Symbol of the division in modern NATO code

Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division (1. Dywizja Piechoty Legionów) was a tactical unit of the Polish Army between the World Wars. Formed on February 20, 1919, partially of veterans of the I Brigade of the Polish Legions, the unit saw extensive action during the Polish-Bolshevik War and World War II. Polish Legions (Polish Legiony Polskie) was the name of Polish armed forces created in August of 1914 in Galicia. ... Polish Army (Polish Wojsko Polskie) is the name applied to the military forces of Poland. ... Jump to: navigation, search February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Polish Legions (Polish Legiony Polskie) was the name of Polish armed forces created in August of 1914 in Galicia. ... Polish-Bolshevik War Conflict Polish-Bolshevik War Date 1919–1921 Place Central and Eastern Europe Result Polish victory The Polish-Soviet War (also known as the Polish-Bolshevik War or the Polish-Russian War) was the war (February 1919 – March 1921) that determined the borders between the Russian Soviet Federated... Jump to: navigation, search World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that...

As one of the most experienced and best equipped Polish divisions, it fought in many of the most notable battles of the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919 and 1920. Among them was the operation of liberation of Wilno and Battle of Dyneburg in Latvia (as part of Rydz-Śmigły's 3rd Army and under his personal command, although the actual commanding officer was Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski). During the Kiev Offensive of spring of 1920, the division formed the core of Rydz-Śmigły Operational Group and took part in the battles of Zhytomir (April 25) and capturing the city of Kiev itself (May 7). Polish-Bolshevik War Conflict Polish-Bolshevik War Date 1919–1921 Place Central and Eastern Europe Result Polish victory The Polish-Soviet War (also known as the Polish-Bolshevik War or the Polish-Russian War) was the war (February 1919 – March 1921) that determined the borders between the Russian Soviet Federated... Jump to: navigation, search 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes Vilna; Polish Wilno, Belarusian Вільня, Russian Вильнюс, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital city of Lithuania. ... Daugavpils (Russian Двинcк Dvinsk, Lithuanian Daugpilis, German Dünaburg, Polish Dyneburg or Dźwińsk, Yiddish דענענבורג Denenburg), population 115,265 in 2000 census) is the second largest city in Latvia. ... Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y (March 11, 1886 - December 2, 1941); nom de guerre ÅšmigÅ‚y, TarÅ‚owski, Adam Zawisza) was a Polish politician, an officer of the Polish Army, painter and poet. ... Jump to: navigation, search MichaÅ‚ Tadeusz Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski, pseudonym Doktor, Stolarski, Torwid (b. ... Kiev Offensive (1920) Conflict Polish-Bolshevik War Date April-June, 1920 Place Ukraine Result inconclusive The Kiev Offensive (or Kiev Operation) was an important military operation, carried out by Polish Army and allied Ukrainian forces during the Polish-Bolshevik War, from April 1920 to June of the same year. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Operational Group (Polish Grupa Operacyjna, abbreviated GO) was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the Polish Defence War. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search A monument to St. ... Jump to: navigation, search May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ...

After the Polish withdrawal, the unit took part in heavy retreat battles and shielded the retreat of the rest of the Polish forces. After several battles against the 1st Cavalry Army, the division broke off and reached the area of the Wieprz River, from where it started the counter-offensive during the Battle of Warsaw. On the second day of the Polish offensive, on August 16, the division managed to outflank the Bolshevik Mozyr Group by a forcible march of over 56 kilometres. After that the division, then commanded by Stefan Dąb-Biernacki, was attached to the 2nd Army and took part in the second biggest battle of the war, the Battle of the Niemen River. During the battle, the unit formed core of the Wilno Group and took part in a successful outflanking manouevre of the Bolshevik forces centered around the city of Grodno. Wieprz is a river in central-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river, with a length of 303 kilometres (9th longest) and the basin area of 10,415 sq. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Battle of Warsaw (sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, Polish Cud nad WisÅ‚Ä…) was the decisive battle of the Polish-Soviet War, the war that began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of... Jump to: navigation, search August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Battle of the Niemen River was the second largest battle of the Polish-Bolshevik War. ... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes Vilna; Polish Wilno, Belarusian Вільня, Russian Вильнюс, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital city of Lithuania. ... Hrodna (or Grodno; Belarusian: Го́радня, Гро́дна; Grodno in Polish, Гродно in Russian, Gardinas in Lithuanian) is a city in Belarus on the Nemunas river, close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania (about 15 km and 30 km away respectively). ...

