Part 5-46 Espionage, Deals with Devils, Eve of War: Poland
RamscoopRaider
Donor
…Poland managed to pull off an extremely significant intelligence coup when it managed to mathematically determine how to attack the German SG-30 machines. While the British had been breaking messages from the commercial version marketed as Enigma since 1937, the SG-30 proper was more complex than the commercial variant, encrypting using a plug board in addition to using a different sequence of lettering on the rotors. The British had privately regarded it as unbreakable without having a physical machine to examine and had focused on trying to acquire intelligence on the machine via penetration of the German Cipher Office in Berlin. The Polish Cipher Bureau had managed to create a good relationship with the University of Poznan and had recruited a number of promising Mathematics graduates. Several of them working together managed to work out how to mathematically attack the system.
By 1934 the Poles were able to read all of the major German message traffic before the British had even got a serious start on breaking the commercial version. They set to work on automating the process to reduce the time taken and by 1938 had gotten to the point of being able to read the highest security German messages the same day using crude electromechanical computers. The exception proved to be the German Navy, who in 1937 introduced better Cipher procedures and an additional rotor to their machines, though the Poles were the least concerned about them. At the end of 1938 the Germans began universally introducing two extra rotors and additional plugboard connectors to their machines. This rendered the highly automated Polish process unworkable. As they lacked the budget to build sufficient computers in a timely manner they were forced to fallback on older methods, which took far longer to break the German codes.
In early September of 1940 and with war obviously approaching the Poles began approaching the British with offers to share their cryptographic methods among other intelligence secrets. In exchange they wanted resources that would allow them to build enough computing equipment to return to same day decryption of German high level messages. The British were willing to do so, provided the Poles extended their intelligence sharing to the French. The three had previously shared intelligence in the 20’s and early 30’s before Polish foreign relations deteriorated, some of this French intelligence had allowed the mathematical breakthroughs to break the SG-30 machine to take place. At this point however the Poles were concerned about sharing intelligence with the French.
The Poles were aware from their agents in the USSR that there were significant penetrations of France by the NKVD. Given the recently revealed degree of cooperation between the two countries the Poles were afraid that if they revealed this fact to the French, it would soon be known in Moscow and then be passed on to Berlin, making it useless. The Poles held out for excluding the French, but the British would not release any funds unless the French were included. The Poles thus made the decision to exclude any of their high level codebreaking work from intelligence exchanges with the British and French.
In this the Polish fears were misplaced for two reasons. First was that the Oxbridge Group had the British intelligence services almost as penetrated as the French were, sharing intelligence with the British would also result in the Soviet Union finding out. The Second was that the Soviets, according to German records and testimonies, did not share major intelligence with the Germans at this time, the Polish secret thus would have been safe. A major advantage was thus lost in not going along with the Intelligence sharing agreement to its fullest extent…
…By September of 1940 Polish codebreaking efforts were on average 15 days behind the German code changes. This lag in information proved of tremendous importance in the last few days before the war…
-Excerpt from Espionage in the Middle 20th Century, Harper and Brothers, New York
…Even in September 1940 considerable friction between the Franco-British and the Poles remained. The British and French were making every possible attempt to buy time while the Poles were making every attempt to preserve their territorial integrity. When the Poles found out about preliminary decisions by the Germans to invade on September 15th via cryptographic intercepts, they told their allies that they were mobilizing immediately. The British and French demanded that they keep at peacetime readiness as to avoid provoking Germany and threatened to withhold a further loan to Poland if they did.
Before September the Poles had received only a military loan of 7 million Pounds, that was less than the 65 million they had asked for or the 15 million that had been given to Greece or the 10 million each to Yugoslavia or Romania to keep them out of the German orbit. A further loan of 70 million Pounds was in consideration for the purchase of badly needed military equipment, equipment the Poles would need to remedy their many deficiencies.
The Poles were well aware that the Germans had Already mobilized and intended to attack around the Fall Equinox. The Poles thus made the German mobilization public, leaking intelligence to the London and Paris papers hours before they announced their mobilization on September 20th. This trapped the British and French governments, they could not condemn the Polish mobilization and were forced to go along with it. They did not however mobilize themselves.
