Samodzielna Grupa Operacyjna - SGO Narew 1939.

[tigre]

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

Independent Operational Group "Narew".

Defeat at Andrzejewo and Łętownica.

Since the morning, units of the Polish 18th Infantry Division were organizing in their assigned areas. Around 8:00 a.m. their number was as follows: 33rd Infantry Regiment (pp), around 1,300 troops; 42nd Infantry Regiment: about 1,000 troops; 71st Infantry Regiment: about 1,400 troops (with national defense units). Division command with services and subunits now intended exclusively for combat at the front: 600 people. In addition, there were artillery units spread throughout all sections. A separate group was a column of several hundred carts carrying more than 1,500 seriously wounded and sick troops along the Srebrny Borek-Łętownica road.

Due to the threat of a total encirclement, the division commander decided to attack Andrzejewo immediately. Around 9:00 a.m., a unit of approximately one battalion, under the command of Colonel Kossecki, set out to attack. The attack was supported by fire from the 2nd Group of the 18th pal (light artillery regiment). The infantry reached a height north of Andrzejewo.

At this point, a German counterattack was launched, supported by mortar and artillery fire. Colonel Stefan Kossecki was seriously injured. The decimated unit retreated to Łętownica. Renewed fierce fire from the 2nd Group of the 18th pal halted the German counterattack. A new line of resistance was formed at the southern end of Łętownica.

About 20 volunteers volunteered to carry the wounded division commander off the battlefield and set off in a scattered formation along the dirt road from Łętownica to Andrzejewo. However, after advancing approximately 1 km, they were gunned down by massive enemy machine gun fire. At that time, the troops gathered in Łętownica were not yet sufficiently organized to be able to put up strong resistance to the German attackers. It was one of the most critical moments of the last days of the fight. The situation was saved by the 6th Battery of the 18th pal, which fired with maximum intensity and prevented the Germans from continuing to advance.

Colonel Stefan Hertl, taking command of the division, decided to attack Andrzejewo again at 2:30 p.m. Artillery from the Drogoszewo Forest supported the attack in the left sector and artillery units of the 18th dać (Heavy artillery Group) in the right sector. Violent and accurate fire allowed the infantry to drive the enemy from their positions and advance. A German counterattack from both sides of Andrzejewo again stopped the Polish advance, then retreated, but stopped under fire from Polish artillery and heavy machine guns. At around 4:00 p.m. the Germans resumed their attack from the direction of Andrzejewo, but could not advance further because the fire from both Polish artillery groups was so powerful that it stopped them in place.

In this situation, the infantry began to attack and around 4:30 p.m. they pushed the enemy back again. However, the Germans brought in new troops and stopped the Polish attack with massive artillery and intense infantry fire. Around 5:00 p.m. it became stuck due to the total exhaustion of its forces and ammunition. Around the same time that afternoon, the Germans occupied Paproć Duża, from where they launched a strong attack on the side and rear of the right wing of the 18th Infantry Division. Fortunately, they were repulsed by a counterattack from Łętownica, supported by fire from a light artillery group from Drogoszewo.

Source: http://www.lomza.friko.pl/
Wrzesien_1939_roku_na_Bia_ostocczyznie_.pdf

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

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

Independent Operational Group "Narew".

Defeat at Andrzejewo and Łętownica.

In Srebrny Borek, Zagroby and Osowiec, defended by the 3rd Battalion of the 33rd Infantry Regiment, fighting began for every house, forest and hill. The Germans, supported by new reserves and an increasing amount of artillery, began to push the Polish troops south. Major Józef Sikora, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 33rd Infantry Regiment, died. At dusk on September 12, the German circle closed around the 18th Infantry Division, which was still fighting. At around 8:00 a.m., Colonel Hertl, during a briefing with officers in Łętownica, gave the order to break through.

An attack unit ("Taran") was formed under the personal command of Colonel Hertl, which numbered about 500 soldiers. The order was: the infantry would attack on the front line, the artillery remains behind the infantry and behind the artillery a column of division services and another with wounded and sick. Lieutenant Colonel Wacław Malinowski (remnants of the 42nd Infantry Regiment) and Lieutenant Colonel Lucjan Stanek (remnants of the 33rd Infantry Regiment) were ordered to make their way on their own and reach Nur. At nightfall, Colonel Hertl led the last attack on Andrzejewo.

However, the unit was unable to break through the powerful artillery and machine gun fire. Several dozen soldiers died, among them: Colonel Hertl, Diplomat Captain Hodakowski, Diplomat Captain Karpinski. There were also many injured. The survivors retreated to Łętownica. The German fire will also hit the head of the artillery column! There were also deaths and injuries here. After confirming the destruction of the shock unit, the artillery returned to Łętownica. There, equipment and weapons were destroyed to render them unusable. The soldiers were ordered to make their way individually.

This determined the fate of the remaining units of the Division, which were defeated on the night of September 12-13. Only a few companies and platoons of the 18th Infantry Division continued fighting in the forests between the Bug and Narew rivers until the first days of October. Only left the encirclement: about 100 people, led by an officer from the division's assistance company; divisional cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Roszkowski, who joined the 5th Uhlan Regiment and participated in the battles near Kock; Lieutenant Colonel Stanek's group of about 400 people, which was quickly defeated near Zaręby Kościelne after a battle with a unit of the German 206th Infantry Division; Lieutenant Colonel Malinowski's group, about 120 people, who joined the Suwałki Cavalry Brigade and then General Kleberg's GO; Major Drewnowski's group, some of whom, after being defeated by the Germans near Rutki, formed a partisan unit under Lieutenant Colonel "Tynki" with the survivors of the Podlasie Cavalry Brigade, which operated in the swamps of Biebrza until May 1940; After the defeat of the group of the division's chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Pluta-Czachowski, near Warchoły, the remnants that crossed to the other bank of the Bug River joined the 41st Infantry Division.

Source: http://www.lomza.friko.pl/
Wrzesien_1939_roku_na_Bia_ostocczyznie_.pdf

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

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

Independent Operational Group "Narew".

Defeat at Andrzejewo and Łętownica.

In the burning Łętownica there were around 3,000 seriously wounded and sick people in cars, in houses and at the medical aid post, several hundred vehicles, about 100 military and civilian drivers and a small group of stragglers. The battlefield around Łętownica, and especially between Łętownica and Andrzejewo, was covered with combat casualties and seriously wounded who could not be transported to the aid post during the day. Among the wounded was also the seriously wounded Lieutenant Colonel Witold Sztark, commander of the 18th pal (light artillery regiment), who, being the most senior rank, took on the task of establishing contact with the Germans, calling for help for the wounded and bury hundreds of dead. After the battle at Łętownica, the soldiers taken prisoner suffered a different fate.

The Germans transported the seriously wounded to a field hospital. Most of them were admitted to a makeshift hospital in the Andrzejewo church. After a few days, they were transferred to a local school and then evacuated to captivity. Captured military and civilian drivers, healthy and slightly wounded, were grouped in the square of the Zambrów barracks. On the night of September 13 to 14, when all the prisoners were lying side by side, hungry and waterless horses ran loose over them. There was panic. The Germans then opened fire with machine guns on those who stood up, killing and wounding many. The wounded groaned until morning without help from the Germans. The next day, everyone was transferred from Zambrów to the Łomża barracks. The officers were housed in the garrison church, while the troops were kept in the open-air barracks square. After a few days in Łomża, the entire group left under escort (the officers were taken by car) to the Długów border station.

Source: http://www.lomza.friko.pl/
Wrzesien_1939_roku_na_Bia_ostocczyznie_.pdf

Cheers. Raúl M .