{{Infobox military unit , unit_name = 26th Infantry Division , native_name =26 Dywizja Piechoty , image = , alt = , caption = , dates = April 1919 - September 1939 , country =

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 ...

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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 ...

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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 mar ...

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Ground warfare Land warfare or ground warfare is the process of military operations eventuating in combat that takes place predominantly on the battlespace land surface of the planet. Land warfare is categorized by the use of large numbers of combat personne ...

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Division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

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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 ...

, decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , disbanded = , commander1 = Colonel Adam Brzechwa-Ajdukiewicz , commander1_label = Final commander , identification_symbol = , identification_symbol_label = 26 DP w 1938

The Polish 26th Infantry Division ( pl, 26 Dywizja Piechoty, de-AT, 26. Infanteriedivision, hu, 26. Gyaloghadosztály}) was a unit of the

. Originally formed as the

4th Infantry Division (Poland) The Polish 4th Infantry Division (''Polish: 4. Dywizja Piechoty'') was created following Polish independence after the end of World War I. The division participated in the Polish–Ukrainian War in 1919. During World War II, the division existed as ...

in southern Poland in April 1919, the division was renamed the 26th Infantry Division in 1921. The division would see combat in

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 opposing ...

, being destroyed during the German

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 ...

in September 1939.

History

The 4th Infantry Division was formed after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the foundation of Poland. Raised in the former Austrian province of Galicia, its regiments were originally stationed in such towns as

Cieszyn Cieszyn ( , ; cs, Těšín ; german: Teschen; la, Tessin; szl, Ćeszyn) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitan ...

Jarosław Jarosław (; uk, Ярослав, Yaroslav, ; yi, יאַרעסלאָוו, Yareslov; german: Jaroslau) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 38,970 inhabitants, as of 30 June 2014. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), previ ...

and Przemyśl. In 1921 as part of the army's reorganization, the division was renamed the 26th Infantry Division and moved north to

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 situat ...

and its vicinity. It consisted of these regiments: * 10th Infantry Regiment, stationed in

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 ma ...

, * 18th Infantry Regiment, stationed in Skierniewice, * 37th Infantry Regiment, stationed in

Kutno Kutno is a city located in central Poland with 42,704 inhabitants (2021) and an area of . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship since 1999, previously it was part of Płock Voivodeship (1975–1998) and it is now the capital of Kutno County. Dur ...

, * 26th Light Artillery Regiment, stationed in Skierniewice. During the

, the Division, under Colonel

Adam Brzechwa-Ajdukiewicz Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

, was part of

Poznań Army Army Poznań ( pl, Armia Poznań) led by Major General Tadeusz Kutrzeba was one of the Polish Armies during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Tasks Flanked by Armia Pomorze to the north and Łódź Army to the south, the Army was to provide f ...

, but on the fifth day of the war it was moved to

Pomorze Army The Pomeranian Army ( pl, Armia Pomorze) was one of the Polish armies defending against the 1939 Invasion of Poland. It was officially created on March 23, 1939. Led by General dywizji Władysław Bortnowski, it consisted of 5 infantry divisions, ...

and, together with the 15th I.D., it created Operational Group of General

Zdzisław Przyjałkowski Zdzisław may refer to: People * Zdzisław (given name), a Slavic male given name Places * Zdzisław, Lubusz Voivodeship, a village in Poland * Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium Zdzisław may refer to: People * Zdzisław (given name), a Slavic ma ...

. On September 6, 1939, the division was in the area of

Inowrocław Inowrocław (; german: Hohensalza; before 1904: Inowrazlaw; archaic: Jungleslau) is a city in central Poland with a total population of 70,713 in December 2021. It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, previously in the B ...

, soon afterwards it was used in the

Battle of the Bzura The Battle of the Bzura (or the Battle of Kutno) was the largest Polish counter-attack of the German invasion of Poland and was fought from 9 to 19 September.''The Second World War: An Illustrated History '', Putnam, 1975, Google Print snippet ...

, covering eastern wing of the Pomorze Army. After initial success of Polish offensive, during which the Division recaptured several locations, the Germans organized a counterattack. The 26th I.D. was subsequently destroyed.

History

See also