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Battle of Wizna
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Battle of Wizna
The Battle of Wizna (Polish: Obrona Wizny) was fought between September 7 and September 10, 1939, between the forces of Poland and Germany during the initial stages of the invasion of Poland, which marked the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. According to Polish historian Leszek Moczulski, between 350 and 720 Poles defended a fortified line for three days against more than 40,000 Germans. Although defeat was inevitable, the Polish defence stalled the attacking forces for three days and postponed the encirclement of Independent Operational Group Narew fighting nearby. Eventually the tanks broke through the Polish line and German engineers eliminated all the shelters one by one. The last shelter surrendered around midday on September 10.
Because the battle consisted of a small force holding a piece of fortified territory against a vastly larger invasion for three days at great cost before being annihilated, Wizna is sometimes referred to as the "Polish Thermopylae". One of the symbols of the battle is Captain Władysław Raginis, the commanding officer of the Polish force, who swore to hold his position as long as he was alive. When the last two shelters under his command ran out of ammunition, he ordered his men to surrender their arms and committed suicide by detonating a grenade against his neck.
Before the war, the area of the village of Wizna was prepared as a fortified line of defence. It was to shield the Polish positions further to the south and guard the crossing of the Narew and Biebrza rivers. The 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) long line of Polish defences stretched between the villages of Kołodzieje and Grądy-Woniecko, with Wizna in the centre. The line ran some 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the border with East Prussia, along an elevated banks of Narew and Biebrza rivers. Units defending the line were subordinate to the Polish Independent Operational Group Narew shielding Łomża and providing defence of the northern approach to Warsaw. The Wizna fortified area was one of the most important nodes in Northern Poland, providing cover of both the river crossings, and the roads Łomża–Białystok and roads towards Brześć Litewski on the rear of Polish forces.
Construction started in June 1939, only two months before the outbreak of World War II. The spot was chosen carefully; most of the concrete bunkers were built on hills overlooking a swampy Narew River valley. They could be reached either through direct assault through the swamps or by attack along the causeway leading from the bridge in Wizna. Before September 1, 1939, only 16 bunkers were built out of 60 planned. Six bunkers were made of heavy concrete with reinforced steel cupolas weighing 8 tons each, armed with machine guns and anti-tank artillery. Two were light concrete bunkers, armed with machine guns only. The remaining eight were ad hoc machine gun pillboxes, protected mostly by sandbags and earthworks. Four additional heavy bunkers were under construction when World War II started. In addition, the area was reinforced with trenches, anti-tank and anti-personnel obstacles, barbed wire lines and land mines. There were also plans to break the dams on the Biebrza and Narew rivers to flood the area, but the summer of 1939 was one of the driest seasons in Polish history and the water level was too low.
Although not all bunkers were ready by the beginning of the war, the Polish lines of defence were well-prepared. The walls of an average bunker, 1.5 metres thick and reinforced with 20-centimetre-thick steel plates, could withstand a direct hit from even the heaviest guns available to the Wehrmacht at the time. The bunkers were situated on hills which gave good visibility of all the advancing forces.
The Polish defensive line was initially manned by a single battalion from the 71st Infantry Regiment, commanded by Major Jakub Fober. However, shortly before the outbreak of World War II it was reinforced with a machine gun company from Osowiec Fortress under Captain Władysław Raginis, as well as numerous smaller detachments from a variety of units. On September 2, 1939, the III/71 battalion departed for Osowiec, and Fober passed command over Wizna to Raginis and his men. Altogether, the Polish defensive position was manned by 720 men: 20 officers and 700 NCOs and privates. However, some sources claim that the Polish unit was even weaker, no more than 360 men strong.
Although the Polish units were almost entirely composed of conscripts mobilised in August 1939 rather than professional soldiers, their morale was very high. After the war, Guderian had trouble explaining why his corps was stopped by such a small force. In his memoirs he attributes the delay to his officers "having trouble building bridges across the rivers". During the Nuremberg Trials he remarked that Wizna was "well-defended by a local officer school".
On September 1, 1939, the Polish Defensive War and World War II started. The German 3rd Army was to advance from East Prussia towards Warsaw, directly through the positions of Polish Narew Corps. On September 2 Captain Władysław Raginis was named the commander of the Wizna area. As his command post he chose the "GG-126" bunker near the village of Góra Strękowa. The bunker was located on a hill in the exact centre of the Polish lines. His forces numbered approximately 700 soldiers and NCOs and 20 officers armed with 6 pieces of artillery (75mm), 24 HMGs, 18 machine guns and two Kb ppanc wz.35 anti-tank rifles, with just 20 bullets.
