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Battle of Radzymin (1920)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Radzymin took place during the Polish-Soviet War
. The battle occurred in the area around the town of Radzymin
, some 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) north-east of Warsaw
, between August 13 and 16, 1920. Along with the Battle of Ossów
and the Polish counter-offensive from the Wieprz River
area, the battle was one of the key parts of what later became known as the Battle of Warsaw
. It also proved to be the bloodiest and the most intense.
The first phase of the battle began on August 13 with a frontal assault by the Red Army
on the Praga
bridgehead. The Soviet forces captured Radzymin on August 14, and the lines of the 1st Polish Army
, defending Warsaw from the east, were breached. In heavy fighting, Radzymin changed hands several times and foreign diplomat
s, with the exception of the British
and Vatican
ambassadors, hastily left Warsaw.
The plan for the battle was straightforward for both sides. The Russians wanted to break through the Polish defences to Warsaw, while the Polish aim was to defend the area long enough for a two-pronged counter offensive from the south, led by General Józef Piłsudski, and north, led by General Władysław Sikorski, to outflank the attacking forces.
After three days of intense fighting, the corps
-sized 1st Polish Army under General Franciszek Latinik
managed to resist a direct assault by six Red Army rifle divisions at Radzymin and Ossów. The struggle for control of Radzymin forced General Józef Haller, commander of the Polish Northern Front, to start the 5th Army's counterattack earlier than planned. Radzymin was recaptured on August 15, and this victory proved to be one of the turning points of the battle of Warsaw. The strategic counter-offensive was extremely successful, pushing Soviet forces away from Radzymin and Warsaw, and eventually crippling four Soviet armies.
, the Polish armies retreated westwards from central Belarus and Ukraine. Although the Bolshevik forces failed to surround or destroy the bulk of the Polish Army, most Polish units were in dire need of fresh reinforcements. The Polish command hoped to halt the advancing Russian forces in front of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. At the same time General (later Marshal of Poland
) Józef Piłsudski was to lead a flanking manoeuvre from the area of the Wieprz River, while General Władysław Sikorski's 5th Army was to leave the Modlin Fortress
and head north-east, to cut off the Soviet forces heading westwards, to the north of the bend of the Vistula and Bugonarew and on towards Pomerania
. However, for this plan to succeed, Warsaw had to be held by the Polish forces.
under General Franciszek Latinik
, and part of the Northern Front under General Józef Haller de Hallenburg
. The army consisted of four understrength infantry divisions: the 8th, 11th, and 15th Infantry Divisions, with the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division in reserve. In addition, it had at its disposal the battle-weary 10th Infantry Division, two Air Groups (four escadrille
s in total), 293 pieces of artillery and three armoured train
s.
The city was to be surrounded by four lines of defence. The outermost ran some 24 kilometres (14.9 mi) to the east of Warsaw: to the east of Zegrze Fortress
, then along the river Rządza to Dybów
and south through Helenów, Nowa Czarna and the Białe Błota marshes east of Wołomin. From there it ran through Leśniakowizna
, dense forests occupied by artillery training grounds, and then along the Okuniew
-Wiązowna
-Vistula
line.
The second line ran a mile closer to Warsaw, along the lines of partially preserved World War I
-era trenches built by German and Russian armies in 1915, separated by a no man's land
. It ran from the banks of the river Bugonarew at (Fort Beniaminów
), along the Struga
-Zielonka
-Rembertów
-Zakręt
-Falenica
line. The two most prominent pivots of this line were the towns of Radzymin and Wołomin. The third line of defence ran in the immediate vicinity of the right-bank borough of Praga
, while the Vistula
River bridgehead
s formed the final fourth line.
In preparation for the expected arrival of Bolshevik forces, on August 8 the 11th Polish Infantry Division was dispatched to Radzymin in order to prepare the city's defences. While the unit's core was formed around veterans of the 2nd Polish Rifle Division of the French-equipped and trained Blue Army, it was recently reinforced with fresh recruits, far from battle-hardened. The Poles set up defences in front of the town, utilising some earlier German and Russian World War I
trenches, as well as digging new positions. The Polish line ran some 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in front of the town, from the unfinished 1909 Fort Beniaminów
at the banks of the river Bugonarew, through Mokre
to Dybów
. The following day the 6th Russian Rifle Division captured Wyszków
some 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) to the north-east. On August 12 the Polish 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division abandoned the first line of defence and withdrew through Radzymin towards Warsaw; the town thus became the front line. By nightfall the first Russian forces appeared in front of Ruda and Zawady, two villages manned by the Polish 48th Infantry Regiment. Radzymin was shelled by Russian artillery for the first time.
, against attacks from the east, was a difficult task. The natural barriers of the Vistula
, Bug
and Narew
rivers were difficult to cross, especially since the Red Army
lacked modern engineering equipment. On the other hand, there were no natural barriers shielding Warsaw from the east. Furthermore, the terrain in the immediate vicinity of the city was mostly flat, with few natural defences, and plenty of major roads converging radially on the Polish capital from the direction of Legionowo
(and the Modlin Fortress
), Radzymin and Mińsk Mazowiecki
.
The area lacked serious fortifications. A ring of 19th and early 20th century Russian-built forts, part of the Warsaw Fortress
, was located mostly on the western side of the Vistula. Russian forces started their demolition in 1909, and had destroyed most of them by the time of their withdrawal from Warsaw
in 1915, during World War I
. The only permanent defences in the area of Radzymin were the incomplete Fort Beniaminów
, and a line of World War I Russian and German trenches located west of Radzymin, neglected since their construction in 1915.
), 8th (Leśniakowizna
-Okuniew
) and 15th (Okuniew
-Vistula
River). The 1st Army also held the newly-arrived 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division in reserve (Marki
-Kobyłka), while the Northern Front's headquarters reserves consisted of the 10th Infantry Division and some smaller units. The third line was manned by units of mobilised State Police
and a variety of volunteer units of low combat value. Out of those units, initially only the 11th Division under Colonel Bolesław Jaźwiński took part in the fight. Its 48th Kresy Rifles Regiment (Colonel Łukowski) manned the Bugonarew-Mokre
line, the 46th Kaniów Rifles Regiment (Colonel Krzywobłocki) manned the Mokre-Czarna perimeter, and the 47th Kresy Rifles Regiment (Lt. Colonel Szczepan) manned the Czarna
-Leśniakowizna
line. To the south of the 11th Division were positions around Wołomin manned by the 8th Infantry Division, consisting of the 36th, 21st and 33rd Infantry Regiments, as well as the 13th Infantry Regiment held in reserve, which later took part in the Battle of Ossów
.
Combat value of Polish units is difficult to assess as they included fresh recruits of the so-called Volunteer Army, veterans of World War I, battle-hardened soldiers who fought in earlier stages of the Polish-Bolshevik War, and civilians with virtually no combat training. Prior to the battle the 46th Regiment received 700 reinforcements: mostly deserters from various formations, a battalion of volunteer sentry guards and march companies
of sapper
s. The 11th Infantry Division, nominally 9000 men strong, in practice had only 1500 soldiers in first-line units. The situation for the Polish Army was so dire that some of the soldiers sent as reinforcements had reportedly "never seen a rifle in their lives". In addition, most units to make a stand at Radzymin were exhausted after surviving a 600 kilometres (372.8 mi) retreat from Belarus. However, the Polish side had superior intelligence and aerial superiority
.
The two Russian divisions assaulting Radzymin were battle-hardened Siberian divisions led by experienced front-line commanders. Both divisions were as exhausted as their opponents, whom they had chased all the way from Belarus. However, prior to the battle both divisions received reinforcements from other units, instead of fresh recruits, and were much superior in manpower to other Russian units on the Polish front. Later, in his monograph on the war, Marshal of Poland Józef Piłsudski remarked that the commanding officer of the 27th Rifle Division had achieved what was unheard of in the Polish Army despite numerous attempts: to force rear echelons and stragglers of his division into the front-line service. This was indeed a problem for both armies, as the number of bayonets and sabres, that is to say soldiers fighting in the first line, was at all times smaller than the number of second echelon troops. On August 15 Polish intelligence reported the strength of the Russian forces as "three to four standard Russian divisions". Even post-war memoirs by Gen. Żeligowski mention "[t]hree Russian infantry divisions, that is 27 battalions, though admittedly understrength, against one of our own", though in fact the Russian forces only had two divisions.