On the 23rd Polish mobilization was effectively complete and the Poles were as ready as they would ever be for a German attack. By the 27th however no German attack had materialized and the Poles were wondering if it was cancelled. A major restaurant fire in Danzig on the 21st seemed to be the cause, if the Germans had planned a provocation the minor disaster seemed to have derailed it. The Poles thus yielded to subtle diplomatic pressure and while maintaining mobilization reduced readiness to save wear and tear on equipment while releasing troops on leave. Intercepted traffic seemed to suggest that the attack had been rescheduled for October 5th…
-Excerpt From Deals with Devils: Diplomacy before and During the Second World War, Johnstone Press, Seattle, 2005
By 1934 the Poles were able to read all of the major German message traffic before the British had even got a serious start on breaking the commercial version. They set to work on automating the process to reduce the time taken and by 1938 had gotten to the point of being able to read the highest security German messages the same day using crude electromechanical computers. The exception proved to be the German Navy, who in 1937 introduced better Cipher procedures and an additional rotor to their machines, though the Poles were the least concerned about them. At the end of 1938 the Germans began universally introducing two extra rotors and additional plugboard connectors to their machines. This rendered the highly automated Polish process unworkable. As they lacked the budget to build sufficient computers in a timely manner they were forced to fallback on older methods, which took far longer to break the German codes.
In early September of 1940 and with war obviously approaching the Poles began approaching the British with offers to share their cryptographic methods among other intelligence secrets. In exchange they wanted resources that would allow them to build enough computing equipment to return to same day decryption of German high level messages. The British were willing to do so, provided the Poles extended their intelligence sharing to the French. The three had previously shared intelligence in the 20’s and early 30’s before Polish foreign relations deteriorated, some of this French intelligence had allowed the mathematical breakthroughs to break the SG-30 machine to take place. At this point however the Poles were concerned about sharing intelligence with the French.
The Poles were aware from their agents in the USSR that there were significant penetrations of France by the NKVD. Given the recently revealed degree of cooperation between the two countries the Poles were afraid that if they revealed this fact to the French, it would soon be known in Moscow and then be passed on to Berlin, making it useless. The Poles held out for excluding the French, but the British would not release any funds unless the French were included. The Poles thus made the decision to exclude any of their high level codebreaking work from intelligence exchanges with the British and French.
In this the Polish fears were misplaced for two reasons. First was that the Oxbridge Group had the British intelligence services almost as penetrated as the French were, sharing intelligence with the British would also result in the Soviet Union finding out. The Second was that the Soviets, according to German records and testimonies, did not share major intelligence with the Germans at this time, the Polish secret thus would have been safe. A major advantage was thus lost in not going along with the Intelligence sharing agreement to its fullest extent…
…By September of 1940 Polish codebreaking efforts were on average 15 days behind the German code changes. This lag in information proved of tremendous importance in the last few days before the war…
-Excerpt from Espionage in the Middle 20th Century, Harper and Brothers, New York
…Even in September 1940 considerable friction between the Franco-British and the Poles remained. The British and French were making every possible attempt to buy time while the Poles were making every attempt to preserve their territorial integrity. When the Poles found out about preliminary decisions by the Germans to invade on September 15th via cryptographic intercepts, they told their allies that they were mobilizing immediately. The British and French demanded that they keep at peacetime readiness as to avoid provoking Germany and threatened to withhold a further loan to Poland if they did.
Before September the Poles had received only a military loan of 7 million Pounds, that was less than the 65 million they had asked for or the 15 million that had been given to Greece or the 10 million each to Yugoslavia or Romania to keep them out of the German orbit. A further loan of 70 million Pounds was in consideration for the purchase of badly needed military equipment, equipment the Poles would need to remedy their many deficiencies.
The Poles were well aware that the Germans had Already mobilized and intended to attack around the Fall Equinox. The Poles thus made the German mobilization public, leaking intelligence to the London and Paris papers hours before they announced their mobilization on September 20th. This trapped the British and French governments, they could not condemn the Polish mobilization and were forced to go along with it. They did not however mobilize themselves.
