Polish Naval Aviation 1939

  Polish Naval Aviation 1939

R-XIII hydro seaplane

History 

In August 1939 the Polish Navy consisted of the Naval Air Squadron based in Puck (former German seaplane base) – it was composed of 32 aircraft, the Long Range Reconnaissance Escadrille (I Eskadra Dalekiego Rozpoznania), the Short Range Reconnaissance Escadrille (II Eskadra Bliskiego Rozpoznania), and the 4th training Escadrille. The permanent base in Puck (comprising the Airport and the Technical Park) and backup launching grounds in Hel and Lake Raduńskie near Kartuzy. Puck housed four hangars and two seaplane shipyards (a third was under construction), workshops with engine, carpentry, electrical, precision, communications, and armament departments, as well as an experimental laboratory, as well as an airport radio station. The 6 wheeled training aircraft had access to two permanent airfields: Puck and Rumia, and a field airfield in Nowe Obłuże on Kępa Oksywska

The 1st squadron's aircraft were three 1930s Lublin R-VIII (only 802 & 803 in service, one non operational) seaplanes and one modern torpedo seaplane, an Italian design the CANT Z-506B Arione. The Italian built Arione arrived in Puck on the 26th of August 1939 without torpedo equipment, no armament of any type (full story below).

The second Squadron's primary equipment at that time of the invasion were various models of the Lublin R-XIII hydro seaplanes. Only 13 seaplanes were operational on the 1st September. It was almost totally destroyed by the Luftwaffe by September 9, only two aircraft remained operational until the 30th of September. 

The training squadron had five Bartel BM5c wheeled trainers , three HBA 17 HE2 seaplanes trainers, a larger Nikol A-2 seaplane trainer, and a RWD 17 W all were damaged at Puck airfield and along the Hal peninsula by September 9. A single RWD 17W tried to fly to Sweden but crashed on route. 

The Lublin R-XIII was designed in the early-1930s in the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin. It was the main army cooperation plane in the Invasion of Poland. Its seaplane variant Lublin R-XIII ter Hydro served in the Polish Navy. In the early 1930s the R-XIII was quite a successful plane for its purpose. It had a very short take-off (68 m for R-XIIIA) and landing, enabling it to operate from fields and meadows. However, only some of R-XIIIs were equipped with a radio and a camera, which lowered their usefulness. In 1939 they were used in three Army-aircraft liaison platoons, being a basic Polish army-cooperation plane.

The R.XII was of mixed construction like many aircraft of the 30s, as wood was workable, flexible, light and affordable. It was conventional in layout, with the whole forward part made in aluminium for the wrapping and steel for the frame. There was a support metal plate after the engine cowling and mount, on which were fixed the floats struts or the uncarriage in universal fixing system for quick conversion. The rest of the fuselage was entirely in wood covered with canvas, but the top part of the fuselage was in metal, up to the rear machine gunner post. The tail was also in wood and canvas, with a metal frame inside.

The monoplane parasol had braced high wings with steel struts. The Crew of two sat in tandem in an open cockpit, The forward pilot position was protected by a windshield, none for the rear observer but the latter had a reversible seat to access controls with a removable joystick in case the pilot was injured, the observer  manned the rear 7.92 mm Vickers K air-cooled machine gun or a 7.7 mm Lewis on a ring mounting. In some cases twin mountings were seen on the army version 1939 but were not seen on seaplanes.

There was a single 200 litre tank in the the forward fuselage behind the engine, riveted from duralumin and with a system of emergency ejection.

The R.XIII C/D or hydro bis and ter were powered by the same 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine Wright Whirlwind J-5 produced under licence in Poland, with either 162 kW (220 hp) in nominal power or a 176 kW (240 hp) in take-off power.

The only major design changes compared to the land-based variant were the floats and its attachment struts. The two floats arrangement seemed evident, despite the higher drag they caused compared to a single axial float and underwings floats, but they were a more rugged and simpler solution. These floats were ordered from Short in Britain, quite experienced in the manufacture of all-metal floats. They were made of hydronalium, and totally waterproof and fitted with a water rudder.

