23rd Grodno Uhlan Regiment

23rd Grodno Uhlan Regiment (Polish: 23 Pułk Ułanów Grodzieńskich, 23 p.ul.) was a cavalry unit of the Polish Army in the Second Polish Republic. Formed in 1920, it fought both in the Polish-Soviet War and the 1939 Invasion of Poland. The regiment was garrisoned in the town of Postawy (current Belarus), and belonged to Wilenska Cavalry Brigade.

Formation

The regiment was formed in 1920, when the 3^rd Mounted Rifle Squadron, the 211^th Uhlan Regiment and the 2^nd Hussar Squadron of Central Lithuania were merged. Until 1922, it was part of the armed forces of the Republic of Central Lithuania. It was officially named the 23^rd Grodno Uhlan Regiment on June 1, 1921, and that name referred to the 23^rd Lithuanian Uhlan Regiment, which had fought in the November Uprising.

World War II

Polish Defense War of 1939

During the 1939 Invasion of Poland, the Grodno Uhlans were part of Wilenska Cavalry Brigade. Transported by rail to the area of Przedborz in central Poland, the unit took its defensive positions on September 6. Since the town of Przedborz had already been seized by the Wehrmacht, the regiment was ordered to march to Opoczno, which, as it turned out, had also been captured by the enemy. In the night of September 9/10, 1939, the regiment was surrounded in the forests near Przysucha. After a bloody night battle, elements of the unit managed to break through and escape to the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. Nevertheless, the regiment ceased to exist, and its subunits continued fighting in the mountains until October 1939.

Operation Tempest in 1944

In February 1944, the regiment was recreated by the Home Army, to fight in Operation Tempest. Commanded by Colonel Jaroslaw Gasiewski, it fought in the area of Wilno and Nowogrodek, capitulating to the Germans in September 1944 in Kampinos Forest.

Commandants

Colonel Franciszek Kaczkowski (1920-1921),
Colonel Witold Lada-Zabłocki (1921-1922),
Colonel Mariusz Zaruski (1922-1923),
Colonel Aleksander Zelio (1923-1928),
Colonel Kazimierz Duchnowski (1928-1931),
Colonel Józef Świerczyński (1931-1938)
Colonel Zygmunt Milkowski (1938-1939)
Colonel Jarosław Gąsiewski "Jar" (1943-1944)

Symbols

The flag, funded by the residents of the Land of Grodno, was handed during a ceremony in Wilno, on August 13, 1922. The ceremony was attended by Jozef Pilsudski.

The badge was approved by the military authorities on January 30, 1923. It was in the shape of the Maltese cross, with a white shield in the middle, and the number 23.

Sources

Kazimierz Satora: Opowieści wrześniowych sztandarów. Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy Pax, 1990
Henryk Smaczny: Księga kawalerii polskiej 1914-1947: rodowody, barwa, broń. Warszawa: TESCO, 1989