The WWI Uniforms

in the Warsaw Army Museum

Taken by me at the Warsaw Army Museum back in 2006.

There was a cabinet for each of the foreign powers that Poles served with in WWI: France, Germany, Austria and Russia. Although not of the Pygmy Wars period, so many of these soldiers served in the new Polish Army with their old uniforms and equipment I felt it was worth taking at least a few photos.

I struggled to take good photos sometimes thanks to the intervening glass and the awkward positions of some mannequins.

The WWI uniforms in Warsaw a 2.7 MB .zip file if you want to download them all.

Uniforms

W03: a cabinet devoted to Poles in Russian Service, front and back.

W04: Officers of the 1st Lancers Regiment

W05: A lieutenant of the 5th Siberian Rifle Division.

Some of these Poles in the East of Russia in 1917 fought in the Russian Civil War alongside the Czechs, recognised as a division in the French Army by the Allies. They were transported back to Poland via Vladivostok, just in time for some of them to fight the Soviets again late in 1920.

W06: Pulawy Legion.

W07: A colonel of the 1st Polish Corps.

Some Poles in the West when the war ended in 1917 fought their way south at the start of the Russian Civil War and linked up with the Whites around Odessa. Eventually making their way back to Poland, after the retreat to Romania.

W08: A captain of the 1st Engineer Corps.

W09: The cap of a lieutenant-colonel of the horse artillery.

W10: The cap of a private of the 4th Rifle division.

W11: The cap of an officer in a Murmansk unit.

W12: Some sort of dress uniform of a cavalryman.

W13: a cabinet devoted to the Polish Army in France. My notes are a trifle confused, but I think this includes a Polish Volunteer (early uniform), a Pole in French service (horizon blue), one of General Haller's uniforms, 5th Legion (??) and a colonel of horse artillery (cap with black band and red piping) and three caps.

W14: caps belonging to officers in French service.

W15: cabinets devoted to Poles in German and Austrian service, for which I did not get time to take proper notes. I think the first and second are a cabinet for German service, and the third is for the Austrians. Both cabinets appear to have uniforms labelled "Polish Legion".

W16: clearly labelled as a junior officer of the Polish Legion.

W17: clearly labelled as a hats of the Polish Legion.

W18: a uniform labelled 2nd Lancers Regiment and an officers cap of that regiment. The mannekin with fur collar next to this (in photo W15 #3) is also labelled as this.

W19: the left-most uniform in photo W15 #2 is labelled as a lancer of the 1st Lancers Regiment of the Polish Legions.