• 
  The symbol painted on the planes of the 1st Long-Distance Reconnaissance Squadron
 
• 
  The symbol painted on the planes of the 2nd Close Reconnaissance Squadron
 
• 
  The symbol painted on the planes of the river air squadron. Disbanded 1938
 
• 
  The symbol painted on the aircraft of the training squadron of the division

At War

Leading up to the invasion after mobilization on the between the. 7th to the 24th August several reconnaissance missions were conducted over Germany for photo reconnaissance and patrols over the Baltic Sea with the loss of one aircraft to crashing after clipping the water on a turn investigating a troop ship (712) on the 24th of August. One aircraft a Lublin R-XIII with a floats was swapped to wheels and assigned as an army liaison aircraft to HQ Warsaw

September 1st 1939 - 06:30 the base in Puck was bombed by 33 Henkel III from Kampfgeschwader 1 "Hindenburg" - KG1. The bombers hit the officers mess, shrapnel hit some hangers were badly damaged and  the workshops caught fire. Several personnel were killed including the squadron commander Lt Commander Edward Szystowski. Two Lublin R VIII and one FBA-17 HE2 were damaged.  The decision was made to relocate the entire seaplane fleet to the Hel Peninsula. The CANT Z.506B remaining in the waters of Puck Bay, moved to the area of ​​the Hel Naval Port. 

In the afternoon of the same day, German aircraft, approximately 33 Junkers Ju-87B Stukas from II and III/St.G2, attacked the 152 mm coastal artillery battery named after Heliodor Laskowski and the Hel Naval Port. In the final phase of the raid, the German aircraft crews were drawn to the CANT Z.506B, anchored nearby, conspicuous by its size and its silver airframe colour. After the raid, the Germans, returning in a chopping flight towards Słupsk, attacked the moored aircraft from level flight. Three bombs dropped on the CANT failed to explode; the fuses apparently failed to detonate due to the low drop height. Bosun Radio Operator W. Wzorek noted: "...only I and the Bosun's Mate mechanic remained in the plane. We were listening to radio reports from Warsaw in the cockpit. Suddenly, we saw a flight of Junkers Ju-87s heading towards our plane from the direction of the naval port. They were attracted by the large, two-meter-high checkerboards on the wings. We decided to save ourselves by jumping into the water to avoid the fate of our box, which we considered lost anyway." While jumping into the water from a height of approximately 6 meters, Petty Officer Wzorek caught his  service belt on a protrusion of the fuselage, injuring his spine. He crawled out of the water onto the floatplane and, hanging there helplessly, lost consciousness. After being pulled to shore, he was pronounced dead, and the burial began. Just as Petty Officer Wzorek was being buried in his grave, another Luftwaffe bombing raid on Hel began. The bomb explosions revived the pilot, much to the horror of the would-be gravediggers.

During the third German air raid on the Hel Military Academy, an incident occurred. During a dive attack, Lt. Hamester, pilot of 4. Staffel II/StG 2, recovered his aircraft too late and collided with the water. The impact severed both landing gear legs of his Junkers. Hamester guided the Stuka to the airfield in Stolp-Reitz (Słupsk), where he landed it smoothly on its belly.

Miraculously saved from the German bombing of Hel, the CANT Z.506B took off early the next morning (September 2, 1939), bound for Modlin. The primary goal was to equip it with Polish-designed bomb launchers. The entire operation was to be carried out at the Main Navy Depot in Modlin. The prevailing wartime chaos meant the crew took off without maps or a current weather report. After reaching Modlin, it turned out that ditching on the Vistula River was impossible due to ground fog. Fearing a crash, Captain Borowiec decided to continue the flight towards the capital. However, it quickly became clear that barrage balloons had been observed in several locations. Uncertain of their specific location and persistently poor weather conditions, the crew commander once again decided to continue the flight along the river towards Dęblin. Running low on fuel, the seaplane hadn't refueled since arriving from Italy, forced the pilot to reduce altitude to more easily find the rescued Vistula River. They spotted it at the last moment, making a sudden maneuver to the left to avoid losing sight of the riverbed in the fog. The seaplane was brought down almost in a dive to the water's surface. In this section, the Vistula meandered in meanders, preventing a safe ditching. Eventually, a straight section was spotted, where the pilot landed the seaplane. The water contact was gentle, but as the plane slowed, it ran aground on a thin layer of shallow water. The Czapla's tail briefly rose dangerously, threatening to capsize, but fortunately, it settled back down. The ditching took place 2 km from the village of Świerże Górne and about 12 km from Kozienice at 7:10 AM. The seaplane covered a total distance of 512 km in 1 hour and 40 minutes.

After taking off from the Vistula River on September 6, 1939, Czapla landed on the Siemień Pond, the designated seaplane base of the old riverine squadron. The entire operation was very well organized by local fishermen. They marked the launching strip on the pond at its deepest point, marking it with poles. Boats were on standby, and the CANT was towed to safety and then camouflaged with reeds and branches. Such a major event as the arrival of a large, silver plane could not have escaped the notice of the large German minority living near the pond. It was most likely their tip-off that caused German bombers to appear over the pond several days later, specifically on September 10th and 11th. Furthermore, the wind that had blown the day before likely aided the Luftwaffe crews in finding the CANT, partially removing the reeds and branches camouflaging the seaplane.
The only CANT Z.506B Arione floatplane in our September Navy was definitely out of time. Without armament, fuel, or ammunition, it was doomed to imminent destruction. Two days later, on September 11, 1939, at 6:30 a.m., a German Heinkel He-111 bomber from II. Gruppe Stabstaffel/LG1 flew in low over the ground and dropped four 50 kg high-explosive bombs each and 12 incendiary bombs so it was, sunk by German bombers on Siemień Pond.

