General Franciszek Kleeberg
Modlin surrendered on 30th September. The Germans claimed to
have taken there 219 officers and 5,000 men, as well as 58 guns and 183
machine-guns.
The German campaign in Poland was not yet over and there was
still fighting on the Baltic coast. Danzig had been captured and the port of
Gdynia fell on 14 September. Polish defences were now concentrated on the Hela
peninsula, a narrow spit of land, 20 miles long and a few hundred yards wide,
stretching into the bay of Danzig. It was defended by about 2,000 men under the
command of the head of the Polish admiralty, Vice-Admiral Jozef Unrug. The Hela
peninsula was remorselessly bombarded from the sea by the Schleswig-Holstein
and Schlesein and bombed by the Luftwaffe, but German infantry had to attack to
force its surrender on 1 October.
The garrison of He! surrendered on 1nd October. It consisted
of 52 officers, including Rear-Admiral Unrug, about 4,000 soldiers and ratings,
and nearly as many German prisoners.
Until 18th September Lwow was surrounded on three sides by
the Germans, who made a number of rather half-hearted attack and endeavoured to
obtain a capitulation. On 18h September the Soviet forces approached from the
east, from Winniki, and also proposed capitulation. There was a peculiar form
of rivalry, for the headquarters of the defence refused at first to reply to
either of the proposals. Then the Germans sent an ultimatum, demanding
surrender by 10 A.M. of 20th September and threatening air reprisals in case of
refusal. The resistance continued, and it was on 22nd September that a
capitulation in favour of the Russians was signed on honourable terms (which
were not kept by the Soviet army). The enemy took about 10,000 prisoners.
The command of the defence of Polesie decided on 19th
September to concentrate its forces in the region Kamien
Koszyrski-Datyn-Krymno-Wyz, from which they were to proceed to Warsaw, crossing
the Bug at Wlodawa. The strength of the units was as follow: (a) Coil. Brzezinski
(80th and 79th infantry reserve regiments)-4 battalions, (b) Colonel Epler-4
battalions, (c) Colonel Gorzkowski-2 battalions, (d) Commodore Zajaczkowski-2
battalions of marines, (e) the Suwalki and Podlasie cavalry brigades (the 1st,
2nd, 5th, and 10th uhlan regiments, the 9th mounted rifles, the 3rd
chevau-legers, and the cavalry squadron of the Frontier Defence Corps of
Niewirkow).
The artillery consisted of 6 batteries (20 guns). The total
summed up to 11,000 men. At the same time the command of the Frontier Defence
Corps was concentrating its units for 23rd September in the region
Mroczno-Serniki-Kuchocka Wola-Rafalowka. The command was in the hands of
General Ruekemann, the vice-commander of the K. O. P. (Frontier Defence Corps).
The units were 3 battalions from the Polesie brigade of the K. O. P. and the
135th Infantry Reserve Regiment, which was going by train from Ossowiec to
eastern Malopolska (south-eastern Poland), but was unloaded in the Sarny region
and took part in fighting against the Bolsheviks. There were about 4,000 men
and 6 guns.
General Franciszek Kleeberg collected about 16,000 troops
under his command and intended to move westward to reinforce the Warsaw
defences. Out of radio communication, they had no idea that Warsaw had fallen
and they continued to push west. General Franciszek Kleeberg commanded Special
Operational Group Polesie, and by incorporating into it the remnants of Special
Operational Group Narew and various other units, he had at least 16,000 men
under his command. They fought a series of actions against the Red Army near
Milanow, inflicting over 100 casualties on the Red Army. Kleeberg then turned
his attention towards the Germans. Realising that his ad-hoc force had little
chance of reaching the capital, he planned to raid the main Polish Army arsenal
near Deblin and seize enough weapons and ammunition to wage guerrilla warfare.
General Fr. Kleeberg ordered action for 23rd September,
reckoning with the fact that the Soviets had reached already on the 20th Brzesc
in the north and Kowel in the south. The K. O. P., which had behind it 170-250
kilometres of march, could not reach the region of Kamien Koszyrski before 25th
September, and that is why the two groups never joined their forces. They had
to fight separately.
At Kock, however, his force ran into General Gustav Anton
von Wietersheim’s XIV Motorised Corps, and fierce fighting and high casualties
ensued. Encountering the German 13th Motorised Infantry Division, they fought a
four-day battle around Kock before finally surrendering on 6 October 1939.
Weak German forces retreated before the Polesie group and
General Fr. Kleeberg, rolling up Soviet units in the north and the south,
crossed the Bug without encountering very serious resistance and reached on 2nd
October the region of Radzyn. In consequence of that movement the K. O. P.
forces had to fight already during their march for Ratno and Szack on 24th
September and for Mielniki on the 27th. They forced the Bug on 29th September
at Wlodawa and Grabow, reaching on 30th September the region Hansk-Wytyczne.
There they were surrounded, and according to orders endeavoured to break out in
individual groups. Some of them escaped and the rest were captured. The Soviets
claimed the capture of 8,000 prisoners.
The German divisions from Lukow-Garwolin-Deblin barred the
way of the Polesie forces. A battle was fought, and in spite of the great
superiority of the enemy’s artillery of about 100 guns it lasted until 5th
October. When Soviet armoured divisions approached from Miendzyrzecz and
Parczew, the remaining Polish force had to surrender.
The German communique claimed the capture of 1,234 officers,
15,600 men, 2 divisional staffs, 20 guns, 180 heavy machine-guns, and 5,000
horses. It was the last battle of a Polish army, against 75 German divisions,
30 Soviet infantry divisions, 12 motorised brigades, and 10 cavalry divisions
which were operating on 27th September on the territory of Poland.
Guerrilla warfare continued well into the winter months.
The Polish campaign is not yet over. It is waged on one side
by the population of Poland and the army reconstituted on French and then
British soil, and on the other by the German and Soviet invaders, who try to
break down the spirit of national resistance by means of cruel reprisals
against the defenceless people of Poland.
Polish Air Units
The last major formation to fight in regular combat
operations was Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna ‘Polesie’ under gen. Kleeberg. In
an attempt to break through to besieged Warsaw they fought the last battle of
the campaign on 2-5 October, at Kock. A separate chapter of SGO ‘Polesie’
operations was written by 13 Eskadra Szkolna also known as the Pluton
Rozpoznawczy Lotniczy. The unit was formed by por. pit. Edmund Piorunkiewicz.
On 18 September he assumed command of a part of the ground party of 13 Eskadra
Obserwacyjna, subordinating it to SGO ‘Polesie’. The unit was formed around a
PWS 26 trainer aircraft found at Adampol near Wlodawa. 13 Eskadra Szkolna was
joined by cadet officers Bandor, Matz and Wieczorek, who brought with them two
RWD 8 aircraft. On 25 September the name of ’13 Eskadra Szkolna’ was officially
accepted, and the unit reported directly to gen. Kleeberg. During their short
period of combat (25 September-5 October) pilots flew many reconnaissance
missions over enemy troops in their unarmed aircraft. Since the aircraft had no
bomb racks, the crews attacked the Germans with hand grenades. These were the
last aircraft with Polish markings in the sky over Poland in 1939.
