19th Volhynian Uhlan Regiment (

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

: 19. Pułk Ułanów Wołyńskich, 19 puł) was a cavalry unit and brigade from the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. Formed in 1917, it fought in the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

and the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

. In the interbellum period, the regiment was garrisoned in Ostrog,

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

. The origins of the regiment date back to April 1917, when Polish Assault Hussar Squadron was formed in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, by Colonel Feliks Jaworski. This unit was part of Polish Rifle Division,

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. In early June 1917, the squadron was transported to

Eastern Galicia Eastern Galicia (; ; ) is a geographical region in Western Ukraine (present day oblasts of Lviv Oblast, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil Oblast, Ternopil), having also essential historic importance in Poland. Galicia ( ...

, where it fought against German and Austro-Hungarian forces. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, it was transferred to Ploskirow, where it fought against Bolshevik units and demoralized soldiers of the Russian Army. On December 24, it was merged into Polish Army in Ukraine, and in January 1918, the 2nd Uhlan Regiment was formed, based on Polish Assault Hussar Squadron. On February 22, 1918, the regiment was annexed into III Polish Corps in Russia, as part of Light Brigade of Colonel

Juliusz Rómmel Juliusz Karol Wilhelm Józef Rómmel (; 3 June 1881 – 8 September 1967) was a Polish military commander, a general of the Polish Armed Forces. He graduated from the Corps of Cadets in Pskov and later from Кonstantin Artillery School at St. Pe ...

. By June 1918, the regiment had 26 officers and 684 soldiers. During the 1939

, the regiment, as part of

Volhynian Cavalry Brigade The Volhynian Cavalry Brigade () was a Polish cavalry brigade, which saw action against the invading Germans during the Invasion of Poland, a part of World War II. Raised from recruits in the area of Wołyń, the division was posted to the Łódź ...

, fought in the

Battle of Mokra The Battle of Mokra took place on 1 September 1939 near the village of Mokra, Silesian Voivodeship, Mokra, 5 km north of Kłobuck and 23 km north-west of Częstochowa, Poland. It was one of the first battles of the Invasion of Poland ...

Battle of Wola Cyrusowa The Battle of Wola Cyrusowa took place on 8 September 1939 near the village of Wola Cyrusowa near Stryków in Poland, during the September Campaign. It was fought between the forces of the Polish Piotrków Operational Group under Gen. Wiktor ...

and other battles. By mid-September 1939, it ceased to exist, and its elements, after crossing the

Wieprz The Wieprz (, ; ) is a river in central-eastern Poland, and a tributary of the Vistula. It is the country's ninth longest river, with a total length of 349 km and a catchment area of 10,497 km2, all within Poland. Its course near the to ...

river, joined

Kresowa Cavalry Brigade Kresowa Cavalry Brigade (Polish: ') was a unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period. It was organized on April 1, 1937 and was based on the Second Cavalry Brigade. Stationed in the town of Brody, it consisted of several regiments: * 20th U ...

, to surrender to the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in late September. The 19th Volhynian Uhlan Regiment was recreated in early 1944, as part of 27th Home Army Infantry Division.

Commandants

* Major Feliks Jaworski (1917–1921) * Colonel Michal Cienski (27 II 1921 – 10 VI 1922) * Colonel Mscislaw Butkiewicz (VI – VIII 1922) * Colonel Zbigniew Brochwicz-Lewinski (20 VIII 1922 – 6 X 1927) * Colonel Wkodzimierz Kazimierz Bogusz-Roland (1 IX 1927 – 12 III 1929) * Colonel Aleksander Piotraszewski (III 1929 – 1937) * Colonel Dezyderiusz Zawistowski (1937–1938) * Colonel Jozef Petkowski (1938 – IX 1939)

Symbols and Traditions

Regimental flag, funded by the residents of

, was handed to the unit by Marshal

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

, on August 6, 1924, in Ostrog. The regimental badge featured the coat of arms of Volhynian Voivodeship. The regiment also had its own zurawiejka. The 204th Elementary School in Warsaw was in 1993 named after the regiment. There are two organizations dealing with the history of the regiment : Rodzina 19 Pułku Ułanów Wołyńskich w Warszawie /Family of the 19 Regiment of Volhynian Uhlans in Warsaw/ and Stowarzyszenie Pamięci 19 Pułku Ułanów Wołyńskich w Opolu /Association for the Memory of the 19 Regiment of Vohlynian Uhlans in Opole/.

Sources

* Dezyderiusz J. Zawistowski, Zarys historii wojennej 19-go Pułku Ułanów Wołyńskich im. płk. Karola Różyckiego, Warszawa 1930 * Mieczysław Bielski: Grupa Operacyjna „Piotrków” 1939. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Bellona, 1991

Commandants

Symbols and Traditions

Sources

See also