In the mid-90s, when I was still publishing my magazine "Tankomaster", the editors of the "Tekhnika-youth" magazine offered me to make a book for them about armored vehicles in the war between Germany and Poland and France. I had to go to the archives and get the photos through the Imperial Military Archives in London, where there is a special photo fund, and select photos in Samara, where there is a photo archive of the KPRIVO with interesting photos, but something did not work out. So everything in their editorial office disappeared, like the book "Libyan Swing" about tanks in Libya. But some, moreover, touchingly printed on a typewriter, materials remained. And why not publish them today?
September 1, 1939
On Friday, September 1, 1939, at 4:45 am, the German battleship Schleswig-Goldstein, which was in Polish territorial waters on a "goodwill visit", opened fire on the barracks of the Polish garrison on the Westerplatte peninsula, and one hour later German troops crossed the Polish land border. True, at the beginning it was planned to start hostilities a little earlier, namely on August 26, 1939, but at 8.00 on August 25, Hitler postponed the attack to August 31 at 4.00. However, it was not possible to withstand this period for a number of reasons, so that the Second World War began on September 1 with a provocative attack by SS men dressed in Polish uniforms on a radio station in the German border town of Gleiwitz.
Poland no longer exists and does not need a border!
Previously, Hitler agreed on the division of Polish territory with the Soviet leadership in the person of I. V. Stalin, so that only England and France could oppose him, which, fulfilling their allied obligations to Poland, declared war on Germany on September 3. They announced, but … they did not fight as they should, which is why the hostilities on the Western Front from the fall of 1939 to the spring of 1940 were called the "strange war." Generally speaking, Poland had quite a lot of strength. The Polish army numbered about one million soldiers, divided into 50 infantry divisions, 1 motorized brigade, as well as 9 cavalry brigades, which could be supported by 4,300 guns on the ground and 400 combat aircraft in the air. As for the "main striking force of the ground forces" - tanks, on September 1, 1939, the Polish armored forces (Bron Pancerna) had 219 TK-3 tankettes, 13 TKF, 169 TKS, 120 7TP tanks, 45 French R35 and FT tanks -17, 34 British tanks "Vickers-6 T", 8 armored vehicles WZ.29 and WZ.34. In addition, a certain number of armored vehicles of various types were in training units and at enterprises. 32 FT 17 tanks were also included in the staff of armored trains and could be used as armored tires, i.e. in total, there were about 800 combat vehicles. German troops, who invaded Poland simultaneously from the north, west and south, numbered 1,850,000 soldiers, 10,000 artillery pieces and 2,085 combat aircraft. Seven tank and four light divisions took part in the offensive, with two tank battalions in reserve, along with 144 tanks.
1939 "Friendship sealed with blood."
The number of tanks in divisions (TD) ranged from 308 to 375 units in each, although in No. 10 (TD) and the Kempf tank group there were 154 and 150, respectively. In light divisions, the number of vehicles ranged from 74 to 156 tanks. In general, the number of tanks thrown into Poland reached 2,586, although by no means all of them were tanks of the first line, that is, combat ones, since 215 of them belonged to command vehicles. Heinz Guderian wrote about 2,800 tanks, but in both cases the numbers are far from comparable. As for the distribution by type, it was as follows: light tanks Pz. 1 - 1 145, Pz. 2 - 1 223, Pz. 35 (t) - 76; medium Pz. 3 - 98 and Pz.lY - 211; 215 command tanks, three flamethrower and five self-propelled guns, which at this time were just beginning to enter the German tank forces.
"And we have it like this inside!"
Their main enemy was the Polish 7TP tank, created in the same way as the Soviet T-26, on the basis of the British Vickers - 6 t tank, but equipped with a diesel engine (by the way, for the first time in the history of tank building!) And produced in two versions: machine gun and cannon. Machine-gun vehicles, like the T - 26 of the first issues, copied British tanks and had two turrets with machine-gun armament, while the cannon version had one turret from the Swedish company "Bofors" and a 37-mm cannon of the same company mod. 1936 The tank had good characteristics, but the maximum armor thickness on it did not exceed 17 mm, which in 1939 was completely insufficient. It turned out that these vehicles could successfully fight against the German light tanks Pz.lA and Pz.lB with their machine gun armament and 13 mm thick armor, as well as with the Pz.2, with a 20 mm gun and 14 mm armor, but against Czech It was quite difficult for them to operate the Pz.35 (t) and Pz.38 (t), since the Pz. III and Pz.lY surpassed them in almost all respects. But even of these machines, the Poles had only 120, since the production of tanks in Poland in the 30s was extremely small.
