2nd Rifle Division (Poland)

2nd Rifle Division
2 Dywizja Strzelców Pieszych
Insignia
Active1939–1940
Country Poland
BranchPolish Army
Part ofXXXXV Corps
EngagementsWorld War II
  • Battle of France
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Bronisław Prugar-Ketling
Military unit

The 2nd Rifle Division (Polish: 2 Dywizja Strzelców Pieszych, French: 2e Division des Chasseurs or 2e Division d'Infanterie Polonaise) was a Polish Army unit, part of the recreated Polish Army in France in 1940.

The division (numbering 15,830 soldiers) was commanded by Brigadier-General Bronisław Prugar-Ketling, and was based from late December 1939 to May 1940 at Parthenay in Eastern France. Under Prugar-Ketling the division was charged with holding the defences around Belfort, Alsace.[1] Assigned to part of the French reserves,[2] 45th Corps.[3] Engaged in heavy fighting from June 17 to 19 near the Doubs and Saône rivers,[3] it stopped a German attack on the Clos-du-Doubs hills.[4] but due to the (unknown to the Poles) rapid retreat of the nearby French forces it was surrounded by the Germans; nonetheless it managed to break through to Switzerland over 20–21 June 1940,[5] where its soldiers were interned for the rest of the war, although many "escaped" back into France and eventually made their way to England to rejoin the Polish forces there.[6] In Henri Guisan's defense plan for a German invasion of Switzerland, the 2nd Rifle Division would be rearmed and fight alongside the Swiss forces.

On 8 May 1945, the war in Europe came to an end. The 2nd Infantry Rifle Division was disbanded. Nearly half of the internees returned with their commander Gen. Prugar-Ketling to their homeland. The rest feared a return to Poland ruled by the communists. Many of the soldiers, having left Switzerland, ended up in France, Britain, Australia or the United States. About one thousand of them remained in Switzerland.[7]

Organization

Structure of the division:[8]

  • Chief of Staff, 2nd Polish Infantry Division
    • 4th Polish Infantry Regiment
    • 5th Polish Infantry Regiment
    • 6th Polish Infantry Regiment
    • 2nd Polish Artillery Regiment
    • 202nd Polish Heavy Artillery Regiment

Notes

  1. ^ The Polish Army In France 1939 - 1940. Last retrieved on 31 July 2007.
  2. ^ "Réserve de GQG Order of Battle, 10 May 1940".
  3. ^ a b (in Polish) Wojsko Polskie we Francji. Świat Polonii.
  4. ^ Campaign in France - The Poles on the frontlines of WWII Archived 2013-07-03 at the Wayback Machine. Last retrieved on 31 July 2007.
  5. ^ Hoseason, Julian. "The Polish Army In France & 2DSP Internment in Switzerland 1939 – 1940". www.polandinexile.com. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  6. ^ (in Polish) Polskie Siły Zbrojne na Zachodzie - Polskie Siły Zbrojne we Francji Archived 2009-03-02 at the Wayback Machine, WIEM Encyklopedia. Last retrieved on 31 July 2007.
  7. ^ Remembrance, Institute of National. "Anniversary of the internment of the 2nd Rifle Division in Switzerland – Warsaw, 19 June 2023". Institute of National Remembrance (in Polish). Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  8. ^ The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II: Volume VI Italy and France Including the Neutral Countries of San Marino, Vatican City (Holy See), Andorra, and Monaco. p. 444.
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