Prussian Army (Polish Armed Forces)

The Prusy Army (Template:Lang-pl) was one of the Polish armies to fight during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Created in the summer of 1939 as the main reserve of the Commander in Chief, it was commanded by Gen. Stefan Dąb-Biernacki. One of the meanings of Prusy in Polish is Prussia, but this name only served as a codename and the region of operations of this army was far from East Prussia. This is in contrast to other Polish armies in 1939 which were named after the geographical regions where they formed.

Tasks

Forces as of 31 August and German plan of attack.

Forces as of 14 September with troop movements up to this date.

Forces after 14 September with troop movements after this date

According to the "Plan West" (Plan Zachód, code name for the Polish mobilization plan) it was to be composed of units mobilized as the second and third waves and its main purpose was to cooperate with the nearby armies "Łódź" and "Kraków". It was being mobilized in two groups after the outbreak of hostilities. It consisted of 6 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry brigade and a battalion of tanks. Once ready, it was supposed to stop the main German thrust.

Operational history

The northern group was to back up the Łódź Army near Łódź and Sieradz, while the southern group was to support Kraków Army by preparing the defence of central Vistula river area. Because of fast German advance both groups entered combat separately and most units did not reach full mobilization. Due to the deteriorating situation in the battle of the border, it was decided to push partially mobilized units of Prusy Army to the front as soon as possible.

The northern group, seriously damaged in the battles of Piotrków and Tomaszów Mazowiecki (September 5 - September 6) was forced to cross the Vistula. The southern group, much less organized and poorly commanded, fought in the battle of Iłża, after which it was cut off from Vistula, encircled near Radom and destroyed (September 8-9). Units of the Army which retained cohesion or broke through the German lines later fought in the defense of Warsaw or joined the other Armies in the northern-central Poland.

Organization

The army was commanded by General Stefan Dąb-Biernacki; his chief of staff was Tomasz Obertyński. Biernacki was in direct command of the Northern Group; the Southern Group was commanded by General Stanisław Skwarczyński.

Prusy Army	Unit	Polish name	Commander	Remarks
Army units - gen. Stefan Dąb-Biernacki
	39th Infantry Division	39 Dywizja Piechoty	płk. Brunon Olbrycht	reserve
	44th Infantry Division	44 Dywizja Piechoty	płk. Eugeniusz Żongołłowicz	reserve
Northern group - gen. Stefan Dąb-Biernacki
	13th Infantry Division	13 Dywizja Piechoty	płk. Władysław Zubosz-Kaliński
	19th Infantry Division	19 Dywizja Piechoty	gen. Józef Kwaciszewski
	29th Infantry Division	29 Dywizja Piechoty	płk. Ignacy Oziewicz
	Wileńska Cavalry Brigade	Wileńska Brygada Kawalerii	płk. Konstanty Drucki-Lubecki
	1st tank battalion	1 batalion czołgów
Southern group - gen. Stanisław Skwarczyński
	3rd Legions Infantry Division	3 Dywizja Piechoty Legionów	płk. Marian Turowski
	12th Infantry Division	12 Dywizja Piechoty	gen. Gustaw Paszkiewicz
	36th Infantry Division	36 Dywizja Piechoty	płk Michał Ostrowski	reserve

References

• Template:Pl icon Armie i samodzielne grupy operacyjne Wojska Polskiego 1939 WIEM Encyklopedia

Further reading

• Jan Wróblewski. Armia Prusy, Warszawa 1986.