Thus, the main force of the Polish armored units were tankettes, armed with machine guns and powerless against German armor. True, just before the war, the machine gun on 24 machines was replaced with a 20-mm automatic cannon, which at a distance of 500 - 600 m penetrated armor up to 25 - 25 mm thick, and, therefore, could destroy Pz.l and Pz. II tanks, but there were so few of them that they did not have a chance to play any significant role. Polish armored vehicles, which had both machine-gun and cannon armament, were also quite actively used in battles. However, there were only about 100 of them, while the German troops used 308 heavy and 718 light BA, as well as 68 armored personnel carriers. Nevertheless, the Poles took up the fight and fought with the courage of the doomed. Under favorable conditions, their tanks achieved some success, but in general this could not influence the outcome of the collision.
"And why are they standing together on the dais?"
The Polish army turned out to be the army of "yesterday" and was held captive by the positional tactical installations of the last war. It completely lacked anti-tank artillery and automatic weapons, and the military equipment that was developed in the early 30s had already become obsolete by September 1939. What of the fact that on September 5, one of the 7TRs, during a counterstrike by Polish troops near Petrkow-Tribunalski, knocked out five German Pz.l tanks at once, and that even Polish WZ.29 armored cars, armed with short-barreled French cannons, were able to destroy several tanks of this type. And let the Polish tankettes with 20-mm guns on September 14, 1939, supporting the attack on Brochov, were also able to hit several German vehicles.
Oh, that's why … They are watching the passage of the troops.
The important thing is that the Poles lost their war even before the first shots rang out on it! After all, the Polish army tried to cover its border on the front from Lithuania to the Carpathians for 1500 km, which was an absolutely daunting task for it and simply could not but end in defeat. The Germans, concentrating on the spearhead of the main attacks 5 tank, 6 motorized, 48 infantry divisions, and having complete air superiority, were able to very quickly achieve superiority on the ground. The Poles attacked in small groups of tanks, while the Germans used them massively. Therefore, even achieving success, the Poles were forced to constantly retreat, fearing an outflanking movement of the enemy and attacks on the flank and rear. But even in this case, Poland could well have resisted a little longer if on Sunday, September 17, 1939, the Soviet Red Army had not entered its territory from the east.
"What a powerful BA these Russians have!"
All this was explained by the need to "protect and liberate the western regions of Ukraine and Belarus," but for the Poles it only meant that they now had to deal with two enemies instead of one! Soviet forces in the Ukrainian and Belorussian fronts numbered 1,500,000 soldiers, 6,191 tanks, 1,800 combat aircraft and 9,140 artillery pieces. Therefore, on September 18, they took Vilno, then Grodno, Lvov on September 22, and on the 23rd they went to the Bug River, beyond which, by agreement between Hitler and Stalin, was already the "zone of responsibility" of Nazi Germany. According to our domestic sources, the Red Army lost 42 tanks and BA in this campaign, and 52 tankers were killed and 81 were wounded. However, Polish authors believe that the losses of Soviet armored vehicles from artillery fire and infantry hand grenades amounted to about 200 combat vehicles of various types. German losses in the Polish company were 10,000 killed and 30,000 wounded. The Poles, respectively, lost 66,000 and 133,000 people, and 420,000 were taken prisoner!
Polish prisoners of war and a representative of the Red Cross.
About 1,000 combat vehicles were disabled. According to German sources, the number of tanks that could not be restored was as follows: Pz.l - 89, Pz. II - 83, Pz. III - 26, Pz.lY - 19, Pz. 38 (t) - 7 and Pz. 35 (t).
Smoke, comrade, smoke! Don't be so gloomy. Until June 22, 41st is still far away!
Thus, the Polish campaign proved to be quite costly for Germany. Therefore, no further offensive to the East, which was subsequently repeatedly announced by Molotov and Stalin, was out of the question at that time. In addition, in this case, France and England remained in Germany's rear, and the Poles themselves, despite the announced surrender on September 28, in a number of places still continued to resist and finally surrendered only on October 6!