September 2nd - 5:30am Stuka dive bombers attacked the dispersed aircraft in the bay lightly damaging a number of aircraft. Two aircraft spotted for the Hel shore batteries targeting the German destroyers, Z1 Leberecht Maass and Z9 Wolfgang Zenker. 18:16pm another flight of stukas 87B bombed Hel, damaging more aircraft, returned again a 20:20.

September 3rd - two Aircraft continued to spot for the Hel land batteries against the German destroyer Leberecht Mass which was hit.

September 6 - Lt. Marshal Józef Rudzki and Lt. Marshal Observer Zdzisław Juszczakiewicz, flying aircraft "714," reconnoitred German naval movements in the Bay of Gdańsk, searching for the the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, but was not in its expected location and was not located. 

September 7 - the same crew in 714 strafed and bombed a night parade of SA and SS troops near Gdańsk's Old Town. The parade was organized to celebrate the capture of Westerplatte. The appearance of the Polish aircraft over Gdańsk must have made a lasting impression on the Germans. The episode of the 714's night flights was not particularly publicized.

September 8 - more aircraft were destroyed near Jurata by a Stuka air raid using incendiary bombs.

9th September stukas returned damaging more aircraft leaving only two operational.

September 9 - The Airbase at Puck overrun by German troops from the 42nd Border guard regiment and the 5th cavalry regiment. 

September 30th - the last Lublin R-XIII and RWD 17W depart for Sweden both fail to reach the Swedish mainland . 

The marine Sqaudron based in Puck 

R-XIII bis/hydro - seaplane, 4 produced from 1931 (nos. 700-703)
R-XIII ter/hydro - seaplane, 10 produced from 1934 (nos. 704-713)
R-XIIIG - metal prop seaplane, 6 produced from 1934 (nos. 714-720)

 

A 1935 video of Polish Seaplanes

And the Lublin R-XIII

References 

Polish Wings 43

CANT Z-506 B Airone of the Naval Aviation Squadron by Mr. Andrzej Olejko 

Luftflotte I – 1939. Krzysztof Janowicz. Kagero.

Polish Army 1939 - part 3 Artillery

Polish Artillery 1939 

Like most armies in 1939 the Polish used horse transport for 105mm guns 

The artillery equipment at the disposal of the Polish Army was mainly of French, captured Russian, German, Austrian and Czech origin. The Polish also produced licensed pieces in the country. Some armament was of Czechoslovak design, mostly produced under license by domestic armaments factories.  

 Infantry artillery was; 39 light artillery regiments, thirty heavy artillery regiments, eleven horse artillery regiments, two motorized artillery regiments, and ninety-three artillery platoons in infantry regiments. Extra-divisional artillery consisted of eight heavy artillery regiments, ten howitzer and heavy artillery regiments, three mountain artillery batteries and 26 fortress artillery platoons, 14 light artillery regiments, and anti-aircraft artillery. Artillery equipment also formed part of armored vehicles and aircraft, as well as naval armament and coastal defense artillery.

- 75 mm wz. 97 guns - 1,374, attached to light artillery one battery of 4 guns and infantry regiments 
- 75 mm wz. 02/26 guns - 466, attached to horse artillery and infantry regiments one battery of 4 guns (12 were fitted with  rubberized tyres for the horse artillery) 
- 100 mm wz. 14/19 howitzers - 900, attached to light artillery regiments one battery of 4 guns and one or two batteries to infantry regiments, also mounted on the armoured trains, 4 were fitted with rubberized tyres, supplied to the 10th cavalry brigade.
- 105 mm wz. 13 and 29 guns - 254, light regiment artillery pieces, one battery of 4 guns per regiment (wz 13 box trail, wz29 split trail, only one was rubberized and attached to the 10th cavalry brigade)
- 120 mm wz. 98/31 guns - 43, one battery of a heavy artillery regt (the 6th DAC was the only motorised with 12 guns) 
- 155 mm wz. 17 howitzers - 341, one battery in each heavy artillery regt, and one battery  of 3 guns in the Polish armoured div, towed by C4P or Somua MCG 4

- 220 mm wz. 28/32 - 27, 2 guns we’re attached to the armoured division, remainder in the heavy artillery regiments, all were motorized with C7P tractors 
- 65 mm (mountain) guns - 24. All were assigned to the 1st and second mountain brigades

