Incidents of the Polish Campaign, 1939:

[Domen123]

Hi Tigre!,

The German men were not only killed with the sword or hung but also caught with the lasso and towed to death toward the Polish border.

Omg - cowboys or Tatars?

More follows.

Sounds like one of these fairy tales, but interesting. Waiting for the rest of the story (Who won? German losses in those combats?).

/Peter

[tigre]

Hello Peter ; thanks for joining again.......

Omg - cowboys or Tatars?

Hey some of those polish countrymen came to Argentina and here they became a very good Gauchos with a very good skills with the lasso.... by the way, one of them was the father of my grandma .

More follows...............

“Ostpreußen, die Tage vor dem Zweiten Weltkrieg“ (East Prussia, shortly before WW II)
a story by H.-J. Rotzoll.

As a wachtmeister I got the patrol’s command and also the operation’s order. On the first day of employment our motorized combat patrol had came a half hour late. One Polish Squadron of murderer riders did a halt in its march towards de border line there. The traces were cruel. In the dirt roads and on the fields we found the German farmers’ corpses. These had been ripped to pieces with the swords or shot. These raids of the Polish cavalry units took place every night in those days of August 1939.

The villages of East Prussia, located at the border with Poland had a great suffering and were all heavily tested in those weeks. The Polish assault commands constantly changed the places. But on Aug 26 1939, our combat patrol could detect a Polish rider troop already deployed in a sugar beet field not far from Garnsee. The Polish cavalry was completely swept under our MG’s bullets; 47 Polish riders were laid on German soil.

The cry for help coming from the dying Prussian populations continued in spite of the attacks of the Polish riders night after night that caused wild fires and shootings. In the border localities daily a dear being or friends were lost. The fear was around and the terror was horrible. The inhabitants asked for themselves how long they will have to suffer yet. It was deplored the dead of nearly 100 Germans in that area. When our unit went to the assault on September 01 1939 at 05:45 hours, still we found recent tombs of German civilians beyond the Polish border. Bloody remnants of clothes and other articles could be found beside the road. Through Polish POWs we had the confirmation that these attacks against the German civil population had been ordered.

Source: Die Geschichtslüge des angeblichen Überfalls auf Polen durch Deutschland im Jahre 1939.
http://www.odkrywca-online.pl/forum_pic ... pa_173.jpg

Later I'll speak again about the AR 57 but this time in combat. Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

hello Peter and all ; propaganda....................

Source: Fuente: Wehrmacht. Die Wehrmacht. Der Freiheitskampf des großdeutschen Volkes. 2. Aufl. 1940. 2 WK Weltkrieg Frankreich.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Domen123]

The first poster is from the "Anti-German week of Rifle Association in Warsaw":

http://www.audiovis.nac.gov.pl/haslo/438:833/



Nice website with posters:

http://www.weu1918-1939.pl/propaganda/p ... akaty.html

Darum! because this.......(volksdeutschen).

Yeap, everyone can smell their clear "volksdeutschenes" from 500 metres.

[Domen123]

Red Army soldier from 7th Cavalry Division (under command of F. S. Komkov) about the battle of Wilno:

"Propaganda of Rydz-Smigly was announcing in the Polish army, that Soviet T-26 tanks are made of plywood. That's why during the battle of Wilno Polish uhlans attacked a T-26 tank with sabers, but after a moment only handles of blades left in their hands - it turned out that the tank is armoured" - soldier I. S. Grib from 7th Cavalry Division.

Problem is, that not a single unit of Polish cavalry took part in the defence of Wilno in 1939. There was one battalion formed in the OZ (Spare Unit) of Wilenska Cav. Brig., but this was an infantry battalion (it didn't have horses). Moreover, this battalion probably retreated to Lithuania before the battle beginned (like most of Polish units).

Moreover, I wonder when did I. S. Grib write his account. It is quoted by Vladimir Beshanov in his book "Krasnyj Blickrig" on page 76 (Beshanov adds his comment: "Of course, this story looks like a soldier's fairy tale. The main role in the defence of Wilno was not played by uhlans"), but he doesn't quote his exact source. In some other cases when he quotes Soviet accounts, he writes that some of them were written even as late as after the death of Stalin.

[tigre]

Hello to all ; another history dealing with the PR 35 during its way on Warsaw...............

Report of PR 35. (Tank regiment) - author Hans schaufler

Five days ago I had come as a signal officer into the brigade’s staff (5 Pz Brig of the 4 Pz). The suburb of Ochota, between Rawa and Warsaw, was our assembly area. The second attack on Warsaw was approaching. The tanks waited lined up in small distances, behind them were the riflemen and the pioneers in readiness. It was unusually quiet. No cannon or machine gun fire, and also the Artillery was silent in both sides. Only from time to time the peace was cut through the clear sky by a reconnaissance plane. I sat beside general v. Hartlieb in the command tank. The Brigade Adjutant, Hauptmann v. Harling, had the situation map spread out already.

