First Polish Army (1944–1945)

2025-01-12T09:03:19Z

2A02:C7C:70E1:6500:6C8C:73D0:CA2:99F1: Changed the polish flag in the infobox.

{{Short description|Soviet military unit}}
{{About|the First Polish Army on the Eastern Front in 1944–1945|other army units with similar names|First Army (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Polish First Army (''Pierwsza Armia'')
| image = Marking Polish-German Border in 1945.jpg
| caption = Marking new Polish-German border on [[Oder River]] in 1945
| dates = July 1944 – August 1945
| country = {{flagcountry|Provisional Government of the Republic of Poland}}
| allegiance = [[People's Army of Poland]], [[Soviet Union]]
| branch =
| type = [[Field Army]]
| role =
| size =
| command_structure =
| current_commander =
| garrison =
| ceremonial_chief =
| colonel_of_the_regiment =
| nickname =
| patron =
| motto =
| colors =
| march =
| mascot =
| battles = [[World War II]]
*[[Operation Bagration]]
*[[Vistula–Oder Offensive]]
*[[Puławy 1944]]
*[[Warsaw Uprising|Warsaw 1944–45]]
*[[Battle of Schoenfeld]]
*[[Battle of Kolberg (1945)|Kołobrzeg 1945]]
*[[Battle of Berlin|Berlin 1945]]
| notable_commanders = [[Zygmunt Berling|General Zygmunt Berling]] (1943-44); [[Stanislaw Poplawski|General Stanislaw Poplawski]] (1945)
| anniversaries =
}}

The '''Polish First Army''' ({{langx|pl|Pierwsza Armia Wojska Polskiego}}, 1 AWP for short, also known as '''Berling's Army''') was an army unit of the [[Polish Armed Forces in the East]]. It was formed in the [[Soviet Union]] in 1944, from the previously existing Polish I Corps in the Soviet Union, as part of the [[People's Army of Poland]] (LWP). The First Army fought westward, subordinated to the Soviet [[1st Belorussian Front]], during the offensive against [[Nazi Germany]] that led to the [[Vistula–Oder Offensive|capture of Warsaw]] in January 1945, and [[Battle of Berlin|the capture of Berlin]] in May 1945.

==Formation==
The First Army was formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from the previously existing Polish I Corps as part of the [[People's Army of Poland]] (LWP). On 10 August 1943, the Soviets gave permission for enlarging the [[Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division]] into a [[Corps#Soviet Union|Corps]] ([[Polish I Corps in the Soviet Union|Polish I Corps]]).<ref name="Grzelak, p. 101">Grzelak, p. 101</ref> The new formation was to be composed of two infantry divisions, one artillery and one armor brigade, one support and one air regiment, four independent battalions, and support units.<ref name="Grzelak, p. 101"/> On 29 July 1944 the Polish units were reorganized into the 1st Polish Army.<ref>Grzelak, p. 104</ref> From October 12 to 14, 1943, the First Polish Infantry Division made an assault on Lenino near
Smolensk and sustained twenty-five percent losses. Later, the 1ST Kosciuszko Infantry Division fought in Berlin around the Reich Chancellery and the Reichstag. At this stage of the war, the Polish role in the Soviet drive westward was fairly substantial,
contributing 200,000 troops; this was approximately ten percent of the force taking part in Zhukov's and Konev's drive on Berlin.

==Personnel==
[[File:Бойцы дивизии имени Костюшко на молитве.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of [[1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division]] at a prayer, 1943]]
Initially, the Polish personnel of the First Polish Army were recruited from Polish soldiers taken prisoner during the 1939 [[Soviet invasion of Poland]] (after Germany conquered western Poland), and from Poles deported from Soviet-occupied Poland in 1939–1941. They were nearly all of the First Army's front-line combat troops. However, many Soviet personnel served in the First Army, including 39% of officers and technical specialists, while for senior officers the proportion reached 75%.<ref>Grzelak, pp. 155–156</ref> As the Red Army moved into Polish areas west of the [[Curzon Line]], draftees from those areas also became available for the First Polish Army (and [[Second Polish Army]]) in accordance with the August 15, 1944, decree of the [[Polish Committee of National Liberation]] (the [[Lublin government]]).