On the 23rd Polish mobilization was effectively complete and the Poles were as ready as they would ever be for a German attack. By the 27th however no German attack had materialized and the Poles were wondering if it was cancelled. A major restaurant fire in Danzig on the 21st seemed to be the cause, if the Germans had planned a provocation the minor disaster seemed to have derailed it. The Poles thus yielded to subtle diplomatic pressure and while maintaining mobilization reduced readiness to save wear and tear on equipment while releasing troops on leave. Intercepted traffic seemed to suggest that the attack had been rescheduled for October 5th…
-Excerpt From Deals with Devils: Diplomacy before and During the Second World War, Johnstone Press, Seattle, 2005
Poland
Basics:
The Polish Republic became independent in the aftermath of WWI after more than a century of being part of Russia, Germany and Austria. It is nominally a parliamentary democracy but is in practice a managed democracy run by a troika of the president, foreign minister and commander of the army.
Economy:
Poland is a primarily agricultural economy in the process of transitioning to an industrial one. Its main exports are agricultural goods, timber and coal. It is held back by hostile neighbors and poor transportation links.
Land Forces:
Poland has a large army of 1 million men when fully mobilized. It has 28 infantry and 2 mountain divisions, 10 Cavalry, 3 Mountain, 2 Armored and 2 motorized brigades active and 10 reserve infantry divisions. Polish divisions are triangular in structure, as are Cavalry brigades. In wartime the Polish Army has control of the 40 infantry Battalions and 20 cavalry squadrons of the Border Protection Corps as well as the regular Border Guards
The standard Polish rifle is a Mauser Gewehr 98 variant, supplemented by older models inherited from Germany. This is being replaced by a carbine version similar to the German Kar 98. Some reserve units use Mosin Nagants rechambered for 7.92x57mm Mauser. Their sidearms are primarily Vis pistols, an M1911 variant chambered in 9mm parabellum, reserve units use a knock off of the Nagant Revolver. Some units are equipped with a knock off of the Vollmer SMG. Polish cavalry are still issued with Sabers and each cavalry regiment has a company issued with lances.
The standard Polish light machine gun is a BAR variant rechambered for 7.92mm Mauser. Their standard medium machine gun is a M1914 Hotchkiss copy in 7.92mm Mauser, while their heavy machine gun is a M1917 Browning clone in 7.92mm Mauser. The standard is 326 light or medium machine guns per division and 132 heavy machine guns. Cavalry brigades have substantially fewer weapons. 13 heavy machine guns per regiment are issued on Tachanka style wheeled carriages.
For heavier support each platoon has a 46mm grenade launcher, a smoothbore weapon capable of firing grenades 700m in older versions and 800m in newer ones. For anti-armor use each infantry company or cavalry squadron has a unit of 3 anti-tank rifles. These are 7.92x107mm weapons based on the Mauser G98 with a 4 round magazine, while accurate, flat shooting and with reasonable recoil they lack effective AP ammunition to make full use of this. For heavier weapons the Poles use a copy of the French Brandt mortar in 81mm, each infantry battalion and cavalry regiment is supposed to have 4, in practice this is not achieved.
Polish divisional artillery consists of 75mm weapons, either French canon de 97, Schneider 1912, Schneider M1914, or rebarreled Russian M1902s in 75mm. 12 or 16 pieces are issued per Brigade or 48 or 64 per infantry division. Mountain units use the 65mm M1906 from France. Each brigade has 2 Bofors 40mm Guns for air defense, each division headquarters an additional four. 4 37mm Bofors AT Guns are issued per Regiment, with an extra 2 gun battery per brigade and 12 gun company for infantry divisions. Older 37mm M1916 infantry guns from France are issued to some units in lieu of AT guns. Each division also has 3 105mm pieces loosely based on the 105mm Schneider M1913, but superior in every way save rate of fire and 3 155 M1917 Schneider Howitzers.
Poland has 12 independent 155mm Howitzer detachments of 12 guns. A greater number of independent detachments consist of 105mm guns. In addition there are 120mm howitzers, these are ancient Debange artillery pieces from 1878 on captured Russian howitzer carriages, with heavy modifications to create a decent modern artillery piece, there are 3 detachments of these in service. A number of very heavy 210mm and 220mm Mortars from Skoda are kept for siege work, as are older 280mm M1914 Howitzers from France. Independent AA units use a domestically designed 75mm piece.
