Invasion of Poland (1939)
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Jump to navigationJump to searchInvasion of Poland (1939) | |||||||
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Part of World War II | |||||||
German troops dismantle a Polish border checkpoint, September 1, 1939, as World War II begins. | |||||||
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Combatants | |||||||
Poland | Germany, Soviet Union, Slovakia | ||||||
Commanders | |||||||
Edward Rydz-Śmigły | Fedor von Bock (Army Group North), Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South), Mikhail Kovalov (Belorussian Front), Semyon Timoshenko (Ukrainian Front), Ferdinand Čatloš (Field Army Bernolak) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
39 divisions, 16 brigades, 4,300 guns, 880 tanks, 400 aircraft Total: 950,000[1] |
Germany: 56 divisions, 4 brigades, 10,000 guns, 2,700 tanks, 1,300 aircraft Soviet Union: 33+ divisions, 11+ brigades Slovakia: 3 divisions Total: 1,800,000 Germans, 800,000+ Soviets, 50,000 Slovaks Grand total: 2,650,000+[1] | ||||||
Casualties | |||||||
66,000 dead,[2] 133,700 wounded, 694,000 captured |
Germany: 16,343 dead,[2] 27,280 wounded, 320 missing Soviet Union: 737 dead or missing, 1,125 wounded |
Template:Campaignbox Polish September Campaign
World War II[edit | edit source]
This battle was the first of many invasions by the German army. Hitler, in preparation for the attack, had signed a pact between the Soviet Union which stated that the Soviet Union would have control of East Poland, and Germany would have control of West Poland.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Various sources contradict each other so the figures quoted above should only be taken as a rough indication of the strength estimate. The most common range differences and their brackets are: German personnel 1,500,000–1,800,000. This can be explained by inclusion (or lack of it) of Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine forces alongside Heer personnel. Luftwaffe: 1,300–3,000 planes, this can be explained by inclusion of all Luftwaffe planes (including transport, communications, training and anything not stationed at Polish front) on the larger end. Similarly Polish Air Force is given at 400–800; as with total Luftwaffe, the 800 number includes virtually 'anything that can fly'. Polish tanks: 100–880, 100 is the number of modern tanks, 880 number includes older IWWs tanks and tankettes. For all numbers, primary source is [[wikipedia:Encyklopedia PWN|]], article on 'KAMPANIA WRZEŚNIOWA 1939'
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Various sources contradict each other so the figures quoted above should only be taken as a rough indication of losses. The most common range brackets for casualties are: Polish casualties—63,000 to 66,300 KIA, 134,000 WIA; German KIA—8,082 to 16,343, with MIA from 320 to 5,029, total KIA and WIA given at 45,000. The discrepancy in German casualties can be attributed to the fact that some German statistics still listed soldiers as missing decades after the war. Today the most common and accepted number for German KIA casualties is 16,343. Soviet official losses are estimated at 737-1,475 killed or missing, and 1,859-2,383 wounded. The often cited figure of 420,000 Polish prisoners of war represents only those captured by the Germans, as Soviets captured about 250,000 Polish POWs themselves, making the total number of Polish POWs about 660,000–690,000. Equipment losses are given as 236 German tanks and approximately 1,000 other vehicles to 132 Polish tanks and 300 other vehicles, 107–141 German planes to 327 Polish planes (118 fighters) (Polish PWN Encyclopedia gives number of 700 planes lost), 1 German small minelayer to 1 Polish destroyer ([[wikipedia:ORP Wicher|]]), 1 minelayer ([[wikipedia:ORP Gryf|]]) and several support craft. Soviets lost approximately 42 tanks in combat while hundreds more suffered technical failures.