is situated south east of Kraków and south of Tarnów between Jasło and Nowy S� ...

and on 8 September - to

Krosno Krosno (in full ''The Royal Free City of Krosno'', pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Krosno) is a historical town and county in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. The estimated population of the town is 47,140 inhabitants as of ...

. On 8 September, in Krosno, the tired soldiers did not post sufficient sentries, and the German motorized troops suddenly entered the city, capturing about half of PFC's and officers. Thus, the Brigade ceased to exist, its remnants withdrew towards

Brzozów Brzozów ( uk, Березів, ''Bereziv''; yi, ברעזשוב ''Brezhov''; lat. ''Brozovia'', or ''Prozzow'') is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 7,336 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is situated in Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 19 ...

and

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 ...

, fighting several skirmishes with advancing Wehrmacht. One regiment did continue to fight until September 24, when over the period of 4 days, the regiment successfully sneaked into Hungary by 27 September 1939.

See also