In total, 3,429 guns and mortars were at disposal, some of them were set aside as reserves, and the rest, as a result of mobilization, were formed into; 

30 heavy artillery divisions, for 30 active divisions, numbered from 1 to 30. They had one battery of 105 mm guns and one battery of 155 mm howitzers, the batteries consisted of three-guns.  
From the extra-divisional heavy artillery units, the following were formed:
- 4 independent heavy artillery divisions of 155 mm howitzers
- 3 independent heavy artillery divisions of 120 mm
guns - 8 two-division heavy artillery regiments.
- 3 divisions of the heaviest 220mm artillery. 3 guns per division  
As a result of mobilization, a total of 53 heavy artillery divisions were created, comprising 129 batteries with 456 guns, and 3 dan divisions with 18 mortars. 

In the light artillery, 39 regiments were formed. Each regiment consisted of 3 divisions, 9 batteries. The mobilized light artillery regiments had 1,404 guns and howitzers.
12 independent light artillery divisions had a total of 144 75mm guns, and two divisions were armed with 24 100mm howitzers. 

The Two motorized artillery divisions had 12 75mm guns and four 100mm howitzers, for a total of 184 guns, and the 11th light artillery division had 14 75mm wz. 02/26 guns. 

In addition, 90 infantry regiments had a platoon of 75mm wz. 02/26 guns (2 guns each), for a total of 180 guns. 

In addition to the field artillery, there was fortress artillery, which consisted of two-gun platoons of 75mm wz. 02/26 guns; 26 platoons had a total of 52 guns. 

In total, the field artillery had 1,968 guns. 

For the mountain brigades, three four-gun batteries were organized, using French 65mm mountain guns from the First World War. 

A common photo, sadly only twelve 75mm were fitted with rubber wheels for the horse artillery 

Anti Aircraft guns

The excellent 75mm flak 36

On September 1, 1939, the anti-aircraft artillery had the following number of guns:
- 75 mm wz. 1897 and 1914/1917 anti- aircraft guns - 94 guns (The obsolete French model 1897 guns proved almost useless mounted on wooden platform and frame, with or without wheels).

- 75 mm wz. 22/24 anti-aircraft guns - 14 guns each battery had 4 guns 
- 75 mm wz. 36 and 37 - 52 pcs. Each battery had 4 guns
- 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns- 350 guns. 

In total, we had 510 anti-aircraft guns of various types. The 40mm guns were distributed as follows: infantry divisions and the Warsaw Armored-Motored Brigade; four-gun batteries, cavalry brigades and the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade; two-gun batteries of 4 guns; A total of 148 guns. 

Home air defense, coastal air defense, anti-aircraft artillery reserve centers, a total of 202 guns.
The total number of 40mm guns distributed according to the above was 350 guns.
Polish-made 75mm anti-aircraft guns, wz. 36 and 37 were distributed as follows: 

- 11th Motorized  - 12 guns,
- 156th and 157th Motorized Batteries - 8 guns,
- 101st, 102nd, 103rd Semi-Fixed Batteries - 12 guns,
- 9th Depot - 4 guns,
- 9th Battery (motorized) - 4 guns
- Anti-aircraft artillery reserve centers No. 1 and 2 - 8 guns,
- Improvised Batteries "F" - Stalowa Wola - 4 guns,
Total 52 guns. 

The distribution of the French 75 mm guns model 1897 was as follows:
- to the capital's air defense system; 42 guns,
- to Kraków's air defense system 16 guns,
- to Łódź's air defense system - 12 guns;
- 111th Depot (Dęblin) - 12 guns;
- Truck-mounted  - 12 75mm wz12/24 guns. 4 guns mounted on the Fiat 621 and 8 on the De Dion-Bouton 1913

According to the above breakdown, there were 94 guns of this pattern in total. In addition, it is worth mentioning the 14 French 75mm model 22/24 guns stationed in the 1st and 2nd naval depots in fixed positions with naval crew. 

The 510 anti-aircraft guns were at disposal, it was unable to meet the challenges facing anti-aircraft defense. 

Polish Army 1939- Part 2 painting guide

 Ww2 Polish Army painting guide 

I have completed the assembly, undercoating and basing of my metal Polish infantry in preparation for painting this month. To kick of this project I am researching the uniforms worn in 1939. 

I have purchased XAN,  Fantassin Miniatures (now Captain miniatures both sculpted by the same about chap 15 years ago under the brand ) and Early War Miniatures for my Polish 1939 army. The artillery will be mixed FAA, Early War miniatures, HAT and First to Fight plastic. The cavalry will be HAT and FAA for the 10th motorised. My existing Hat Plastic Regiment will become a reserves unit.