Polish Armor consists primarily of TKS tankettes. They are small vehicles with either a single machine gun or 20mm cannon and are attached in a company of 13 to each regular division or brigade for recon, with a 50/50 split in terms of machine gun or cannon armament. These are supported by the larger “medium tanks” mainly the 9TP and 7TP in the armored brigades. Derived from the Vickers 6 ton, all are armed with a Bofors 37mm gun after modifications to convert older models, 150 7TP and 120 of the uparmored and upengined 9TP are in service. These are supported by 35 older Vickers 6 tons, armed with 47mm guns and a number of old FT’s in reserve. Each tankette company is paired with an armored car company of 13 vehicles carrying a single machine gun or low velocity 37mm cannon, 1 company using an older slower model with a low velocity 37mm and multiple machine guns exists as does a company using a new model carrying a turreted 20mm with a coaxial machine gun.
The Polish Army is only lightly mechanized. The average division has only 150 motor vehicles and relies on almost 7,000 horses for transport. The Poles have however been able to standardize on a few common motor vehicle designs for ease of maintenance. To make up for this every regiment has a bicycle mounted company and most divisions a bicycle mounted battalion.
Poland makes use of 9 armored trains to patrol its extensive rail network. They are armored against machine gun fire and armed with guns as heavy as 105mm depending on the train. These are supported by a number of FT and TKS converted into railways going auxiliary vehicles.
Naval Forces:
The Polish Navy is a small force meant purely for coastal defense.
The largest ship in the Polish Navy is the moored training ship Baltyk. The 8,000 ton vessels was laid down as D’Entrecasteaux for France and was a powerful cruiser for the 1890’s. Now she is stationary and armed with a hodge podge of varying light guns for training. Next largest is the training ship Wilja, a 7400 ton freighter used for cadet training and otherwise armed with only machine guns and saluting weapons.
The largest real warships are the Gryf and Smok. 2200 ton minelayers they are armed with 6 Bofors 120mm guns in two twins and two singles, 2 British 40mm Pom-Poms, two twin 13.2mm Hotchkiss machine guns, and 8 racks for up to 600 total mines. They are fast for a minelayer at 20 knots and long ranged, with excellent endurance and facilities to serve as school ships if needed.
Supporting these are 6 destroyers, with two more under construction. The Grom and Piorun are based on the British Tribal class and are 2100 ton, 39 knot ships. They are armed with 3 twin and 1 single 120mm Bofors guns in slinge purpose mounts, 2 twin Bofors 40m, 4 twin 13.2mm Hotchkiss machine guns, two triple 21” torpedo tubes, and two depth charge launchers. Under construction are the slightly improved sisters Orkan and Hurugan with only minor differences.
The Burza and Wicher are 1500 ton vessels based on French designs. Armed with 4 130mm single purpose guns in single mounts, 2 British pop poms, 2 triple 550mm torpedo tubes, 4 depth charge launchers and 60 mines they are fairly well armed. Slow at 34 knots they suffer from numerous design flaws that make them less seaworthy than they should be and less damage resistant.
The oldest destroyers are the Kaszub and Mazur. Ex German designs from WWI they have had their torpedoes removed to serve as training ships. They have 3 Schneider 75mm guns, 1 pom pom and 2 machine guns. They have been derated to 23 knots.
Poland has two former Russian 350 ton gunboats, the Haller and Pilsudski. They are armed with two 75mm guns, two 7.92mm machine guns and carry 30 mines as minelayers. At 15 knots they are slow and not particularly seaworthy but they are very habitable vessels for their size.
Poland operates 6 Mewa class Minesweepers of 180 tons with 2 more building. They have a 75mm gun, 2 machine guns, and room for 20 mines or depth charges. They are relatively fast at 17.5 knots and seaworthy, being used as multirole vessels.
Poland has 5 subs in service with 2 more building in France. The Wilk, Rys and Zbik are 1000 ton boats with a 100mm gun and 2 13.2mm Machine guns for use on the surface. They have 4 550mm bow tubes, 2 tubes in a twin rotating arrangement amidships and can carry 16 torpedoes and 40 mines. They make 15 knots on the surface, 10 submerged and have a 3500 knot range.
