Polish 21st Mountain Infantry Division
Encyclopedia
The 21st Mountain Infantry Division was a pre-war unit of the Polish Army. It was one of two mountain infantry divisions of Poland to take part in the Polish Defensive War of 1939. Currently its traditions are continued by Polish 21st Podhale Rifles Brigade. Until 1939 the unit was commanded by Gen.bryg. Józef Kustroń
Józef Kustroń
Józef Rudolf Kustroń was a Brigadier General of the Polish Army in the Second Polish Republic, commandant of the 21st Mountain Infantry Division.-Early life:Kustroń spent his childhood in the southern town of Nowy Sącz, where his family had settled...

 and was stationed in and around the towns of Nowy Sącz
Nowy Sacz
Nowy Sącz is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County, but is not included within the powiat.-Names:...

, Bielsko
Bielsko-Biała
-Economy and Industry:Nowadays Bielsko-Biała is one of the best-developed parts of Poland. It was ranked 2nd best city for business in that country by Forbes. About 5% of people are unemployed . Bielsko-Biała is famous for its textile, machine-building, and especially automotive industry...

, Cieszyn
Cieszyn
Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....

, Bogumin, Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

.

Along with 11th Infantry
Polish 11th Infantry Division
11th Carpathian Infantry Division , was a tactical unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period, which resisted the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Its headquarters were located in Stanisławów, with some regiments stationed in nearby locations, such as Stryi and Kolomyia...

 and 22nd Mountain Infantry Divisions
Polish 22nd Mountain Infantry Division
The 22nd Mountain Infantry Division was a pre-war unit of the Polish Army. It was one of two mountain infantry divisions of Poland to take part in the Polish Defensive War of 1939. Currently its traditions are continued by the 21st Podhale Rifles Brigade. Until 1939 the unit was commanded by Col...

, the 21st was notable for its distinctive uniforms, based on folk attire of the Górale
Górale
Górale may refer to:*Gorals, a group of people indigenous to Polish, Czech and Slovak mountain areas*Górale, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship *Górale, Łódź Voivodeship...

 (Polish highlanders) rather than standard uniforms of the Polish Army. During the Polish Defensive War, the division was attached to the Kraków Army
Kraków Army
Kraków Army was one of the Polish armies to take part in the Polish Defensive War of 1939. It was officially created on March 23, 1939 as the main pivot of Polish defence. It was commanded by Gen...

. It defended the line of Cieszyn-Bogumin in the region of Zaolzie
Zaolzie
Zaolzie is the Polish name for an area now in the Czech Republic which was disputed between interwar Poland and Czechoslovakia. The name means "lands beyond the Olza River"; it is also called Śląsk zaolziański, meaning "trans-Olza Silesia". Equivalent terms in other languages include Zaolší in...

. Following the steady withdrawal eastwards, it was victorious in the battles of Krzywoczka and Mogilany along the Dunajec. Attacked on September 6 by superior forces of the German 2nd Panzer Division
German 2nd Panzer Division
The 2nd Panzer Division was created in 1935, and stationed in Austria after the Anschluss. It participated in the campaigns in Poland and France , and then returned to Poland for occupation duties . It took part in the Balkans campaign and then transferred to the Russian Front in September 1941...

 and German 4th Panzer Division
German 4th Panzer Division
The German 4th Panzer Division was established in 1938. It participated in the 1939 invasion of Poland, the 1940 invasion of France, and the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. It remained on the Eastern Front, mainly under Army Group Centre, until it was trapped on the coast at Courland in the...

, parts of its shielding forces managed to withdraw to the other side of the river, blowing the bridges in Bobrowniki
Bobrowniki
Bobrowniki is a village in Lipno County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Bobrowniki. It lies approximately south-west of Lipno and south-east of Toruń...

 up. At the same time, a major part of the division was assaulted prior to the river crossing and had to withdraw northwards, where it joined with the Polish 6th Infantry Division near the town of Biskupice
Biskupice
- Poland :It is a very common place name in Poland, where 29 villages carry that exact name, and 6 others some variation of it. It is also the name for one of the districts of the city Zabrze...

.

Finally, the division managed to escape from German forces and cross the San river overnight of September 12 near Jarosław. Between September 13 and September 16 the division took part in heavy fights of Gen. Boruta-Spiechowicz's 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....

 in the vicinity of Oleszyce
Oleszyce
Oleszyce is a small town in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,089 inhabitants .During World War II, on 16 September 1939 there was a battle near Oleszyce, in which General Józef Kustroń fell, the commander of the Polish 21st Mountain Infantry Division.-References:Notes...

, Futorów, Cewków and Ułazów. There the division, by then reduced to merely 4,000 soldiers, managed to withstand a three days long assault of German 45th and 28th Infantry Divisions. However, on September 16 the remnants of the 21st Mountain Division were finally surrounded and most of them either capitulated or were disbanded by their commanders. The division's commanding officer was killed on the battlefield while personally leading his soldiers in an assault.

See also

  • Polish army order of battle in 1939
    Polish army order of battle in 1939
    Polish OOB during the Invasion of Poland. In the late thirties Polish headquarters prepared "Plan Zachód" , a plan of mobilization of Polish Army in case of war with Germany...

  • Polish contribution to WWII
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