Hetman
05-26-2004, 09:35
On Monday I saw an american TV documentary. I was stunned when I heard
the old propaganda tale about Polish uhlans fighting German tanks with lances and sabres.
That's I post this.
The saddest thing about this fairy tale is that quite many Poles believed in this propaganda bull****, even one of the greatest Polish directors Andrzej Wajda had to ( was persuaded) recreate this in "Lotna".
THE REAL SOURCE of this legend is the event which happened on the 2nd September 1939. The Polish cavalry brigade ( called "Pomorze" or Pomerania) was ordered to stop German 2nd Infantry Division (Mechanized Infantry - most were not). One of cavalry regiment charged a battalion of infantry at Krojanty. They crushed the unit and the terriffied Germans fled, but while the horsemen were regrouping they were assaulted by german armoured vehicles. The Poles retreated suffering severe losses. On the bright side after the charge THE WHOLE German division refused to move for two days - they were really shocked.
During the war Polish cavalry units were elite, which could be compared to paratroopers and fought wery efficiently, many times stopping much larger enemy ( German or Soviet) forces.
The fairy tale was created by Goebbels to humiliate the Poles during the war and was used to offend pre-wartime Poland during the Communist regime.
In reality most of cavalry units fought very good, one even stopped German XVIth corps ( 1st and 4th Armoured Divisions) for two days at Mokra on 1-2nd September destroying many tanks and other vehicles.
Even famous cavalry charges were so efficient that the Germans feared these for the whole 1939 campaign - no soldier wants to be cut with sabres
BTW - Polish army used lances in 1919-20 war against Russia for the last time.
Do You know any different widely known propaganda lies ?
Regards Hetman/Cegorach http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif
the old propaganda tale about Polish uhlans fighting German tanks with lances and sabres.
That's I post this.
The saddest thing about this fairy tale is that quite many Poles believed in this propaganda bull****, even one of the greatest Polish directors Andrzej Wajda had to ( was persuaded) recreate this in "Lotna".
THE REAL SOURCE of this legend is the event which happened on the 2nd September 1939. The Polish cavalry brigade ( called "Pomorze" or Pomerania) was ordered to stop German 2nd Infantry Division (Mechanized Infantry - most were not). One of cavalry regiment charged a battalion of infantry at Krojanty. They crushed the unit and the terriffied Germans fled, but while the horsemen were regrouping they were assaulted by german armoured vehicles. The Poles retreated suffering severe losses. On the bright side after the charge THE WHOLE German division refused to move for two days - they were really shocked.
During the war Polish cavalry units were elite, which could be compared to paratroopers and fought wery efficiently, many times stopping much larger enemy ( German or Soviet) forces.
The fairy tale was created by Goebbels to humiliate the Poles during the war and was used to offend pre-wartime Poland during the Communist regime.
In reality most of cavalry units fought very good, one even stopped German XVIth corps ( 1st and 4th Armoured Divisions) for two days at Mokra on 1-2nd September destroying many tanks and other vehicles.
Even famous cavalry charges were so efficient that the Germans feared these for the whole 1939 campaign - no soldier wants to be cut with sabres
BTW - Polish army used lances in 1919-20 war against Russia for the last time.
Do You know any different widely known propaganda lies ?
Regards Hetman/Cegorach http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cheers.gif