The Black Brigade – Part 1

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Hello everyone,

it’s September again and with it, yet another sad anniversary of the German (and Soviet) invasion of Poland. Often, as a result of propaganda, the defense of Poland is depicted as chaotic and incompetent, but the chaos of war was present on both sides of the invasion. On the other hand, both sides did have truly exceptional units – and on Polish side, it was the 10th Cavalry Brigade (also called “Black Brigade” because of the color of their leather coat uniforms) of Colonel Stanislaw Maczek, one of the best Polish units of the short but brutal conflict in Poland. Its history is also an example of the fact that Poland too had brilliant military commanders, just as skilled in the craft of war as Rommel and Guderian were at that point.

Ironically, the raison d’etre of the unit was to prove that armored and mechanized forces are not as useful as everyone claims. The brigade was transformed from a cavalry force to a mechanized one on 30.4.1937. Its formation was shrouded in secrecy, with not even some of the officers knowing what’s going on, when the brigade suddenly started getting rid of its horses and replaced them with motorcycles, armored cars and tankettes. This was a step many of the “traditional” Polish officers abhorred, as it meant getting rid of their beloved animals.

At that point, the cavalry in Poland was still believed to be one of the most important parts of the army – especially the “oldschool” staff was against replacing the animals with armored forces. The main argument against armored cars and tankettes was their dependence on fuel supplies and limited terrain passability, reducing them to the role of infantry support on solid ground. Tanks themselves were basically considered to be mobile pillboxes. This was in direct contrast with the “modern” armor concept, developed by German tacticians, who foresaw the use of the armored forces as an independent force, an “armored fist”, beating the enemy to submission with lightning strikes (the concept of Blitzkrieg). The importance of armor was proven to be correct by the Spanish civil war, where the German expeditionary force under Wilhelm von Thoma, despite its limited success, proved its worth. Based on this success, Guderian eventually wrote his famous Achtung, Panzer! book.

The Polish on the other hand got into the entire “cavalry into armor” business quite late (the British tried it as early as 1927, the Soviets in 1933 already had two mechanized corps units and six motorized brigades). The purchase of large amount of vehicles however was problematic for Poland for three reasons:

- it was expensive
- poor infrastructure, especially in the boggy eastern Poland
- “traditionalist” officers, who wanted horses, not armor

This led to the main reason why the officers didn’t want armor – they argued that it would take a lot of time to modernize the army and as a result, they would have neither the horses nor the armor, at least temporarily depriving the army of its mobile warfare options. That was generally seen as problematic in the turbulent Europe of the 30′s.

10th Brigade Officers with their signature black leather coats

Nevertheless, despite fair amount of resistance, progressive officers in the Polish army managed to confince the generals to try the mechanized concept on one unit, the 10th Cavalry. Its creation was problematic to say at least – the officers had to create an entirely new set of rules and regulations for the new type of military unit, the soldiers in turn had to be educated again, because the rules of mechanized warfare were different from anything used before. The education started on 14.7.1937 under the command of Colonel Antoni Trzaska-Durski and took better part of 1937. In September, the unit took part in an excercise with mixed results and as a result, there was the danger of it being disbanded (transformed back to cavalry), but in the end, cooler heads prevailed and the unit creation was confirmed on 20.4.1938.

The 10th Cav was transferred as an operational unit to the Independent Group of Operations “Silesia” and its command was passed to Colonel Stanislaw Maczek – at that point, the status of the unit was still “temporary” and little did Maczek know that the rest of his entire military career would be tied to this unit and his soldiers.

Stanislaw Maczek (in the middle)

When the Germans attacked after the infamous Gliwice incident, the caught the brigade in the middle of personal and structural changes, causing the unit to have 30 percent fewer anti-tanks and artillery guns than required. Despite that, the brigade took part in the fighting in southern Poland as a reserve unit the Kraków and Karpaty armies. Colonel Maczek decided that the unit was to perform aggressive defense, outmaneuvering the enemy in difficult terrain. One of the signature moves of thisn tactic was the constant disruption of enemy advance by ambushes and limited attacks.

Vickers E of 10th Cavalry Brigade

Practically immediately, the unit clashed with the famous German 2nd Panzer Division near the village of Wysoka. The Germans attacked in the early morning mist, but got thrown back two times by focused Polish fire. The fighting was very intensive and the battlefield was littered with burned-out German tank wrecks. However, against the third, by far the strongest, German onslaught, the Polish lines crumbled and by afternoon, the Germans controlled the mountaineous terrain of southern Poland – their losses however were significant. In this sense, the brigade fulfilled its duty and task to delay the German advance, as Von Kleist’s XXII. Army Corps was moving very slowly, 5-7 kilometers a day. Tenacious defense of the Carpathian mountains allowed the army group Krakow to retreat from Silesia in orderly fashion.

