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IPTC: Caption
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An ISU-122 of the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie, or LWP (Polish People's Army), one of twenty-one ISU-122s of the 25th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment, 1st Polish Armored Corps, Polish 2nd Army, crosses a bridge on the Niesse (Nysa) River in April 1945. Part of the 1st Ukrainian Front, 2nd Army after crossed Poland from the Vistula to the Oder Rivers in late 1944. After regrouping in March 1945, 2nd Army crossed the Niesse after an artillery barrage and headed for Dresden. Eventually 2nd Army was part of the Soviet forces that liberated Prague. Because of steady attrition in prison camps and combat by both the Germans and the Soviets since September 1939, the Polish officer corps was decimated and 2nd Army was commanded mostly by Red Army officers. Red Army General Stanislav Gilyarovich Poplavsky (April 22, 1902-August 10, 1973) commanded 2nd Army until December 1944. The ISU-122 mounted the M1931/37 (A-19) 122 mm (4.8 inch) multipurpose gun, and was mostly used as a long range a tank destroyer; it was also used as an assault gun and a self-propelled howitzer. 1,735 were manufactured during the war at Chelyabinskiy Kirovskiy Zavod (Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant) in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
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IPTC: Copyright Notice
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Caption ©2007 MFA Productions LLC
Image in the Public Domain
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