Military vehicles (up to 1945) - Poland: books - history and construction

Czołgi i samobieżne działa pancerne Wojska Polskiego 1919-2016

Tanks in the Polish Army have a history spanning almost a century, beginning with their arrival in 1919 during the Polish-Soviet War. Their significance grew with advancements in motorization, resulting in more powerful engines, thicker armor, and larger caliber guns. Self-propelled artillery vehicles, similar in design and purpose, emerged later and saw regular use during World War II.
For decades, tanks have been a universal symbol of military strength, determining a nation's military power. They have remained the most captivating military vehicles.

This book presents the nearly century-long history of tanks and self-propelled artillery vehicles in the Polish Army, divided into four periods: the Second Polish Republic, World War II, the post-war era known as the People's Republic of Poland (PRL), and the last 28 years since Poland regained independence. These periods witnessed significant developments in tank design and utilization within the Polish Army.
This comprehensive work provides a holistic overview of tank and self-propelled artillery vehicle history in the Polish Army from their introduction in 1919 to the present day.

Text in Polish.

Pojazdy mechaniczne Wojska Polskiego 1939

Polish Armor of the Blitzkrieg

The Polish army during the Blitzkrieg conjures up tragic images of infantry and dashing, but ineffective and ultimately doomed cavalry charges. In actuality the Poles, in the midst of a large-scale re-armament programme, had up to 600 armoured vehicles available at the time of the German attack, as well as a number of newer and better designs in various stages of development.

Facing the inventors of the 'Lightning War', who attacked in great numbers, on multiple fronts and with total mastery of the air, the Polish armoured formations were up against it.
But outdated equipment, doctrine and enormous odds did not stop these units from fighting with bravery and determination before being finally overwhelmed.

This volume is a complete technical study of the machines that formed the backbone of Poland's defences on the ground, using never-before-seen photographs and a comprehensive design and developmental history that reveal a full picture of Poland's armoured forces in the context of their greatest challenge.

Panzer II vs 7TP : Poland 1939

Hitler's lightning invasion of Poland in 1939 marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. This was the period when armoured warfare inscribed itself into global consciousness as the Poles desperately sought to stave off the Blitzkrieg.
At the heart of the fighting on the ground, large numbers of Nazi Germany's PzKpfw II battled against Poland's better-armed but much less numerous 7TP tank. The two types both possessed unique strengths and weaknesses - unlike the 7TP the PzKpfw II was always equipped with radio, which proved critical for command and control purposes in the heat of combat. But the German tank was blighted by thin armour, which could not withstand Polish gunfire at combat ranges.
This fully illustrated, detailed work evaluates the qualities and idiosyncrasies of each tank, giving a stark and arresting crewman's-eye-view of the brutal armoured combat at the height of the invasion of Poland.

Contents: Introduction - Chronology - Design and Development - Technical Specifications - The Combatants - The Strategic Situation - Combat - Statistics and Analysis - Aftermath - Bibliography - Index.

First Polish Armoured Division 1938-47

The First Polish Armoured Division was formed in Scotland in February 1942 from Polish exiles who had escaped first Poland and then France. Its commander, Stanislaw Maczek, and many of its men had previously served in Polish 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade (10 BKS), which had taken part in the Polish invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and given a good account of itself in the defence of Poland against German and Soviet invasion of 1939.
Under Maczek's leadership the division was trained and equipped along British lines in preparation for the invasion of France.

Attached to 1st Canadian Army, the division was sent to Normandy in late July 1944. It suffered heavily during Operation Totalize but went on to play a crucial role in preventing an orderly German withdrawal from the Falaise Pocket by its stand at Hill 262. They then played their part in the advance across Western Europe and into Germany.
This detailed history, supported by dozens of archive photos, concludes by looking at the often-poor treatment of Maczek and his men after the war.

Armoured Hussars (Volume 1) - Images of the Polish 1st Armoured Division 1939-47

This wonderful album is a brilliant pictorial history of the 1st Polish Armoured Division composed of about 250 photographs, documents and publications largely collected by WO1 Alexander Leon 'Manka' Jarzembowski, a veteran of 2nd Armoured Regiment, as he soldiered for Poland between 1917-1949.
The collection lay in albums unseen for decades until recent interest in the Division and its Commanding Officer, General Stanislaw Maczek, caused Jarzembowski's son, Jan, to revisit his father's archive in order to provide a narrative for the almost forgotten Division and for his father's memory.

The photographs themselves cover the period from 1939 and the invasion of Poland before moving onto the French Campaign of 1940; the bulk of the images illustrate the story of the Division from arriving in the UK in 1940, reforming in 1942 and then its campaigns in North-West Europe 1944-45 - its pursuit of the Germans across northern France, Belgium and Holland, and finally into Germany.
Included are some of the final Divisional parades prior to disbandment in 1947. There are also many interesting photographs of dignitaries who visited and inspected the Division thorough out those years, including General Sikorski.

The range of images available in this album is wide and impressive with many excellent shots of uniforms, equipment and armour, which not only provide an aid to historians and veteran's families, but, expertly annotated by the author, are of great value to military modellers as reference material.

This album is a tribute to the gallant men of the Polish 1st Armoured Division. General Maczek and his men fought the Second World War from the very beginning to the very end with extreme bravery, but gained nothing for their efforts, yet maintained their dignity and pride to the end of their, often very long, lives.

Armoured Hussars (Volume 2) - Images of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, Normandy, August 1944

Provides a highly-illustrated account of the 1st Polish Armoured Division's baptism of fire in Normandy in August 1944, from Operations Totalise and Tractable to the victory at Falaise, culminating at the climactic battle on Mont Ormel - the site of this triumph was justly named 'A Polish Battlefield' by the Canadians.

This album contains contributions written by the distinguished military author and Normandy veteran Ken Tout, who was recently awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit by the Republic of Poland for popularising the Polish soldiers of the Second World War. Serving as a young Sherman tank crewman in the Northamptonshire Yeomanry, Ken watched the Poles go in to action on 8 August and witnessed their savage baptism of fire.

The album features many dramatic photographs and documents, numbering over 250, from the renowned Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum (PISM) as well as from the author's collection. It is also supplemented by eight pages of colour plates featuring divisional armour, uniforms, maps and a centre page-spread of a close-quarter action on Mont Ormel, based on the memoirs of a regimental commander. Illustrated by the renowned military artist, Peter Dennis, this depiction also features on the front cover.

This book will appeal to all who have an interest in the Second World War and the Normandy Campaign, and is a fitting tribute to those Polish soldiers who fought so gallantly for Europe's freedom as part of the Allied Liberation Army and played a decisive role in the defeat of German forces in France at the Battle of the Falaise Pocket in August 1944.

Pojazdy Powstanców Warszawskich 1944

A lavishly illustrated book presenting the motorised part of the Warsaw Insurgents' combat effort, concerning the battles seen through the prism of armoured vehicles (tanks, armoured guns, armoured cars, armoured personnel carriers), special vehicles (fire-fighting, sanitary and others) and transport vehicles used by the Home Army.
Guided by the fate of the historical vehicles, the story is enriched with a sketchy picture of the combat operations and the transmission of the motorised preparations for the insurgent battles.

The vehicles are presented at the place where they were captured from the enemy (such as the "Panther" tanks captured in Wola), built during combat or stored in Home Army units before the Warsaw Uprising and at the place of their combat use.
Many of the photographs included in the book have not been published before. It is an extension of the previously published publication "Home Army Vehicles in the Warsaw Uprising" containing new facts that have been established over the last 15 years.

Text in Polish.