The Orzel and Sep are larger 1100 ton boats. They have 12 550mm tubes, 4 bow, 4 stern and two pair of rotating mounts amidships, along with a 105mm deck gun and a retractable twin bofors. They make 19 knots on the surface, 9 submerged and have a 7000 nautical mile range.
The Polish Navy operates a variety of river gunboats and monitors of up to 100 tons on the Pripyat and Vistula Rivers. The Monitors have either 2 75mm guns or 3 100mm howitzers supported by machine guns, while the gunboats have a mix of 100mm guns, 40mm Bofors AA guns, 37mm Puteax cannon and machine guns, usually only 1 of the larger weapon. Some smaller river gunboats are equipped as specialized chemical weapons ships with gas sprayers.
The Polish Navy has about 15 floatplanes based on the R XIV surveillance aircraft purely for reconnaissance.
The Polish Navy has two infantry regiments of Marines and a company sized unit of frogmen for special operations.
Air Forces:
The Polish Air Force is a relatively large formation with 1400 aircraft, all of indigenous design and manufacture. It is organized into a Pursuit Brigade of 5 fighter squadrons to defend Warsaw, a bomber Brigade of 10 squadrons and 11 independent groups of a fighter, reconnaissance and an observation squadron attached to each Army or other high level command.
The Polish fighter force is primarily equipped with the PZL 8 and the improved PZL 13. These are all metal monoplanes, but with fixed undercarriages, open cockpits and a high gull wing. They are slow and low flying, but extremely maneuverable and rough field capable. Armed only with a pair of rifle caliber machine guns, 4 on the newest PZL 13 variants, they are lightly armed and they mostly lack radios. They are due to be replaced next year with a slightly improved low wing fighter with a retractable undercarriage, the PZL 41 and a twin engine heavy fighter, the PZL 45. 100 PZL 8 and 180 PZL 13 are in service.
The standard Polish light bomber and recon aircraft is the PZL 25 an all metal low cantilever winged aircraft with an enclosed cockpit and fixed landing gear. It can carry up to 1500 pounds of bombs and has 3 machine guns for defense, 1 forward, and two rear firing, one dorsal and one ventral. While modern for its day presently It is slow, ungainly, only has average range and ceiling and cannot dive bomb, its main virtue being rough field performance. It is being replaced by the PZL 47, which has the same bombload is faster, longer ranged, with a retractable undercarriage and dive brakes, but 8 machine guns, 4 forward, two rear dorsal and two rear firing guns in a retractable gondola. 200 PZL 25 and 20 PZL 47 are in service.
The standard Polish Medium Bomber, heavy in Polish parlance, is the PZL 40. It is fast, maneuverable, has good rough field performance and can carry 3900 pounds of bombs 600 miles, with a maximum capacity of 5500 pounds. It is only lightly armed with 3 rifle caliber machine guns and has average ceiling. It is to be replaced with the PZL 50, which will carry up to 6600 pounds of bombs and a range of 1200 miles with 4400 pounds, greater speed and additional defensive armament. A handful of PZ 29 bombers are still in service, with a 1500 pound bombload, less speed and maneuverability than the PZL 40 they are relegated to training. 70 PZL 40 and 10 PZL 29 are in service.
For surveillance and liaison Poland relies on the R XIV and R XXI aircraft. These are high gull wing STOL aircraft, mixed construction with fixed landing gear. Slow and ungainly by this point the RXIV has a single ring mount machine gun while the XXI adds a forward firing weapon. They do not come with a radio or camera standard which hinders their use. The R XXV, a successor design is faster, much higher flying, armed with an additional forward machine gun and a standard radio and camera is in flight testing before introduction in December. 150 R XIV and 75 R XXI are in service.
Poland has an additional 600 monoplane training aircraft of domestic design.
Poland lacks paratroopers.
Weapons of Mass Destruction:
Poland has stockpiled a variety of Mustard gas variants, as well as Lewisite and Chlorine in small quantities. Use of these weapons is very tightly controlled and they are kept at a few carefully guarded stockpiles. Deployment is via artillery shells, bombs and specialized river gunboats with sprayers.
Poland does not have a biological or atomic weapons program.
Problems:
Poland has poor infrastructure which makes moving troops difficult except by rail.
