- 36th Infantry Regiment (Poland)
The 36th Infantry Regiment of the Academic Legion (Polish "36 pułk piechoty Legii Akademickiej", 36pp) was a Polish military unit. Initially made up of students from the universities of Warsaw, it fought with distinction in the
Polish-Bolshevik War , the Polish Defensive War and in theWarsaw Uprising .The regiment was an all-volunteer force made up of students from Warsaw-based universities on
November 11 ,1918 , that is the dayPoland regained her independence. Initially the unit was simply named "Infantry Regiment of the Academic Legion" and took part in disarming the Austro-Hungarian and German soldiers remaining on Polish territory. Accepted formally into thePolish Army onDecember 3 , it was renamed the "36th Infantry Regiment" and onApril 5 ,1919 , it was allowed to retain its former name as an honorary title.The regiment were sworn on
December 13 and onJanuary 4 ,1919 it leftWarsaw forLwów , which was then under siege by the forces of theWest Ukrainian People's Republic . Attached to the relief force under Gen.Jan Romer , it was initially made up of two battalions and a small NCO school. The regiment suffered heavy losses and both battalions were eventually merged. However, the unit managed to break through to the besieged city throughŻółkiew ,Kulików and Homulec. After that onSeptember 7 the unit was reinforced with additional battalions formed in Warsaw andModlin .During the
Polish-Bolshevik War the unit was dispatched to the front onMay 14 ,1920 , and took part in heavy fighting during the Polish retreat westwards. OnJune 3 it took part in the victoriousbattle of Duniłowicze . After the war this date became the Regiment's feast day. OnAugust 13 and the following days, the regiment again took part in heavy fighting for the town ofOsowiec and the village ofLeśniakowizna during the battle of Warsaw. In a series of withdrawals and counter-attacks, and despite heavy losses, the regiment withstood the Bolshevik assault on Warsaw thus permittingJózef Piłsudski 's main assault group to outflank and destroy the enemy. Among the fallen was the regiment's chaplain, Rev.Ignacy Skorupka and the commander of 2nd Battalion,Stanisław Matarewicz . During the fighting heavy losses were replaced with a battalion of an improvised 236th Infantry Regiment formed mostly of students and Scouts of the Warsaw borough ofPraga . After the battle the regiment continued to pursue the retreating Russian forces in the Ukraine and onSeptember 24 ,1920 , took part in the liberation of an important railway hub in the town ofSzepietówka .During the interbellum, the regiment was attached to the
Polish 28th Infantry Division and formed a part of the Warsaw garrison. It took part in theMay Coup d'Etat of1926 fighting in the ranks of the supporters of Piłsudski. OnAugust 23 ,1939 it was mobilized and attached to theŁódź Army .In September 1939, Commanded by Col.
Karol Ziemski , the Regiment was dispatched toGreater Poland , where the regiment took part in the Polish retreat throughŁask ,Pabianice andBrwinów , and managed to reach theModlin Fortress . TheMarch Battalion of the 36th Regiment was left in Warsaw and served as a core of the Polish 336th Infantry Regiment that took part in the defence of Warsaw. Split onto two separate regiments, the 1st and 2nd "Defenders of Praga" Infantry Regiments underStanislaw Milian andStefan Kotowski , the unit held out until the final capitulation of Warsaw.During the German occupation, veterans of the 36th Regiment were joined in the VI
Home Army Area. DuringOperation Tempest the Regiment was recreated and took part in theWarsaw Uprising . The soldiers of the regiment fought in the failed uprising in Praga, but also in heavy fights for the boroughs ofŻoliborz ,Mokotów andCzerniaków . It was officially recreated by order ofTadeusz Bór-Komorowski out of three previously-existing partisan battalions. Led by Maj.Stanisław Błaszczak (nom de guerre "Róg"), it was composed of theKrybar (Cyprian Odorkiewicz ), Dowgierd (Stanisław Taczanowski ) and "Żmudzin" (Bolesław Kontrym ) battalions, each named after their commanders' noms de guerre. After the capitulation of the Uprising, the soldiers shared the fate of the rest of theArmia Krajowa . The Regiment was not recreated after the war and its banner, founded in1921 by the universities of Warsaw, is currently in theMuseum of the Polish Army in Warsaw.In
1966 the regiment was awarded theVirtuti Militari , the highest Polish military decoration, byWładysław Anders and thePolish Government in exile . OnDecember 12 ,1992 , the historical heritage of the 36th Regiment was accepted by modernTrzebiatów -basedPolish 36th Mechanized Regiment , in1994 reformed into thePolish 36th Mechanized Brigade . In1991 the last president of Poland in exile,Ryszard Kaczorowski , returned the pre-war insignia to the newly-elected Polish presidentLech Wałęsa . Among them was the original Virtuti Militari awarded to the unit in1966 . Initially attached to the regimental banner in the Museum of the Polish Army, onJune 3 ,2000 , it was given to the 36th Mechanized Brigade and attached to its modern banner. Currently the unit is headed by Col.Ryszard Witwicki .References
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