Warsaw
1920
Selections from Operations on the Vistula in August 1920, from the
Polish standpoint.
A collection of articles translated from the Polish into Russian by the
Soviet Military Publications Division 1931. Translated into English at
the Army War College, Washington D.C. in 1934. Recently
put on-line by the US Army Military History Institute (search "1920"
here but note that it is 85 MB).
Unfortunately the version given is a poor carbon copy with
the
place names in the German forms. I have typed it up, sorted out the
place names, and split it into separate sections.
The Battle of Warsaw in
August 1920, and the Crisis Connected Therewith
A detailed look at the fighting on the Warsaw Bridgehead in mid-August,
especially
that around Radzymin and Minsk-Mazowiecki. A nice series of engagements
for historical scenarios, because the sides were so evenly balanced.
And, of course, the Poles used armour.
Offensive from behind
the Wieprz River
A detailed look at the initial stages of the counter-attack south of
Warsaw from 16 to 18 August.
Critique of the Warsaw
Operation in the Light of the Offensive
A rather tedious discussion of the theoretical basis for the the Polish
campaign in August 1920. I have only kept this one for completeness.
First Directive, Warsaw
Operation
An article about the decision made by Pilsudski to fall back to the
Vistula and counter-attack from behind the Wieprz. Although covered in
general terms in other available books, this article gives much more military detail
about the failure of the Poles to hold their previous defensive lines
in late July and early August 1920.
Maps
The original article came with four maps, only three of which are
attached in the on-line version. These basically relate to Parts 1 and 2 above.
If trying to follow the text in greater detail, or if interested in
gaming the battles, the site below is extremely useful. It has
topographic maps from the 1920s and 1930s for all of Poland. Radzymin
is in P39 S32.
Many
of the places in the text are extremely difficult to locate, some being
very small indeed. I have prepared a document that locates them (with a
couple of exceptions that no amount of searching could find).
