Charge at Krojanty
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The charge at Krojanty, battle of Krojanty, the riding of Krojanty or skirmish of Krojanty was a Polish
cavalry charge A charge is an offensive maneuver in battle in which combatants advance towards their enemy at their best speed in an attempt to engage in a decisive close combat. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decisiv ...
on the evening of 1 September 1939, the first day 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 opposin ...
, near the
Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
n village of Krojanty. It occurred at the start 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 ...
and was part of the larger
Battle of Tuchola Forest The Battle of Tuchola Forest (german: Schlacht in der Tucheler Heide, pl, Bitwa w Borach Tucholskich) was one of the first battles of World War II, during the invasion of Poland. The battle occurred from 1 September to 5 September 1939 and resul ...
. Polish soldiers advanced east along the railway to a railroad crossroads from the town of
Chojnice Chojnice (; , or ''Chòjnice''; german: Konitz or ''Conitz'') is a town in northern Poland with 39,423 inhabitants as of December 2021, near the Tuchola Forest. It is the capital of the Chojnice County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. History Pias ...
, where elements of the
Polish cavalry The Polish cavalry ( pl, jazda, kawaleria, konnica) can trace its origins back to the days of medieval cavalry knights. Poland is mostly a country of flatlands and fields and mounted forces operate well in this environment. The knights and heav ...
charged and dispersed a German
infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
.
Machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
fire from German
armoured cars Armored (or armoured) car or vehicle may refer to: Wheeled armored vehicles * Armoured fighting vehicle, any armed combat vehicle protected by armor ** Armored car (military), a military wheeled armored vehicle * Armored car (valuables), an arm ...
that appeared from a nearby forest forced the Poles to retreat. However, the attack delayed the German advance, allowing the Polish 1st Rifle Battalion and
Czersk Operational Group Czersk Operational Group ( pl, Grupa Operacyjna Czersk, otherwise known as ''Shielding Group Czersk''; named after the town of Czersk, Poland) was an Operational Group (a type of tactical military unit) of the Polish Army. Formed in 1939 under the n ...
to withdraw safely. The incident prompted false reports of Polish cavalry attacking German tanks, after journalists saw the bodies of horses and
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
men.
Nazi propaganda The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...
took advantage to suggest that the Poles attacked intentionally since they had believed the Germans still had the
dummy tanks Dummy tanks superficially resemble real tanks and are often deployed as a means of military deception in the absence of real tanks. Early designs included wooden shells and inflatable props that could fool enemy intelligence; they were fragile an ...
permitted by the
Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
's restrictions. The scene of the Polish cavalry charging
panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, ...
s with
lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...
s remains a common myth.


Before the battle

Polish units were engaged in battle from 05:00 against elements of
German 76th Infantry Regiment German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
(Colonel
Hans Gollnick __NOTOC__ Hans Gollnick (22 May 1892 – 15 February 1970) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. At the beginning of World War II, Gollnick ...
) of 20th Motorised Division under Lt. Gen.
Mauritz von Wiktorin __NOTOC__ Mauritz von Wiktorin (13 August 1883 – 16 August 1956) was an Austrian general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Wiktorin was discharged from the army on ...
, which operated on the left (northern) flank of XIX
Panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, ...
Corps under Gen.
Heinz Guderian Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who, after the war, became a successful memoirist. An early pioneer and advocate of the " blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in t ...
. Early in the day, Polish cavalry had intercepted German infantry moving towards the
Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...
(Gdańsk) and slowed their progress. At 08:00, the Germans broke through
Polish Border Guard The Polish Border Guard ( pl, Straż Graniczna, also abbreviated as SG) is a state security agency tasked with patrolling the Polish border. It existed in the Second Republic era from 1928 to 1939 and was reestablished in the modern-day Thi ...
units south of the Polish cavalry, which forced the Polish units in the area to start a retreat towards a secondary defence line at the Brda river. The 18th Pomeranian Uhlan Regiment was ordered to cover the retreat.


