1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade

History

Polish 1st Armoured Brigade "defenders of Westerplatte" (1 Brygada Pancerna im. Bohaterów Westerplatte) or Polish 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade (Polish: 1 Warszawska Brygada Pancerna) was a military unit in the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie. It was formed on August 19, 1943, from a regiment (pułk) of the same name.

The unit fought at the Battle of Lenino (September 1943) and at the Battle of Studzianki during the Lublin-Brest Offensive (Magnuszew bridgeheads in August 1944). From mid-August it was subordinate to the Polish First Army. Later the unit fought in the East Pomeranian Offensive.

In January 1945 it received another honorary name, Warszawska (of Warsaw). In July and August 1945 fought against Polish anti-Communist guerrilla. In January 1946 it was downsized to regiment (becoming 1st Warsaw Tank Regiment), and from June it was stationed in the Modlin area.

The modern version of the 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade was formed in 1994 and was subordinated to the 16th Pomeranian Mechanised Division. On August 29, 2019, the brigade was transferred under the command of the newly formed 18th "Żelazna" Mechanised Division, which is intended to help safeguard Poland's eastern border.

In April 2021, 1WAB troops were deployed to the Belarus-Poland border.

In August 2023, 10,000 troops were sent to help the Polish Border Guard police the border with Belarus so as "to deter the aggressor, so that he does not dare to attack us." Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak he was not ruling out closing the border, and "Everything that happens in Belarus is coordinated with Russia’s actions." 1WAB troops were deployed there as a result of this announcement.

On 6 June 2024 a 1WAB soldier by the name of Mateusz Sitek was murdered by an illegal immigrant on the Belarus-Poland border. He had been serving in the 1WAB from 18 December 2023; initially, he had served in the ranks of the Territorial Defense Force.

Structure

Main article: Operational Structure of the Polish Land Forces

• The 1st Warsaw Armoured Brigade "Tadeusz Kościuszko" is headquartered in Wesoła and structured as follows:
  • Command Battalion in Wesoła
  • Tank Battalion in Wesoła with M1A1 FEP Abrams
  • 1st Mechanised Battalion in Chełm with BWP-1 infantry fighting vehicles
  • 3rd Mechanised Battalion in Zamość with BWP-1 infantry fighting vehicles
  • Self-propelled Artillery Group in Chełm with 2S1 Gvozdika 122mm self-propelled howitzers
  • Anti-aircraft Group in Siedlce with ZUR-23-2 kg "Jodek-G" anti-aircraft systems and Grom surface-to-air missiles
  • Reconnaissance Company in Siedlce with BRDM-2 vehicles
  • Engineer Company in Siedlce
  • Logistic Battalion in Wesoła

Popular culture

The Polish TV series Czterej pancerni i pies (Four tank men and a dog) featured the adventures of a tank crew from this brigade.

References

References

1. ''The Polish Army 1939-45'' By [[Steven J. Zaloga]], Richard Hook, [[Osprey Publishing]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=AAdYFeW2fnoC&pg=PA27&dq=studzianki+1944&lr=]
2. "21 Brygada Strzelców Podhalańskich - 18 Dywizja Zmechanizowana".
3. (13 April 2021). "Poland deploys troops close to Belarusian border in response to crackdown on Polish minority".
4. (10 August 2023). "Poland will deploy 10K soldiers at Belarus frontier".
5. (2024-06-07). "Dlaczego zmarł żołnierz zraniony na granicy. Mateusz Sitek miał 21 lat".
6. Czernek, Seweryn. (2024-06-07). "Grał w ich klubie. Żegnają zmarłego polskiego żołnierza".