Polish Legions in World War I

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Col. Józef Piłsudski with his staff in front of the Governor's Palace in Kielce, 1914

Col. Józef Piłsudski and his officers, 1915

Pilsudski in Otwock 1915

II Brigade of the Polish Legions in Volhynia

Polish Legions (Polish Legiony Polskie) was the name of Polish armed forces created in August 1914 in Galicia. Thanks to the efforts of KSSN and the Polish members of the Austrian parliament, the unit became an independent formation of the Austro-Hungarian Army. They were composed mostly of former members of various scouting organisations, including Drużyny Strzeleckie and Związek Strzelecki, as well as volunteers from all around the empire.

Józef Piłsudski in his order of 22 August declared formations of the Legions, but Austrian government officially agreed to it only on 27 August.

Initially the Polish Legions were composed of two legions: the Eastern and the Western, both formed on 27 August. After Russian victory in the Battle of Galicia Eastern Polish legion refused to fight against Russia and was disbanded on 21 September. On 19 December Western legion was transformed into three brigades.

• I Brigade of the Polish Legions under Józef Piłsudski, formed in mid-December
• II Brigade of the Polish Legions under Józef Haller de Hallenburg, formed between mid-December and March (sources vary)
• III Brigade of the Polish Legions under Zygmunt Zieliński and later Bolesław Roja, formed on 8 May 1915
  • Artillery Battalions-served in I, II, and III Brigades
  • Cavalry Regiments-1st served in I Brigade; 2nd served in II Brigade; 3rd served in III Brigade
  • Infantry Regiments-1st, 5th, 7th served in I Brigade; 2nd, 3rd served in II Brigade; 4th served in both II and III Brigades; 5th, 6th served in III Brigade

The commanders of the Legions were:

1. Gen. Karol Trzaska-Durski (September 1914 – February 1916)
2. Gen. Stanisław Puchalski (until November 1916)
3. Col. Stanisław Szeptycki (until April 1917)
4. Col. Zygmunt Zieliński (until August 1917)

The Legions took part in many battles against the forces of Imperial Russia, both in Galicia and in the Carpathian Mountains. Initially both the number of troops and the composition of units were changing rapidly. This changed after Piłsudski resigned his post in September 1916 and the Polish Legions were renamed to Polish Auxiliary Corps (Polski Korpus Posilkowy). In June 1916 the unit had approximately 25 000 soldiers.

After the Act of November 5 and the creation of puppet Kingdom of Poland, the Polish Legions were transferred under German command. However, most of the members of legionists refused to swear allegiance to the emperor and were interned in Beniaminów and Szczypiorno (Oath crisis). Approximately 3 000 of them were drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army or the German Polnische Wehrmacht and sent to the Italian Front, while approximately 7 500 stayed in the Austrian Polish Auxiliary Corps.

After the war the officers of the Polish Legions became the backbone of the Polish Army.

Photo Gallery of Polish Legion members

Józef Beck	Stefan Dąb-Biernacki	Henryk Dobrzański	Bronisław Duch
Emil August Fieldorf	Józef Haller de Hallenburg who commanded II Brigade	Tadeusz Kasprzycki	Henryk Minkiewicz who served in 3rd Regiment/II Brigade
Mieczyslaw Norwid-Neugebauer who commanded 6th Regiment and 3rd Brigade	Leopold Okulicki who served in 3rd Legions Infantry Regiment	Tadeusz Piskor	Władysław Belina-Prażmowski
Władysław Raczkiewicz {President of Poland}	Juliusz Rómmel	Stefan Rowecki	Wilhelm Orlik-Rueckemann who served in 6th Regiment/III Brigade
Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko	Waclaw Sieroszewski	Władysław Sikorski	Stanisław Grzmot-Skotnicki
Piotr Skuratowicz	Edward Rydz-Smigly	Kazimierz Sosnkowski	Wacław Stachiewicz in 1917, after the Oath Crisis
Stanisław Szeptycki.	Józef Olszyna-Wilczyński	Marian Januszajtis-Żegota	Michał Rola-Żymierski

Battles

Operations of the Polish Legions

• Battle of Nowy Korczyn (23-24 September 1914)
• Battle of Anielin-Laski (October 21–October 26 1914)
• Battle of Mołotkowo (October 29, 1914)
• Battle of Krzywopłoty (17-18 November 1914)
• Battle of Marcinkowice (5-6 December 1914)
• Battle of Łowczówek (December 22–December 25, 1914)
• Battle of Pustki (2 May 1915)
• Battle of Konary (May 16–May 25, 1915)
• Battles of Rafajłowa, Kirlibaba and Rarańcza (June 13, 1915)
• Battle of Rokitna (15 June 1915)
• Battle of Jastków (July 29–July 31, 1915)
• Battle of Kostiuchnówka (July 4–July 6, 1916)
• Battle of Krechowce (24 July 1917)
• Battle of Rarańcza (15-16 February 1918)

Polish Officers who had served in Polish Legions

• Leon Berbecki
• Zygmunt Berling
• Władysław Bortnowski
• Walerian Czuma
• Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski
• Gustaw Orlicz-Dreszer
• Bolesław Bronisław Duch
• Karol Durski-Trzaska
• Kazimierz Fabrycy
• Emil August Fieldorf
• Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski
• Tadeusz Kasprzycki
• Bronisław Prugar-Ketling
• Alojzy Wir-Konas
• Wincenty Kowalski
• Marian Kukiel
• Kazimierz Orlik-Łukoski
• Mieczyslaw Norwid-Neugebauer
• Leopold Okulicki
• Tadeusz Piskor
• Władysław Belina-Prażmowski
• Bronisław Rakowski
• Juliusz Rómmel
• Stanisław Grzmot-Skotnicki
• Piotr Skuratowicz
• Edward Rydz-Śmigły
• Kazimierz Sosnkowski
• Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz
• Julian Stachiewicz
• Wacław Stachiewicz
• Aleksander Stawarz
• Zygmunt Bohusz-Szyszko
• Józef Olszyna-Wilczyński
• Ferdynand Zarzycki
• Marian Januszajtis-Żegota
• Juliusz Zulauf
• Michał Rola-Żymierski

See also

• Tomasz Arciszewski
• Stanisław Skarżyński
• Blue Army
• First Cadre Company
• My Pierwsza Brygada
• Polish Auxiliary Corps
• Polish I Corps in Russia
• Polish II Corps in Russia
• List of Polish divisions in World War I
• Polish Legions
• Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division
• Polish Military Organisation
• Polnische Wehrmacht