The first Soviet assault on Warsaw—and Radzymin in particular—came not from the east, as expected, but from the north-east. Warsaw was to be assaulted from the east by the 16th Red Army. At the same time the 14th Red Army (under Ieronim Uborevich
) captured Wyszków
and started a fast march westwards, towards Toruń
. It was then to cross the lower Vistula and assault Warsaw from the north-west. However, its 21st Rifle Division remained on the south side of the Bug River
and headed for Warsaw directly, under orders from Russia's Commissar of War
Leon Trotsky
. Aided by the Russian 27th Rifle Division, it came into contact with the Polish forces at Radzymin on August 12, and prepared for an assault the following morning.
The Soviet probing attack began at 07:00 hours, but the 21st Rifle Division achieved no breakthrough. After the Soviets had been repelled, the defending 11th Infantry Division received some artillery reinforcements. The artillery commanders wanted to use the church tower of Radzymin as an observation post and to move the batteries forward, closer to the front line. However, before the relocation of the artillery was complete, a new Soviet attack began at around 1700, this time carried out by four brigades of the 21st and 27th Rifle Divisions, reinforced with 59 artillery pieces. The Russians achieved a 3:1 superiority in firepower. Deprived of artillery support, the inexperienced and overstretched 1/46th Infantry Regiment, defending the village of Kraszew, broke, and the Soviets gained entry to Radzymin. The Polish unit withdrew in panic, with soldiers leaving their arms and backpacks behind. One of the officers of artillery noted that the Russians achieved complete tactical surprise: "I ordered my dinner prepared when my aide came shouting 'Lieutenant Sir, the Reds are in the city'".
The retreat was made even more serious by the fact that the gendarmes
, tasked with stabilising the front and catching deserters, also fled in panic. The town itself was badly damaged, and the commanding officer of the 46th Regiment, Colonel Bronisław Krzywobłocki, was forced to order the retreat of the remainder of his forces south-west from the town. The rest of the division had no option but to fall back to the line of World War I trenches. During the chaotic withdrawal all the artillery sub-units got lost. By 19:00 hours the town was in Russian hands.
Although the Polish division was defeated, the Russian forces did not pursue. This allowed the Poles to mount a night counter-attack. A single machine gun
battalion attacked a position behind Radzymin. While ultimately unsuccessful, the battalion forced the Russian troops to remain stationary overnight, giving the Poles badly needed time to regroup and receive reinforcements, which came in the form of a single regiment from the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division. Instead of retreating to the third line of defences, the Poles remained outside the town, hoping to retake it the following day.
News of the defeat at Radzymin reached Warsaw the same day. It caused panic among both the government and the ordinary people. The following day the battlefield was visited by, among others, the Prime Minister Wincenty Witos
, papal nuncio
Achille Ratti (future Pope Pius XI
), Maciej Rataj
and General Józef Haller, the commanding officer of the Northern Front. General Haller, in his dispatch at 01:00 hours the same night, called the Polish defeat at Radzymin "ignominious", and ordered the commanding officers of the 46th Infantry Regiment and divisional artillery to be immediately court-martial
led. The commanding officer of the 46th Regiment was immediately relieved of command and replaced with Major Józef Liwacz.
The gravity of the situation was well-understood by the Polish Commander-in-chief Józef Piłsudski, who remarked that all the battle plans for his counter-offensive were based on the assumption that Warsaw would hold, and suggested to General Tadeusz Rozwadowski that he reinforce the Radzymin area with any forces available, including an "en masse tank attack". Despite this suggestion, out of 49 tanks of the 1st Tank Regiment available in Warsaw at that time, only about six took part in the battle. The loss of Radzymin also caused General Władysław Sikorski's 5th Army, fighting north of the Bug River and along the Vistula, to start a counter-offensive from the Modlin Fortress
earlier than planned. Rozwadowski, and member of the French Military Mission to Poland
General Maxime Weygand
, even suggested that Piłsudski also hasten his preparations for a counter-offensive, but he refused and decided to follow the original plans.
The Russians considered the capture of Radzymin a crucial accomplishment. The Polish intelligence intercepted and decrypted a euphoric, but fantastic, report by the Revolutionary Military Committee of the 3rd Army dispatched to Moscow, informing the Russian government that "the brave units of the 3rd Army have captured the town of Radzymin on August 13th, at 23:00 hours. In pursuit of the enemy, they are not further than 15 verst
s from Praga
. (...) The workers of Warsaw can already sense that their liberation is near. The revolution in Warsaw is ripe. Workers demand that the city be handed over to the Red Army without a fight, threatening to prevent armed soldiers from leaving the city [for the front]. The White Poland
is dying". The commanding officer of the Russian 3rd Army, Vladimir Lazarevich, informed Tukhachevsky that "Poland is now on fire. Only one more push is needed and the Polish fracas will be over".
To counter the threat of a Russian breakthrough, General Latinik ordered General Jan Rządkowski
to counter-assault the town the following day with all available forces. To strengthen the assault, the 11th Infantry Division (under Colonel Bolesław Jaźwiński) was drawn from the reserves and dispatched to join the assault which was scheduled for 05:00 hours the following morning. However, the Polish forces were far from sufficient for the task. Rządkowski argued that he had been promised substantial reinforcements which did not arrive. The battle-hardened Siberian Brigade was at that time tied down in Modlin Fortress
, although the promised cavalry units did arrive—but without their ammunition trains.
and Warsaw, while the 27th started its march towards Jabłonna. The 21st Division achieved some early successes when its 5th and 6th Rifle Brigades pushed the Poles back from the Czarna River some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the west. However, at the same time it was advancing right in front of Polish forces which were preparing to assault Radzymin. At 10:15 hours the Polish 81st and 85th Infantry Regiments from the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division assaulted the left flank of the unsuspecting Russians, continued along the Warsaw-Białystok road, and broke through to the town. The attack was led by Lt. Colonel Kazimierz Rybicki, who had personally witnessed the defeat of the 46th Regiment the previous day, on his day off. This time spirits were high and the Polish infantry advanced in order, with officers in the first line and the soldiers singing Dąbrowski's Mazurka
. By noon the town was liberated.
The success did not last long, as the Russian 27th Rifle Division turned around and arrived at Radzymin just in time for its 81st Brigade to push the exhausted Polish forces back towards the village of Słupno. Threatened by further attacks from Słupno and Wieliszew, the 85th regiment retreated after suffering heavy casualties, including the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Captain Ryszard Downar-Zapolski. This time the Soviet 81st Rifle Brigade (27th Rifle Division) pursued the Poles and managed to pierce Polish defences near Wólka Radzymińska
and Dąbkowizna
, breaking through the second line of defences, which were the last before the city limits. The Polish headquarters at Warsaw was "petrified to hear of the complete destruction of the 19th [Lithuanian-Belarusian] Division", a report that fortunately for the Poles proved to be false. The threat to the northern flank was halted, with heavy casualties on both sides, thanks to the intervention of the division's commanding officer Jan Rządkowski, as well as Front commanding officer Józef Haller, who arrived on the battlefield to personally organise an ad-hoc line of defence west of Wólka Radzymińska, with Polish artillery units shelling the advancing Russians with direct fire. The Soviet advance was halted, and this time chaos in the Polish ranks was avoided, but again lack of reinforcements behind the main line of defences proved a serious problem.
