1939 War French Eat antiPolish Scorn in 1940 Kurcz

The Black Brigade, by F. S. Kurcz. 1943

French Scorn of Poland, and Then French Just Deserts. Polish Army Combat Action in 1939 Poland and 1940 France

This book on the 1939 campaign is unusual in a number of respects. First of all, it describes the war against the Nazi German invaders from the viewpoint of a soldier. Second, it includes a sizeable description of the combat operations of the Polish forces in 1940 France. Owing to the fact that the book was published soon after the events, it was not colored by subsequent political and military developments.

The combat operations of the Black Brigade began near Krakow, then proceeded almost due east to the Rzeszow area, and finally to the Lwow area. On September 17th, the USSR stabbed Poland in the back. The Black Brigade moved from the Lwow (Lviv) area south, and crossed the border into Hungary. There the troops were eventually disarmed and interned, but managed to evacuate to France.

In the first several days of the 1939 war, the Brigade had successes against the invading Germans. Kurcz comments: “The men fought splendidly. Corporal Dziechciarz alone knocked out with his gun no less than seven enemy tanks and did not give up the fight until he was attacked simultaneously by three tanks using incendiary ammunition. He was burned and carbonized.” (p. 24). Also: “We discovered that, although the enemy had a tremendous superiority in aeroplanes, tanks, and guns, we could put up a very effective resistance. The soldiers proved splendid fighters, without a trace of any inferiority complex or ‘armour panic’. Especially the anti-tank units did extremely well, while their Polish 37 mm anti-tank guns confirmed the hopes we had placed in them. Some of the 37 mm guns knocked out several German tanks each, while their crews fought to the bitter end, until their gun was smashed by a shell, until all the men were killed by enemy fire of crushed by the tanks.” (p. 26).

Kurcz encountered a Messerschmitt that had just been shot down. (p. 33). He came across the dead and dying crew members, and had thought about his own brother that, as he later learned, had suffered a similar fate.

Ironic to the absurdity about Polish cavalry charging German tanks with lances and sabers, Kurcz contrasted the 1939 war with the 1919-1920 one. In the latter, there had been almost no planes, almost no armoured vehicles, and cavalry that had still used lances and sabers. (p. 98).

GERMAN 5th COLUMN WAS REAL

Kurcz encountered several instances of German fifth-column activity. For instance, he wrote: “There were some villages with German farmers in the neighborhood of Jaroslaw and they formed a strong fifth column. Parachutists dropped by the enemy reinforced their ranks. Sometimes we saw them coming down and in Jaroslaw three of them came straight down into the hands of our soldiers.” (p. 84).

THE WEATHER HELPED HITLER

In common with many authors, Kurcz points out that the absence of rain in the first few weeks of the war had facilitated Luftwaffe attacks, and had made the water levels of rivers so low that they could easily be crossed by the enemy. (p. 116). The constant movement of refugees clogged the roads, hindering the movement of troops. (p. 64). The Polish troops experienced extreme fatigue and sleepiness caused by being forced to be constantly on the move in order to avoid encirclement by fast-moving motorized German columns.

THE ARROGANT ANTI-POLISH FRENCH HAVE TO EAT THEIR OWN WORDS

When in France, the Polish troops were subject to humiliating comments regarding the rapidity of Poland’s 1939 defeat. Unfavorable comparisons were made with the Finns’ resistance to the Soviets, even though the events were not remotely comparable. (p. 136). For a time, the Polish soldiers feared that they would be sent into combat without an adequate period of training on how to use French military equipment. (p. 155). In the actual combat, Kurcz found French resistance inadequate, as when he commented: “We asked him [a French commander] to explain why the whole Corps found itself unable to hold a front which could be easily held by a small Polish Brigade.” (p. 174). In the end, the Poles were the ones surprised (and chagrined) by the rapidity of France’s very rapid defeat.