Sarny Fortified Area (known in Polish in several names: ''Sarneński Rejon Umocniony'', ''Sarneński Odcinek Umocniony'', ''Bastion Polesie'') was a line of bunkers and trenches along both sides of the Sluch River, in the area of the town of Sarny, northern

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 ...

, 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 ...

. During the interbellum period, Sarny belonged to 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 ...

and was near the border with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. As the Polish military authorities regarded the Soviets as the main threat ( Plan East), construction of fortifications began in 1936. It was planned to be fully operational in the spring of 1940. The total length of the defence works was some 170 km, with 358 objects.

Structure

The defence works were up to 5 deep and were connected by the radio, but the walls of the some bunkers were so thick that operators had to go outside. Every bunker had up to 30 soldiers of the Border Defence Corps (KOP), who were equipped with 75 mm cannons and machine guns. The Border Defence Corps Regiment "Sarny", which operated the Area, was very well trained, and its soldiers, including Władysław Raginis, distinguished themselves during the Battle of Wizna (see Polish September Campaign) and in other battlefields in the area of Osowiec and Upper Silesia, where up to 80% of them died or were wounded.

Soviet invasion

The soldiers who remained in the Sarny Fortified Area were ordered in mid-September 1939 to abandon the bunkers and to move with their equipment towards the Romanian Bridgehead. On 16 September 1939, the eve of

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

, there were smaller units defending the area: two fortress battalions (''Sarny'') and (''Malynsk''), two border battalions (''Rokitno'') and (''Berezne'') and a cavalry squadron (''Bystrzyce''). There were altogether some 4000 soldiers, but they lacked heavy equipment, as it had been sent towards the German border in the summer of 1939.

Defence

On the morning of 17 September 1939 Soviet aircraft bombed the trucks, which were getting ready to move south. Also, the railway junction in Sarny was bombed, but the armoured train ''Marszalek'' repelled the enemy. However, Colonel Nikodem Sulik and General Wilhelm Orlik-Rueckemann decided to unload the equipment and to take up defence positions. The area was attacked by the Soviet 60th Rifle Division, whose advantage was crushing. The Poles defended the fortifications for three days. On 20 September, facing encirclement, they had to withdraw. However, soldiers in some bunkers did not get the order to withdraw, and in some places, the Poles resisted until 25 September. Several bunkers were blown up by the Red Army engineers with their crews, unknown number of soldiers were murdered, including seven officers, who were shot near the Orthodox church in the village of Tynne. Among those killed was Lieutenant Jan Bolbot, who was in 1989 posthumously awarded the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military decoration. He commanded a platoon of 50 men who holed up in their bunker and refused to surrender despite hopeless odds. Bolbot's men stopped Soviet attacks with heavy losses. Unable to beat the Poles, the Soviets set the bunker on fire. Bolbot and his entire command died in the flames. In late September, the defenders of Sarny, as part of Independent Operational Group Polesie, took part in two major battles against 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 ...

: the Battle of Szack and the Battle of Wytyczno.

Aftermath

In late 1939 and early 1940, the Soviets carried out detailed investigations of the defence works. In the mid-1940s, the bunkers served as hideouts for Ukrainian nationalist partisans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Today, the bunkers are in ruin.

Sources

Polish Army Website : ''17 września 1939 roku - agresja sowiecka na Polskę'' ("17 September 1939 - Soviet attack on Poland")

World War II Database : Invasion of Poland

External links