The Battle of Wizna was fought between September 7 and September 10, 1939, between the forces of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

during the initial stages of 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 ...

, which marked the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

in Europe. According to Polish historian

Leszek Moczulski Robert Leszek Moczulski (, born 7 June 1930) is a Polish historian and politician, a member of various organizations, first supporting then supposedly opposing the communist regime in the People's Republic of Poland while dividing the opposition ...

, between 350 and 720 Poles defended a fortified line for three days against more than 40,000 Germans. Although defeat was inevitable, the Polish defence stalled the attacking forces for three days and postponed the encirclement of

Independent Operational Group Narew Independent Operational Group Narew (''Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Narew'', SGO Narew) was one of the Polish Army Corps (Operational Groups) that defended Poland during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. It was created on 23 March 1939 and was com ...

fighting nearby.Dobroński, p.21 Eventually the tanks broke through the Polish line and German engineers eliminated all the shelters one by one. The last shelter surrendered around midday on September 10.Moczulski, p.767 Because the battle consisted of a small force holding a piece of fortified territory against a vastly larger invasion for three days at great cost before being annihilated, Wizna is sometimes referred to as the "

Polish Thermopylae The Polish Thermopylae is a name used to refer to several battles in Polish history. The Polish Thermopylae is a reference to the Battle of Thermopylae, where a Spartan force chose to fight to the death while vastly outnumbered. Famous last sta ...

".Wiśniewski, op.cit.Krajewski, pp.16-17 One of the symbols of the battle is Captain

Władysław Raginis Władysław Raginis (June 27, 1908 – September 10, 1939) was a Polish military commander during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 of a small force holding the Polish fortified defense positions against a vastly larger invasion during the Battl ...

, the commanding officer of the Polish force, who swore to hold his position as long as he was alive. When the last two shelters under his command ran out of ammunition, he ordered his men to surrender their arms and committed suicide by putting a grenade between his chin and neck.

History

Background

Before the war, the area of the village of

Wizna Wizna is a village in Łomża County of Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, situated on the Narew River. Wizna is known for the battle of Wizna which took place in its vicinity during the 1939 Invasion of Poland at the start of Worl ...

was prepared as a fortified line of defence. It was to shield the Polish positions further to the south and guard the crossing of the Narew and

Biebrza Biebrza ( lt, Bebras, '' be, Bobra'', ''german: Bober'') is a river in northeastern Poland, a tributary of the Narew river (near Wizna), with a length of and a basin area of 7,092 km2 (7,067 in Poland).Kołodzieje and Grądy-Woniecko, with Wizna in the centre. The line ran some from the border with East Prussia, along an elevated banks of Narew and

shielding

Łomża Łomża (), in English known as Lomza, is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately 150 kilometers (90 miles) to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship ...

and providing defence of the northern approach to Warsaw.Komorowski, p.448 The Wizna fortified area was one of the most important nodes in Northern Poland, providing cover of both the river crossings, and the roads

– Białystok and roads towards

Brześć Litewski Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

on the rear of Polish forces. Construction started in June 1939, only two months before the outbreak of World War II. The spot was chosen carefully; most of the concrete

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

s were built on hills overlooking a swampy Narew River valley. They could be reached either through direct assault through the swamps or by attack along the causeway leading from the bridge in Wizna. Before September 1, 1939, only 16 bunkers were built out of 60 planned. Six bunkers were made of heavy concrete with reinforced steel cupolas weighing 8 tons each, armed with machine guns and anti-tank artillery. Two were light concrete bunkers, armed with machine guns only. The remaining eight were ad hoc machine gun

pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...

es, protected mostly by sandbags and earthworks. Four additional heavy bunkers were under construction when World War II started. In addition, the area was reinforced with

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from ero ...

es, anti-tank and anti-personnel obstacles, barbed wire lines and

land mine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

s. There were also plans to break the dams on the

Biebrza Biebrza ( lt, Bebras, '' be, Bobra'', ''german: Bober'') is a river in northeastern Poland, a tributary of the Narew river (near Wizna), with a length of and a basin area of 7,092 km2 (7,067 in Poland).Narew rivers to flood the area, but the summer of 1939 was one of the driest seasons in Polish history and the water level was too low. Although not all bunkers were ready by the beginning of the war, the Polish lines of defence were well-prepared. The walls of an average bunker, 1.5 metres thick and reinforced with 20-centimetre-thick steel plates, could withstand a direct hit from even the heaviest guns available to the Wehrmacht at the time. The bunkers were situated on hills which gave good visibility of all the advancing forces.

