Polish Armor 1939 - Vehicles of the Warsaw Uprising

Polish Armored Fighting Vehicles
of the Warsaw Uprising
August 1st to October 2nd of 1944

Kubus

Polish Improvised Armored Car "Kubus"
on display at the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw.

Warsaw Uprising 1944

The Warsaw Uprising, was launched on August 1st of 1944 at 5:00pm, by the underground resistance movements AK (Armia Krajowa - The Home Army),NSZ (Narodowe Sily Zbrojne - National Armed Forces) and AL (Armia Ludowa - People’s Army) as Soviet troops approached the city. Although Soviet authorities encouraged this uprising and promised to support it, the aim of the Home Army, loyal to the Polish Government in Exile in London, was to liberate the city from the Germans before the Soviets could do so and to establish themselves as representatives of the government in London. AK feared Soviet assumption of direct control over all of Poland. The Warsaw Uprising was led by the General Tadeusz "Bor" Komorowski and was supported by the Polish Government in Exile in London. In their suppression of the uprising, the Germans killed tens of thousands of Poles; meanwhile, the Soviet army remained inactive at the city gates across the River Vistula until October 2nd, when the uprising collapsed. The Germans exacted terrible revenge for the uprising. Virtually the entire remaining population of Warsaw was deported to forced labor or concentration camps, and its buildings were systematically razed (95% of all buildings on the left bank of Vistula were destroyed). The Red Army and Polish People’s Army then resumed its offensive and liberated the city on January 17th of 1945, beginning the era of Soviet-dominated government in Poland.

Tanks

German Panzerkampfwagen M14/41 736(i) (Italian Carro Armato M13/41) medium tank

Single tank captured.

It saw no service.

German Panzerkampfwagen V Panther

Two tanks were captured on August 2nd in Wola district.

Both were pressed into service by "Radoslaw" Group.

One was nicknamed "Pudel" / "Magda".

One was lost on August 8th and second on August 11th.

German Panzerkampfwagen IV or Panzerkampfwagen V Panther

One tank was captured on August 4th in Ochota district.

It was pressed into service by "Gustaw" Company.