Sarny Fortified Area (known in Polish in several names: ''Sarneński Rejon Umocniony'', ''Sarneński Odcinek Umocniony'', ''Bastion Polesie'') was a line of bunkers and trenches along both sides of the Sluch River, in the area of the town of

Sarny Sarny ( uk, Сáрни), translated as '' Does'', is a small city in Rivne Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Sarny Raion (district), and is a major railway node on the Sluch River. Population: History His ...

, northern

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

, in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. During the interbellum period, Sarny belonged to the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

and was near the border with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. As the Polish military authorities regarded the Soviets as the main threat (

Plan East Plan East ( pl, Plan Wschód) was a Polish defensive military plan, created in the 1920s and 1930s in case of war with the Soviet Union. Unlike Plan West (''Plan Zachód''), it was being prepared during the whole interwar period, as the government ...

), construction of fortifications began in 1936. It was planned to be fully operational in the spring of 1940. The total length of the defence works was some 170 km, with 358 objects.

Structure

The defence works were up to 5 deep and were connected by the radio, but the walls of the some bunkers were so thick that operators had to go outside. Every bunker had up to 30 soldiers of the

Border Defence Corps The Border Protection Corps ( pl, Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, KOP) was a military formation of the Second Polish Republic that was created in 1924 to defend the country's eastern borders against armed Soviet incursions and local bandits. Other b ...

(KOP), who were equipped with 75 mm cannons and machine guns. The Border Defence Corps Regiment "Sarny", which operated the Area, was very well trained, and its soldiers, including

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 ...

, distinguished themselves during the Battle of Wizna (see

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 ...

) and in other battlefields in the area of Osowiec and

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

, where up to 80% of them died or were wounded.

Soviet invasion

The soldiers who remained in the Sarny Fortified Area were ordered in mid-September 1939 to abandon the bunkers and to move with their equipment towards the

Romanian Bridgehead __NOTOC__ The Romanian Bridgehead ( pl, Przedmoście rumuńskie; ro, Capul de pod român) was an area in southeastern Poland that is now located in Ukraine. During the invasion of Poland in 1939 at the start of the Second World War), the Polish ...

. On September 16, 1939, the eve of

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subs ...

, there were smaller units defending the area: two fortress battalions (''Sarny'') and (''Malynsk''), two border battalions (''Rokitno'') and (''Berezne'') and a cavalry squadron (''Bystrzyce''). There were altogether some 4000 soldiers, but they lacked heavy equipment, as it had been sent towards the German border in the summer of 1939.

Defence

On the morning of September 17, 1939, Soviet aircraft bombed the trucks, which were getting ready to move south. Also, the railway junction in Sarny was bombed, but the armoured train ''Marszalek'' repelled the enemy. However, Colonel Nikodem Sulik and General

Wilhelm Orlik-Rueckemann Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

decided to unload the equipment and to take up defence positions. The area was attacked by the Soviet 60th Rifle Division, whose advantage was crushing. The Poles defended the fortifications for three days. On September 20, facing encirclement, they had to withdraw. However, soldiers in some bunkers did not get the order to withdraw, and in some places, the Poles resisted until September 25. Several bunkers were blown up by the Red Army engineers with their crews, unknown number of soldiers were murdered, including seven officers, who were shot near the Orthodox church in the village of Tynne. Among those killed was Lieutenant Jan Bolbot, who was in 1989 posthumously awarded the

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 S ...

, Poland's highest military decoration. He commanded a platoon of 50 men who holed up in their bunker and refused to surrender despite hopeless odds. Bolbot's men stopped Soviet attacks with heavy losses. Unable to beat the Poles, the Soviets set the bunker on fire. Bolbot and his entire command died in the flames. In late September, the defenders of Sarny, as part of

Independent Operational Group Polesie Independent Operational Group Polesie (''Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna Polesie'', SGO Polesie) was one of the Polish Army Corps (Operational Groups) that defended Poland during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. It was created on 11 September 1939 and ...

, took part in two major battles against the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

: the

Battle of Szack Battle of Szack (Shatsk) was one of the battles between the Polish Army and the Red Army fought in 1939 in the beginning of the Second World War. Eve of the battle During the invasion of Poland the Polish Border Defence Corps (''KOP'') was seve ...

and the

Battle of Wytyczno A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

Aftermath

In late 1939 and early 1940, the Soviets carried out detailed investigations of the defence works. In the mid-1940s, the bunkers served as hideouts for Ukrainian nationalist partisans of the

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During World ...

. Today, the bunkers are in ruin.

Sources

Polish Army Website : ''17 września 1939 roku - agresja sowiecka na Polskę'' ("September 17, 1939 - Soviet attack on Poland")

* ttp://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=28 World War II Database : Invasion of Polandbr>

External links