- Stanisław Maczek
Infobox Military Person
name=Stanisław Maczek
nickname=Baca
image caption=After the war, still in the rank of "Generał dywizji ".
rank="Generał broni"
date_of_death=death date and age|1994|12|11|1892|3|31|mf=y
placeofdeath=Edinburgh , UK
date_of_birth=birth date|1892|3|31|mf=y
placeofbirth=Lwów , Galicia
serviceyears=1914–47
units=10th Mot Bde, 10th Arm Bde, 1st Arm Div
battles=WWI, PBW, PDW, WWII
laterwork=Bartender
portrayedby=
awards=General Stanisław Maczek (March 31 ,1892 –December 11 ,1994 ) was the most accomplished Polish tank commander ofWorld War II . A veteran ofWorld War I , the Polish-Ukrainian andPolish-Bolshevik War s, he was the commander of Poland's only major armoured formation during the September 1939 campaign, again commanded a Polish armoured formation in France in 1940, and was commander of the famousFirst Polish Armoured Division , and later of the First Polish Army Corps under Allied Command in 1942–1945.Family
Stanisław Władysław Maczek was born on
March 31 ,1892 in theLwów suburb of Szczerzec, then in Austro-Hungarian Galicia. His family was of distantCroatia n extraction and he was a cousin of the Croatian peasant politicianVladko Maček .Education
After graduating from the grammar school at
Drohobycz , in 1910 he attended the philosophy faculty ofLwów University where he studied Polishphilology (i.e. literature and language). Among his tutors were some of the most renowned Polish philologists of the age includingWilhelm Bruchnalski andJózef Kallenbach ; he also attended lectures byKazimierz Twardowski . During his studies he served in the Strzelec paramilitary organization, where he received basic military training. After the outbreak ofWorld War I , Maczek interrupted his studies, hoping to joinJózef Piłsudski 's Polish Legions, but instead was drafted into theAustro-Hungarian Army .World War I
After receiving brief officer's training, Maczek was sent to the Italian front of World War I. Initially an NCO in the
Tyrol ean Regiment of theK.u.K. Army, he was promoted tosecond lieutenant in 1916 and then in 1918 tolieutenant . 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.Poland's borders
On
November 11 ,1918 , after receiving news of the Armistice, Maczek simply disbanded his battalion and returned to newly-reborn Poland. Three days later he arrived atKrosno , where he joined thePolish Army . Assigned the command of a Krosno battalion, Maczek began a limited offensive against the forces of theWest Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR) with the aim of relieving his besieged hometown. However, due to insufficient support, after initial successes at Ustrzyki,Chyrów andFelsztyn , the Polish offensive got bogged down and thePolish-Ukrainian War turned intotrench warfare for the rest of the winter.In April 1919 Maczek was withdrawn from his unit and became the organizer and commander of the so-called 'flying' company (" _pl. 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 almost entirely motorized and well-equipped with heavy machine guns. The unit was formed mostly out of the 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, patching holes that appeared in the defensive lines, but also fought 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 theZUNR capital,Stryj .After the end of the Polish-Ukrainian fighting, Maczek was confirmed in the rank of major with seniority from
June 1 ,1919 . He was then attached to General Iwaszkiewicz'sPolish 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 thePolish-Bolshevik War , when the 2nd Army suffered a defeat in initial clashes withSemyon Budyonny 's1st Cavalry Army . InJarosław , Maczek formed a new 'flying' Rifle battalion, mostly composed of fresh recruits and horselessuhlan s. 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 on the front. His unit covered the retreat of the Polish forces atMosty Wielkie , after which it was attached to Gen.Juliusz Rómmel 's 1st Cavalry Division. It took part in the Polish assault onWaręż nearZamość , a tactical counter-assault on the rear of Budyonny's advancing Cossacks directly preceding the victoriousbattle of Komarów . After the end of hostilities, Maczek's battalion was officially named after him, although it was disbanded shortly after the signing of thetreaty of Riga .Interbellum
Maczek decided not resume his studies at Lwów University and remained on active service. Between 1921 and 1923 he was commanding officer of an infantry battalion within the Lwów-based 26th Infantry Regiment. On