In the evening Generals Lucjan Żeligowski
, Józef Haller, Jan Rządkowski and Franciszek Latinik
met in Jabłonna and again in Struga
to prepare a plan for retaking Radzymin once again. It was decided that, since the Soviet 27th Division was bogged down around Radzymin and had not resumed its march towards Jabłonna, the Polish 10th Infantry Division was no longer needed in that sector, and instead could be used to achieve a breakthrough at Radzymin. The division was relocated to Nieporęt
, where General Rządkowski discovered the artillery units that were believed to have been destroyed by the enemy the previous day. A single battalion from the 28th 'Kaniów Rifles' Regiment from the 10th Division, led by 1st Lt. Stefan Pogonowski
, was ordered to entrench in a forest near Wólka Radzymińska and organise an ambush
. The rest of the Polish forces were to start an all-out assault at 05:00 hours the following morning, with General Żeligowski in command over the ad-hoc corps. The forces amassed for the assault had a nominal strength of 17,000 infantry, 109 artillery pieces, and 220 machine gun
s.
In the evening the 5th Army, operating north of the Bug and Narew rivers with its base of operations in the Modlin Fortress
, started a limited counter-offensive with the aim of lessening the pressure on the Polish forces at Radzymin. Grossly outnumbered, the 5th Army could not break through the enemy lines, and got bogged down in intense fights along the Wkra
river. However, although initially unsuccessful, the Polish attack prevented the Soviet 5th, 15th and 16th Armies from reinforcing the two divisions already committed to Radzymin. Only the 4th Red Army, the furthest from the battlefield, operating in the north along the East Prussia
n border and moving towards Toruń
, kept advancing almost unopposed. This however did not pose an immediate threat to the defenders of Warsaw, as its advance was finally halted at the outskirts of Włocławek, and it was forced to start a hasty retreat eastwards.
and Jabłonna. However, as they by-passed a small forest outside Wólka Radzymińska, they were assaulted from the rear by the 1st Battalion of the 28th Infantry Regiment, which had been concealed there earlier. Simultaneously, the remainder of the 28th Regiment began a badly coordinated and half-hearted attack from Nieporęt. Both Polish assaults were bloodily repelled, with the casualties including Lt. Pogonowski who was posthumously awarded the Virtuti Militari
medal for his bravery leading the charge, but they did force the Russians to retreat to their initial positions.
When the front-line stabilised, the Polish headquarters threw all its reserves into a counter-attack. Beniaminów was reinforced with the 29th Infantry Regiment. The Polish attack began around 05:30 hours, after a 20-minute artillery barrage. Soon the entire 10th Infantry Division started a push along the southern bank of the Bugonarew river in order to outflank the Russian forces from the north, while the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division pushed directly towards the town. Although the Russian side had superior artillery and brought several Austin-Putilov armoured cars
, this time the Polish assault was supported by five Renault FT-17
tanks and numerous aircraft. Despite suffering from mechanical failures, the tanks successfully broke through the enemy lines, and the infantry of the 85th Wilno Rifles Regiment from the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division followed them into the town. After a short struggle the Polish forces once again controlled the town. However, as soon as it was taken, General Żeligowski decided to reorganise his division and could not support the 85th Regiment with fresh forces. Yet another successful counter-attack by the Russian 61st and 62nd Infantry Brigades forced the Polish 1st Division to retreat back to its initial positions.
At the same time, on the northern flank, the 10th Division was much more successful. Instead of waiting for orders from General Żeligowski, the commanding officer of the 10th Division, Lt. Colonel Wiktor Thommée
, started a push along the southern bank of the Bugonarew. The 28th and 29th Kaniów Rifles Infantry Regiments managed to reach the village of Mokre, on a small hill overlooking Radzymin and the Białystok-Warsaw road, directly behind the Russian lines. The Russians tried to push the Poles back from that position, but ultimately failed. Their assault on the village of Wiktorów also ended in failure. Soon the Polish positions in Mokre were secured, and further reinforced with the remainder of the 1st Battalion, 28th Regiment.
With the northern flank safely in Polish hands, General Lucjan Żeligowski ordered his Lithuanian-Belarusian Division to complete the encirclement of Radzymin. The division reached a position a few hundred metres from Radzymin by way of the village of Ciemne to the south of the town. Fearing envelopment, the Soviets abandoned the town and withdrew east. A single company from the 30th Kaniów Rifles Regiment entered Radzymin unopposed. The town was completely empty; both the civilians and the Russian soldiers had fled, and one officer remarked that "not a stray dog was left behind in the ruined city".
Other Russian forces were more successful to the north of the town, where they managed to capture the village of Mokre from the 28th Regiment. The regiment counter-charged the village, but was initially driven off. However, approximately 80 pieces of Polish artillery were already in place, and laid a 30 minute barrage on the village. It was the greatest concentration of artillery fire in the war up to that point, and had a tremendous effect on the morale of the Russian defenders. After the barrage ended Lt. Colonel Wiktor Thommée personally led his forces in a bayonet charge; the regiment re-entered Mokre at noon and the Russians fled.
The entire 13th Red Army stalled because of its defeat at Radzymin. After that success the Poles were able to slowly but steadily push the Soviets back beyond the first line of defences that had been overrun several days before. By the end of the day the 28th and 30th Infantry Regiments manned most of the trench line along the Rządza River, near the village of Dybów. Although initially the Russian command wanted to use the outskirts of Radzymin as a pivot for a tactical withdrawal to the Radzymin-Brześć line, the following day the Soviet commander ordered a full retreat towards Wyszków and later Grodno. Meanwhile the Piłsudski's 4th Army outflanked the surprised Russians and went as far north as the left wing of Nikolai Sollogub
's 16th Red Army, which at that time was constantly pressured from the front by the 10th and 15th divisions. This made existing Russian plans obsolete, and Polish forces started a pursuit that ended with the victorious Battle of the Niemen River
in September. Ironically, on that day in Moscow the Soviet propaganda issued a poster claiming that "Warsaw has fallen. With it the Poland of yesterday became history. It is nothing but a legend now while the truth of today is the red reality. Long live the Soviets! Long live the invincible Red Army!"
However, the conduct of the Polish forces and their commanders at Radzymin in the early part of the battle has been criticised by historians since the 1920s. It was noted by General Lucjan Żeligowski
that the importance of the northern approach to Warsaw was poorly understood by the Polish commanders prior to the battle, and that the untested and relatively weak 10th Division was chosen for the task of defending Radzymin "out of sheer incompetence". In his memoirs he also heavily criticised the commanding officers of the division, whose "military prowess and punctuality in carrying out orders was little more than irony". Other post-war authors argued that on August 13, when the first Russian forces appeared in front of Radzymin, the 1st Army had more than enough time to reinforce the weak Polish forces there. Instead, it took several days to recapture what could have been held from the start.
Despite the lack of strategic flair in the Polish defence of Radzymin, it was one of the cornerstones of the overall success in the Battle of Warsaw. Although it was Piłsudski's Assault Group that defeated the Russians, the forces at Radzymin and Sikorski's 5th Army were responsible for stopping them at the gates of Warsaw. Żeligowski noted in his memoirs that "Warsaw was saved thanks to Polish successes at Mokra, Wólka Radzymińska and Radzymin".
. There is a yearly re-enactment of the battle on August 15, organised in Ossów and Radzymin since 1998.
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
. The battle occurred in the area around the town of Radzymin
Radzymin
Radzymin is a town in Poland and is one of the distant suburbs of the city of Warsaw. It is located in the powiat of Wołomin of the Masovian Voivodeship. The town has 8,818 inhabitants .Radzymin was located by Bolesław IV of Warsaw in 1440...