As always I prepare a painting guide for myself digging through resource sets and having a look at other people’s guides then selecting colors that I think look closer to my needs. 

WZ36 uniform 

In 1936 the Polish army developed two new uniforms a dress WZ36 khaki gaberdine green wool uniform and the WZ36 summer cotton uniform and the third in service was the WZ27, these three were the uniforms for the 1939 invasion. Variation existed for mountain, cavalry, armoured, motorized, pilots and the reserve troops. 

The WZ27 and WZ36 Khaki green uniform had collar patches listed below relating to branch of service with silver lace.

The WZ36 Cotton uniform seemed to have two collar variants seen in photos. One with the branch colors and lace, the other only had the lace patch. It seems the cavalry persisted with the pennon colours on the collar patch though. 

Colour Suggestions 

WZ35 Gaberdine Wool uniform - brown violet , worn by full time officers, NCOs and professional soldiers.

WZ27 mid war uniform - reserve units and mountain troops  

Wz35 Summer uniform - brown violet 60, English uniform 40 or AK British uniform 

Puttees - English uniform or olive green 

Wool leggings - olive green 

Canvas gaiters - khaki grey

Great coat - English uniform, greatcoats had the arm of service stripe on the leading edge of the collar. 

Pack - khaki grey, red leather straps

Blanket - brown violet

Mess tin - brown voilet 

Webbing harness - khaki grey canvas for infantry or red leather for cavalry, chasseurs and rifles

Rifle Ammo pouches - red leather 

Bayonet scabbard - red leather frog, black scabbard

Entrenching tool -  red leather pouch, olive green head, flat brown handle 

WZ28 RKM LMG pouches - khaki grey 

Bread bag - khaki grey 

Gas mask - US field drab  (french metal round model) or Khaki grey satchel bag

WZ 31 Boots-  black lace up ankle boots, some reserve units wore natural brown in 1939

WZ15- French Adrian helmet - olive green ( worn by a majority of the conscript infantry, cavalry and frontier units)

WZ31- Helmet - brown violet, red leather chin strap (issued to infantry and some artillery only) 

WZ17 - Austrian made Stahlhelm - olive green, worn by the 10th Cavalry Division 

WZ36 Kop senior Officers round dress cap, English uniform with service colour band. round silver eagle also worn by chasseur and frontier unit officers and NCOs. 

WZ35 Rogatywka Dress field cap - US olive drab, black visor, cap band in service colour (see chart below or cavalry regiment colour) silver officers lace, silver eagle 

WZ37 Rogatywka soft field cap - English uniform, silver lace officers, NCO is service colour, white stitched eagle  

WZ26 Furażerka forage side cap white metal eagle - English Uniform 

Officer long boots - black 

Officer map case - red leather 

Officer belts - red leather brown infantry,artillery, engineer’s or black if rifles, armour and cavalry. 

Pistol case - red leather or black for rifles and armour 

Rifle - mahogany brown

Rifle metalwork - German grey 

Rifle sling - red leather 

Canteen - metal lid, khaki grey cover 

The cavalry uniform 

It differed with chamois leather reinforced inner leg patch’s in Iraqi sand and British uniform jodpurs, long black boots or short black boots and black leather gaiters and a black sword belt. Scabbard metal. 

Overalls 

One piece khaki grey overalls were used by artillery, armoured cars, tankettes and tanks, black or dark brown leather hip length jackets of the French design along with the French tank helmet. 

Mountain troops

They had the American M1912 style cut jacket in the old cut, vallejo khaki green, along with the cape in the same colour and a mountain helmet in the same colour. 

Motorised 

Motorized 10th division reconnaissance battalion and one rifle regiment had a black waterproof rubberized greatcoat and wore an Austrian stahlhelm helmet.

Ranks 

Shoulder board tape - Silver thread up to corporal and silver and red embroidered tape for Sergeants and above. Officers stars and lace in branch colour with silver tape

Headwear

 Helmet options including the French  Adrian wz28 with or without comb, the wz31 polish helmet and the stahlhelm 1916 Austrian pattern (10th motorized regiment) Wz16 and the podhale, a hardened felt helmet for the 21st and 22nd mountain rifle divisions and 2nd mountain brigade, finally the French Adrian tank helmet with the padded front.

For walking out dress and fatigues caps two options were available the hardened model, based on the rogatywka Mk. 1935, olive khaki green with black peak, the officers version could  have general officers ranks on it, with the cap band in branch colour or regiment colour if cavalry,  and the soft fatigue rogatywka – a square-topped wool peaked cap, both had a silver metal Polish Eagle badge on the front. This was the same khaki colour cloth as the summer field uniform. 