TKS tankettes of 10th Cavalry Brigade

To be continued…

Source:

Zbigniew Mikesz – Černá brigáda (http://www.valka.cz/clanek_13051.html)

56 thoughts on “The Black Brigade – Part 1”

        • In fact Polish army had pretty good units and in battles where sides were comparable Germans had problems. See battle of Mokra or battle of Wizna.

          Main Polish problem in 1939 was technological and doctrinal inferiority comparing to German army and fact, that Poland had been attacked from 3, and after 17th September – from 4 sides.

          And for the whole interwar period Polish army was made to fight Soviet offensive, not German one. And this is the reason of large amount of cavalry units.

          • “And this is the reason of large amount of cavalry units.”
            - Did you even read the text?

            “Ironically, the raison d’etre of the unit was to prove that armored and mechanized forces are not as useful as everyone claims”

            “This was a step many of the “traditional” Polish officers abhorred, as it meant getting rid of their beloved animals”

            “At that point, the cavalry in Poland was still believed to be one of the most important parts of the army – especially the “oldschool” staff was against replacing the animals with armored forces. ”

            “This led to the main reason why the officers didn’t want armor – they argued that it would take a lot of time to modernize the army”

  3. It is also important to remember about Slovak invasion of Poland in 1939:
    “The Slovak invasion of Poland occurred during Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939. The recently created Slovak Republic joined the attack, and the Slovak Field Army Bernolák contributed over 50,000 soldiers in three divisions. As the main body of the Polish forces were engaged with the German armies farther north of the southern border, the Slovak invasion met only weak resistance and suffered minimal losses.”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_invasion_of_Poland_%281939%29

    • Also what about the Polish annexation of Czech territories in 1938, heard of that?
      Bohumin, in Zaolzie, was annexed by Polish forces to forestall the Germans in 1938. Didn’t do wonders for Polish PR I guess…

      • What about 1919?

        “On 5 November 1918, the Poles and the Czechs in the region disarmed the Austrian garrison (…) The Poles took over the areas that appeared to be theirs, just as the Czechs had assumed administration of theirs. Nobody objected to this _FRIENDLY_ arrangement (…)

        Then came second thoughts in Prague. It was observed that under the agreement of 5 November, the Poles controlled about a third of the duchy’s coal mines. The Czechs realized that they had given away rather a lot (…) It was recognized that any takeover in Teschen would have to be accomplished in a manner acceptable by the victorious Allies (…), so the Czechs cooked up a tale that the Teschen area was becoming Bolshevik (…) The CZECHS put together a substantial body of infantry – about 15,000 men – and on 23 January 1919, they INVADED the _Polish-held_ areas. To confuse the Poles, the Czechs recruited some Allied officers of Czech background and put these men in their respective wartime uniforms at the head of the invasion forces. After a little skirmishing, the tiny Polish defense force was nearly driven out.”

        Is it some kind of Czech PR as well?

      • Zaolzie was Polish territory that the Czechoslovakia annexed during Polish-Soviet war as early as 1919/20. Czechs exploited the moment of polish weakness and took it for free. In 1938, while Hitler pretty much took over the whole Czechoslovakia, Poland regained what was their own, and where plenty of Poles lived.

        • No, I’m not Czech :)
          What I hoped would happen, happened; that every state (more or less) isn’t “innocent”.
          And I will be the first to admit that I, like many others, don’t have the *full* picture and it can never be a bad thing to see a story from both sides.
          Still, this area is Czech today, yes?

          Btw: “Is it some kind of Czech PR as well?”
          You totally misunderstood my meaning :)

  4. Another really interesting article.

    It’s nice to see such about something other than the British, American and Soviets – the ‘smaller’ countries (no offense meant ) produced very forward thinking and brave individuals who did damage to the respective enemies out of all proportion to the quality of equipment, and against ridiculous odds.

    The fact that some of these individuals then managed to escape the destruction in their own homeland and made their way to Britain (often via France) or the USSR to continue the fight speaks volumes about their personal bravery and determination (possibly an idea for articles about the Polish, Czechs, etc fighting with the Western allies)

    It would be nice to see articles about the Italians in North Africa as well, rubbish equipment, but still the (mainly) British / Commonwealth had to work hard at them (yes, I know French and Poles also fought there as well)

    Also thanks to SS for continuing to produce interesting article as well as all his translations whilst he (?) is obviously got serious ‘real world’ issues.