Until October 1944, the First Army was commanded by Lt. Gen. [[Zygmunt Berling]]. His second-in-command was Lt. Gen. [[Karol Świerczewski]]. Col. [[Włodzimierz Sokorski]] was the chief political officer.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} The corps took part in combat from September 1943.

==Operational history==
{{Location map many | Europe
| relief = 1
| width = 400
| float = right
| caption = {{center|'''Polish 1st Army route of march, 1943–1945'''}}
| label = Moscow
| mark = Yellow pog.svg
| pos = right
| bg = white
| lat_deg = 55 | lat_min = 45
| lon_deg = 37 | lon_min = 37
| label2 = [[Lenino, Mahilyow Voblast|Oct 43]]
| pos2 = right
| bg2 = white
| lat2_deg = 54 | lat2_min = 24
| lon2_deg = 31 | lon2_min = 07
| label3 = [[Warsaw|Jan 45]]
| pos3 = right
| bg3 = white
| lat3_deg = 52 | lat3_min = 14
| lon3_deg = 21 | lon3_min = 01
| label4 = [[Kołobrzeg|Mar 45]]
| pos4 = right
| bg4 = white
| lat4_deg = 54 | lat4_min = 11
| lon4_deg = 15 | lon4_min = 35
| label5 = [[Berlin|Apr 45]]
| pos5 = left
| bg5 = white
| lat5_deg = 52 | lat5_min = 24
| lon5_deg = 13 | lon5_min = 03
}}
Operating under the auspices of the [[Red Army]], it first entered combat in the summer of 1944 as part of the [[1st Belorussian Front]] on the right wing of the [[Lvov-Sandomierz Operation]], fighting in the battles during the Soviet crossing of the river [[Vistula]] around [[Dęblin]] and [[Puławy]].<ref name="zaloga1">''Polish Army, 1939–1945'' by Steven J Zaloga, [https://books.google.com/books?id=AAdYFeW2fnoC&q=first+polish+army&pg=PA27 p.27]{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In September 1944, units of the First Army were involved in heavy fighting during the latter stages of the [[Warsaw Uprising]] after crossing the river Vistula following the capture of [[Warsaw]]'s eastern Praga district, but suffered heavy losses.

After eventually taking control of [[Warsaw]] in January 1945, the First Army took part in the [[Vistula–Oder Offensive]], and afterwards it moved towards [[Bydgoszcz]]. The Polish First Army then fought in Pomerania, breaking through the [[Pomeranian Wall]] (''Pommernstellung'') fortified line and capturing [[Battle of Kolberg (1945)|Fortress Kolberg]], a heavily fortified city, in March. Its units advanced northeast as far as [[Gdańsk]] and {{ill|Kępa Oksywska|pl|lt=Kępa Oksywska.}} During the battles to penetrate the Pomeranian fortifications, the 1st "Warsaw" Cavalry Brigade made the [[Battle of Schoenfeld|last mounted charge of Polish cavalry]] at the village of Schoenfeld.<ref>Zaloga, p. 27</ref>
[[File:Polish Army 1945.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The Polish First Army on their way to Berlin, 1945]]
In the spring of 1945 the army, now numbering 78,556 soldiers, was redeployed to the front on the [[Oder river]] in preparation for the final Soviet offensive of the war in Europe. The [[Polish Second Army]] also entered the line of battle at this time, and together the two armies contributed about 10% of the total forces involved in the operation. During the offensive it crossed the river on April 16 and joined the [[Battle of Berlin]]. In this, among other actions, Polish units of the 1st Army crossed the [[Oder–Havel Canal|Hohenzollern Canal]] and advanced on [[Kremmen]], [[Złotów|Flatow]], [[Paaren]] and [[Nauen]]. They ended their campaign by participating in the [[Battle of Berlin]]. In the [[Berlin Offensive]], the First Polish Army's strength was over 74,000,<ref name="Grzelak">Grzelak, p. 120</ref> thus making up 7.5% of the strength of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front, which counted over 980,000 men when the Polish First Army is included in the total.<ref>Krivosheev, p. 158, Grzelak, p. 120</ref> During the Berlin Offensive, the Polish First Army sustained casualties of over 10,400 men.<ref>Grzelak, p. 295</ref> The troops of the [[Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division|1st Infantry Division]] supported by the 2nd Howitzer Artillery Brigade and the 1st Independent Mortar Brigade, [[Battle in Berlin|fought in Berlin]] around the [[Technical University of Berlin|Technical University]] and the southwestern side of the [[Tiergarten (park)|Tiergarten]] close to the [[Zoologischer Garten Berlin|Berlin Zoo]].<ref>[http://www.wspolnota-polska.org.pl/index.php?id=epb17 Polish Army in the East 1943–1945]</ref>

