The Last Stand

The Polish Border Defense Corps was the only regular Polish defense on the eastern border on the day of the Soviet invasion. After a series of border fights, the Polish forces were concentrated under the command of General Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann …

1939-10-01

PoH15

The Polish Border Defense Corps was the only regular Polish defense on the eastern border on the day of the Soviet invasion. After a series of border fights, the Polish forces were concentrated under the command of General Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann and designated the Border Defense Corps group. This group started to fight its way to the south-west through Soviet lines and towards the Hungarian border as ordered by the Polish General Staff. They crossed the Bug river to rendezvous with the only remaining large Polish fighting unit - the Independent Operational Group (IOG) ”Polesie”. During their march, the Poles were pursued and finally caught by the Soviet 45th Rifles Division. The Poles were so exhausted that many soldiers refused to fight. The Polish commander, General Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann, prepared a screening action with his last battleworthy units along a line drawn between two small villages. The western village, Wólka Wytycka, was held by troops of the “Sarny” battalion and was screened from the Soviets by Lake Wytyckie. The eastern village, Wytyczno, was held by troops of the “Polesie” battalion and lay on open ground. Behind this screen, columns of disorganized Polish Border Defense Corps soldiers were trying to continue their march away from Soviet pursuit and towards IOG “Polesie” positions.

Wytyczno, Poland

The Battle of Wytyczno took place on October 1, 1939 near the village of Wytyczno near Włodawa in Poland. It was a struggle between the Polish forces of the Border Defence Corps of Gen. Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann and the Soviet Red Army during the invasion of Poland. After the battle of Szack on September 28, the Polish commander decided to cross the Bug River and continue the fight there. After a short rest, on September 30 the Poles had crossed the river. Although largely victorious in most of the fights against the Soviets, the Polish unit was reduced to merely 3,000 men and was lacking heavy equipment and ammunition. In addition, most of the soldiers of the Border Defence Corps had been forced to cross large parts of Poland, with the average unit crossing almost 500 kilometres in two weeks.

Wikipedia: Battle of Wytyczno

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