Now, let's get into what's right about the article. One needs to remember first and foremost, warhistoryonline.com is NOT an academic source. I repeat, it is NOT an academic source. I see it posted occasionally around Facebook and such, and it often is very pop-history- IE, consumption for the masses, gets broad stroke facts right mostly, but loses its touch when going into detail/explanation because these articles are basically being written by random fans on the site, NOT historians.
What it gets right:
Polish cavalry never charged German tanks.
Colonel Mastalerz and his staff were killed by armoured cars after an successful charge on infantry on Sept 1st 1939.
Indro Montanelli, an award winning Italian journalist, is the origin point of the myth, after German officers told him the dead horses at Krojanty were killed in a charge by Polish cavalry on tanks.
Nazi propaganda did indeed support the idea, as it fell neatly into their view of the Poles as slavic untermensch who were brave but idiots and easily defeated. Soviet post-war propaganda also did love the myth as it helped to discredit the pre-war Polish government. (what the article does not mention is that the Allies, specifically France and Britain, ate up the myth too, as it helped to excuse them for their failings in 1939 and for their defeat in 1940- can't be defeated in 1940 yet have the Poles defeating the Germans many many times in 1939, can we?)
Gunther Grass did actually write that poem.
Now, let's go over what the article gets wrong:
Before all hell broke loose, it was obvious that the Germans were aiming to end Polish sovereignty.
Nope. The Germans actually courted the Poles until 1939 for an alliance- right up to the end they were promising the Poles an alliance against the Soviets, land from Lithuania to replace Danzig, etc. The Poles refused to back down on the corridor, however.
The answer lies in the restrainments of the Treaty of Versaille from 1919, which explicitly prohibited the use of tanks by the German Army. Hitler violated this agreement, but the Poles refused to believe it.
First of all, they spelt Versailles wrong. But more to the point- THIS IS PART OF THE MYTHOS. An article purporting to be breaking this myth, is actually word for word USING part of the myth as factual. The idea that the Poles did not believe or understand that the Germans had rearmed post-Versailles is one of the explanations commonly given for why Polish cavalry charged German tanks with sword and lance- specifically that they believed the tanks were 'dummy' tanks made of wood/cardboard for training.
This is WRONG. This is factually incorrect. The Polish military had gone so far as to have actual JOINT TRAINING EXERCISES with the German army as late as 1938. There was not a man alive who didn't believe the Germans had lots of tanks. Good lord, the Germans were INCREDIBLY open about their re-armament, it was one of the largest make-work policies put into action by the Nazis. They paraded them all over the place, they used them in Spain, they were NOT a secret. The Poles knew damn well what the Germans had, and prepared their plans accordingly. There was NO misunderstanding about it, there was no "oh they're just made from cardboard".
The 18th Pomeranian Uhlans spotted a group of German infantry resting at a railroad near the village. Colonel Kazimir Mastalerz, the commander of the Uhlans, ordered Eugeniusz Świeściak, commander of the 1st Squadron, to use the element of surprise. He was ordered to charge at the Germans, with his horsemen, who were mostly equipped with lances. The two other squadrons, which included the TKS/TK-3 tankettes as support, were held in reserve.
The initial charge proved to be successful. The German infantry dispersed as the Uhlans chased them across the field. But then, German armored vehicles (most likely Leichter Panzerspähwagen or Schwerer Panzerspähwagen) joined the fight, advancing through the nearby forest. They fired a machine gun barrage which decimated the Polish horsemen. Commander Świeściak was gunned down. Colonel Mastalerz hurried to his aid, prompting the second two squadrons to advance. He was killed soon after by the same armored vehicles.
So this is a case of broad strokes right, but details wrong. Basically, what it gets right is that the Poles surprised a group of German infantry with a charge, but then were surpised in turn and lost a lot of men.
