This is a list of military units taking part in the Warsaw Uprising, a Polish insurrection during the Second World War that began on August 1, 1944.
Polish units
Many of the Home Army units were formed before the beginning of the Uprising; several were organised in the following days as new volunteers joined.
Units were assigned to given areas, namely:
Units were organised into battalions, companies and platoons. Many of those became famous either before the Uprising or during it, including 'Battalion Zośka', 'Czata 49', 'Parasol', and 'Miotła'.
Armaments
On August 1, the Home Army's arsenal consisted of:
Types of weapons used can be divided into the following categories:[1]
- Polish Army weapons hidden after the invasion of Poland (FB Vis, Model 98a rifle, Karabinek wz. 1929, Browning wz. 1928, etc.)
- Homemade weaponry (Błyskawica, K pattern flamethrower, sidolówka, filipinka, Molotov cocktails, etc.)
- Weapons scavenged from the Wehrmacht (Luger pistol, Karabiner 98k, MP 40, etc.)
- Weapons bought directly from the Germans or on the black market
- Weapons from Allied forces, primarily supplied via airdrop (M1911 pistol, Sten, Bren, PIAT, etc.).
Complete List of Home Army groups in the Warsaw Uprising
The following list does not correspond with the above area list.
Unit group or sector
|
Unit name
|
Composition
|
Part of
|
Notes
|
| Group
Śródmieście-Północ (City Center - North)
|
Group 'Chrobry II'
|
Battalion 'Lech Żelazny'
Battalion 'Lech Grzybowski'
|
3 comp.
3 comp
|
NSZ
NSZ
|
|
Sector: north
|
Battalion 'Rum'
|
3 comp
|
AK
|
|
Group 'Gurt'
|
Battalion 'Gurt'
Battalion WSOP Group IV
|
3 comp.
3 comp.
|
AK
AK
|
|
Group 'Kiliński'
|
Battalion 'im. Kilińskiego'
|
5 comp.
|
AK
|
|
Group 'Harnasie'
|
Group 'Harnasie'
Company 'Lewera'
|
2 comp.
2 plat.
|
AK
AK
|
Companies: 'Genowefa', 'Żyrafa'
|
Group 'Bartkiewicz'
|
Companies 'Żmudzin', 'Andrzej',
'Lechicz', 'Bohun'
|
each 3 plat.
|
|
After fall of Stare Miasto
reinforced with company 'Gustaw'
|
Group 'Wiktor'
|
Company 'Wiktor'
|
4 plat.
|
AK
|
|
Disposition units
|
Company 'Koszta'
Company '100' WSOP
KeDyw Disposition Unit 'A'
|
2 plat.
3 plat.
2 plat.
|
AK
AK
AK
|
Defensive screen of Warsaw
District Headquarters
|
Backup units
|
Battalion KB
|
2 comp.
|
KB
|
Due to lack of weapons
disbanded, separate platoons assigned as support for main units
|
Group 'Hal'
|
Battalion 'im. Sowińskiego'
|
2 comp.
|
AK
|
|
| Group
Śródmieście-Południe (City Center - South)
|
Sector: east 'Bogumił'
|
Battalion 'Ruczaj'
Battalion 'Miłosz'
Battalion 'Kryśka' WSOP
Battalion Siekiera 'Tum'
Gendarmery PAL Platoon
Company of AL and PAL
|
3 comp.
3 comp.
4 comp.
3 comp.
1 plat.
1 plat.
|
AK
AK
AK
AK
PAL
PAL/AL
|
known as Battalion 'of cpt. Sęp'
retreated from Stare Miasto
|
Sector north: 'Sarna'
|
Battalion WSOP 'Bełt'
Battalion 'Sokół'
Battalion 'Chrobry'
|
3 comp.
1 comp.
2 plat.
|
AK
KB
PAL
|
later named Battalion 'Ostoja'
|
Backup units
|
Battalion 'Iwo'
Company from Group 'Ubogi'
|
4 comp.
2 plat.
|
AK
AK
|
Retreated from Ochota
|
Sector: west 'Golski'
|
Battalion 'Golski'
Company 'Szafrański'
|
5 comp.
1 comp.
|
AK
AK
|
later incorporated Battalion
'Odwet'
backup of 'Golski'
|
Sector: south 'Piorun'
|
Battalion 'Piorun'
|
3 comp.
|
AK
|
Created from Battalion 'Zaremba'
and smaller units
|
Powiśle
|
Group 'Krybar'
|
Battalion 'Ubogi'
Battalion 'Konrad'
Group 'Elektrownia' WSOP
|
4 comp
4 comp
2 comp
|
AK
AK
AK
|
|
| Group
Warszawa-Północ (Warsaw-North)
|
| Group 'Radosław' and units of
'KeDyw' KG
|
Battalion 'Czata 49'
Battalion 'Miotła'
Battalion 'Pięść'
Company 'Leśnik'
Company 'Waligóra'
|
several comp.
4 comp.
1 comp.
3 plat.
3 plat.
|
AK
AK
AK
AK
AK
|
After Wola fights disbanded due to losses
Included 'Agaton' platoon, destroyed in Wola
|
Backup units
|
Battalion 'Chrobry I'
Brygada Koło
Charge Company 'Wyrwy'
|
3 comp.
4 comp.
2 plat.
|
AK
NSZ
AK
|
Construction and firefight duties
|
Group 'Kuba' and 'Sosna'
|
Battalion 'im. Łukasińskiego'
Battalion 'im. Czarnieckiego Gozdawa'
Company P20 'Edward'
Company 'Ryszard' (motorised)
Company 'Batory'
Platoon 'Roja'
Platoon of PPS Militia
Company KB 'Nałęcz'
Platoon NSZ
|
3 comp.
