Kompania reprezentacyjna Wojska Polskiego (9018777668)

Podhale Rifles ( pl, Strzelcy podhalańscy, nicknamed "Podhalańczycy") is the traditional name of the mountain infantry units of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history str ...

. Formed in 1918 out of volunteers of the region of Podhale, in 1919 the smaller detachments of Podhale Rifles were pressed into two mountain infantry divisions, the 21st Mountain Infantry and 22nd Mountain Infantry Divisions, as well as into three brigades of mountain infantry and were considered

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. ...

units of the Polish Army. After the Polish defeat in the

Polish September Campaign The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, the Podhale units were recreated in France as Polish Independent Highland Brigade, had seen some action at

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ba ...

, and later fought in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

and retreated into Switzerland upon the French defeat. Some units were also created in the underground as part of the partisan forces of the Armia Krajowa. The traditions of the Podhale Rifles are continued by the modern 21st Podhale Rifle Brigade. The traditional symbols of the Podhale Rifles include the

edelweiss EDELWEISS (Expérience pour DEtecter Les WIMPs En Site Souterrain) is a dark matter search experiment located at the Modane Underground Laboratory in France. The experiment uses cryogenic detectors, measuring both the phonon and ionization signa ...

flower and the Mountain Cross, a

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. I ...

symbol (not related to

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

) popular in folk culture of the Polish mountainous regions. The units of Podhale Rifles, both historical and modern, are notable for their high morale and distinctive uniforms. Prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the mountain units were one of only two infantry units wearing non-standard uniforms based on Mountaineer folk garment rather than military uniforms. This tradition is continued in units such as the Representative Honor Guard Unit of the Polish Border Guard.https://kompaniareprezentacyjna.strazgraniczna.pl/kom/o-nas/histori/9065,Historia-Pododdzialu.html

Units and their badges

The table below shows the allegiance of the regiments of Podhale Rifles as of September 1, 1939. The swastikas which appear in unit's logos have no relation whatsoever to the swastikas used by German Nazi movement. Swastika was a common geometric ornament in the folk culture of Tatra mountains and for that reason it was adopted by highlander units of Polish army. The usage of swastikas by highlander regiments of the Wojsko Polskie is an ancient slavic symbol which predates the rise of the NSDAP in Germany.

References

External links

Banner of the 21st Brigade

Podhale Rifles in Przemyśl, 2007

Podhale Rifles in Nowy Targ, 2007
{{Podhale Rifles Army units and formations of Poland Military units and formations established in 1918 Mountain infantry brigades

Units and their badges

See also

References

External links