, some 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) north-east of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, between August 13 and 16, 1920. Along with the Battle of Ossów
Battle of Ossów
The Battle of Ossów took place in the fields near Wołomin on August 14, 1920. It was a part of a much larger battle on the outskirts of Warsaw during the Polish-Bolshevist War . During the day Russian units managed to capture the strategically important village of Ossów, but were repelled in the...
and the Polish counter-offensive from the Wieprz River
Wieprz River
The Wieprz is a river in central-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Vistula. It is the country's ninth longest river, with a total length of 303 km and a catchment area of 10,415 km², all within Poland...
area, the battle was one of the key parts of what later became known as the Battle of Warsaw
Battle of Warsaw (1920)
The Battle of Warsaw sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, was the decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War. That war began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga resulted in the end of the hostilities between Poland and Russia in 1921.The...
. It also proved to be the bloodiest and the most intense.
The first phase of the battle began on August 13 with a frontal assault by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
on the Praga
Praga
Praga is a historical borough of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It is located on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter.- History :...
bridgehead. The Soviet forces captured Radzymin on August 14, and the lines of the 1st Polish Army
First Polish Army (1920)
The First Army was a field army of the Polish Army that existed during the Polish-Bolshevist War.In March of 1920 the Headquarters of the Army decided to disband the Front HQs active until then and reform them into separate armies...
, defending Warsaw from the east, were breached. In heavy fighting, Radzymin changed hands several times and foreign diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
s, with the exception of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
ambassadors, hastily left Warsaw.
The plan for the battle was straightforward for both sides. The Russians wanted to break through the Polish defences to Warsaw, while the Polish aim was to defend the area long enough for a two-pronged counter offensive from the south, led by General Józef Piłsudski, and north, led by General Władysław Sikorski, to outflank the attacking forces.
After three days of intense fighting, the corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
-sized 1st Polish Army under General Franciszek Latinik
Franciszek Latinik
Franciszek Ksawery Latinik was a Polish general.He graduated from the cadets school in Kraków and since 1882 served in the Austro-Hungarian Army...
managed to resist a direct assault by six Red Army rifle divisions at Radzymin and Ossów. The struggle for control of Radzymin forced General Józef Haller, commander of the Polish Northern Front, to start the 5th Army's counterattack earlier than planned. Radzymin was recaptured on August 15, and this victory proved to be one of the turning points of the battle of Warsaw. The strategic counter-offensive was extremely successful, pushing Soviet forces away from Radzymin and Warsaw, and eventually crippling four Soviet armies.
Background
Following the failure of the Kiev OffensiveKiev Offensive
The 1920 Kiev Offensive , sometimes considered to have started the Soviet-Polish War, was an attempt by the newly re-emerged Poland, led by Józef Piłsudski, to seize central and eastern Ukraine, torn in the warring among various factions, both domestic and foreign, from Soviet control.The stated...
, the Polish armies retreated westwards from central Belarus and Ukraine. Although the Bolshevik forces failed to surround or destroy the bulk of the Polish Army, most Polish units were in dire need of fresh reinforcements. The Polish command hoped to halt the advancing Russian forces in front of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. At the same time General (later Marshal of Poland
Marshal of Poland
Marshal of Poland is the highest rank in the Polish Army. It has been granted to only six officers. At present, this rank is equivalent to a Field Marshal or General of the Army in other NATO armies.-History:...
) Józef Piłsudski was to lead a flanking manoeuvre from the area of the Wieprz River, while General Władysław Sikorski's 5th Army was to leave the Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress is one of the biggest 19th century fortresses in Poland. It is located the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, some 50 kilometres north of Warsaw...
and head north-east, to cut off the Soviet forces heading westwards, to the north of the bend of the Vistula and Bugonarew and on towards Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
. However, for this plan to succeed, Warsaw had to be held by the Polish forces.
Prelude
The defence of Warsaw was organised by the 1st Polish ArmyFirst Polish Army (1920)
The First Army was a field army of the Polish Army that existed during the Polish-Bolshevist War.In March of 1920 the Headquarters of the Army decided to disband the Front HQs active until then and reform them into separate armies...
under General Franciszek Latinik
Franciszek Latinik
Franciszek Ksawery Latinik was a Polish general.He graduated from the cadets school in Kraków and since 1882 served in the Austro-Hungarian Army...
, and part of the Northern Front under General Józef Haller de Hallenburg
Józef Haller de Hallenburg
Józef Haller de Hallenburg was a Lieutenant General of the Polish Army, legionary in Polish Legions, harcmistrz , the President of The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association , political and social activist, Stanisław Haller de Hallenburg's cousin.Haller was born in Jurczyce...
. The army consisted of four understrength infantry divisions: the 8th, 11th, and 15th Infantry Divisions, with the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division in reserve. In addition, it had at its disposal the battle-weary 10th Infantry Division, two Air Groups (four escadrille
Escadrille
Escadrille is a type of military unit in numerous armed forces, notably in air forces of continental Europe. While the term is sometimes translated to English as Squadron , escadrilles of nations other than the United Kingdom and United States were usually half the size.During World War II a...
s in total), 293 pieces of artillery and three armoured train
Armoured train
An armoured train is a train protected with armour. They are usually equipped with railroad cars armed with artillery and machine guns. They were mostly used during the late 19th and early 20th century, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower...
s.
The city was to be surrounded by four lines of defence. The outermost ran some 24 kilometres (14.9 mi) to the east of Warsaw: to the east of Zegrze Fortress
Zegrze Fortress
The Zegrze Fortress is a military structure located in Zegrze, Poland, on a high escarpment over the Narew River. Built in late 19th century by the Russian Empire, it was to guard a river crossing across the Narew...
, then along the river Rządza to Dybów
Stary Dybów
Stary Dybów is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Radzymin, within Wołomin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Radzymin, north of Wołomin, and north-east of Warsaw....
and south through Helenów, Nowa Czarna and the Białe Błota marshes east of Wołomin. From there it ran through Leśniakowizna
Lesniakowizna
Leśniakowizna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wołomin, within Wołomin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland....
, dense forests occupied by artillery training grounds, and then along the Okuniew
Okuniew
Okuniew is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Halinów, within Mińsk County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Halinów, north-west of Mińsk Mazowiecki, and east of Warsaw....
-Wiązowna
Wiazowna
Wiązowna is a village in Otwock County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Wiązowna. It lies approximately north-east of Otwock and east of Warsaw....
-Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
line.
The second line ran a mile closer to Warsaw, along the lines of partially preserved World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
-era trenches built by German and Russian armies in 1915, separated by a no man's land
No man's land
No man's land is a term for land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties that leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms...
. It ran from the banks of the river Bugonarew at (Fort Beniaminów
Fort Beniaminów
Fort Beniaminów is a military installation in Beniaminów, some east of Warsaw. Designed by a Polish-born Russian General Konstanty Wieliczko, the fort was constructed in 1904 as part of the outer ring of defences of the Warsaw Fortress...
), along the Struga
Struga
Struga is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of the Republic of Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality.-Etymology:...
-Zielonka
Zielonka
Zielonka is a town in Wołomin County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with 17,075 inhabitants . It is located about 13 km to the north-east of the centre of Warsaw.City rights since 1960.-Objects:3 primary schoolsa junior high school...
-Rembertów
Rembertów
Rembertów is a district of the city of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Between 1939 and 1957 Rembertów was a separate town, after which it was incorporated as part of the borough of Praga Południe. Between 1994 and 2002 it formed a separate commune of Warszawa-Rembertów...
-Zakręt
Zakret
Zakręt may refer to the following places:*Zakręt, Otwock County in Masovian Voivodeship *Zakręt, Pułtusk County in Masovian Voivodeship *Zakręt, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...
-Falenica
Falenica
Falenica is a part of Wawer, one of districts of Warsaw, located on the right bank of the Vistula, in the far southeastern corner of the city. Until 1951 it was a separate village, then it became part of Warsaw. Before the Second World War Falenica, which is located in a forested area, was a...
line. The two most prominent pivots of this line were the towns of Radzymin and Wołomin. The third line of defence ran in the immediate vicinity of the right-bank borough of Praga
Praga
Praga is a historical borough of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It is located on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter.- History :...
