Overview
Throughout the centuries, cavalry has been a fundamental part of armies. In the 20th century, with the appearance of machine guns and the introduction of repeating rifles, its military role began to be relegated to the background. Nevertheless, as late as the 1930s, cavalry units existed in almost all European armies. On September 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany began the invasion of neighboring Poland, beginning what would later be known as World War 2. The Polish Army mobilizes to stop the invasion, but the Germans had previously secured the support of the Soviets, who also attacked Poland. The army of the young Polish Republic was being attacked from two fronts.
The Polish Army before the invasion
In 1939, the Polish Army numbered a million soldiers, 880 tankettes (equipped with either a machine gun or a 20 mm automatic cannon), 1,334 aircraft, 10 armored trains, 76 trucks, and 5,066 artillery pieces. His main equipment was Mauser Kbk Wz rifles. 29 machine guns Browning Wz. 28, Maroszek Kb Ur Wz. 35 and Vis wz pistols. 35. In general they were good weapons for the date of 1939, but the army had a great deficiency in motor vehicles.
The army since its creation carried out numerous reforms, the cavalry arm was reorganized in 1924, 1927 and 1937, during 1939 last minute changes were made. According to data from July 1931, the cavalry was made up of 1,142 officers, 3,644 non-commissioned officers, 27,781 soldiers and 22,781 horses. These units normally fought dismounted as if they were infantry units, even taking shelter in trench systems, but the main mission of the cavalry was always the one to flank the enemy and reconnaissance the terrain. In the 1930s, the Polish general staff began the mechanization of these units, but only the 10th brigade was equipped with tankettes, since the other armored vehicles were left to the command of the Armored Forces.
The horsemen were equipped in a similar way to the infantrymen, but they had certain differences. Of course these regiments and brigades wore high riding boots and French Adrian M1915 and M1926 helmets as headwear, due to the purchases they had made abroad after the Great War. The spear had been discarded since the 1930s, for example the Germans did it in 1927. As main armament soldiers carried mauser M1898 carabiners and sabers for charges, officers used to carry a Vis Wz pistol. 35.
The development of the fights
The Polish cavalry had been essential in the fight against the Soviets in the early 1920s, so they still had a very important role in the armed forces. By 1939, the Germans had advanced with numerous armored corps and divisions, something that gave them the advantage from the start. One of the first actions carried out by the Wehrmacht was the conquest of the area known as the “Pomeranian Corridor”. The Polish Army was positioned to deal with the invasion even though the area was indefensible, but at least they wanted to prevent the Germans from taking it unopposed. The 2nd and 20th Divisions of the XIX Army Corps under Heinz Guderian began to put pressure on the Polish cavalry and infantry divisions, although they managed to hold out for a while.
In the early afternoon of the first day of the invasion, 250 Polish horsemen surrounded a battalion that was in an open field, the cavalry squadrons were about 100 meters into the forest, so a saber charge was extremely dangerous. feasible. This is how these units charged and created certain casualties for the enemy, although some time later the German light armored vehicles appeared and killed 1/3 of the horsemen who participated in the charge, including the general staff and the colonel who commanded them died in that action. The Polish units that withdrew were equipped with Wz. 35 caliber rounds that would undoubtedly have penetrated the weak armor of the German vehicles, but were not used.
Cavalry vs armored reality or myth?
These fights that took place in the first days of the invasion gave rise to stories about how the Polish cavalry had charged with their lances and sabers against the German armored vehicles. The truth is that this vision is false, such events never occurred and if they did occur they were not in the situation of a battle or a clash between the animal and the machine. Some authors speak of how some cavalry units to avoid being captured if they charged desperately to try to flee.
The propaganda of the Nazi regime elaborated the myth about these Polish suicide charges. The Poles also believed these stories as a sign of their horsemen’s bravery and fearlessness in battle. After these events, the truth is that the cavalry continued to act in a good way, even thanks to this corps and an armored artillery train, the Polish troops managed to defeat the Germans in the Battle of Mokra on September 1, and pushed them back to their initial positions, and that the Germans were more numerous in material and men.
Conclusion on the use of cavalry
The conclusion of the German military specialists was that the age of the horseman was over forever. Although it was a fact that cavalry was rapidly being replaced by armor, two more charges were made before its final decline. On January 16, 1942, in the Philippines, the 26th Philippine Scout Cavalry Regiment charged into the Japanese lines firing their Colt M1911 pistols, the action was courageous but doomed to failure as the Japanese ultimately repulsed the attack. The last cavalry charge was made on August 24, 1942, it was carried out by the Italian Savoy cavalry regiment, armed with sabers and grenades they faced more than three Soviet battalions. The charge was a complete success and managed to inflict a defeat on the enemy, causing 150 dead, 300 wounded and 600 prisoners.
SOURCES:
http://blitzkrieg2gm.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/la-carga-de-la-caballeria-polaca-en.html
https://aforjar.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/krojanty-1939-el-desastre-de-la-caballeria-polaca-detras-del-mito/
http://www.military.org.ua/blog/la-polaca-caballeria-en-la-second-mundial-war/
http://www.eurasia1945.com/batallas/contienda/invasion-de-polonia-2/
Steven Zaloga, Soldiers of World War II: The Polish ArmyOsprey Publishing.
Steven Zaloga, The invasion of Poland. blitzkriegOsprey Publishing.