Text 29061, 57 rader
Skriven 2006-05-08 15:47:49 av Roy Witt (1:1/22)
  Kommentar till text 29008 av Dan Ceppa (1:138/666.0)
Ärende: WWII revisited
======================
07 May 06 18:49, Dan Ceppa wrote to FRANK SCHEIDT:

 DC> On 07 May 06  03:51:00, FRANK SCHEIDT got back to DAN CEPPA
 DC> -> Re: WWII revisited

 RW>> Don't tell that to the Poles, Dutch, Belgans or the French...They
 RW>> have enough problems with feelings of inferiority as it is.

 DC>> Contrary to popular lore, the invasion of Poland was not a
 DC>> cake-walk.

 FS>> Nevertheless, it took only a short time ... I still recall seeing
 FS>> newspaper photos of the Polish *horse* cavalry charging German
 FS>> armored units ...

 DC> Those photos are fake.

Not.

 DC> Though horses were used for cavalry troop transport, they were not
 DC> used to mount a charge against German units in WWII.

Not on purpose, anyway.

"The 21st Armoured Battalion under Maj. Stanislaw Glinski, equipped mostly
with Polish TKS tankettes was ordered to counter-attack the village, along
with the cavalry squadron of Captain Jerzy Hollak. In the clouds of smoke
of the burning village, the Polish units accidentally drove right in the
middle of a German tank column. Although the Polish tankettes were no
match for some of the German tanks and the cavalry was very vulnerable to
tank fire, the confusion in German ranks prevented the German commander
from responding quickly enough. The Polish units managed to break through
the German column with negligible losses and seized the forest to the
Northwest of Mokra. This manoeuvre is sometimes referred to as a charge of
Polish cavalry on German tanks, although no charge was planned nor
executed. Nevertheless, the German tanks again lost orientation and the
column withdrew from the village, again leaving it in Polish hands. The
tanks withdrew to their initial positions in Wilkowiecko, leaving behind
the infantry supporting the failed assault. German losses were high and a
large number of German troops were taken prisoner."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mokra

 DC> Polish cavalry was basically heavily armed and mobile infantry.

Ummmm, no, they were all of the above, but they weren't infantry. They
were used in conjunction with the TKS 'tankettes'.

 DC> Besides the fact that he Polish army lacked trucks, etc., it
 DC> actaully made sense due to terrain and lack of roads.

That's not why they maintained a calvary. The Polish calvary goes way back
to the middle ages. They were even victorious in their endeavors.

Roy
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