The battle

The 18th Pomeranian
Uhlan Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, Pr ...
s spotted a group of German infantry resting in a clearing in the
Tuchola Forest The Tuchola Forest, also known as Tuchola Pinewoods or Tuchola Conifer Woods, (the latter a literal translation of pl, Bory Tucholskie; csb, Tëchòlsczé Bòrë; german: Tuchler or Tucheler Heide) is a large forest complex near the town of Tuch ...
heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...
near the railroad crossroads of Chojnice–Runowo Pomorskie line. Colonel Kazimierz Mastalerz decided to take the enemy by surprise and ordered Eugeniusz Świeściak, commander of the 1st squadron, to execute a
cavalry charge A charge is an offensive maneuver in battle in which combatants advance towards their enemy at their best speed in an attempt to engage in a decisive close combat. The charge is the dominant shock attack and has been the key tactic and decisiv ...
at 1900 hours, leading two squadrons, about 250 strong. Most of the two other squadrons, and their
TKS The TK (TK-3) and TKS were Polish tankettes developed during the 1930s and used in the Second World War. Design and development The TK (also known as the TK-3) tankette was a Polish design produced from 1931 based on the chassis of the British ...
/ TK3
tankette A tankette is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle that resembles a small tank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for light infantry support and scouting.
s, were held back in reserve. The charge was successful: the German infantry unit was dispersed, and the Poles occupied the clearing. However, German armored reconnaissance vehicles appeared from the forest road, probably part of ''Aufklärungs-Abteilung 20'', and soon the Polish units came under heavy
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
fire, probably from
Leichter Panzerspähwagen The ''Leichter Panzerspähwagen'' (German: "light armoured reconnaissance vehicle") was a series of light four-wheel drive armoured cars produced by Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1944. Development history The Sd.Kfz. 221 was the first in a series of ...
equipped with
MG 34 The MG 34 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr 34'', or "machine gun 34") is a German recoil-operated air-cooled general-purpose machine gun, first tested in 1929, introduced in 1934, and issued to units in 1936. It introduced an entirely ne ...
, or
Schwerer Panzerspähwagen The term (German for 'heavy armoured reconnaissance vehicle'), covers the six- and eight-wheeled armoured cars Germany used during the Second World War. In the German Army, armoured cars were intended for the traditional cavalry missions of r ...
equipped also with a 20 mm gun. The Poles were completely exposed and began to
gallop The canter and gallop are variations on the fastest gait that can be performed by a horse or other equine. The canter is a controlled three-beat gait, while the gallop is a faster, four-beat variation of the same gait. It is a natural gait pos ...
for cover behind a nearby
hillock A hillock or knoll is a small hill,The Free Dictionary
"hillock" entry, retrieved December 18, 2007
...
. Commander Świeściak was killed, as was Mastalerz, who tried to save him. About a third of the Polish force was dead or wounded. On the other hand, the German advance was halted long enough to allow the withdrawal of Polish 1st Rifle battalion and National Defence battalion ''Czersk'' from the nearby battle of Chojnice. The Polish cavalry charge impressed the Germans and caused a delay in the offensive of the German 20th Motorised Infantry Division which considered a tactical retreat. This was however prevented by personal intervention of Gen. Guderian, who in his
memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...
stated that he encountered his staff "wearing helmets, preparing an
anti-tank gun An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance ...
for a possible Polish cavalry attack," and that "the panic of the first day of war was overcome quickly". Image:Kazimierz Mastalerz.jpg, Kazimierz Mastalerz Image:Rotmistrz Eugeniusz Świeściak (ca.1938-39).jpg, Eugeniusz Świeściak


