Adolf Pilch (22 May 1914 – 26 January 2000) was a Polish resistance fighter during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(codenames ''Góra'' and ''Dolina''). He became part of the Polish special forces ('' cichociemni'') trained in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and was parachuted into

occupied Poland ' (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV 2 (Norway), TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. ...

on 17 February 1943. There, as a member of the

Armia Krajowa The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

Polish resistance, he organized a cavalry partisan unit in the Nowogródek area, and broke through to the

Kampinos forest Kampinos Forest () is a large forest complex located in Masovian Voivodeship, west of Warsaw in Poland. It covers a part of the ancient valley of the Vistula basin, between the Vistula and the Bzura rivers. The forest began to form 14-11,000 yea ...

near

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, taking control of this area. At its height of operations his unit consisted of up to 1000 men. Between 3 June 1943 and 17 January 1945 his partisans fought in 235 battles.

Life

Adolf Pilch was born in Wisła. He attended the school for Polish

officer cadet Officer cadet is a rank held by military personnel during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by personnel of University Service Units such as the University Officers' Training Corps. Th ...

s (''podchorąży''), and was assigned to the 26th Infantry Division. He was not, however, mobilized during the

German 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 ...

; he would escape the country through

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and join the recreated Polish Army in France. In France he was assigned to the Polish 3rd Infantry Division in France. He fought in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

, and then managed to join the Polish Army in the United Kingdom. He was assigned to Polish special forces, the '' cichociemni'' unit, which was a Polish division of the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

(SOE). After training, he was parachuted into

on the night of the 16/17 February 1943. Under the nom-de-guerre ''Góra'' he was assigned to the Polish resistance

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

district, and soon afterwards to the Nowogródek (Navahrudak) district. For the next few months he fought with the Polish partisans against the

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

forces and their auxiliary Belarusian collaborator units in the vicinity of the Naliboki forest. The unit under his command grew from a meager few dozens to close to 1,000 men by the end of that year. After

Soviet partisans Soviet partisans were members of Resistance during World War II, resistance movements that fought a Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war against Axis powers, Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Territories of Poland an ...

became hostile towards Polish units loyal to the

Polish government in exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovere ...

, the Soviets dealt several blows to the Poles, arresting most of the local Polish commanders. In December 1943 Pilch reorganized the Polish partisans in the Nowogródek area. He made a controversial decision to accept a ceasefire with the Germans, and concentrated solely on engaging the Soviet partisans. The ceasefire with the Germans had been criticized by the high command of the Armia Krajowa, which ordered Pilch to renounce it; he, however, chose to ignore those orders. In June 1944 his unit, numbering about 1,000 men, retreated west in face of the Soviet

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

. At that time, Pilch negotiated an agreement with the command of the Armia Krajowa, which accepted him back into its ranks in return for the end of the ceasefire between Pilch forces and the Germans. He continued fighting in the ranks of the AK against the Germans, primarily in the

area, supporting the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

. On the night of 2 September 1944 his partisan group carried out a successful attack on formations of SS RONA stationed in the village of Truskaw. The SS battalions were defeated and scattered; 250 SS soldiers were killed and 100 wounded, while "Dolina"'s unit suffered only ten killed and ten wounded. Eventually the advancing Soviet forces forced him to escape west once more. In January 1945 he made his way again to the United Kingdom, where he would settle permanently, unable to return to communist-controlled Poland. An activist in the Polish Underground Army's Ex-Servicemens' Association in the United Kingdom, he was finally able to visit Poland after the fall of communism in 1990. During his time as a member of the resistance, Pilch fought in more than 200 engagements, most of them victorious, and received the Polish military honor the Silver Cross of the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

, in addition to several lesser medals (such as four Crosses of Valor). He wrote memoirs of his life as a partisan, ''Partyzanci trzech puszcz'' (1992). His funeral was held in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

, London.

References

External links

*
Pułkownik Adolf Pilch
2009-10-24) * Grażyna Dziedzińska

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilch, Adolf Polish Army officers 1914 births 2000 deaths Home Army members Home Army officers Cichociemni Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) People from Wisła People from Austrian Silesia Polish exiles

Life

References

Further reading

External links