    • My grandfather has fled german prison camp in west Germany, and crossed a river on a tractor wheel to join England in the fight against Nazis. Too bad the Allies sold my country to Stalin in Yalta…

    • you can create your own blog and post something else man or send SS something interesting about your i guess very very brave country, maybe he ll post it here.
      also u don’t have to read everything on FTR. but please, don’t tell ppl what to do or not to do. mind your own business. this ll make world better. greetings

            • About time someone put more emphasis on the fact that the German invasion of Poland wasn’t a walk in the park, it was a costly invasion for the Germans.
              Like the bullshit cliche that the Polish were using horses against German armour yadayada; it was ONE incident seen by a journalist (this blog had an article about some time ago too).

              • And they actually won this fight :D

                Poland had better defence against German AND Soviet attack than France with their Maginot Line, with British help and no Soviets to stab their back.

                • Good correction, but it still only one incident.
                  A friend of mine wanted to show me a documentary of WWII (in colours), but the first episode started out with this myth (horses vs tanks), portraying it as a typical example of the difference between Polish and German forces.
                  Fancy colour pictures are no good if you base your program on myths!

              • Thanks for the replies, guys. I’ve posted things before about what my family experienced in Poland, and some knucklehead always has something to say. It doesn’t matter what was told to me firsthand, it doesn’t change the warped mind.

    • there’s nothing in this post that smacks of revisionism, let alone to be judged as high or low quality…unless you dispute that the Poles fought at all? Perhaps you’ll next be telling us that the French all shat themselves and ran at the approach of the Germans? The Russians at the approach of the Germans during Barbarossa? The Germans in France under the guns of the Allies? The Americans in the Ardennes at the start of The Bulge?

      When will you realize that it is far more likely that there are stories of extreme individual and/or collective valor either buried as historical footnotes or lost to time? That this isn’t about Poles, Germans, Russians, Americans…but about Men, and the character of fighting men, the warrior class, as it were…and being able to read about another snippet of such history with some details and background is a good thing for us all.

      It’s not some flashy b.s. hollywood movie, it’s simply real. Maybe one day they’ll make a movie about those supposedly “low quality” French soldiers in the Sedan bunkers who fought to the bitter end in 1940, or the unknown American engineer company that held up the spearhead of Peiper’s advance for a day in the Bulge’s opening, the only record of their valor in history being the German war diaries, the unnamed Tommy Sgt Major who walked away from the Dunkirk pocket “to kill more Germans” etc, etc.

      Anyone can crow about how awesome and brave their troops are on the winning and advance…but how about their character when everything has gone to hell? When no one is “watching” and it practically doesn’t matter anymore?

      It’s simply not your place to say that these Pole warriors were not brave, or that there were *no* brave Poles in 1939.

    • Straight from Wikipedia: “After the end of World War I Poland seized large quantities of M1918 helmets. Most of those were later sold to various countries, including Spain. However, at the end of the 1930s it was discovered that the standard Polish wz. 31 helmet was unsuitable for tank troops and motorized units; while offering decent protection, it was too large and heavy. As a stop-gap measure before a new helmet was developed, the General Staff decided to issue M1918 helmets to the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade, which used them during the Polish Defensive War.”

      “

  8. I have a feeling that if the Soviets didin’t stabbed us in the back on 17th of September, the war would have ended much faster….Thank you Russia, the liberator of worlds!

    • The Poles fought bravely and very well, bearing in mind they weren’t even fully mobilized (upon the earlier advice by UK, so not to unsettle Germany even more), but even if they had been fully mobilized and even if Russia had not attacked from the other side, they probably would’ve been defeated, because they were totally outnumbered. But yes, the campaign would’ve taken weeks, if not months longer if it wasn’t for Russia’s attack. It’s a common myth that this was a stroll in the park for Germany. Poland gave them hell and it took quite some time for Germany to regain strength afterwards.

      Still, if there’s one reason the war didn’t end much faster, it’s for UK and France not acting when Germany invaded Poland. It is said, they weren’t ready and maybe they really thought so, but actually Germany wouldn’t have stand a chance then.

      Jodl later even said in the Nuremberg War Trials ““if we did not collapse already in the year 1939 that was due only to the fact that during the Polish campaign, the approximately 110 French and British divisions in the West were held completely inactive against the 23 German divisions.”

  10. SS, i caution you about wiki article on september campaign – it is shallow and obsolete, so don’t try to learn about Polish strategy from it.

  11. Sorry pls,its offtopic,but can somebody tell me if its know that Huawei Ascend P7 ( Mali-450 GPU and Kirin 900T CPU) run WoT Blitz ?

  14. +1 for you SS for calling in the 10th Cav Brigade, not 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade, as some of older publications used to do. Official Polish documents of Chief Staff still called the unit 10th Cav, despite it’s motorized character.

    There is an autobiografy of Col./Gen. Maczek called “Od podwody do czołga” (no idea what’s the English or Czech title), that is a great source of information about his unit during WWII