Poland is surrounded by potential enemies, two of which are far larger than it is.
Poland has diplomatically isolated itself during the interwar era and has only a weak alliance with Britain and France.
-The Eve of War, the World on October 1st 1940, Eagle Press, Philadelphia, 2001
Basics:
The Polish Republic became independent in the aftermath of WWI after more than a century of being part of Russia, Germany and Austria. It is nominally a parliamentary democracy but is in practice a managed democracy run by a troika of the president, foreign minister and commander of the army.
Economy:
Poland is a primarily agricultural economy in the process of transitioning to an industrial one. Its main exports are agricultural goods, timber and coal. It is held back by hostile neighbors and poor transportation links.
Land Forces:
Poland has a large army of 1 million men when fully mobilized. It has 28 infantry and 2 mountain divisions, 10 Cavalry, 3 Mountain, 2 Armored and 2 motorized brigades active and 10 reserve infantry divisions. Polish divisions are triangular in structure, as are Cavalry brigades. In wartime the Polish Army has control of the 40 infantry Battalions and 20 cavalry squadrons of the Border Protection Corps as well as the regular Border Guards
The standard Polish rifle is a Mauser Gewehr 98 variant, supplemented by older models inherited from Germany. This is being replaced by a carbine version similar to the German Kar 98. Some reserve units use Mosin Nagants rechambered for 7.92x57mm Mauser. Their sidearms are primarily Vis pistols, an M1911 variant chambered in 9mm parabellum, reserve units use a knock off of the Nagant Revolver. Some units are equipped with a knock off of the Vollmer SMG. Polish cavalry are still issued with Sabers and each cavalry regiment has a company issued with lances.
The standard Polish light machine gun is a BAR variant rechambered for 7.92mm Mauser. Their standard medium machine gun is a M1914 Hotchkiss copy in 7.92mm Mauser, while their heavy machine gun is a M1917 Browning clone in 7.92mm Mauser. The standard is 326 light or medium machine guns per division and 132 heavy machine guns. Cavalry brigades have substantially fewer weapons. 13 heavy machine guns per regiment are issued on Tachanka style wheeled carriages.
For heavier support each platoon has a 46mm grenade launcher, a smoothbore weapon capable of firing grenades 700m in older versions and 800m in newer ones. For anti-armor use each infantry company or cavalry squadron has a unit of 3 anti-tank rifles. These are 7.92x107mm weapons based on the Mauser G98 with a 4 round magazine, while accurate, flat shooting and with reasonable recoil they lack effective AP ammunition to make full use of this. For heavier weapons the Poles use a copy of the French Brandt mortar in 81mm, each infantry battalion and cavalry regiment is supposed to have 4, in practice this is not achieved.
Polish divisional artillery consists of 75mm weapons, either French canon de 97, Schneider 1912, Schneider M1914, or rebarreled Russian M1902s in 75mm. 12 or 16 pieces are issued per Brigade or 48 or 64 per infantry division. Mountain units use the 65mm M1906 from France. Each brigade has 2 Bofors 40mm Guns for air defense, each division headquarters an additional four. 4 37mm Bofors AT Guns are issued per Regiment, with an extra 2 gun battery per brigade and 12 gun company for infantry divisions. Older 37mm M1916 infantry guns from France are issued to some units in lieu of AT guns. Each division also has 3 105mm pieces loosely based on the 105mm Schneider M1913, but superior in every way save rate of fire and 3 155 M1917 Schneider Howitzers.
Poland has 12 independent 155mm Howitzer detachments of 12 guns. A greater number of independent detachments consist of 105mm guns. In addition there are 120mm howitzers, these are ancient Debange artillery pieces from 1878 on captured Russian howitzer carriages, with heavy modifications to create a decent modern artillery piece, there are 3 detachments of these in service. A number of very heavy 210mm and 220mm Mortars from Skoda are kept for siege work, as are older 280mm M1914 Howitzers from France. Independent AA units use a domestically designed 75mm piece.