Opposing forces

The Polish defensive line was initially manned by a single battalion from the 71st Infantry Regiment, commanded by Major Jakub Fober. However, shortly before the outbreak of World War II it was reinforced with a machine gun company from Osowiec Fortress under Captain

, as well as numerous smaller detachments from a variety of units. On September 2, 1939, the III/71 battalion departed for Osowiec, and Fober passed command over Wizna to Raginis and his men. Altogether, the Polish defensive position was manned by 720 men: 20 officers and 700 NCOs and privates. However, some sources claim that the Polish unit was even weaker, no more than 360 men strong.Zychowicz, p. A6 Although the Polish units were almost entirely composed of conscripts mobilised in August 1939 rather than professional soldiers, their morale was very high. After the war, Guderian had trouble explaining why his corps was stopped by such a small force. In his memoirs he attributes the delay to his officers "having trouble building bridges across the rivers". During the Nuremberg Trials he remarked that Wizna was "well-defended by a local officer school".

Before the battle

On September 1, 1939, the Invasion of Poland, Polish Defensive War and World War II started. The German 3rd Army was to advance from East Prussia towards Warsaw, directly through the positions of Polish Narew Independent Operational Group, Narew Corps. On September 2 Captain

was named the commander of the Wizna area. As his command post he chose the "GG-126" bunker near the village of Góra Strękowa. The bunker was located on a hill in the exact centre of the Polish lines. His forces numbered approximately 700 soldiers and Non-commissioned officer, NCOs and 20 officers armed with 6 pieces of artillery (75mm), 24 Heavy machine gun, HMGs, 18 machine guns and two Kb ppanc wz.35 anti-tank rifles, with just 20 bullets. After initial clashes at the border, the Podlaska Cavalry Brigade operating in the area, during the night of 3/4 September was ordered to withdraw and on September 5 it left the area and marched toward Mały Płock to cross the river Narew. On September 3 Polish positions were spotted from the air and strafed with machine gun fire from enemy fighters. On September 7, 1939, the reconnaissance units of the German 10th Panzer Division, 10th Panzer Division of General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst captured the village of Wizna. Polish mounted reconnaissance squads abandoned the village after a short fight and retreated to the southern bank of Narew. When German tanks tried to cross the bridge, it was blown up by Polish engineers. After dark, patrols of German infantry crossed the river and advanced towards Giełczyn, but were repelled with heavy casualties. On September 8 General Heinz Guderian, commander of the XIX Panzer Corps, was ordered to advance through

towards Brest, Belarus, Brześć. By early morning of September 9 his units reached the Wizna area and were joined with 10th Panzer Division and "Lötzen" Infantry Brigade (Wehrmacht), "Lötzen" Infantry Brigade already present in the area. His forces numbered some 1,200 officers and 41,000 soldiers and NCOs, equipped with over 350 tanks, 108 howitzers, 58 pieces of artillery, 195 anti-tank guns, 108 mortar (weapon), mortars, 188 grenade launchers, 288 heavy machine guns, and 689 machine guns. Altogether, his forces were some 60 times stronger than the Polish defenders.