3 comp.
5 plat.
3 plat.
3 plat.
1 plat.
1plat.
3 plat.
1 plat.
|
AK
AK
AK
AK
AK
AK
PPS
KB
NSZ
|
|
Group 'Róg'
|
Battalion 'Gustaw'
Battalion WSOP 'Dzik'
Battalion 'Bończa'
Company 'Orlęta'
Company 'Lubiec'
Company 'of Syndykalists'
Battalion 'Czwartacy'
Battalion 'Wigry'
Battalion 'Antoni'
|
2 comp.
3 comp.
3 compt.
4 plat.
3 plat.
3 plat.
several plat.
2 comp.
2 comp.
|
AK
AK
AK
AK
AK
AK
AL
AK
AK
|
later increased to 3 comp.
later increased to 4 comp.
after retreat from Stare Miasto merged with Battalion 'Gustaw'
|
Żoliborz
|
Sector: 'Żubr'
|
Battalion 'Żubr'
|
1 comp.
|
AK
|
|
Sector: 'Żmija'
|
Battalion 'Żmija'
|
3 plat.
|
AK
|
|
Sector: 'Zaglowiec'
|
Company 'Żaglowiec'
|
3 plat.
|
AK
|
|
Sector AL
|
Company AL
|
2 plat
|
AL
|
|
Sector: 'Żyrafa'
|
Company 'Zyrafa'
|
3 plat.
|
AK
|
|
| Puszcza
Kampinoska (Kapminos Forest)
|
Pułk 'Palmiry-Młociny'
|
III Battalion 78 pp.
I Battalion 'Janusz'
Battalion 'of cpt. Dulka'
Dywizjon 27 p.ułańow
Dywizjon 23 p. ułanów
|
3 comp.
3 comp.
3 comp.
4 comp.
2 comp.
|
AK
AK
AK
AK
AK
|
|
| Group
Warszaw-Południe (Warsaw-South): Mokotów
|
Group 'Baszta'
|
Battalion 'B'
Battalion 'O'
Battalion 'K'
5 group WSOP
|
3 comp.
3 comp.
4 comp.
2 comp.
|
AK
AK
AK
AK
|
Mokotów sector
|
Group 'Ryś'
|
Company 'Gustaw'
Company 'Krawiec'
Company 'Granat'
Platoon AL
|
3 plat.
3 plat.
3 plat.
1 plat.
|
AK
AK
AK
AL
|
Czerniaków-Południe sector
|
Group 'Olsza'
|
Company 'Grochów'
Szwadron 'Jeżycki'
Company 'Sadyba'
|
3 plat.
3 plat.
3 plat.
|
AK
AK
AK
|
|
group 'Góral'
|
Szwadron szwoleżerów
|
3 plat.
|
AK
|
|
| Forest
Chojnowski and Kabacki
|
Group 'Lasy Chojnowskie'
|
Battalion 'Grzegorz'
Battalion 'Szary'
Platoon 'Lanca'
|
3 comp.
3 plat.
1 plat.
|
AK
NSZ
NSZ
|
|
Group 'Gustaw'
|
Battalion 'Gustaw'
|
3 comp.
|
AK
|
|
On September 20 this structure was reorganised to fit the structure of Polish forces fighting among the Western Allies. The entire force was renamed to Warsaw Home Army Corps (Warszawski Korpus Armii Krajowej), commanded by general Antoni Chruściel (Monter) and consisted of three infantry divisions:
- 8th Romuald Traugutt Infantry Division (8 Dywizja Piechoty im. Romualda Traugutta) commanded by col. Żywiciel-Niedzielski
- 10th Maciej Rataj Infantry Division (10 Dywizja Piechoty im. Macieja Rataja) commanded by col. Radwan-Pleiffer
- 28th Stefan Okrzeja Infantry Division (28 Dywizja Piechoty im. Stefana Okrzei) commanded by col. Karol-Rokicki
The names of smaller units (battalions, companies and platoons) were left intact (as in the above table).
Composition of smaller fighting forces
Although the vast majority of the resistance in Warsaw were members of Home Army, there was a small number of fighters who weren't members of that organisation. In the course of the Uprising some 1,700 members of other resistance organisations joined the Uprising. Those included the Armia Ludowa, Gwardia Ludowa and Narodowe Siły Zbrojne.
Along with the Polish soldiers who took part in the Uprising, there were also members of other nationalities. Among them was a number of Hungarian deserters[citation needed] and Italian escapees from POW camps in Poland. Another ex-POW soldier was RAF Sgt. John Ward, whose numerous coded radio dispatches gave an eyewitness account of the fighting to the British government and Polish government-in-exile, as well as the London press. There was also a Slovak 535th Home Army platoon under Lt. Stanko. It was composed mostly of Slovaks, Georgians, Armenians and Azeri, and suffered heavy casualties in the course of the uprising (up to 70%).
It is believed that some 25,000 Jews were hiding in Warsaw before the Uprising. The vast majority of them died together with other Polish civilians. However, many Jews (possibly as many as 1,000), including those released by Home Army from the Warsaw concentration camp (Gęsiówka), joined the Home Army. During the final stage of the battle a number of Soviet soldiers (possibly as many as 3,000, most of them members of Polish units in Soviet army) also crossed the river and fought the Germans in Powiśle area. Airdrops were carried out by allied airmen from Italy, mostly by Poles, Canadians and the British.
German units
As of 23 August 1944 the German units directly involved with fights in Warsaw were divided into:
A large section of the forces on the "German" side were, according to Norman Davies, drawn from "'collaborationist forces'" including Russians who had left in the Tzar's era and Azeris.[This quote needs a citation]
References
- ^ Kirchmayer Jerzy "Powstanie Warszawskie" op.cit. pages = 162–163
