Kazimierz Mastalerz
Encyclopedia
Czeladz
Czeladź is a town in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, near Katowice. Borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with a population of 2 million. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river ....
or Sosnowiec
Sosnowiec
Sosnowiec is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a combined population of over two million people located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river .It is situated in...
– 1 September 1939 at Krojanty
Krojanty
Krojanty is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Chojnice, within Chojnice County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies near the Tuchola Forest, approximately north-east of Chojnice and south-west of the regional capital Gdańsk...
) was a Polish military commander of the 18th Pomeranian Cavalry Regiment.
He was the son of Jan Mastalerz (1858–1947), train driver, and née Dobke Sophia (1875–1937). He attended high school in Czestochowa
Czestochowa
Częstochowa is a city in south Poland on the Warta River with 240,027 inhabitants . It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of Częstochowa Voivodeship...
. He belonged to the National Youth Organisation of Secondary Schools and the Organization of the Polish Youth "Future" (PET). In September 1912 he co-founded the scout team. At the end of 1912, as a student of class VII, he was arrested by the Russians and taken into custody in Czestochowa
Czestochowa
Częstochowa is a city in south Poland on the Warta River with 240,027 inhabitants . It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously the capital of Częstochowa Voivodeship...
. After his release he moved to 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...
, where he attended school. Fearing re-arrest, he moved to Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, and there continued his studies at Matura
Matura
Matura or a similar term is the common name for the high-school leaving exam or "maturity exam" in various countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia,...
courses. In 1914, he passed the exams. During this period he was a member of the Polish Rifle Teams.
From 1914 he served in a Squadron 1st Regiment of Cavalry of the First Brigade of the Polish Legions. After the oath crisis
Oath crisis
The Oath crisis was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions.Initially supporting the Central Powers against Imperial Russia, Piłsudski wanted to defeat one of the partitioning powers with the hands of the two remaining...
from July 1917 to 1918 he was interned in Szczypiorno
Szczypiorno
Szczypiorno is a municipal neighbourhood of the city of Kalisz, Poland. Formerly until 1976 a separate village at the outskirts of the city, it is best known as a seat of a World War I and Polish-Bolshevist War prisoner of war camp and the name-sake for szczypiorniak, the Polish language name for...
near Kalisz
Kalisz
Kalisz is a city in central Poland with 106,857 inhabitants , the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, the city forms a conurbation with the nearby towns of Ostrów Wielkopolski and Nowe Skalmierzyce...
, then in Lomza
Lomza
Łomża is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately 90 miles from Warsaw and 50 miles from Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river and has been in the Podlaskie Voivodeship since 1999. Previously, it was the capital of the Łomża Voivodeship...
. From November 1918 he served in a Cavalry Regiment. He participated in the defense of Lviv, then in the Polish-Bolshevik War. In April 1919 he was appointed second lieutenant, and in August 1920 he was promoted to lieutenant and captain.
In 1925–1926 he served in Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza and in May 1926 he was promoted to the rank of Major. In 1926–1930 he served again in the 1st Regiment of Cavalry. In 1930 he was appointed lieutenant colonel. In March 1930 in Cracow, Mastalerz took command of the 8 Cavalry Regiment. He held this position until 1939. In 1934, he was promoted to colonel. On 1 August 1939 he was appointed to command the 18th Pomeranian Cavalry Regiment, which was part of the Pomeranian Cavalry Brigade
Pomeranian Cavalry Brigade
Pomeranian Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period. It was created on April 1, 1937 out of the Cavalry Brigade "Bydgoszcz"...
.
Mastalerz saw action in the German Invasion of Poland at the outset of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. On 1 September he died commanding his cavalry unit during the Charge at Krojanty, when he was cut down by 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....
fire. He was killed while trying to rescue Eugeniusz Świeściak, the commander of the 1st Squadron of the 18th Pomeranian Cavalry.
He was buried at the cemetery in Chojnice
Chojnice
Chojnice is a town in northern Poland with 39 670 inhabitants , near famous Tuchola Forest, Lake Charzykowskie and many other water reservoirs. It is the capital of the Chojnice County....
.
Decorations
- Double-Cross of Military Virtue: 5 class (1920), 4 class (1939-posthumously),
- Independence Cross,
- Cross of Valour (3-fold)
- On 7 December 1927 he was awarded the Silver Cross of MeritCross of MeritThere are hundreds of decorations that bear the name "Cross of Merit". As a rule a cross of merit is higher than a medal but not as esteemed as the grade of Knight in an order of merit.- The Netherlands :...
- Gold Cross of Merit (1937).