| Polish Uhlans (“Young Boys” from the Turkic languages) on parade. The Manchester Guardian reported in April 1939 that, “Materially and morally, the Polish Army of today is the most formidable she has ever had and should, without any exaggeration, be ranked with the finest modern armies in Europe. Essentially a Continental Power with no natural boundaries and without any specially big fortifications, Poland has based her army on 2 main forces — the infantry and cavalry. These 2 classes constitute the bulk of her military strength. “For our defense,” the Guardian reported an eminent Polish military expert declared, “we depend primarily on the feet of our men and the feet of our horses.” Polish cavalry forces were composed of 40 regiments and of 10 additional squadrons of so-called horse-pioneers as well as of auxiliary units. 3/4 of that total was made up of the famous Polish Uhlans — light cavalrymen armed with gun, bayonet, saber and lance. In contrast to the armies of Great Britain and France, cavalry occupies a most prominent position in the Polish military system, as it also does in that of Soviet Russia Polish military experts give special reasons for this. Unlike the German Army, which is primarily offensive, the Polish Army is in principle a detensive formation. The Guardian declared, “If it ever has to fight it will most probably fight on Polish territory. where there are still many forests, rivers, swamps, and few good roads and bridges. Territorial conditions would therefore soon paralyze the movement of mechanized arms and offer better chances to horsemen and infantry of the type cultivated in Poland. Part of the army is highly mechanized, but as a whole it is not over-mechanized.” Polish artillery consisted of 30 regiments of light and 11 regiments of heavy artillery. In addition. The Polish Army has 13 divisional units of horse artillery, special motorized regiments with anti-aircraft guns, armored trains, and independent units of other auxiliary troops. These 3 forces, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, are estimated to jointly amount to over 300,000 men. While the Polish cavalrymen retained their sabres, the lance was no longer a standard issue after 1934. However, the lance was retained only for training purposes and flying squadron pennants. Instead, the cavalry units were equipped with 75 millimeter (3-inch) field guns, light tanks, 37 millimeter (1.47-inch) anti-tank guns, 40 millimeter (1.5-inch) Bofors anti-aircraft guns, as well as Polish-made anti-tank rifles and other modern weapons. Although there were cavalry charges during World War II, very few were successful. A popular myth is that Polish cavalry armed with lances charged (and were annihilated by) German tanks during the September 1939 campaign. This arose from the misreporting (both intentional and unintentional) of the Charge at Krojanty on September 1, when the 18th Pomeranian Uhlan Regiment’s 2 squadrons armed with sabers, scattered German infantry before being caught in the open by German armored cars. When the remnants of the Polish cavalry forces were reconstituted in exile in 1943 as the 1st Armored Division the 24 Pułk Ułanów (“Twenty-Fourth Uhlans”) were equipped as an armored regiment with Sherman tanks. The regiment was disbanded in 1947. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2119.jpg |
| Image Size | 642.69 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 3634 x 2197 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 11, 1939 |
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| Country | Poland |
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| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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