Berets were also used by the armoured elements wore a black Beret with the silver eagle, 

Collar Arm of service distinctions

These were mixed and photos have some being worn with the tab and lace and some just the lace. 

Type                        Collar tab.                            Lace                          Cap band 

Infantry.                   Dark Blue.                           Dark Yellow               Dark  Blue 

Cavalry.                   Dark Blue (pennon colour) Dark Yellow.               Regiment pennon band colour

Frontier.                   Dark Blue.                          Dark Green.                Dark Blue

Rifles.                      Dark Blue.                          Mid Green.                 Dark Blue (mountain division)

Field artillery.          Dark Green.                        Black.                         Dark Green

Heavy Artillery       Dark Green.                        Red.                           Dark Green

Anti Aircraft            Middle Green.                   Yellow.                       Dark Green

Engineers.                Black.                                Carmine.                    Black

Signals.                    Black.                                Light blue.                  Black

Transport                 Sky Blue.                           Crimson.                     Sky blue

Military Police.       Scarlet                                Light Yellow.              Scarlet

Other equipment 

Ammunition boxes - US olive drab 

HMG tripod - US olive drab 

Mortar - olive green 

Saddles and horse equipment - red leather 

Saddle Blanket - light grey 

References 

Polish uniforms

Polish Army 1939 - Part 1

Polish Army project part 1

This year I also want to revisit my 1939 Polish Army and complete all of the unpainted support vehicles (30 odd), and paint two more plastic battalions figures I already have sitting in storage, some dating back in 2012.

 I want to purchase some to fill out another division by adding another Regiment with the new 20mm XAN infantry figures along with Fantassin Miniatures support elements which make up my current battalions. I also want to get the resin Scibor vehicle crews and command figures as they look fabulous.

For the AA, artillery and AT guns I will add a mix of pieces. First to Fight plastic gun crews mostly to crew some plastic, resin and metal gun pieces and Early War Models metal crews for the specialists. Lots of horse drawn equipment is required so more HAT and EWM horse drawn wagons. For trucks FTF Fiat and Praga trucks and IBG kits for fiat staff and radio cars.

For the next article I will cover painting guide, artillery, and organisation of my motorised and cavalry. I need to purchase FTF mounted Uhlan cavalry for command figs and horseholder. I already have the HAT plastic French for the mounted component. I would also like to add First to Fight dismounted cavalry portion and some SHQ also. I need to purchase the specific FAA miniatures for the 10th Motorised Cavalry Brigade motorcyclists. Finally scratch build and purchase some more vehicles mostly soft skins mostly motorcycles but I may print some also. I have set a target of completion for next year for the cavalry.

My fighter and fighter bomber air component is complete except for a bomber, which I will wait for one to come up on ebay or such.

Rapid Fire does not have an official list for Poles yet, but there are some unofficial lists around on which I have loosely based mine on. Rapid Fire does have the charts for guns, vehicles and aircraft though which is helpful when playing.

I already have a plastic Infantry division of a single Rapid fire regiment, however I need to add the support elements for extra goodies for game play, as I like to see supply and medical especially on the tabletop. The Polish Infantry Regiments were very large and basically followed the same structure, 3 battalions plus support elements. I am not planning on painting any reserve regiments or the static units, although I am tempted in the future to build Polish field defence bunkers.

9th Polish Legion Infantry Division

9th Dywizja Piechoty Legionów

Current Polish Army 1939 Rapid Fire Organisation

9th Division HQ
CO x 5, Fiat 518 staff car, Fiat radio truck, MP motorcycle

9th Supply company
10 figs Praga RV supply truck, 4 supply wagons

9th Medical Coy
10 figs Fiat 621 Ambulance, 2 x horse drawn ambulance

Fiat 621 Ambulance

91st Recon battalion
BHQ Co + 2 mounted on horses
1st coy 12 figs mounted on horses
2nd coy 12 figs cyclists
MG coy
4 figs 1 x MMG wz30 with wz 36 Tatchanka horse drawn cart

MMG wz30 with wz 36 Tatchanka cart

9th Sapper Battalion
OC + 5 car, Praga RV truck with foot bridge trailer, mine detector, 1 motorcycle
1st Coy 12 figs Horse drawn wagon
2nd Coy 12 figs Horse drawn wagon

9th AA Battery

Battery HQ 

OC + 5, staff car , 508 radio car, supply truck

AA light coy
4 figs 1 x 40mm bofors AA gun and motor tow
3 figs 1 x MMG truck mounted

AA heavy coy
4 figs 1 x SP wz.97/25 75mm AA gun

Artillery

9th Light artillery Regiment
RHQ
CO + 11 figs staff car, horse towed radio/telephone trailer, 508 radio truck, horse drawn supply wagon, AA platoon MG Fiat 621 truck