Aftermath and myth

The
Polish cavalry The Polish cavalry ( pl, jazda, kawaleria, konnica) can trace its origins back to the days of medieval cavalry knights. Poland is mostly a country of flatlands and fields and mounted forces operate well in this environment. The knights and heav ...
charge stopped the German pursuit for the day, and the units of
Czersk Operational Group Czersk Operational Group ( pl, Grupa Operacyjna Czersk, otherwise known as ''Shielding Group Czersk''; named after the town of Czersk, Poland) was an Operational Group (a type of tactical military unit) of the Polish Army. Formed in 1939 under the n ...
were able to withdraw southwards unopposed. Also, it took the Germans several hours to reorganise and continue the advance. On 2 September 1939 the 18th Pomeranian Uhlans Regiment was decorated by Gen. Stanisław Grzmot-Skotnicki, the commander of the Operational Group, with his own
Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...
medal for valour shown in combat. The same day, German war correspondents were brought to the battlefield, together with two journalists from
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. They were shown the corpses of Polish cavalrymen and their horses as well as German tanks that had arrived at the place after the battle. One of the Italian correspondents,
Indro Montanelli Indro Alessandro Raffaello Schizogene Montanelli (; 22 April 1909 – 22 July 2001) was an Italian journalist, historian and writer. He was one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes according to the International Press Institute. A voluntee ...
, sent home an article, in which he described the bravery and heroism of Polish soldiers, who charged German tanks with
sabres A sabre is a type of sword. Sabre, Sabres, saber, or SABRE may also refer to: Weapons and weapon systems * Sabre (fencing), a sporting sword * Sabre (tank), a modern British armoured reconnaissance vehicle * Chinese sabre or ''dao'', a variety ...
and lances. Although such a charge did not happen, and there were no tanks used during combat, the myth was used by German propaganda during the war. German propaganda magazine ''
Die Wehrmacht ''Die Wehrmacht'' was a German military magazine, which was published from 1936 to 1944 to serve German Reich propaganda purposes. It promoted the newly formed Wehrmacht, official editor was the new Oberkommando der Wehrmacht from February 1938 on ...
'' reported on 13 September that the Poles had gravely underestimated German weapons, as Polish propaganda had suggested that German armoured vehicles were covered only with a sheet metal, which led to a grotesque attack. After
World War II 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 opposin ...
ended, the myth was still used by Soviet propaganda as an example of stupidity of prewar Polish commanders, who allegedly did not prepare their country for the war but wasted their soldiers' blood. As late as the 1990s, the myth was still being taught in history classes in some high schools and colleges. One writer said: The Poles had
anti-tank weapons Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first deve ...
including the
anti-tank rifle An anti-tank rifle is an anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the vehicle armor, armor of armored fighting vehicles, most commonly tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. The term is usually used for weapons that c ...
model 1935 7.92 mm (
Wz. 35 anti-tank rifle The Model 35 antitank rifle (''Karabin przeciwpancerny wzór 35'', abbreviated "''kb ppanc wz. 35''") was a Polish 7.9 mm anti-tank rifle used by the Polish Army during the 1939 Invasion of Poland. It was designated model 35 for its desi ...
). It could penetrate 15 mm of armour at 300 m at 30 degrees. In 1939, the Germans were equipped mainly with the small
Panzer I The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for (German for "armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was ''Sd.Kfz. 101'' ...
and
Panzer II The Panzer II is the common name used for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' II (abbreviated PzKpfw II). Although the vehicle had originally been designed as a stopgap while la ...
models, which were vulnerable to such weapons.


See also

*
List of World War II military equipment of Poland Polish Armament in 1939–45 article is a list of equipment used by Polish army before and during the Invasion of Poland, foreign service in British Commonwealth forces and last campaign to Germany with the Red Army in 1945. Aircraft Local de ...
*
List of German military equipment of World War II The following is a list of German military equipment of World War II which includes artillery, vehicles and vessels. World War II was a global war that was under way by 1939 and ended in 1945. Following political instability build-up in Europe from ...


References


Bibliography

* . * .


Further reading

* .


External links

* . * . Detailed account of the battle. * {{Citation , language = pl , url = http://www.grudziadz.pl/_main_kaw.php?link=4 , title = History of 18th Uhlans Regiment , publisher = Grudziadz , place = PL , url-status = dead , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20050525155708/http://www.grudziadz.pl/_main_kaw.php?link=4 , archivedate = 2005-05-25 . Krojanty Polish cavalry Krojanty Pomeranian Voivodeship (1919–1939) September 1939 events