The Battle of Wizna was fought between September 7 and September 10, 1939, between the forces of Poland and Germany during the initial stages of invasion of Poland. It's easy to imagine all the heated battles of World War II's European Theater taking place in France or Belgium or North Africa – all the campaigns The line ran some 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the border with East Prussia, along an elevated banks of Narew and Biebrza rivers. However, the German infantry was still under heavy fire and was pinned down in the swampy fields in front of the Polish bunkers. Because the battle consisted of a small force holding a piece of fortified territory against a vastly larger invasion for three days at great cost before being annihilated, Wizna is sometimes referred to as Polish Thermopylae in Polish culture. The battle of Wizna (7th-10th of September 1939). der ehem. "Heinz Guderian". [6] Additional two were light concrete bunkers, armed with machine guns only. [9] The heroic struggle against overwhelming odds is nowadays one of the symbols of the Polish Defensive War of 1939 and is a part of Polish popular culture. [2] Eventually the tanks broke through the Polish line and eliminated all the bunkers one by one. 16–17. Fober passed command over Wizna to Raginis and his men. According to various estimates, about 40-70 Polish soldiers survived, some of whom were captured. German forces now numbered 42,200 men, at least 350 tanks, 108 howitzers, 188 grenade launchers, 195 anti-tank guns, and nearly 1,000 various machine guns. This is the battle between the Polish and the German Armies. Battle of Wizna facts. Some of the prisoners were subsequently killed by the Germans, others were beaten and abused but survived and were eventually taken to POW camps. Battle of Wizna Posted on September 19, 2019 by MSW Wladyslaw Raginis (1908-1939) – Captain of Polish Army, military commander during the Polish Defensive War of 1939 of a small force holding the Polish fortified defense positions against a vastly larger invasion during the Battle of Wizna. After the Polish resistance ended, the XIX Panzer Corps advanced towards Wysokie Mazowieckie and Zambrów, where it fought the unsuccessful Battle of Zambrów against the Polish 18th Infantry Division, finally encircling and destroying the Polish division during the Battle of Andrzejewo. On September 3, Polish troops were attacked from the air, but their own aircraft could not fight back. 2.2k votes, 46 comments. On September 3 Polish positions were spotted from the air and strafed with machine gun fire from enemy fighters. It’s one of the millions of unique, user-generated 3D experiences created on Roblox. On September 7, scouts of General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst’s 10th Panzer Division captured a village near Wizna. It is often referred to as “the Polish Thermopylae,” a reference to three hundred Spartans, who bravely held off an enormous Persian army in Ancient Greece. It was to shield the Polish positions further to the … [6] The spot was chosen carefully: most of the concrete bunkers were built on hills overlooking a swampy Narew River valley. The Battle of Wizna was fought between September 7 and September 10, 1939, between the forces of Poland and Germany during the initial stages of Invasion of Poland. Pz.Div., Köln 1993, Andrzej Krajewski (2009-09-04). It was to shield the Polish positions further to the south and guard the crossing of the Narew and Biebrza rivers. Lt. Col. Tadeusz Tabaczyński was unable to send his troops to the aid of Raginis, although he was less than 19 miles (30 km) away from him in the fortified area of Osowiec. The official music video for 40:1 by Sabaton, taken from the album "The Art Of War". During the German invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II, 720 Polish soldiers manned the fortified line of defense near the village of Wizna for three days against 42,200 German soldiers and 350 tanks. It was a place of the Battle of Wizna (September 7–10, 1939) during the initial stages of the German Invasion of Poland. Eve of the Battle . However, at 6 o'clock in the evening the Polish infantry was forced to abandon the trenches and field fortifications and retreat into the bunkers. In his diaries general Heinz Guderian noted that 900 German soldiers were killed in action, although that number is probably underrated. The Battle of Wizna (Polish Thermopylae) – Where few stopped an army by Bartosz Spytkowski March 06, 2018 On September 7, 1939 began one of, if not the, most heroic battles of Polish Defensive War - Battle of Wizna, also known as Polish Thermopylae. The average thickness of the bunker walls was nearly 5 feet (1.5 meters). Raginis, realising that all of his men were wounded and his ammunition was almost depleted, ordered his men to surrender their arms to the Germans. The actual battle is said to have taken place outside a mudfort where the Guru was resting [citation needed]. After initial clashes at the border, the Podlaska Cavalry Brigade operating in the area, during the night of 3/4 September was ordered to withdraw and on September 5 it left the area and marched toward Mały Płock to cross the river Narew. By early morning of September 9 his units reached the Wizna area and were joined with 10th Panzer Division and "Lötzen" Brigade already present in the area. The Battle of Diu was a battle of annihilation like the Battle of Lepanto and the Battle of Trafalgar, and one of the most important of world naval history, for it marks the beginning of European dominance over Asian seas that would last until the Second World War. In Jerzy Bordziłowski. von der Trad.Gem. Battle of Wizna is the theme of the song "40:1", on the album The Art of War by the Swedish Metal band Sabaton. The next morning, his troops invaded the Wizna area and were combined with the “Lötzen” Brigade and 10th Panzer Division. On September 1, 1939, the Polish Defensive War and World War II started. BD (1960). Poles had only two antitank rifles but they destroyed 10 … Kutuzov , forcing Austria to make peace with France (Treaty of Pressburg) and keeping Prussia temporarily out of the anti-French … As his command post he chose the "GG-126" bunker near the village of Góra Strękowa. 720 Polish infantrymen, commanded by Władysław Raginis, defended a small fortified line near the village of Wizna against more than 40 000 German soldiers while being under a heavy artillery barrage. On September 7, 1939, the reconnaissance units of the 10th Panzer Division of general Nikolaus von Falkenhorst captured the village of Wizna. 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