1st sqn
8 figs 2 x 75mm wz 1897 Schneider horse drawn

2nd sqn
8 figs 2 x 100mm wz 1914/1919 Skoda horse drawn


9th Heavy Artillery Regiment
RHQ
CO + 11 figs staff car, horse towed radio/telephone trailer, 508 radio truck, horse drawn supply wagon, AA platoon MG Fiat 621 truck

1st sqn
8 figs 2 x 105mm wz.1913 C7P

2nd sqn
8 figs 1 x 155mm wz.1917 C7P

22nd Infantry Regiment

RHQ 

Co + 7 figs staff Car, Fiat 308 radio car, cyclist, motorcycle.

Supply Coy
4 figs horse drawn cooks wagon, horse drawn supply wagon.

Medical platoon
2 figs horse drawn medical wagon

AA platoon
3 figs MMG wz30 AA with wz 36 Tatchanka horse drawn cart,

Scout Company
4 figs horses, 4 cyclists 1 AT rifle UR/WZ 35

Artillery coy

3 men 1 x 75mm wz.02 / 26 cannon horse drawn

Anti Tank platoon
3 men 1 x Wz 37mm Bofors AT gun, horse drawn

1st Battalion
OC + 12, 2 horses , 1 horse drawn supply wagon, 1 radio car, 47mm mortar coy + cart, 1 AT rifle UR/WZ 35

1st Coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
2nd coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
3rd coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
4th Coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
Heavy weapons coy
6 men 2 x MMG WZ 30 browning horse drawn cart

2nd Battalion
OC + 11, 2 horses , 1 horse drawn supply wagon, 1 radio car, 1 47mm mortar coy + cart, 1 AT rifle UR/WZ 35

1st Coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
2nd coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
3rd coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
4th Coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
Heavy weapons coy
6 men 2 x MMG WZ 30 browning, horse drawn cart

3rd Battalion
OC + 11, 2 horses , 1 horse drawn supply wagon, 1 radio car,
47mm mortar coy + cart, 1 AT rifle UR/WZ 35

1st Coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
2nd coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
3rd coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
4th Coy
13 men, lmg wz 1928
Heavy weapons coy
2 x MMG WZ 30 browning 6 OR horse drawn cart

Regiment Support
OC + 1, observers x 2 ORs

MMG coy
6 men 2 x MMG WZ 30 browning 6 OR horse cart

Mortar coy
12 men 3 x 81mm mortar horse cart

Note: the 9th division did not have an anti armour regiment .

cheers
Matt

References

Polish army structure 1939, by far the best reference I have found is Here
Andrew Mollo, The Armed Forces of ww2
Steve Zaloga The Polish Army 1939-45
David Higgins German Soldier vs Polish Soldier 1939.

Polish 1/72 first to fight

last weekend saw a furious few days of putting together some polish kits for my 30 day kit challenge. These kits are all from the first to fight range of kits, I bought them direct from Jadar hobbies in Poland earlier in the year, they worked out with shipping more than 50% cheaper then purchasing locally.

The first to fight is a little fiddle and the instructions are not that clear but they do look good when together, but I feel are a little undersized for my liking. They will however make a great addition to my polish.

My polish have already a number of frontline resin kits that will be sold off when I paint these ones.

Cheers
Matt

Mig 21 Zvezda 1/72

First kit off the shelf of doom a Zvezda Mig 21 for my Cold War Polish, a easy kit to put together, one afternoon, managed to get the pilot painted and placed,  now to paint the Exterior.

Cheers 

Matt

1939 Polish PZL P.11

A great little build, I really enjoy building early and mid war planes, the kit is as per the instructions I just added a plastic pilot. The plane has already had two outings in my early war games, and had some success, yet to name my pilot, as he has no real reputation yet!

Cheers
Matt

Team Yankee .....Fail

A game put together loosely based on a total assault of a combined heliborne and armour thrust using every bit of armour I could muster for my Polish and Soviets, my Americans and Brits. The thrust was a complete victory for the soviets as the NATO dice rolling was disasterous.

Bydgoszcz, Poland 1939

This club meeting Unlucky General decided to run out his early war Germans vs my Polish. My units are part of the 9th Infantry division, so I picked a scenario around were the 9th was deployed on the 3rd of September after falling back in the face of the Wehrmacht divisions of the 2nd Motorised -armoured in the outer suburbs of Bydgoszcz.

I could not roll a 5 or 6 all game on my tanks or anti amour all game, so the germans closed to short range and murdered my Polish in there trenches! I still have not managed to pull off a win with the Poles as yet but I still enjoy the rinky dink nature of the AT guns!