The action was getting close. Both radio operators were dedicated to their devices. One concentrated himself on it, to receive the code word of the division for striking, the other one had ready on the switch, in order to pass the instruction on to the regiments. The engine ran idled and the driver had the foot on the clutch. Then suddenly a howling went through the air, closely around us hit the projectiles, some on the right side, then on the left side and finally few behind us. One after another the shells whistled and rushed by air. One already heard the first wounding men of the day groaning. The Polish artillery had prepared its usual welcome.

Sources:Der Luftkrieg in Polen.
http://www.deutsche-landser.de/berichte/5001.htm
Der feldzug in Polen.
Panzertruppen. Thomas L. Jentz.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Mansal D]

Raul,

What page is this account located in the Panzertruppen (Jentz) book? Thank you for the info.

Best regards,
Mansal

[tigre]

Hello Mansal ; actually it was not there (Panzertruppen - Jentz) but here http://www.deutsche-landser.de/berichte/5001.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Mansal D]

Hello Mansal ; actually it was not there (Panzertruppen - Jentz) but here http://www.deutsche-landser.de/berichte/5001.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

Do you know where the website got it from or is that the only source?

Thanks,
Mansal

[tigre]

Hello to all ; hey Mansal sadly nope. Something more...............

Report of PR 35. (Tank regiment) - author Hans schaufler.

Now we received the instruction for our advance, it was passed on immediately to the others. The heavy engines of our tanks drove loudly into combat. The large fight for the Polish capital, Warsaw, had just begun on the ninth day of the war. We reached the outer districts of the city. We could hear the shots of the heavy MG`s, the dull explosions of the hand grenades, the impact of the grenade fragments on the armour-plates. In the command tank a message warning the other one. ,Road barricades ahead ', it was reported by PR 35. Tanks destroyed - by tank hunters - mined barricade ahead, it sounded from the radio. Instruction to the regiment: Move to the south ', the General roared. With the din outside one had to cry around itself to make understandable. Send off the message to the division, I instructed. The outskirts of Warsaw had been reached. Roads blocks and mines reported the regiment. Shifted due south, the regiment announced: Barricades taken.

Suddenly the splinters of the artillery shells rained again on us. To Follow to the right, soon to the left of the impact. Somebody pushed me backwards. Hostile position 300 meters ahead. The General communicated from the turret. To turn to the right - the chains creaked on asphalt - while we left the line of fire. Fast. Fast! - the General shouted infuriated because the Poles were good gunners. We are under intense artillery fire informed the PR 36. Message to the regiment: specifies grids to ask for artillery support. Splinters and stones were struck the steel walls. The projectiles hit in the neighborhoods. Then another explosion and the tank rose being thrown to a side.

Sources:Der Luftkrieg in Polen.
http://www.deutsche-landser.de/berichte/5001.htm
Der feldzug in Polen.
Panzertruppen. Thomas L. Jentz.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Mansal D]

Tigre,

My German is not at such a level so I am very thankful for your translations of such important accounts. Keep it up!

Where have you gotten these photos?
Thank you,
Mansal

[tigre]

Thanks for your kindness pal . I'll do my best. Cheers. Raúl M .

[Richard Hargreaves]

There were several photobooks of the 1939 campaign produced in 1939/1940 (and a hell of a lot more followed victory in France).

This is probably the best; copies can be found for about £35:

http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?autho ... t=sr&ac=qr

There's also this softback (fewer copies out there, similar sort of price):

http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?autho ... t=sr&ac=qr

and finally Friedrich Heiss produced a number of picture books (Poland, Norway, Silesia), including this one. Slightly cheaper, circa £25:

http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?autho ... t=sr&ac=qr

[tigre]

Thanks Richard . All the best. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; something more...............

Report of PR 35. (Tank regiment) - author Hans schaufler.

Yellow sparks entered through the hatch in the tower; gas masks, belts, mess kit flew from one side to another… an artillery impact. Few seconds of doubt and again still on, contact with the others and everything is OK. The driver put the third march and we watched ourselves expectant but the tank moved. The left chain and drive wheel on the left side did a suspicious knocking noise. But it seemed to be in its place. Suddenly the hell broke over us. To left and right we heard the dull impacts. From all the windows they shot with machine guns against us. The bullets crashed against the armor. From the cellars handgrenade and incendiary bombs were dropped against us. We were numerically inferiors in numbers, almost 100:1 but we did not give up.

Overturned street cars, barbed wire obstacles, streetcars' tracks buried in the ground and antitank guns stopped our advance towards the south. Please do not leave us in the stockade we all prayed because that meant our certain death. Each time the knocking sound of the chain sounded more and more loud. Soon we saw an orchard of fruit trees and we could hide within the trees. Some tanks of our group had arrived until the central station of Warsaw. Every time most frequently we received the message: Advance stopped, heavy bombardment by the opponent - tanks destroyed by hostile tank hunters and mines. I need artillery support.

Sources:Der Luftkrieg in Polen.
http://www.deutsche-landser.de/berichte/5001.htm
Der feldzug in Polen.
Panzertruppen. Thomas L. Jentz.

Cheers. Raúl M .