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Brest air defense

Situation plan of the Polish air defense of Brest-Lithuania in September 1939.

Czechoslovak branches of the National Guard in the Moravian region of Ostrava and Cieszyn Silesia 1918-1919

In mid-October 1918, it all came to the conclusion that the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy cannot be avoided. This was accompanied by the full activation of the Polish and Czech independent equities in the Moravian-Ostrava and Silesian Cieszyn regions. On 19 October, the Cieszyn National Council was convened, and on 29 October, the Cieszyn National Council proclaimed the importance of the Cieszyn County to a free, independent, unified Polish. In response, the Provincial National Committee for Silesia, which was responsible for the accession of Silesian Cieszyn to the Czech Republic, remained.

Defense of Brest in September 1939

In 1939, Brest was the capital of the Polish voivodship. It was an important transport hub and military center of the central section of the eastern part of Poland. In March 1921, on the basis of the Polish-Soviet treaty, it became part of Poland with its fortifications.

Fall Weiss in Těšín area

On September 1, 1939, a small but industrially important part of Czechoslovakia from Bohumín to Jablunkov on the left bank of the Olza River, which was occupied by Poland and became part of it, did not witness fierce fighting on September 1, 1939. Despite its economic importance, the Poles did not intend to defend it steadily, but preparations for World War II and the course of its first day were recorded in municipal chronicles, Polish historiography, as well as in German war documents.

I./ZG 2 over Poland

With the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, fascist Germany unleashed a six-year period of world war. The land, naval and air forces of the two countries competed in an unequal battle. The strategy of the " Blitzkrieg ", supported by an appropriate military force in the service of a monstrous ideology, threw Poland on the brink of extinction. One of the three main components of the German Armed Forces was the Air Force - Luftwaffe.

I./ZG 2 over Poland

A clear assessment of the participation, results and intensity of the combat deployment of I./ZG 2 in September 1939 can be misleading. The Polish Fighter Air Force was not qualitatively or quantitatively equivalent opponent. A preliminary report on the experience of Luftflotte 1 fighter units from air combat states: " No experience was recorded in the fight against an equivalent enemy, because Polish fighters did not reach the speed and ascent qualities of the Bf 109 ..."

I./ZG 2 over Poland - honors and additions to the status of aircraft

I./ZG 2 over Poland - list of losses

I./ZG 2 over Poland - maps

I./ZG 2 over Poland - victories I. ZG 2

Participation of the Slovak field army Bernolák in the German campaign in Poland in September 1939

Seventy years after the beginning of the German campaign in Poland, which the Poles called the Polish Defense War or the September Campaign and gave the beginning of World War II. World War II, it might seem that historians and the general public know all its aspects. Nevertheless, there are facts that were carefully kept secret or concealed until the 1990s, and only thanks to political changes in the countries of the Eastern bloc did the possibility of their comprehensive knowledge become possible. The possibility of access to preserved original documents, which is no longer limited by ideological ties, makes it possible to create new views of little-known facts in the public domain.

POL - wz. 36 (grenade launcher)

Front-loaded 46 mm grenade launcher Mk. 36 was an improved version of the grenade launcher Mk. 30. It was developed from 1931 to 1935 and after subsequent tests, it was in 1936 started its production. From the beginning of the year 1937 it was used as a support weapon for small infantry units.

Polish armoured trains in 1939

One of the components of the attack vehicle in 1939 were also armored trains, which proved themselves during the fighting for the Polish border in the years 1918-1921. Relatively considerable firepower and mobility predestined them to fire support of infantry and cavalry units as well as to independent combat activities.

The first air battle of the last world war

How World War II in the air began? These were not the massive attacks of hundreds of bombers and the persistent fighting of fighter groups we know from later periods of this war. However, the actors of its beginning on both warring parties showed a lot of determination, which from the point of view of the intensity of later events seems insignificant, little known, but still very interesting.