Battle of Grudziądz was a military engagement between German and Polish forces during the Invasion of Poland

Invasion of Poland (1939)

The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...

 in 1939. It started on September 1 and ended with a German victory on September 4. German historiography has dealt with the fighting in the larger context of the Battle of Tuchola Forest.

The border city of Grudziądz

Grudziadz

Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:...

 (Germ. Graudenz) contained headquarters of several Polish military formations, as well as several military schools. Moreover, it played a crucial role as strongpoint in order to defend the Vistula River Line and secure the route of retreat of the Polish divisions engaged on the left bank of the river.

The town was defended by the Grupa Operacyjna Wschód (Operational Group

Operational Group

Operational Group was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the Invasion of Poland. It was corps-sized, although various Operational Groups varied in size....

 East) under Gen. Mikołaj Bołtuć with the 4th

4th Infantry Division (Poland)

The Polish 4th Infantry Division was created following Polish independence after the end of World War I. The division participated in the Polish-Ukrainian War in 1919...

 and 16th Infantry Division, part of Army Pomorze (Gen. Bortnowski). The city was assaulted by the German XXI Corps (Gen. von Falkenhorst

Nikolaus von Falkenhorst

Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was a German General who planned Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Denmark and Norway in 1940...

) on 1 September. The German 21st

21st Infantry Division (Germany)

-History:The division was formed in 1934 in Elbing, East Prussia, by expanding the 3rd Prussian Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division of the old Reichswehr. As this was a direct breach of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, its existence was initially concealed; it was formally designated as...

 and 218th Infantery Divisions pushed back the Polish lines to the small river Ossa, east of Grudziądz. On 2 September Bołtuć lead his 4th Infantry Division in a counter attack the German 218th Infantry Division. Although the Polish forces gained some ground, the attack was finally repulsed. On 3 September elements of the German 45th Infantry Regiment managed to break into the town itself. The Germans held out there until the evening, but had to retreat when the Polish pressure increased.

At the same time Bołtuć received news, that the Polish divisions on the western bank of the Vistula were facing defeat and the German forces had already crossed the Vistula in the south. This forced him to pull back his units in order to avoid being soon encircled. The Polish defenders destroyed the bridges over the Vistula and retreated to the south-east. The Germans occupied the city on 4 September.

Literature

• Eugeniusz Kozłowski (Ed.): Wojna obronna Polski 1939, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Nradowej, Warszawa 1979. ISBN 83-11-06314-1
• Nikolaus von Vormann: Der Feldzug 1939 in Polen, Prinz-Eugen-Verlag, Weissenburg 1958. ASIN B0000BP152