, while the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
River bridgehead
Bridgehead
A bridgehead is a High Middle Ages military term, which antedating the invention of cannons was in the original meaning expressly a referent term to the military fortification that protects the end of a bridge...
s formed the final fourth line.
In preparation for the expected arrival of Bolshevik forces, on August 8 the 11th Polish Infantry Division was dispatched to Radzymin in order to prepare the city's defences. While the unit's core was formed around veterans of the 2nd Polish Rifle Division of the French-equipped and trained Blue Army, it was recently reinforced with fresh recruits, far from battle-hardened. The Poles set up defences in front of the town, utilising some earlier German and Russian World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
trenches, as well as digging new positions. The Polish line ran some 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in front of the town, from the unfinished 1909 Fort Beniaminów
Fort Beniaminów
Fort Beniaminów is a military installation in Beniaminów, some east of Warsaw. Designed by a Polish-born Russian General Konstanty Wieliczko, the fort was constructed in 1904 as part of the outer ring of defences of the Warsaw Fortress...
at the banks of the river Bugonarew, through Mokre
Mokre
Mokre may refer to the following places:*Mokre, Grudziądz County in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship *Mokre, Mogilno County in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship...
to Dybów
Dybów
Dybów may refer to the following places:*Dybów, Łódź Voivodeship *Dybów, Lubusz Voivodeship *Dybów, Masovian Voivodeship...
. The following day the 6th Russian Rifle Division captured Wyszków
Wyszków
Wyszków is a town in northeastern Poland with 26,500 inhabitants . It is the capital of Wyszków County . Wyszków is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship ; previously it was in Warsaw Voivodeship and Ostrołęka Voivodeship .-Description:The village of Wyszków was first documented in 1203. The town...
some 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) to the north-east. On August 12 the Polish 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division abandoned the first line of defence and withdrew through Radzymin towards Warsaw; the town thus became the front line. By nightfall the first Russian forces appeared in front of Ruda and Zawady, two villages manned by the Polish 48th Infantry Regiment. Radzymin was shelled by Russian artillery for the first time.
Battlefield
Defending Warsaw, a city located on both sides of the VistulaVistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
, against attacks from the east, was a difficult task. The natural barriers of the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
, Bug
Bug
A bug is an insect of the order Hemiptera, known as the "true bugs".Bug or BUG may also refer to:-Biology:* Informally, most arthropods, except marine crustaceans, including individuals or species of** centipede** insect** millipede** mite...
and Narew
Narew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
rivers were difficult to cross, especially since the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
lacked modern engineering equipment. On the other hand, there were no natural barriers shielding Warsaw from the east. Furthermore, the terrain in the immediate vicinity of the city was mostly flat, with few natural defences, and plenty of major roads converging radially on the Polish capital from the direction of Legionowo
Legionowo
Legionowo is a town in Masovia . According to the 2004 Census estimate the town has a total population of 50,759.Legionowo is located ca. 23 km to the north-east of the center of Warsaw and only 7 km to the south of Zegrze Reservoir , near the Warsaw-Gdańsk railroad and Warsaw-Suwałki...
(and the Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress is one of the biggest 19th century fortresses in Poland. It is located the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, some 50 kilometres north of Warsaw...
), Radzymin and Mińsk Mazowiecki
Minsk Mazowiecki
Mińsk Mazowiecki is a town in central Poland with 38 181 inhabitants . It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship , previously in Siedlce Voivodeship...
.
The area lacked serious fortifications. A ring of 19th and early 20th century Russian-built forts, part of the Warsaw Fortress
Warsaw Fortress
Warsaw Fortress was the 19th century Russian fortress in Warsaw, Poland. Originally it was of the 19th century fortress of Russian Empire, one of the western Russian fortresses - the main and oldest part is known as Warsaw Citadel....
, was located mostly on the western side of the Vistula. Russian forces started their demolition in 1909, and had destroyed most of them by the time of their withdrawal from Warsaw
Great Retreat (Russian)
The Great Retreat was a Russian retreat from Galicia and Poland during World War I.-Background:During this period, the buildup of forces generally favored the Central Powers. Four new German armies, the Eleventh, Twelfth, Army of the Niemen and Army Bug, were being formed up, dramatically shifting...
in 1915, during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The only permanent defences in the area of Radzymin were the incomplete Fort Beniaminów
Fort Beniaminów
Fort Beniaminów is a military installation in Beniaminów, some east of Warsaw. Designed by a Polish-born Russian General Konstanty Wieliczko, the fort was constructed in 1904 as part of the outer ring of defences of the Warsaw Fortress...
, and a line of World War I Russian and German trenches located west of Radzymin, neglected since their construction in 1915.
Opposing forces
The first and second lines of Polish defences were manned by regular forces. These included three Polish infantry divisions: 11th (Bug river - LeśniakowiznaLesniakowizna
Leśniakowizna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wołomin, within Wołomin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland....
), 8th (Leśniakowizna
Lesniakowizna
Leśniakowizna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wołomin, within Wołomin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland....
-Okuniew
Okuniew
Okuniew is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Halinów, within Mińsk County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Halinów, north-west of Mińsk Mazowiecki, and east of Warsaw....
) and 15th (Okuniew
Okuniew
Okuniew is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Halinów, within Mińsk County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Halinów, north-west of Mińsk Mazowiecki, and east of Warsaw....
-Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
River). The 1st Army also held the newly-arrived 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division in reserve (Marki
Marki
Marki is a town in central Poland, just to the north-east of the Polish capital Warsaw.Marki, a Warsaw suburb, was incorporated in 1967. While by Polish standards Marki is a relatively young town, with approximately 23,000 residents, it is one of the fastest growing cities in the Masovian...
-Kobyłka), while the Northern Front's headquarters reserves consisted of the 10th Infantry Division and some smaller units. The third line was manned by units of mobilised State Police
Policja
Policja is the generic name for the police in Poland. The Polish police force was known as policja throughout the Second Polish Republic , and in modern post-communist Republic of Poland since 1990. Its current size is 103.309 officers and ca. 12.000 civilian employees...
and a variety of volunteer units of low combat value. Out of those units, initially only the 11th Division under Colonel Bolesław Jaźwiński took part in the fight. Its 48th Kresy Rifles Regiment (Colonel Łukowski) manned the Bugonarew-Mokre
Mokre, Masovian Voivodeship
Mokre is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Radzymin, within Wołomin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately north of Radzymin, north of Wołomin, and north-east of Warsaw....
line, the 46th Kaniów Rifles Regiment (Colonel Krzywobłocki) manned the Mokre-Czarna perimeter, and the 47th Kresy Rifles Regiment (Lt. Colonel Szczepan) manned the Czarna
Czarna, Lublin Voivodeship
Czarna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Serokomla, within Łuków County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately west of Serokomla, south of Łuków, and north of the regional capital Lublin.-References:...
-Leśniakowizna
Lesniakowizna
Leśniakowizna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Wołomin, within Wołomin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland....
line. To the south of the 11th Division were positions around Wołomin manned by the 8th Infantry Division, consisting of the 36th, 21st and 33rd Infantry Regiments, as well as the 13th Infantry Regiment held in reserve, which later took part in the Battle of Ossów
Battle of Ossów
The Battle of Ossów took place in the fields near Wołomin on August 14, 1920. It was a part of a much larger battle on the outskirts of Warsaw during the Polish-Bolshevist War . During the day Russian units managed to capture the strategically important village of Ossów, but were repelled in the...
.