August 1 of that year [???which year??] he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and sent to the Higher Military School inWarsaw . He graduated the following year and served until 1927 as the head of the 2nd Detachment of the General Staff (intelligence) in Lwów. Later that year he moved toGrodno , where he became the deputy commander of the 76th Infantry Regiment. In 1929, after finishing his training, he became commander of the Grodno-based 81st Infantry Regiment and held that post until 1934. During that time, onJanuary 1 ,1931 he was promoted to colonel. In 1935 he was moved toCzęstochowa , where he became the deputy commander of the prestigious 1st Legions Infantry Division.In October 1938, Maczek's experience as a commander of "flying" troops received recognition from his superiors, and he was given command of the
Polish 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade , the first fully-motorized formation in the Polish Army.eptember 1939
On the outbreak of war in September 1939, the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade was attached to the
Kraków Army defendingLesser Poland andSilesia . Equipped with onlylight tank s andtankette s and with only one artillery battery of only eight heavy cannon, the brigade went into battle on the first day of war. After theBattle of Jordanów , Maczek's unit faced the entireGerman XVIII Corps of Gen.Eugen Beyer and successfully shielded the southern flank of the Polish forces, along theBeskides . Supported by just a few battalions ofBorder Guards andNational Defence troops, Maczek's motorized brigade was faced by two Panzer divisions (4th Light Division under von Hubicki and 2nd Panzer Division under Veiel), as well as the 3rd Mountain Division underEduard Dietl .For five days Maczek’s brigade fought bravely and efficiently, slowing the pace of the German "
Blitzkrieg " to a bloody crawl: despite numerical and technical superiority, the Germans were not able to make more than 10kilometre s headway per day. Maczek's men took maximum advantage of the mountainous terrain, halting many German attacks and occasionally counter-attacking. However, after the front of the Kraków Army was broken to the north of the brigade's position, Maczek's formation was pulled out of the front line.The brigade then fought as a screening unit, defending the bridges and fords in
Lesser Poland , until it arrived atLwów and joined the city’s defences. It was to form a mobile reserve during the battle for Lwów, allowing other Polish units to withdraw towards theRomanian Bridgehead . However, the plan was made obsolete by the invasion of Poland by theSoviet Union onSeptember 17 . After two days,Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły ordered the brigade to cross the Hungarian border. Maczek’s brigade was interned in Hungary. The unit had lost about half of its men, but was never defeated in open combat, gaining respect even from the enemy. It is considered to be the only Polish unit not to lose a single battle in 1939. It is to be noted that Maczek was not only esteemed by his superiors but also loved by his soldiers, who referred to him as "Baca", a traditional Polish highlanders' name for ashepherd .France, 1940
After the end of the September campaign Maczek made it to
France , where he joined the re-created Polish Army and was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. He was made the commanding officer of the Polish military camp inCoëtquidan . He then prepared a detailed report on the workings of GermanBlitzkrieg tactics, and possible precautions against it. This report was however completely disregarded by French staff (the Germans captured it - unopened).Fact|date=March 2008 He also started gathering any 10th Brigade veterans who had made it to France, in two camps inPaimpont andCampeneac . His aim was to preserve the integrity of his former unit and prevent the conscription of some of the best-trained Polish soldiers into standard infantry formations, where their experience would probably have been wasted. However, initially the French command was not interested in the formation of a Polish armoured unit and thePolish 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade received almost no equipment. It was not until March 1940 that Maczek received a dozen obsoleteFT-17 tanks for training, plus a few dozen cars and motorcycles.Everything changed when Germany invaded France in the spring of 1940, by simply bypassing the