Enjoy the pictures

cheers
Matt

cheers

Matt

Battle of Kodziowce & Sopockinie Poland 22 Sept 1939

Battle of Kodziowce & Sopockinie Poland 22 Sept 1939

Down at the club this month we decided to have a early war rapid fire game, so I decided that we would have a Polish vs Russian game, (as my Poles have not been out for some time) finding scenarios for this part of the war is tough as they mostly concentrate on the German invasion in the west. So I had a quick read through a number of my books and online and settled on my version of the battle of Kodziowce. I made up the troops around some field reports and came up with this order of battle and scenario details.
Ian and Leigh supplied the Russians.

Special rules and victory conditions

Russian; all artillery must use direct fire as per doctrine in this period.
The River must be crossed at the bridge for artillery, trucks and Infantry. A recon can be done once for each 1 ft section, a successful crossing will be found for tanks and infantry on a 5 or 6 on a D6.
Game lasts 10 turns.
Setting up aircraft arrival, roll for each turn on a D10 which turn the Russian aircraft are available, then record, then roll for each turn that Polish aircover is available. Then roll for fighters or bombers 1 to 3 Fighter, 4 to 6 bomber. Then match the Russian and Polish arrivals, Fighters drive off other fighters on highest roll and automatically drive off fighter bombers.
Church offers heavy cover, other buildings light cover.
Observation, Movement, Woods, terrain, as per RF rules.
Game lasts 10 turns.
Setting up, roll for each turn on a D10 which turn the Russian aircraft are available, then record, then roll for each turn that Polish aircover is available. Then roll for
fighters or bombers 1 to 3 Fighter, 4 to 6 bomber. Then match the Russian and Polish
arrivals, Fighters drive off other fighters on highest roll and automatically drive off
fighter bombers.
Church offers heavy cover, Polish may only use the church on a successful roll of 6 on a d6 other 

buildings light cover.

Observation, Movement, Woods, terrain, as per RF rules. No shooting through the village as it is a BUA.

Victory conditions

Polish total victory if both R35s escape off the table and the russians do not clear both villages of Kodziowce and Sopockinie.
Russians minor victory if Kodziowce cleared of all enemy, and one R35 destroyed.
Russian major victory if both villages cleared and both R35s destroyed.

Russian 15th Tank Corps, 2nd tank Brigade
Infantry Command
1 coy of two BA 10 A/C
3 Coys of infantry trucks 10 figs each
1 HQ coy 10 figs radio truck and car
1 support coy 2 x MMG and 1 x mortar
1 bty of two M1902/30 76mm Inf guns
two coy of cossack cavalry 10 figs each mounted
1 AA gun horse tow

armoured command
1 coy of two BT26
2 coy of two BT7
1 x BA 20
2 coy Inf trucks 10 figs each
1 coy of two 122mm artillery tractor tows

Aircraft
Aircraft 1 Polikarpov I-16 and one Fighter bomber Polkarpov I-15 max six turns permitted combined

Turn 1
1 coy of two BA10 A/C on the table Northern road

Turn 2 

arrive on Northern edge between river and table edge
3 coys of Infantry in trucks each 8 figs
1 support coy in trucks (9 figs, 2 x MMG, 81mm mortar) and HQ
1 bty of two 76.2mm M1902/30 FG
1 coy of two T26
1 coy of two BT7

Turn 3 dice for aircraft cover

Turn 4 arrive of southern road
2 coy cossack cavalry
1 x A/A gun horse towed
Turn 4 arrive on Northern road
1 coy of two BT71 BA 20
1 coy Inf in truck 8 figs

Turn 5 arrive on northern road

1 coy of infantry truck 8 figs
2 x 122mm M1910/30 How, 8 figs, tractors

Polish Wołkowysk Cavalry Brigade  101st Polish reserve cavalry Regt

1 HQ coy AT rifle, sniper, 46mm light mortar 10 figs

3 coys of Infantry each 11 figs LMG

1 support coy 2 x MMG, 1 x 81.2mm stokes mortar
1 coy calvary 8 figs (in Sopockinie)
1 coy two R35

1 Coy two Vickers 

1 Coy one FT17 MG

1 coy horse 75mm arty and truck tows and observers (in Sopockinie)

Air cover 
1 fighter and fighter bomber 6 turns total of cover rolled at start PZLP.11 and PZLP.23

All units unless noted set up in the village of Kodziowce and may dig in 

Alas my poles could not stand, the successful flanking arrival of the BT7s and my bad AT fire really let me down along with poor observation rolls for the artillery. A minor victory to the Russians .An enjoyable game, a few tweaks to the scenario and it would work better as it was too easy to cross the river on a 5 or 6.

cheers

Matt