Combat value of Polish units is difficult to assess as they included fresh recruits of the so-called Volunteer Army, veterans of World War I, battle-hardened soldiers who fought in earlier stages of the Polish-Bolshevik War, and civilians with virtually no combat training. Prior to the battle the 46th Regiment received 700 reinforcements: mostly deserters from various formations, a battalion of volunteer sentry guards and march companies
March battalion
A march battalion is a battalion-sized military unit formed of all the rear-echelon units of an infantry regiment. It usually includes all the tabors, field kitchen staff, reserve soldiers, military police, commander's reserves, guards, aides, and raw recruits who did not arrive at the...
of sapper
Sapper
A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...
s. The 11th Infantry Division, nominally 9000 men strong, in practice had only 1500 soldiers in first-line units. The situation for the Polish Army was so dire that some of the soldiers sent as reinforcements had reportedly "never seen a rifle in their lives". In addition, most units to make a stand at Radzymin were exhausted after surviving a 600 kilometres (372.8 mi) retreat from Belarus. However, the Polish side had superior intelligence and aerial superiority
Air supremacy
Air supremacy is the complete dominance of the air power of one side's air forces over the other side's, during a military campaign. It is the most favorable state of control of the air...
.
The two Russian divisions assaulting Radzymin were battle-hardened Siberian divisions led by experienced front-line commanders. Both divisions were as exhausted as their opponents, whom they had chased all the way from Belarus. However, prior to the battle both divisions received reinforcements from other units, instead of fresh recruits, and were much superior in manpower to other Russian units on the Polish front. Later, in his monograph on the war, Marshal of Poland Józef Piłsudski remarked that the commanding officer of the 27th Rifle Division had achieved what was unheard of in the Polish Army despite numerous attempts: to force rear echelons and stragglers of his division into the front-line service. This was indeed a problem for both armies, as the number of bayonets and sabres, that is to say soldiers fighting in the first line, was at all times smaller than the number of second echelon troops. On August 15 Polish intelligence reported the strength of the Russian forces as "three to four standard Russian divisions". Even post-war memoirs by Gen. Żeligowski mention "[t]hree Russian infantry divisions, that is 27 battalions, though admittedly understrength, against one of our own", though in fact the Russian forces only had two divisions.
August 13
Ieronim Uborevich
Ieronim Petrovich Uborevich was a Soviet military commander of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, and eventually attained the rank of Army Commander, 1st Rank, equivalent to General of the Army after old Imperial ranks were reintroduced in 1940....
) captured Wyszków
Wyszków
Wyszków is a town in northeastern Poland with 26,500 inhabitants . It is the capital of Wyszków County . Wyszków is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship ; previously it was in Warsaw Voivodeship and Ostrołęka Voivodeship .-Description:The village of Wyszków was first documented in 1203. The town...
and started a fast march westwards, towards Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
. It was then to cross the lower Vistula and assault Warsaw from the north-west. However, its 21st Rifle Division remained on the south side of the Bug River
Bug River
The Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...
and headed for Warsaw directly, under orders from Russia's Commissar of War
Commissar
Commissar is the English transliteration of an official title used in Russia from the time of Peter the Great.The title was used during the Provisional Government for regional heads of administration, but it is mostly associated with a number of Cheka and military functions in Bolshevik and Soviet...
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
. Aided by the Russian 27th Rifle Division, it came into contact with the Polish forces at Radzymin on August 12, and prepared for an assault the following morning.
The Soviet probing attack began at 07:00 hours, but the 21st Rifle Division achieved no breakthrough. After the Soviets had been repelled, the defending 11th Infantry Division received some artillery reinforcements. The artillery commanders wanted to use the church tower of Radzymin as an observation post and to move the batteries forward, closer to the front line. However, before the relocation of the artillery was complete, a new Soviet attack began at around 1700, this time carried out by four brigades of the 21st and 27th Rifle Divisions, reinforced with 59 artillery pieces. The Russians achieved a 3:1 superiority in firepower. Deprived of artillery support, the inexperienced and overstretched 1/46th Infantry Regiment, defending the village of Kraszew, broke, and the Soviets gained entry to Radzymin. The Polish unit withdrew in panic, with soldiers leaving their arms and backpacks behind. One of the officers of artillery noted that the Russians achieved complete tactical surprise: "I ordered my dinner prepared when my aide came shouting 'Lieutenant Sir, the Reds are in the city'".
The retreat was made even more serious by the fact that the gendarmes
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
, tasked with stabilising the front and catching deserters, also fled in panic. The town itself was badly damaged, and the commanding officer of the 46th Regiment, Colonel Bronisław Krzywobłocki, was forced to order the retreat of the remainder of his forces south-west from the town. The rest of the division had no option but to fall back to the line of World War I trenches. During the chaotic withdrawal all the artillery sub-units got lost. By 19:00 hours the town was in Russian hands.
Although the Polish division was defeated, the Russian forces did not pursue. This allowed the Poles to mount a night counter-attack. A single machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
battalion attacked a position behind Radzymin. While ultimately unsuccessful, the battalion forced the Russian troops to remain stationary overnight, giving the Poles badly needed time to regroup and receive reinforcements, which came in the form of a single regiment from the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division. Instead of retreating to the third line of defences, the Poles remained outside the town, hoping to retake it the following day.
News of the defeat at Radzymin reached Warsaw the same day. It caused panic among both the government and the ordinary people. The following day the battlefield was visited by, among others, the Prime Minister Wincenty Witos
Wincenty Witos
Wincenty Witos was a prominent member of the Polish People's Party from 1895, and leader of its "Piast" faction from 1913. He was a member of parliament in the Galician Sejm from 1908–1914, and an envoy to Reichsrat in Vienna from 1911 to 1918...
, papal nuncio
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
Achille Ratti (future Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
), Maciej Rataj
Maciej Rataj
Maciej Rataj was a Polish politician, socialist activist and writer.Born in the village of Chłopy near Lwów on 19 February 1884, he attended a gymnasium in Lwów and studied classical linguistics at the University of Lwów...
and General Józef Haller, the commanding officer of the Northern Front. General Haller, in his dispatch at 01:00 hours the same night, called the Polish defeat at Radzymin "ignominious", and ordered the commanding officers of the 46th Infantry Regiment and divisional artillery to be immediately court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
led. The commanding officer of the 46th Regiment was immediately relieved of command and replaced with Major Józef Liwacz.
The gravity of the situation was well-understood by the Polish Commander-in-chief Józef Piłsudski, who remarked that all the battle plans for his counter-offensive were based on the assumption that Warsaw would hold, and suggested to General Tadeusz Rozwadowski that he reinforce the Radzymin area with any forces available, including an "en masse tank attack". Despite this suggestion, out of 49 tanks of the 1st Tank Regiment available in Warsaw at that time, only about six took part in the battle. The loss of Radzymin also caused General Władysław Sikorski's 5th Army, fighting north of the Bug River and along the Vistula, to start a counter-offensive from the Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress is one of the biggest 19th century fortresses in Poland. It is located the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, some 50 kilometres north of Warsaw...
earlier than planned. Rozwadowski, and member of the French Military Mission to Poland
French Military Mission to Poland
The French Military Mission to Poland was an effort by France to aid the nascent Second Polish Republic after it achieved its independence in November, 1918, at the end of the First World War. The aim was to provide aid during the Polish-Soviet War , and to create a strong Polish military to serve...
General Maxime Weygand
Maxime Weygand
Maxime Weygand was a French military commander in World War I and World War II.Weygand initially fought against the Germans during the invasion of France in 1940, but then surrendered to and collaborated with the Germans as part of the Vichy France regime.-Early years:Weygand was born in Brussels...
, even suggested that Piłsudski also hasten his preparations for a counter-offensive, but he refused and decided to follow the original plans.
The Russians considered the capture of Radzymin a crucial accomplishment. The Polish intelligence intercepted and decrypted a euphoric, but fantastic, report by the Revolutionary Military Committee of the 3rd Army dispatched to Moscow, informing the Russian government that "the brave units of the 3rd Army have captured the town of Radzymin on August 13th, at 23:00 hours. In pursuit of the enemy, they are not further than 15 verst
Verst
A verst or werst is an obsolete Russian unit of length. It is defined as being 500 sazhen long, which makes a verst equal to 1.0668 kilometres ....
s from Praga
Praga
Praga is a historical borough of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It is located on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter.- History :...