Maginot Line . General Maczek's unit suddenly received all the equipment they had asked for, with one condition: they had to go into action immediately. That was impossible, because many Polish soldiers had no idea how to use the new equipment and there was no time for training exercises. General Maczek decided to lead a small force of his best-trained men, hoping that the rest of his unit would join them later. That small force was called 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade (" _pl. 10 Brygada Kawalerii Pancernej") in honour of the "Black Brigade" from 1939. OnJune 6 , 10th Brigade had one tank battalion, two strong motorized cavalry squadrons, one anti-tank battery and one anti-aircraft battery. It was attached to theFrench 4th Army nearReims , and was ordered to cover its left flank. However, Maczek's unit was much too weak to do it successfully against German armoured divisions. Polish soldiers managed only to cover one retreating French infantry division by attacking German forces inChampaubert-Montgivroux . Later the brigade had to withdraw with the rest of French troops, and joined theFrench XXIII Corps . OnJune 16 the brigade attacked by night the town ofMontbard over theBurgundy Canal . Maczek's soldiers completely surprised the Germans and took many prisoners.However, the brigade by then was fighting alone, with the French units on both flanks either routed or in retreat. There were no French forces to take advantage of that victory, and the decimated Polish unit found itself surrounded and without fuel. On
June 18 , general Maczek decided to destroy useless equipment and to withdraw on foot. Later that day he had to split the remnants of his brigade into small groups, so they could pass the enemy lines. Many of Maczek's men, including the general himself, found their way throughVichy France ,North Africa andPortugal to theUnited Kingdom , where a Polish armored unit was recreated, while others joined the Polish and French resistance organizations in France and Belgium. Maczek shared the fate of his men and went toLondon .Scotland
Initially, the British high command wanted to use the recreated Polish Army solely for defense of the Scottish coastline between
Aberdeen andEdinburgh , and the veterans of the Polish tank formations who arrived to the UK were pressed into thePolish 2nd Rifle Brigade under GeneralRudolf Orlicz-Dreszer . However, immediately on Maczek's arrival the idea was abandoned and GeneralWładysław Sikorski managed to convince the British government to instead create a Polish armored unit. After years of training at the Blairgowrie training ground, in February 1942 General Maczek formed the1st Polish Armoured Division . Equipped by the British authorities with state-of-the-art Churchill andM4 Sherman tanks, it initially served in defense of the Scottish shoreline between Montrose andDundee .To Germany
Towards the end of July 1944 the Polish 1st Armored Division was transferred to
Normandy , where it was to prove its worth during the 1944invasion of Europe . Attached to First Canadian Army, Maczek's men entered combat on August 8 duringOperation Totalize . The division twice suffered serious bombings by Allied aircraft, yet achieved a brilliant victory against theWehrmacht in the battles for Mont Ormel, Hill 262 and the town ofChambois . In this series of offensive and defensive operations, which came to be known as theBattle of Falaise , 14 GermanWehrmacht andSS divisions were trapped in the hugeChambois pocket and destroyed. Maczek's division had the crucial role of closing the pocket at the escape route of those German divisions.After this decisive battle, Maczek's Division continued to spearhead the Allied drive across the battlefields of
France ,Belgium ,Netherlands and finallyGermany . The Division's "moment of glory" came when its forces captured the German port ofWilhelmshaven and accepted the surrender of the entire garrison, including some 200 vessels of Hitler'sKriegsmarine .General Maczek commanded the First Armored Division until the end of European hostilities and that year was promoted to major-general. After the capitulation of Germany he went on to command the Polish I Corps, then became commanding officer of all Polish forces in the United Kingdom until their demobilization in 1947.
Exile
After the war, Maczek was deprived of Polish citizenship by the
Communist government of thePeople's Republic of Poland , and thus had to remain in Britain. As he was not considered by the British to be an Allied soldier, he was deniedcombatant rights and amilitary pension . Until the 1960s he worked as a bartender in anEdinburgh hotel.He died
December 11 ,1994 , at the age of 102. He is buried among his soldiers in the Polish military cemetery at Breda, theNetherlands . Each year during Liberation Day festivities, Breda is visited by a large Polish contingent and the city reserves part of the festivities for the fallen Polish soldiers.Gallery
See also
*List of Poles
External links
* [http://www.opusmedia.fr/kazimierzduda/default_gb.asp Captain Kazimierz DUDA - 1st Polish Armoured Division - C.K.M.]
* [http://montormel.evl.pl/?id=70 History of 1st Polish Armoured Division]
* [http://montormel.evl.pl/?id=68 1st Polish Armoured Division in the battle of Falaise]
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