Polish Armor consists primarily of TKS tankettes. They are small vehicles with either a single machine gun or 20mm cannon and are attached in a company of 13 to each regular division or brigade for recon, with a 50/50 split in terms of machine gun or cannon armament. These are supported by the larger “medium tanks” mainly the 9TP and 7TP in the armored brigades. Derived from the Vickers 6 ton, all are armed with a Bofors 37mm gun after modifications to convert older models, 150 7TP and 120 of the uparmored and upengined 9TP are in service. These are supported by 35 older Vickers 6 tons, armed with 47mm guns and a number of old FT’s in reserve. Each tankette company is paired with an armored car company of 13 vehicles carrying a single machine gun or low velocity 37mm cannon, 1 company using an older slower model with a low velocity 37mm and multiple machine guns exists as does a company using a new model carrying a turreted 20mm with a coaxial machine gun.
The Polish Army is only lightly mechanized. The average division has only 150 motor vehicles and relies on almost 7,000 horses for transport. The Poles have however been able to standardize on a few common motor vehicle designs for ease of maintenance. To make up for this every regiment has a bicycle mounted company and most divisions a bicycle mounted battalion.
Poland makes use of 9 armored trains to patrol its extensive rail network. They are armored against machine gun fire and armed with guns as heavy as 105mm depending on the train. These are supported by a number of FT and TKS converted into railways going auxiliary vehicles.
Naval Forces:
The Polish Navy is a small force meant purely for coastal defense.
The largest ship in the Polish Navy is the moored training ship Baltyk. The 8,000 ton vessels was laid down as D’Entrecasteaux for France and was a powerful cruiser for the 1890’s. Now she is stationary and armed with a hodge podge of varying light guns for training. Next largest is the training ship Wilja, a 7400 ton freighter used for cadet training and otherwise armed with only machine guns and saluting weapons.
The largest real warships are the Gryf and Smok. 2200 ton minelayers they are armed with 6 Bofors 120mm guns in two twins and two singles, 2 British 40mm Pom-Poms, two twin 13.2mm Hotchkiss machine guns, and 8 racks for up to 600 total mines. They are fast for a minelayer at 20 knots and long ranged, with excellent endurance and facilities to serve as school ships if needed.
Supporting these are 6 destroyers, with two more under construction. The Grom and Piorun are based on the British Tribal class and are 2100 ton, 39 knot ships. They are armed with 3 twin and 1 single 120mm Bofors guns in slinge purpose mounts, 2 twin Bofors 40m, 4 twin 13.2mm Hotchkiss machine guns, two triple 21” torpedo tubes, and two depth charge launchers. Under construction are the slightly improved sisters Orkan and Hurugan with only minor differences.
The Burza and Wicher are 1500 ton vessels based on French designs. Armed with 4 130mm single purpose guns in single mounts, 2 British pop poms, 2 triple 550mm torpedo tubes, 4 depth charge launchers and 60 mines they are fairly well armed. Slow at 34 knots they suffer from numerous design flaws that make them less seaworthy than they should be and less damage resistant.
The oldest destroyers are the Kaszub and Mazur. Ex German designs from WWI they have had their torpedoes removed to serve as training ships. They have 3 Schneider 75mm guns, 1 pom pom and 2 machine guns. They have been derated to 23 knots.
Poland has two former Russian 350 ton gunboats, the Haller and Pilsudski. They are armed with two 75mm guns, two 7.92mm machine guns and carry 30 mines as minelayers. At 15 knots they are slow and not particularly seaworthy but they are very habitable vessels for their size.
Poland operates 6 Mewa class Minesweepers of 180 tons with 2 more building. They have a 75mm gun, 2 machine guns, and room for 20 mines or depth charges. They are relatively fast at 17.5 knots and seaworthy, being used as multirole vessels.
Poland has 5 subs in service with 2 more building in France. The Wilk, Rys and Zbik are 1000 ton boats with a 100mm gun and 2 13.2mm Machine guns for use on the surface. They have 4 550mm bow tubes, 2 tubes in a twin rotating arrangement amidships and can carry 16 torpedoes and 40 mines. They make 15 knots on the surface, 10 submerged and have a 3500 knot range.
The Orzel and Sep are larger 1100 ton boats. They have 12 550mm tubes, 4 bow, 4 stern and two pair of rotating mounts amidships, along with a 105mm deck gun and a retractable twin bofors. They make 19 knots on the surface, 9 submerged and have a 7000 nautical mile range.