. (...) The workers of Warsaw can already sense that their liberation is near. The revolution in Warsaw is ripe. Workers demand that the city be handed over to the Red Army without a fight, threatening to prevent armed soldiers from leaving the city [for the front]. The White Poland
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
is dying". The commanding officer of the Russian 3rd Army, Vladimir Lazarevich, informed Tukhachevsky that "Poland is now on fire. Only one more push is needed and the Polish fracas will be over".
To counter the threat of a Russian breakthrough, General Latinik ordered General Jan Rządkowski
Jan Rzadkowski
Jan Rządkowski was a Polish military officer and a General of the Polish Army. He is best known as the commanding officer of the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division during the Polish-Bolshevik War and then the commander of the armed forces of the Republic of Central Lithuania.Jan Piotr Rządkowski...
to counter-assault the town the following day with all available forces. To strengthen the assault, the 11th Infantry Division (under Colonel Bolesław Jaźwiński) was drawn from the reserves and dispatched to join the assault which was scheduled for 05:00 hours the following morning. However, the Polish forces were far from sufficient for the task. Rządkowski argued that he had been promised substantial reinforcements which did not arrive. The battle-hardened Siberian Brigade was at that time tied down in Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress is one of the biggest 19th century fortresses in Poland. It is located the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, some 50 kilometres north of Warsaw...
, although the promised cavalry units did arrive—but without their ammunition trains.
August 14
The plans for the Polish assault had to be changed due to unexpected Russian actions. The Polish forces expected heavy opposition from at least two enemy divisions. However, in the morning the Russian 21st Division resumed its advance along the Białystok-Warsaw road towards MarkiMarki
Marki is a town in central Poland, just to the north-east of the Polish capital Warsaw.Marki, a Warsaw suburb, was incorporated in 1967. While by Polish standards Marki is a relatively young town, with approximately 23,000 residents, it is one of the fastest growing cities in the Masovian...
and Warsaw, while the 27th started its march towards Jabłonna. The 21st Division achieved some early successes when its 5th and 6th Rifle Brigades pushed the Poles back from the Czarna River some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the west. However, at the same time it was advancing right in front of Polish forces which were preparing to assault Radzymin. At 10:15 hours the Polish 81st and 85th Infantry Regiments from the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division assaulted the left flank of the unsuspecting Russians, continued along the Warsaw-Białystok road, and broke through to the town. The attack was led by Lt. Colonel Kazimierz Rybicki, who had personally witnessed the defeat of the 46th Regiment the previous day, on his day off. This time spirits were high and the Polish infantry advanced in order, with officers in the first line and the soldiers singing Dąbrowski's Mazurka
Dabrowski's Mazurka
Mazurek Dąbrowskiego is the national anthem of Poland. It is also known by its original title, Pieśń Legionów Polskich we Włoszech , or by its incipit, Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła ....
. By noon the town was liberated.
The success did not last long, as the Russian 27th Rifle Division turned around and arrived at Radzymin just in time for its 81st Brigade to push the exhausted Polish forces back towards the village of Słupno. Threatened by further attacks from Słupno and Wieliszew, the 85th regiment retreated after suffering heavy casualties, including the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Captain Ryszard Downar-Zapolski. This time the Soviet 81st Rifle Brigade (27th Rifle Division) pursued the Poles and managed to pierce Polish defences near Wólka Radzymińska
Wólka Radzyminska
Wólka Radzymińska is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Nieporęt, within Legionowo County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately east of Nieporęt, east of Legionowo, and north of Warsaw....
and Dąbkowizna
Dąbkowizna
Dąbkowizna is a former village in the vicinity of Nieporęt in Masovian Voivodeship in central Poland. Located on the Legionowo-Tłuszcz railway, right to the north of Wólka Radzymińska, the village was abandoned some time before World War II. During the war two bunkers were built along the railway...
, breaking through the second line of defences, which were the last before the city limits. The Polish headquarters at Warsaw was "petrified to hear of the complete destruction of the 19th [Lithuanian-Belarusian] Division", a report that fortunately for the Poles proved to be false. The threat to the northern flank was halted, with heavy casualties on both sides, thanks to the intervention of the division's commanding officer Jan Rządkowski, as well as Front commanding officer Józef Haller, who arrived on the battlefield to personally organise an ad-hoc line of defence west of Wólka Radzymińska, with Polish artillery units shelling the advancing Russians with direct fire. The Soviet advance was halted, and this time chaos in the Polish ranks was avoided, but again lack of reinforcements behind the main line of defences proved a serious problem.
In the evening Generals Lucjan Żeligowski
Lucjan Zeligowski
Lucjan Żeligowski , was a Polish general, and veteran of World War I, the Polish-Soviet War and World War II. He is mostly remembered for his role in Żeligowski's Mutiny and as head of a short-lived Republic of Central Lithuania.-Biography:...
, Józef Haller, Jan Rządkowski and Franciszek Latinik
Franciszek Latinik
Franciszek Ksawery Latinik was a Polish general.He graduated from the cadets school in Kraków and since 1882 served in the Austro-Hungarian Army...
met in Jabłonna and again in Struga
Struga
Struga is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of the Republic of Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality.-Etymology:...
to prepare a plan for retaking Radzymin once again. It was decided that, since the Soviet 27th Division was bogged down around Radzymin and had not resumed its march towards Jabłonna, the Polish 10th Infantry Division was no longer needed in that sector, and instead could be used to achieve a breakthrough at Radzymin. The division was relocated to Nieporęt
Nieporet
Nieporęt is a village in Legionowo County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Nieporęt. It lies approximately east of Legionowo and north of Warsaw....
, where General Rządkowski discovered the artillery units that were believed to have been destroyed by the enemy the previous day. A single battalion from the 28th 'Kaniów Rifles' Regiment from the 10th Division, led by 1st Lt. Stefan Pogonowski
Stefan Pogonowski
Stefan Pogonowski was a Polish professional soldier and military officer. He served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and then the newly-recreated Polish Army during the Polish-Bolshevist War of 1920. He was killed when leading a charge of a battalion he commanded during the battle...
, was ordered to entrench in a forest near Wólka Radzymińska and organise an ambush
Ambush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
. The rest of the Polish forces were to start an all-out assault at 05:00 hours the following morning, with General Żeligowski in command over the ad-hoc corps. The forces amassed for the assault had a nominal strength of 17,000 infantry, 109 artillery pieces, and 220 machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s.
In the evening the 5th Army, operating north of the Bug and Narew rivers with its base of operations in the Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress is one of the biggest 19th century fortresses in Poland. It is located the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, some 50 kilometres north of Warsaw...
, started a limited counter-offensive with the aim of lessening the pressure on the Polish forces at Radzymin. Grossly outnumbered, the 5th Army could not break through the enemy lines, and got bogged down in intense fights along the Wkra
Wkra
Wkra is a river in north-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Narew river, with a length of 249 kilometres and the basin area of 5,322 km². .Towns and townships:* Bieżuń* Radzanów* Strzegowo* Glinojeck* Sochocin...
river. However, although initially unsuccessful, the Polish attack prevented the Soviet 5th, 15th and 16th Armies from reinforcing the two divisions already committed to Radzymin. Only the 4th Red Army, the furthest from the battlefield, operating in the north along the East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
n border and moving towards Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
, kept advancing almost unopposed. This however did not pose an immediate threat to the defenders of Warsaw, as its advance was finally halted at the outskirts of Włocławek, and it was forced to start a hasty retreat eastwards.
August 15
In the early hours of August 15 the Russian forces resumed their attacks on the Polish lines, intending to break through the second line of defences to the area of NieporętNieporet
Nieporęt is a village in Legionowo County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Nieporęt. It lies approximately east of Legionowo and north of Warsaw....
and Jabłonna. However, as they by-passed a small forest outside Wólka Radzymińska, they were assaulted from the rear by the 1st Battalion of the 28th Infantry Regiment, which had been concealed there earlier. Simultaneously, the remainder of the 28th Regiment began a badly coordinated and half-hearted attack from Nieporęt. Both Polish assaults were bloodily repelled, with the casualties including Lt. Pogonowski who was posthumously awarded the Virtuti Militari
Virtuti Militari
The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
medal for his bravery leading the charge, but they did force the Russians to retreat to their initial positions.