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Battle of Wizna
The Battle of Wizna (Polish: Obrona Wizny) was fought between September 7 and September 10, 1939, between the forces of Poland and Germany during the initial stages of the invasion of Poland, which marked the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. According to Polish historian Leszek Moczulski, between 350 and 720 Poles defended a fortified line for three days against more than 40,000 Germans. Although defeat was inevitable, the Polish defence stalled the attacking forces for three days and postponed the encirclement of Independent Operational Group Narew fighting nearby. Eventually the tanks broke through the Polish line and German engineers eliminated all the shelters one by one. The last shelter surrendered around midday on September 10.
Because the battle consisted of a small force holding a piece of fortified territory against a vastly larger invasion for three days at great cost before being annihilated, Wizna is sometimes referred to as the "Polish Thermopylae". One of the symbols of the battle is Captain Władysław Raginis, the commanding officer of the Polish force, who swore to hold his position as long as he was alive. When the last two shelters under his command ran out of ammunition, he ordered his men to surrender their arms and committed suicide by detonating a grenade against his neck.
Before the war, the area of the village of Wizna was prepared as a fortified line of defence. It was to shield the Polish positions further to the south and guard the crossing of the Narew and Biebrza rivers. The 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) long line of Polish defences stretched between the villages of Kołodzieje and Grądy-Woniecko, with Wizna in the centre. The line ran some 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the border with East Prussia, along an elevated banks of Narew and Biebrza rivers. Units defending the line were subordinate to the Polish Independent Operational Group Narew shielding Łomża and providing defence of the northern approach to Warsaw. The Wizna fortified area was one of the most important nodes in Northern Poland, providing cover of both the river crossings, and the roads Łomża–Białystok and roads towards Brześć Litewski on the rear of Polish forces.
Construction started in June 1939, only two months before the outbreak of World War II. The spot was chosen carefully; most of the concrete bunkers were built on hills overlooking a swampy Narew River valley. They could be reached either through direct assault through the swamps or by attack along the causeway leading from the bridge in Wizna. Before September 1, 1939, only 16 bunkers were built out of 60 planned. Six bunkers were made of heavy concrete with reinforced steel cupolas weighing 8 tons each, armed with machine guns and anti-tank artillery. Two were light concrete bunkers, armed with machine guns only. The remaining eight were ad hoc machine gun pillboxes, protected mostly by sandbags and earthworks. Four additional heavy bunkers were under construction when World War II started. In addition, the area was reinforced with trenches, anti-tank and anti-personnel obstacles, barbed wire lines and land mines. There were also plans to break the dams on the Biebrza and Narew rivers to flood the area, but the summer of 1939 was one of the driest seasons in Polish history and the water level was too low.
Although not all bunkers were ready by the beginning of the war, the Polish lines of defence were well-prepared. The walls of an average bunker, 1.5 metres thick and reinforced with 20-centimetre-thick steel plates, could withstand a direct hit from even the heaviest guns available to the Wehrmacht at the time. The bunkers were situated on hills which gave good visibility of all the advancing forces.
The Polish defensive line was initially manned by a single battalion from the 71st Infantry Regiment, commanded by Major Jakub Fober. However, shortly before the outbreak of World War II it was reinforced with a machine gun company from Osowiec Fortress under Captain Władysław Raginis, as well as numerous smaller detachments from a variety of units. On September 2, 1939, the III/71 battalion departed for Osowiec, and Fober passed command over Wizna to Raginis and his men. Altogether, the Polish defensive position was manned by 720 men: 20 officers and 700 NCOs and privates. However, some sources claim that the Polish unit was even weaker, no more than 360 men strong.
Although the Polish units were almost entirely composed of conscripts mobilised in August 1939 rather than professional soldiers, their morale was very high. After the war, Guderian had trouble explaining why his corps was stopped by such a small force. In his memoirs he attributes the delay to his officers "having trouble building bridges across the rivers". During the Nuremberg Trials he remarked that Wizna was "well-defended by a local officer school".
On September 1, 1939, the Polish Defensive War and World War II started. The German 3rd Army was to advance from East Prussia towards Warsaw, directly through the positions of Polish Narew Corps. On September 2 Captain Władysław Raginis was named the commander of the Wizna area. As his command post he chose the "GG-126" bunker near the village of Góra Strękowa. The bunker was located on a hill in the exact centre of the Polish lines. His forces numbered approximately 700 soldiers and NCOs and 20 officers armed with 6 pieces of artillery (75mm), 24 HMGs, 18 machine guns and two Kb ppanc wz.35 anti-tank rifles, with just 20 bullets.
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