TKS wedge and dead tanker. 1939 g.
By the way, the Germans used captured Polish armored vehicles quite actively. In particular, in the 5th Panzer Division, these were captured TK and TKS tankettes, and in the 11th, several 7TP tanks. The commander of the 4th company of the 1st tank regiment, Lieutenant Fritz Kramer, fought on a 7TP tank in Polish camouflage, but with German crosses on the turret and number "400", after his own tank was knocked out. In the victorious parade on October 5 in Warsaw, captured 7TPs (about 18) also participated, which were then transferred to the 203rd tank battalion, and one 7TP with frontal armor pierced by a 20-mm shell was even exhibited in 1940 at the international fair in Leipzig. By the way, it was then that the German and Italian mass media laid the foundation for the popular myth that Polish lancers allegedly attacked Hitler's tanks with drawn sabers and pikes at the ready.
How this myth proved to be tenacious is evidenced by the fact that it was again cited as an example in the January issue of the magazine Vokrug Sveta in 2003, although in reality there was nothing of the kind. In addition, the Polish cavalry did not have to rush at the German tanks with bare sabers, since they had 37-mm anti-tank guns from the firm "Bofors" (mod. 1936). At the same time, the charter directly ordered them to fight with tanks in dismounted formations, while the horses had to be in cover. But the foolish courage of the defeated always takes revenge on the vanity of the victor. Therefore, the "canard" was launched and can be considered a very successful example of information warfare, often even more effective than the most successful direct confrontation with enemy tanks.
The Pz. III is the workhorse of the Panzerwaffe.
Immediately after the Polish campaign, taking advantage of the fact that the "strange war" was still going on, Hitler now decided to launch an offensive in the West, but his generals still managed to convince him of the need to replenish the army with manpower and equipment. A plan was developed for the invasion of France, the main condition for the implementation of which was the throw of Hitler's tanks through the Ardennes, bypassing the fortifications of the Maginot line, built on the border. Heinz Guderian assured the command that such a breakthrough was quite feasible and thereby determined the fate of France for five whole years: on May 9, 1940, the Wehrmacht again went on the offensive, now on the western front. As expected, German tanks quickly broke through to their intended targets, the resistance of the French troops was broken, while the British expeditionary force was surrounded by German troops in the Dunkirk area.
Destroyed Polish FT-17s. 1939 g.
Already on May 22, Guderian's tanks reached the Atlantic Ocean and captured Boulogne, after which it would be most logical to continue the attack on Dunkirk in order to capture the British forces located there. But for some reason Hitler forbade it, historians continue to argue about the reasons for such a decision to this day. Many are inclined to believe Churchill that Hitler thus sought to persuade the British to peace and withdraw England from the war. Be that as it may, this decision cannot be called reasonable, since the most accommodating enemy is an enemy who has been defeated to the end! All this time, the Soviet press did not stop praising the military assistance to Hitler from the USSR. Therefore, Hitler was sure that he would have enough strength to wage this war, as well as Soviet fuel. As a result, on June 22, 1940, the French government surrendered to Hitler, which for the second time proved to the whole world the superiority of the German doctrine, since this time there was no question of any technical superiority in tanks. The fact is that for the capture of France the Germans prepared only 2,500 vehicles, of which the Pz. III was 329, and the Pz.lY-280. All the others were used simply because there was nothing to replace them and, therefore, truly modern the Nazis had only … 600 tanks!
Czech tanks, German crosses …
As for the French, from their side the Germans were opposed by 416 new 20-ton Somua S-35 tanks and 384 32-ton B-1 and B-1-BIS tanks, a total of 800 vehicles. They were replenished by Renault D1 and D2 tanks, which, even though they were somewhat inferior to them, were still in the medium class, as well as about 2,300 light tanks R-35 / R-40, H-35 / H-39 and FCM36, built in the mid-30s, and about 2,000 modernized Renault FT-17s of the second echelon. Organized French tanks were brought together in divisions of armored vehicles (Divisions Tegeres Mecanigues - DLM), which were supposed to operate as part of the cavalry corps and consisted of 174 vehicles. Tanks "Hotchkiss" N-35 were part of light cavalry divisions, which also included armored vehicles and units of motorized infantry.
(To be continued)
