Mieczysław Ludwik Boruta-Spiechowicz (20 February 1894, in

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

– 13 October 1985, in

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the 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 ...

) was a Polish military officer, a general of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

and a notable member of the post-war anti-communist opposition in Poland. He joined the army in 1914 and served at various posts within the Polish Legions. After Poland regained her independence in 1918 he remained in active service and took part in both the Polish-Ukrainian War and the Battle of Lwów, in which he commanded a separate defence line, and later a ''Lwów Infantry Regiment'' formed out of local volunteers. Dispatched to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he became the commander of two regiments of the Blue Army, with which he returned to Poland in 1919. During the Polish-Bolshevik War he distinguished himself as a skilled commander of the Polish mountain infantry units, of which he formed a regiment and commanded it on various fronts of the conflict. Szczecin-Skolwin Glaz Boruty-Spiechowicza

Szczecin-Skolwin Glaz Boruty-Spiechowicza

After the war he was sent to the Higher War School in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and received professional military training. He served at various commanding posts in a number of Polish infantry units, both standard and mountain. He was also a notable military theorist and writer of several books on the history and practice of warfare. During the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

he served as the commanding officer of the ''Boruta

Operational Group Operational Group (, GO) was the highest level type of tactical division of the Polish Army at various points in the 20th century, mainly during the Second World War. Polish-Bolshevik War (1919-1921) Operational groups first appeared in the Polis ...

'', a part of the

Kraków Army Kraków Army () was one of the List of Polish armies, Polish armies which took part in the Invasion of Poland (1939), Polish Defensive War of 1939. It was officially created on March 23, 1939 as the main pivot of Polish defence. It was commanded by ...

. Taken prisoner by the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, he was held in various

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

s and

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

prisons until set free by the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement of 1941. He then joined the Anders'

Polish Army in the East The Polish Armed Forces in the East (), also called Polish Army in the USSR, were the Polish military forces established in the Soviet Union during World War II. Two armies were formed separately and at different times. '' Anders' Army'', crea ...

and became the commanding officer of the newly formed

Polish 5th Infantry Division {{refimprove, date=October 2011 5th Lwów Infantry Division (Polish: ''5 Lwowska Dywizja Piechoty'') was a unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period, with headquarters stationed in Lwów. It was created on May 20, 1919, during the Polish– ...

. He spent the rest of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as the commander of the Polish 1st Armoured Corps, combining the

Polish 1st Armoured Division The Polish 1st Armoured Division (Polish ''1 Dywizja Pancerna, Pierwsza Dywizja Pancerna'') was an armoured division of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. Created in February 1942 at Duns in Scotland, it was commanded by M ...

and the

Polish Independent Parachute Brigade The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute infantry brigade of the Polish Armed Forces in the West under the command of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski, created in September 1941 during the Second World War and based in S ...

. As one of the very few Polish pre-war generals to return to Communist-held Poland in 1945, he was initially accepted into the Polish Army. However, following a conflict with

Karol Świerczewski Karol Wacław Świerczewski (; callsign ''Walter''; 22 February 1897 – 28 March 1947) was a Polish and Soviet Red Army general and statesman. He was a Bolshevik Party member and served in the Soviet Red Army during the Russian Civil War an ...

he was demobilized and retired. He settled in

, where he became a farmer. He also remained an active member of the anti-communist opposition in Poland and in 1977 became one of the founding members of the ROPCiO movement.

Honours and awards

* Silver Cross of the

Order of Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II Augustus ...

* Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

* Cross of Independence with Swords * Cross of Valour (seven times) * Gold Cross of Merit

Bibliography

* Tadeusz Krawczak. Pro fide et patria: generał Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz. Szczecin: "Pogranicze". 2004 * Wojciech Grobelski – Generał brygady Ludwik Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz (1894–1985), Warszawa, 2010 * Zbigniew Mierzwiński: Generałowie II Rzeczypospolitej. Warszawa 1990: Wydawnictwo Polonia, s. 53–58. . * Tadeusz Jurga: Obrona Polski 1939. Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy PAX, 1990, s. 753–754. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Boruta-Spiechowicz, Mieczyslaw 1894 births 1985 deaths People from Rzeszów Military personnel of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Polish Austro-Hungarians Polish generals of the Second Polish Republic Polish Rifle Squads members Polish Military Organisation members Polish legionnaires (World War I) Blue Army (Poland) personnel Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish people of the Polish–Ukrainian War People of the Polish May Coup (pro-government side) Polish military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Cross of Independence with Swords Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)