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Author Topic: 12 out of 12 28mm Polish cavalry  (Read 5411 times)

Offline Sarmor

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Re: 12 out of 12 28mm Polish cavalry
« Reply #15 on: 24 February 2013, 12:39:35 PM »
Yes they did, there were quite a few cavalry charges during the September campaign (somewhere around 20 documented ones), the majority of them were performed with sabers, there was one or two that involved lances. There were also fighting between mounted Polish and German cavalry on a few occasions. They were occurred during the entire campaign, from the very first battles to the final battle. Most often the charges were quite successful, dispersing unaware enemy infantry, capturing artillery, attacking unsuspecting columns of "soft skin" vehicles and such. Though the role of the cavalry was primarily to act as modern dragoons, and they were used as such predominantly compared to the bold cavalry charges.
It's worth noting that German cavalry too was trained to charge at the enemy if the situation was right (though I don't know if they actually did this during the September campaign).
As Anatoli pointed out, the Poles charged at easy, unsuspecting targets, especially camped infantry, which tends to panic in such situations (who wouldn't?).

Unfortunately, there is a myth about Polish cavalry attacking German AFVs with sabres and lances - this is a piece of German propaganda, which was later adapted by the Polish communists, and now is repeated by some who really believe in it.

As for the minis, they're lovely.  :)
« Last Edit: 24 February 2013, 12:41:07 PM by Sarmor »

Offline Anatoli

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Re: 12 out of 12 28mm Polish cavalry
« Reply #16 on: 24 February 2013, 07:26:21 PM »
There are two instances of charging German cavalry, one was a skirmish battle between German and Polish cavalry reconnaissance units along the southern border during the first day of the invasion. Another instance was rather late into the campaign, a German mounted reconnaissance unit attacked Polish troops as part of a much larger battle.

For the most part though it was the Poles that utilized cavalry charges, no doubt because they had a lot more cavalry units in their army. The amount of bayonet charges initiated by Polish troops is also quite astonishing and surprised me when I was doing research on the many battles.

If you download my September Campaign + Poland in flames document there is an attached section of about 20 pages of transcribed interviews with Polish veterans that talk about their combat experience of 1939. Many of them served in units that fought from the first to the last day of the campaign, they explained exactly why and how they charged with bayonets or cavalry. Bayonet charged were often sprung out of a desperate situation and used as last resort - German units according to sources tended to panic or withdraw when facing a whole battalion coming at them with bayonets and throwing grenades.

 

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