When the front-line stabilised, the Polish headquarters threw all its reserves into a counter-attack. Beniaminów was reinforced with the 29th Infantry Regiment. The Polish attack began around 05:30 hours, after a 20-minute artillery barrage. Soon the entire 10th Infantry Division started a push along the southern bank of the Bugonarew river in order to outflank the Russian forces from the north, while the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division pushed directly towards the town. Although the Russian side had superior artillery and brought several Austin-Putilov armoured cars
Austin Armoured Car
Austin Armoured Car was a British armoured car produced during the First World War. The vehicle is best known for its employment by the Russian Army in the First World War and by different forces in the Russian Civil War....
, this time the Polish assault was supported by five Renault FT-17
Renault FT-17
The Renault FT, frequently referred to in post-WWI literature as the "FT-17" or "FT17" , was a French light tank; it is among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history...
tanks and numerous aircraft. Despite suffering from mechanical failures, the tanks successfully broke through the enemy lines, and the infantry of the 85th Wilno Rifles Regiment from the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division followed them into the town. After a short struggle the Polish forces once again controlled the town. However, as soon as it was taken, General Żeligowski decided to reorganise his division and could not support the 85th Regiment with fresh forces. Yet another successful counter-attack by the Russian 61st and 62nd Infantry Brigades forced the Polish 1st Division to retreat back to its initial positions.
At the same time, on the northern flank, the 10th Division was much more successful. Instead of waiting for orders from General Żeligowski, the commanding officer of the 10th Division, Lt. Colonel Wiktor Thommée
Wiktor Thommée
Wiktor Thommée was a Polish military commander and a Brigadier General of the Polish Army. A veteran of the Great War and the Russian Civil War, he is best known for his command over Piotrków Operational Group and the battle of the Bzura during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.- Early life :Wiktor...
, started a push along the southern bank of the Bugonarew. The 28th and 29th Kaniów Rifles Infantry Regiments managed to reach the village of Mokre, on a small hill overlooking Radzymin and the Białystok-Warsaw road, directly behind the Russian lines. The Russians tried to push the Poles back from that position, but ultimately failed. Their assault on the village of Wiktorów also ended in failure. Soon the Polish positions in Mokre were secured, and further reinforced with the remainder of the 1st Battalion, 28th Regiment.
With the northern flank safely in Polish hands, General Lucjan Żeligowski ordered his Lithuanian-Belarusian Division to complete the encirclement of Radzymin. The division reached a position a few hundred metres from Radzymin by way of the village of Ciemne to the south of the town. Fearing envelopment, the Soviets abandoned the town and withdrew east. A single company from the 30th Kaniów Rifles Regiment entered Radzymin unopposed. The town was completely empty; both the civilians and the Russian soldiers had fled, and one officer remarked that "not a stray dog was left behind in the ruined city".
Aftermath: August 16 and the following days
Although the battle was over and Radzymin was secure, the Soviet forces continued to threaten the Polish northern flank. In the early hours of August 16 the Russians mounted yet another assault on Radzymin, reinforced by several armoured cars and led personally by the commanding officer of the 27th Rifle Division, Vitovt Putna. However, by this time the morale of the 27th Division was already broken, and the assault was easily thwarted by the Polish infantry and the three remaining operational FT-17 tanks. The armoured cars withdrew as soon as the Polish tanks opened fire, and the Russian infantry followed.Other Russian forces were more successful to the north of the town, where they managed to capture the village of Mokre from the 28th Regiment. The regiment counter-charged the village, but was initially driven off. However, approximately 80 pieces of Polish artillery were already in place, and laid a 30 minute barrage on the village. It was the greatest concentration of artillery fire in the war up to that point, and had a tremendous effect on the morale of the Russian defenders. After the barrage ended Lt. Colonel Wiktor Thommée personally led his forces in a bayonet charge; the regiment re-entered Mokre at noon and the Russians fled.
The entire 13th Red Army stalled because of its defeat at Radzymin. After that success the Poles were able to slowly but steadily push the Soviets back beyond the first line of defences that had been overrun several days before. By the end of the day the 28th and 30th Infantry Regiments manned most of the trench line along the Rządza River, near the village of Dybów. Although initially the Russian command wanted to use the outskirts of Radzymin as a pivot for a tactical withdrawal to the Radzymin-Brześć line, the following day the Soviet commander ordered a full retreat towards Wyszków and later Grodno. Meanwhile the Piłsudski's 4th Army outflanked the surprised Russians and went as far north as the left wing of Nikolai Sollogub
Nikolai Sollogub
Nikolai Sollogub was a Russian and later Soviet military officer. A Komandarm 2nd class, he served during the Russian Civil War and the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920...
's 16th Red Army, which at that time was constantly pressured from the front by the 10th and 15th divisions. This made existing Russian plans obsolete, and Polish forces started a pursuit that ended with the victorious Battle of the Niemen River
Battle of the Niemen River
The Battle of the Niemen River was the second-greatest battle of the Polish-Soviet War. It took place near the middle Neman River between the cities of Suwałki, Grodno and Białystok...
in September. Ironically, on that day in Moscow the Soviet propaganda issued a poster claiming that "Warsaw has fallen. With it the Poland of yesterday became history. It is nothing but a legend now while the truth of today is the red reality. Long live the Soviets! Long live the invincible Red Army!"
Result and assessment
The battle was a success for the Poles at both the tactical level (the battle of Radzymin itself) and the strategic level (its role in the battle of Warsaw). After several days of constant fighting for the town of Radzymin and its immediate vicinity, the Russian attack was repelled and the Poles were able to mount a successful counter-offensive, forcing the enemy armies out of Poland and in the end destroying them completely.However, the conduct of the Polish forces and their commanders at Radzymin in the early part of the battle has been criticised by historians since the 1920s. It was noted by General Lucjan Żeligowski
Lucjan Zeligowski
Lucjan Żeligowski , was a Polish general, and veteran of World War I, the Polish-Soviet War and World War II. He is mostly remembered for his role in Żeligowski's Mutiny and as head of a short-lived Republic of Central Lithuania.-Biography:...
that the importance of the northern approach to Warsaw was poorly understood by the Polish commanders prior to the battle, and that the untested and relatively weak 10th Division was chosen for the task of defending Radzymin "out of sheer incompetence". In his memoirs he also heavily criticised the commanding officers of the division, whose "military prowess and punctuality in carrying out orders was little more than irony". Other post-war authors argued that on August 13, when the first Russian forces appeared in front of Radzymin, the 1st Army had more than enough time to reinforce the weak Polish forces there. Instead, it took several days to recapture what could have been held from the start.
Despite the lack of strategic flair in the Polish defence of Radzymin, it was one of the cornerstones of the overall success in the Battle of Warsaw. Although it was Piłsudski's Assault Group that defeated the Russians, the forces at Radzymin and Sikorski's 5th Army were responsible for stopping them at the gates of Warsaw. Żeligowski noted in his memoirs that "Warsaw was saved thanks to Polish successes at Mokra, Wólka Radzymińska and Radzymin".
The battle in popular culture and the media
As one of the crucial battles of the war of 1920, the battle for Radzymin has been featured in novels, memoirs and historical monographs. It was also portrayed in the 2011 film Battle of Warsaw 1920, although the battle of Radzymin sequence was shot mostly in Piotrków TrybunalskiPiotrków Trybunalski
Piotrków Trybunalski is a city in central Poland with 80,738 inhabitants . It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship , and previously was the capital of Piotrków Voivodeship...
. There is a yearly re-enactment of the battle on August 15, organised in Ossów and Radzymin since 1998.