The Polish Navy operates a variety of river gunboats and monitors of up to 100 tons on the Pripyat and Vistula Rivers. The Monitors have either 2 75mm guns or 3 100mm howitzers supported by machine guns, while the gunboats have a mix of 100mm guns, 40mm Bofors AA guns, 37mm Puteax cannon and machine guns, usually only 1 of the larger weapon. Some smaller river gunboats are equipped as specialized chemical weapons ships with gas sprayers.
The Polish Navy has about 15 floatplanes based on the R XIV surveillance aircraft purely for reconnaissance.
The Polish Navy has two infantry regiments of Marines and a company sized unit of frogmen for special operations.
Air Forces:
The Polish Air Force is a relatively large formation with 1400 aircraft, all of indigenous design and manufacture. It is organized into a Pursuit Brigade of 5 fighter squadrons to defend Warsaw, a bomber Brigade of 10 squadrons and 11 independent groups of a fighter, reconnaissance and an observation squadron attached to each Army or other high level command.
The Polish fighter force is primarily equipped with the PZL 8 and the improved PZL 13. These are all metal monoplanes, but with fixed undercarriages, open cockpits and a high gull wing. They are slow and low flying, but extremely maneuverable and rough field capable. Armed only with a pair of rifle caliber machine guns, 4 on the newest PZL 13 variants, they are lightly armed and they mostly lack radios. They are due to be replaced next year with a slightly improved low wing fighter with a retractable undercarriage, the PZL 41 and a twin engine heavy fighter, the PZL 45. 100 PZL 8 and 180 PZL 13 are in service.
The standard Polish light bomber and recon aircraft is the PZL 25 an all metal low cantilever winged aircraft with an enclosed cockpit and fixed landing gear. It can carry up to 1500 pounds of bombs and has 3 machine guns for defense, 1 forward, and two rear firing, one dorsal and one ventral. While modern for its day presently It is slow, ungainly, only has average range and ceiling and cannot dive bomb, its main virtue being rough field performance. It is being replaced by the PZL 47, which has the same bombload is faster, longer ranged, with a retractable undercarriage and dive brakes, but 8 machine guns, 4 forward, two rear dorsal and two rear firing guns in a retractable gondola. 200 PZL 25 and 20 PZL 47 are in service.
The standard Polish Medium Bomber, heavy in Polish parlance, is the PZL 40. It is fast, maneuverable, has good rough field performance and can carry 3900 pounds of bombs 600 miles, with a maximum capacity of 5500 pounds. It is only lightly armed with 3 rifle caliber machine guns and has average ceiling. It is to be replaced with the PZL 50, which will carry up to 6600 pounds of bombs and a range of 1200 miles with 4400 pounds, greater speed and additional defensive armament. A handful of PZ 29 bombers are still in service, with a 1500 pound bombload, less speed and maneuverability than the PZL 40 they are relegated to training. 70 PZL 40 and 10 PZL 29 are in service.
For surveillance and liaison Poland relies on the R XIV and R XXI aircraft. These are high gull wing STOL aircraft, mixed construction with fixed landing gear. Slow and ungainly by this point the RXIV has a single ring mount machine gun while the XXI adds a forward firing weapon. They do not come with a radio or camera standard which hinders their use. The R XXV, a successor design is faster, much higher flying, armed with an additional forward machine gun and a standard radio and camera is in flight testing before introduction in December. 150 R XIV and 75 R XXI are in service.
Poland has an additional 600 monoplane training aircraft of domestic design.
Poland lacks paratroopers.
Weapons of Mass Destruction:
Poland has stockpiled a variety of Mustard gas variants, as well as Lewisite and Chlorine in small quantities. Use of these weapons is very tightly controlled and they are kept at a few carefully guarded stockpiles. Deployment is via artillery shells, bombs and specialized river gunboats with sprayers.
Poland does not have a biological or atomic weapons program.
Problems:
Poland has poor infrastructure which makes moving troops difficult except by rail.
Poland is surrounded by potential enemies, two of which are far larger than it is.
Poland has diplomatically isolated itself during the interwar era and has only a weak alliance with Britain and France.
-The Eve of War, the World on October 1st 1940, Eagle Press, Philadelphia, 2001
Last edited:
