On the Vistula and Wkra

Originally published in Polish, a French version was also published as "La Campagne Polono-Russe de 1920".

The Polish-Soviet war remained a hot political issue in inter-war Poland, with participants publishing histories in which they got to settle some old scores. Pilsuski's "Year 1920" being a prime example. This book, in part, falls into that category.

But the middle section, covering the campaign north of Warsaw during the August 1920 battle for that city is largely straight-forward history. The forces involved were relatively balanced, so it gives a lot of gaming opportunities.

The last part of the book is less rewarding. At that point Sikorski was stepping outside his direct area of knowledge, and entering effectively a political debate. It is easy for readers to find more up-to-date and less polemical accounts. I have therefore not translated it.

Introduction

Part 1: Tukhachevski's break-through and march on Warsaw

Part 2: Reorganisation of the Polish forces

             The Polish counter-attack

             The Soviet retreat

Part 3: Conclusions

The original Polish book contained very large detailed maps, whereas the French version had only sketch maps. To reduce file size, I went with the French versions in the text. The map below is the first of the originals, and it does allow readers to find places not marked on the sketch maps.

Sikorski Map 1   (3.5 MB)

There are some orders of battle, mostly taken from the book's appendices, that might help readers.

Polish 5th Army 1920

Polish Army August 1920

And from Kakurin and Melikov's book on the war, the matching numbers for the Soviets.

Soviets facing Poles 1920