Defence of Wizna

In the early morning, German planes Airborne leaflet propaganda, dropped leaflets that urged the Poles to surrender and claimed that most of Poland was already in German hands, and that further resistance was futile. In order to strengthen the morale of his troops, Władysław Raginis and Lieutenant Brykalski swore that they would not leave their post alive and that resistance would continue. Soon after that a German artillery barrage and aerial bombardment started.''Wojskowy Przegląd Historyczny'' (1960), p.246 The Polish artillery was much weaker and was soon forced to retreat towards Białystok. After preparation, the Germans attacked the northern flank of the Polish forces. Two platoons defending several bunkers located to the north of Narew were attacked from three sides by German tanks and infantry. Initially the losses among German infantry were high, but after heavy artillery fire, the commander of the Giełczyn area, First Lieutenant Kiewlicz, was ordered to burn the wooden bridge over Narew and withdraw to Białystok. The remnants of his forces broke through the German encirclement and reached Białystok, where they joined the forces of General Franciszek Kleeberg. At the same time, an assault on the southern part of Polish fortifications became a stalemate. The Polish bunkers lacked adequate anti-tank armament, but were able to rake the German infantry with machine gun fire. However, at 6 o'clock in the evening, the Polish infantry was forced to abandon the trenches and field fortifications and retreat into the bunkers. The German tanks could finally cross the Polish lines and advance towards Tykocin and Zambrów. However, the German infantry was still under heavy fire and was pinned down in the swampy fields in front of the Polish bunkers. Although Raginis was subordinate to Lieutenant Colonel Tadeusz Tabaczyński, commander of the Osowiec Fortress, Osowiec fortified area located some 30 kilometres to the north, he could not expect any reinforcements. On September 8, the Marshal of Poland, Edward Śmigły-Rydz, Edward Rydz-Śmigły, ordered the 135th Infantry Regiment, which constituted the reserves of both Osowiec and Wizna, to be withdrawn to Warsaw. When the order was withdrawn and the unit returned to Osowiec, it was already too late to help the isolated Poles at Wizna. Heavy fighting for each of the now isolated bunkers continued. Several assaults were repelled during the night and in the early morning of September 10.Komorowski, p.451 At approximately 11 o'clock, German engineers, with the help of tanks and artillery, finally managed to destroy all but two of the Polish bunkers. Both of them were located in the centre of Strękowa Góra and continued fighting despite having much of the crew wounded or incapacitated and most of their machine guns destroyed. After the war, the Poles insisted that Guderian, in an attempt to end the Polish resistance, threatened the Polish commander that he would shoot the Prisoner of War, POWs if the remaining forces did not surrender.Williamson, p.180: ''Guderian surrendered to the Americans but was not charged with war crimes, despite the Poles insisting that he had threatened to shoot Polish PoWs at the battle of Wizna unless their Polish commander ordered an immediate capitulation.'' The resistance, however, continued for another hour, when a German envoy arrived carrying a flag of truce and proposed a cease fire. It lasted until approximately 1:30 p.m. Raginis, realising that all of his men were wounded and his ammunition was almost depleted, ordered his men to surrender their arms to the Germans. He himself – seriously injured at the time – refused to surrender and committed suicide by placing a grenade between his chin and neck.

Aftermath

After the Polish resistance ended, the XIX Panzer Corps advanced towards Wysokie Mazowieckie and Zambrów, where it fought the Battle of Zambrów against the 18th Infantry Division (Poland), Polish 18th Infantry Division, finally encircling and destroying the Polish division during the Battle of Andrzejewo. Later it advanced further southwards and took part in the Battle of Brześć. Although all the bunkers were destroyed and the Polish resistance was finally broken, the fortified area of Wizna managed to halt the German advance for three days. The heroic struggle against overwhelming odds is one of the symbols of the Invasion of Poland, Polish Defensive War of 1939 and is a part of Polish popular culture.

Casualties

Exact Polish losses are unknown, mostly because very little is known of the soldiers that were taken as prisoners of war by the Germans. Out of 720 Polish soldiers only approximately 70 survived. Some successfully withdrew and reached the Polish lines, others were taken prisoner. Some of the prisoners were subsequently killed by the Germans, others were beaten and abused but survived and were eventually taken to POW camps.Wiśniewski, 29 German losses are not known either. An official release by the Wehrmacht mentioned "several dozen dead".Wiśniewski, 35 The Wehrmacht lost at least 10 tanks and several other Armored fighting vehicle, AFVs in the struggle. The history of the 10th Tank Division for September 8 mentions 9 killed and 26 wounded in action for the ALA. The I./IR 86, which was the main unit of the capture of the bunkers reported on September 9 at 17:00 the loss of 40 men. There are some losses of the Tank Regiment 8 reported as well. The following fighting at Wysokie-Mazowieckie and Andrzejewo make it difficult to differentiate the losses.

In popular culture

The Battle of Wizna is the theme of the song "40:1", on the album ''The Art of War (Sabaton album), The Art of War'' by the Swedish metal band Sabaton (band), Sabaton. The title comes from the disparate ratio of forces and the lyrics compare the Polish forces with the 300 Spartan warriors at the battle of Thermopylae.

Notes

References

;Articles * * * Zygmunt Kosztyła, ''Obrona odcinka "Wizna" 1939'', BKD (Bitwy, Kampanie, Dowódcy) [7/76], 1976 * P. Kupidura, M. Zahor, ''Wizna'', Wojskowy Przegląd Techniczny i Logistyczny, nr 3, 1999 * A. Wiktorzak, ''Wizna - Polskie Termopile'', Głos Weterana, nr 9, 1997 * * ;Books * * * * Kazimierz Stawiński, ''Bój pod Wizną''. Warszawa 1964. Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej. ;Audio-visual *

External links

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BITWA POD WIZNĄ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wizna Battles of the Invasion of Poland, Wizna Last stands, W Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) September 1939 events