After that the division was moved to the rear and took part in shielding the border with Lithuania during Lucjan Żeligowski's forming of the Central Lithuanian Republic. After the war, the division was partially demobilized and stationed in Wilno as an en cadre division core. Lucjan Å»eligowski (1865-1947), was a Polish general, veteran of the Great War, Polish-Bolshevik War and the World War II. He is best known as the head of a short-lived Republic of Central Lithuania. ... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes Vilna; Polish Wilno, Belarusian Вільня, Russian Вильнюс, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital city of Lithuania. ... En cadre is a French expression denoting a military unit composed mostly of officers. ...

Before the outbreak of World War II, the division was partially mobilized in March of 1939. As a part of the Wyszków Operational Group it was to shield the northern approaches of Warsaw from the German assault from East Prussia. After the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War, the division became fully mobilized and on September 4, 1939, it enetered contact with enemy troops in forests around Długosiodło. On September 7 it took part in heavy fights in the area of Pułtusk, but was outnumbered 3:1 and ordered to retreat southwards in order to defend the Western Bug river line between Kamieńczyk and Wyszków. Reinforced with 98th Heavy Artillery Detachment and 61st Light Artillery Detachment, the division successfully repelled a German assault near Brańszczyk, after which it started to perform delaying actions on her route towards Kałuszyn. On September 11 it turned out that the town was seized by German units and it had to be retaken by force during heavy night city fights. Jump to: navigation, search World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that... Jump to: navigation, search 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Wyszków is a town in northeastern Poland with 26,500 inhabitants (2003). ... Operational Group (Polish Grupa Operacyjna, abbreviated GO) was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the Polish Defence War. ... Jump to: navigation, search For other uses, see Warsaw (disambiguation) and Warszawa (disambiguation). ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Polish September Campaign Conflict World War II Date 1 September - 6 October 1939 Place Poland Result Decisive German and Soviet victory The Polish September Campaign — also known as Polish-German War of 1939, in Poland often as Wojna obronna 1939 roku (Defensive War of 1939), in Germany as Polish Campaign... Jump to: navigation, search September 4 is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... City hall PuÅ‚tusk is a town in Poland by the river Narew, 70 km north of Warsaw. ... Bug at Wlodawa One of the two rivers called Bug (pronounced Boog), the Western Bug, or Buh (Belarusian: Захо́дні Буг; Russian: За́падный Буг; Ukrainian: Західний Буг, Zakhidnyi Buh), flows from central Ukraine to the west, forming part of the boundary between that nation and Poland, passes along the Polish-Belarusian... Wyszków is a town in northeastern Poland with 26,500 inhabitants (2003). ... Jump to: navigation, search September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ...

From there, general Wincenty Kowalski planned a counter-assault of his division. In what became known as the Battle of Kałuszyn, on September 13, the division started an all-out assault on German positions in villages nearby. After heavy fights the division broke through the third line of German defences in the villages of Lipiny, Debowiec, Wola Wolińska and Oleśnica. It finally broke through the German lines at Jagodno, but also suffered heavy losses and lost most of its artillery and tabors. Dispersed units crossed the German lines and joined several differen Polish units, some of them formed ad hoc. The biggest group was rallied by the division commander, but was composed of only three infantry companies out of initial three regiments. Through the forests near Radzyń Podlaski the unit, only nominally a division, broke through to the units of Gen. Stefan Dąb-Biernacki and on September 22 took part in the successful Battle of Falków against the forces of the German 8th Infantry Division. However, shortly afterwards the division ceased to exist. Jump to: navigation, search September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ... This is an article on the city of Tabor in the Czech Republic. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Jump to: navigation, search September 22 is the 265th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (266th in leap years). ...

OOB

Commanders as per 1939

• Polish 1st Legions Infantry Regiment - Col. Kazimierz Burczak
• Polish 5th Legions Infantry Regiment - Lt.Col. Kazimierz Bąbiński
• Polish 6th Legions Infantry Regiment - Col. Stanisław Engel
• Polish 1st Legions Light Artillery Regiment - Lt. Col. Mieczysław Podlewski
• 1st Heavy Artillery Detachment - Maj. Władysław Świderski
• 1st Batallion of Engineers - Capt. Tadeusz Wejtko
• 1st Motorized AA Battery - 1st Lieut. Stefan Osostowicz
• Telephone company - Capt. Mika (?)
• Organic cavalry squadron - Maj. Bronisław Kulik
• 31st company of taczanka HMG - 1st Lieut. Stanisław Kasprzyk
• 31st Bicycle company - 1st Lieut. Jerzy Niemcewicz
• tabors and services