The army was disbanded after the war on August 22, 1945.<ref>Grzelak, p. 311</ref> Its constituent units went on to serve in the armed forces of the newly created [[Polish People's Republic]].<ref>Grzelak, pp. 311–312</ref>

==Organization==
The 1st Polish Army was very similar in organisation to other standard general purpose [[Army (Soviet Army)|armies]] making up the bulk of Red Army's order of battle.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} It had a good mix of [[infantry]] units and [[artillery]] together with other support arms. Its armor capability was considerably weaker, and consisted of only one [[Organic (military)|organic]] tank brigade. In manpower it was broadly equivalent to an American infantry [[corps]], having a strength of 74,530 men on May 1, 1945.<ref name="Grzelak"/> At the end of the war in 1945, it consisted of the following large units ([[honorific]] names given in brackets)<ref>Grzelak, p. 121</ref>

{{Quote|
''Organization as of May 1, 1945'' 
*[[Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division|1st Infantry Division]] (''[[Tadeusz Kościuszko]]'')
*[[Polish 2nd Warsaw Infantry Division|2nd Infantry Division]] (''[[Jan Henryk Dąbrowski]]'')
*{{ill|Polish 3rd Infantry Division (Traugutt)|lt=3rd Infantry Division|pl|3_Pomorska_Dywizja_Piechoty}} (''[[Romuald Traugutt]]'')
*[[4th Infantry Division (Poland)|4th Infantry Division]] (''[[Jan Kiliński]]'')
*[[6th Infantry Division (Poland)|6th Infantry Division]]
*[[1st Armoured Brigade (Poland)|1st Armoured Brigade]] (''Heroes of [[Westerplatte]]'') – often detached and operating independently
*1st Cavalry Brigade
*1st Gun Artillery Brigade (''[[Józef Bem]]'')
*2nd [[Howitzer]] Artillery Brigade
*3rd Army Artillery Brigade
*5th Heavy Artillery Brigade
*13th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (operating SU-85 and ISU-152)<ref>THE ORGANIZATION AND ORDER OF BATTLE OF MILITARIES IN WORLD WAR II by Charles D. Pettibone, p.353</ref>
*1st Anti-aircraft Artillery Division
*4th Antitank Artillery Brigade
*1st Sapper Brigade
*2nd Sapper Brigade
*1st [[mortar (weapon)|Mortar]] Brigade (attached from High Command Reserve)}}

==See also==
*[[Second Army (Poland)]]
*[[Monument to the Soldiers of the First Polish Army]]
*[[Polish Armed Forces in the East]]
*[[Polish Armed Forces in the West]]
*[[Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion]]
*''[[Four Tank-Men and a Dog]]'' - TV series

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}

== Sources ==
{{Refbegin}}
* Czesław Grzelak and others, ''Armia Berlinga i Żymierskiego'', Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Neriton, 2002.
* G. F. Krivosheev, ''Soviet casualties and combat losses in the Twentieth Century'', London: Greenhill Books, 1997.
* Steven J. Zaloga, ''The Polish Army 1939–45'', Oxford: Osprey, 1998.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|1 Armia Wojska Polskiego}}
{{Refbegin}}
*[http://www.wspolnota-polska.org.pl/index.php?id=epb17 Polish Army in the East 1943–1945]
{{Refend}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Polish Army (1944-1945)}}
[[Category:Military history of Poland during World War II]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1944]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of Poland in World War II|1]]
[[Category:Polish armies]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945]]
[[Category:Poland–Soviet Union relations]]

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First Polish Army (1944–1945)