But it's wrong on details (a lot of this is thanks them using only wikipedia as their example, almost word for word). The Uhlans actually had found a full battalion of Germans encamped in a clearing near a railroad, not on it. Mastalerz worked his cavalry within around 100 yards of the Germans, screening their movements with a hill line. They executed their charge, and were extremely successful, the German battalion was basically captured intact apart from the ones who died in initial resistance. There was then a pause, as the Poles started to round up POWs and wounded, and began to escort them to the rear. Then, suddenly, a couple Sdkfz armoured cars, probably 222's, appeared from the treeline behind the clearing (the Germans had actually been awaiting their arrival pending further advance). The Poles were in turn ambushed, and Mastalerz, Świeściak, and their staff were killed in the initial volley, while the rest of the Polish cavalry retreated over the hills and escaped. There was no second charge by the remaining reserve squads- the Poles disappeared as soon as they arrived.
So what it gets wrong is that is downplays the size of the German unit (a group is far less than a battalion of around 800-1000 men), it claims them as dispersed (they were captured), and then seems to say the Uhlans were chasing the Germans across the field when they were shot at (actually were milling around and gathering the POWs up- leaving themselves vulnerable). It then claims they counter-charged the armoured cars (hey, there's that myth telling again!), when they actually fell back quickly after the initial volley of 20mm fire (which explains their heavy losses- 20mm cannons will do quite a number on cluster horses).
The Poles were able to outmaneuver the German Panzers, and strike the supporting infantry from the rear, leaving the tanks unguarded. On 15 different occasions, the Polish Uhlans managed to stage charges, cover the retreating friendly units and cause panic and confusion within the enemy. Even though the lance stopped being part of the official cavalry arsenal in 1937, it was still available as a weapon of choice. The traditional long spear was often decorated with a small Polish flag and was thus seen as a motivation tool, besides from being an effective weapon against infantry.
This happened once, during the Battle of Mokra, where German tanks outpaced their infantry and the Poles put in a flank charge that wiped out the German infantry, while the tanks moved on unsupported to be cut down by the Polish cavalry's anti-tank defenses. This is the only case I have found of a coordinated charge to wipe out supporting German infantry separated from German tanks. There were around 2 dozen Polish cavalry charges in the campaign, of which all but 2 were victorious. All but that one at Mokra and the one at Krojanty were made on infantry unsupported by any form of armoured vehicle. The lance was not decorated with a flag in combat- that was a parade ground thing like it had always been since the days of Napoleon. It WAS optional, but by and large was unused- the few that were did see combat though, at Krojanty and a few other engagements (notably a charge in East Prussia that led to the destruction of a German motorized battalion that is very well documented, one of the Polish participants became a Doctor of History in the United States after the war). Of note is that the last cavalry versus cavalry actions where both sides remained mounted also happened during this campaign, two incidents occurred in which German cavalry charged Polish cavalry (and were defeated).
. They also wanted to point out how superior the German people were in compared with primitive Poles who still used horses in battle even though the time of cavalry had certainly passed.
As noted above, the Germans had cavalry in 1939, both organic to division, and an independent cavalry brigade. By 1940 that was increased to a division, and by 1943/44, the Germans were operating a couple corps of cavalry. The idea that cavalry had passed by WW2 is kinda dead when you consider the Germans did nothing but INCREASE their use of cavalry during the war, plus the Russians used the **** out of it, having fully mounted ARMIES of Cossacks on the front lines through 1945.
The Poles saw the myth as part of their mentality ― bravery against all odds, and adopted the story proudly and defiantly.
No, they didn't. In fact, the adoption of the myth by the Poles after the war is a product of what the article later states- Soviet Propaganda. The myth is reviled in Poland as it makes them look like idiots.
Now, the article also has glaring flaws in that it completly omits any discussion of what the Polish cavalry actually DID during the war. As I stated above in those posts, the Polish cavalry were NOT an anti-infantry force. They were, in fact, trained and used as an anti-tank fire brigade, meant to plug holes made by the Panzer divisions. The Polish cavalry fought almost exclusively as an anti-Panzer division force during the war, and pre-war had been lavishly equipped with anti-tank guns and rifles. This is possibly another way the myth originates- the Polish cavalry were almost always fighting against the German Panzers, so it was easy to conclude that "lol wai they use swords on tanks THEY STUPID."
If you have any furthur questions, please feel free to ask. I have probably missed some points/details, it's early and I'm tired.
