Lieutenant General Stanisław Władysław Maczek ([staˈɲiswav ˈmat͡ʂɛk]; 31 March 1892 – 11 December 1994) was a Polish tank commander of World War II, whose division was instrumental in the Allied liberation of France, closing the Falaise pocket, resulting in the destruction of 14 German Wehrmacht and SS divisions. A veteran of World War I, the Polish–Ukrainian and Polish–Soviet wars, Maczek was the commander of Poland's only major armoured formation during the September 1939 campaign, and later commanded a Polish armoured formation in France in 1940. He was the commander of the famous 1st Polish Armoured Division, and later of the I Polish Army Corps under Allied Command in 1942–45.

Stanisław Władysław Maczek was born on 31 March 1892 in the Lwów suburb of Szczerzec (now Ukrainian: Shchyrets), then in Austro-Hungarian Galicia. His father was a lawyer, who after retiring opened chambers in Drohobycz. His family might have been of distant Slovenian extraction;^{[contradictory]} he was a cousin of the Slovenian Croatian (and Polish) politician Vladko Maček.^{[citation needed]}

After graduating from the grammar school at Drohobycz in 1910, he attended the philosophy faculty of Lwów University where he studied Polish philology (i.e. language and literature). Among his tutors were the renowned Polish philologists Wilhelm Bruchnalski [pl] and Józef Kallenbach, He also attended lectures by Kazimierz Twardowski. During his studies he served in the Strzelec paramilitary organization, in which he received basic military training. After the outbreak of World War I, Maczek interrupted his studies, hoping to join Józef Piłsudski's Polish Legions, but instead was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army.^{[citation needed]}

After receiving a brief officer training, Maczek was sent to the Italian Front of World War I. Initially an NCO in the Tyrolean Regiment of the Imperial and Royal Army, he was promoted to second lieutenant in 1916 and then in 1918 to lieutenant. As the only Polish battalion commander in Austria-Hungary's Alpine regiments, Maczek gained experience in mountain warfare, which proved valuable in his later career.^{[citation needed]}

On 11 November 1918, after receiving news of the Armistice, Maczek disbanded his battalion and returned to the newly reborn Poland. Three days later he arrived at Krosno, where he joined the Polish Army. Assigned the command of a Krosno battalion, Maczek began a limited offensive against the forces of the West Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR) with the aim of relieving his besieged hometown. However, due to insufficient support, after initial successes at Ustrzyki, Chyrów and Felsztyn, the Polish offensive got bogged down and the Polish–Ukrainian War turned into trench warfare for the rest of the winter.^{[citation needed]}

In April 1919 Maczek was withdrawn from his unit and became the organizer and commander of the so-called 'flying' company (Polish: lotna kompania) as part of Gen. Aleksandrowicz's 4th Infantry Division. This unit, created on Maczek's initiative, was modelled after the German Sturmbataillone of World War I and was highly mobile, with horse-drawn vehicles (in the singular, taczanka, podwoda) from Austrian Army depots, and well-equipped with heavy machine guns. The unit was formed mostly from battle-hardened troops of the Krosno battalion, and its combat value was well above the average of the Polish Army of the time. Hence it served in a "firefighter" capacity, plugging holes that appeared in defensive lines, but also fighting with distinction in the Polish spring offensive. It took part in some of the heaviest fighting of the war, including the battles for Drohobycz, Stanisławów, Buczacz, and finally the ZUNR capital, Stryj.^{[citation needed]}

After the end of the Polish–Ukrainian fighting, Maczek was confirmed in the rank of major with seniority from 1 June 1919. He was then attached to General Iwaszkiewicz [pl]'s Polish 2nd Army as a staff officer. Bored with staff duties, Maczek repeatedly asked his superiors to give him command over a front-line unit. His wish was fulfilled only after the start of the Polish–Bolshevik War, when the 2nd Army suffered a defeat in initial clashes with Semyon Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army. In Jarosław, Maczek formed a new 'flying' rifle battalion, mostly composed of fresh recruits and horseless uhlans. Despite insufficient training, the unit was moved to the front and Maczek again acted as a "firefighter", moving his unit quickly to wherever it was needed. His unit covered the retreat of the Polish forces at Mosty Wielkie, after which it was attached to Gen. Juliusz Rómmel's 1st Cavalry Division. It took part in the Polish assault on Waręż near Zamość, a tactical counter-assault on the rear of Budyonny's advancing Cossacks directly preceding the victorious battle of Komarów. After the end of hostilities, Maczek's battalion was officially named after him, although it was disbanded shortly after the signing of the treaty of Riga.^{[citation needed]}

Maczek decided not to resume his studies at Lwów University and remained in active service. Between 1921 and 1923 he commanded an infantry battalion within the Lwów-based 26th Infantry Regiment. On 1 August 1923 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and sent to the Higher Military School in Warsaw. He graduated the following year and served until 1927 as head of Section II (intelligence) in Lwów. Later that year he moved to Grodno, where he became deputy commander of the 76th Infantry Regiment. In 1929, after finishing his training, he became commander of the Grodno-based 81st Infantry Regiment, holding that post until 1934. During that time, on 1 January 1931, he was promoted to colonel. In 1935 he was transferred to Częstochowa, where he became commander of infantry (practically, deputy commander of the whole division) in the 7th Infantry Division.