List of military units in the Warsaw Uprising

This is a list of military units taking part in the Warsaw Uprising, a Polish insurrection during the Second World War that began on August 1, 1944.

Polish units Many of the Home Army units were formed before the beginning of the Uprising; several were organised in the following days as new volunteers joined.

Units were assigned to given areas, namely: Area I (Śródmieście, Stare Miasto) Area II (Żoliborz, Marymont, Bielany) Area III (Wola) Area IV (Ochota) Area V (Mokotów) Area VI (Praga) Area VII (Powiat Warszawski) Zgrupowanie KeDywu Komendy Głównej Units were organised into battalions, companies and platoons. Many of those became famous either before the Uprising or during it, including 'Battalion Zośka', 'Czata 49', 'Parasol', and 'Miotła'.

Armaments On August 1, the Home Army's arsenal (District of Warsaw, polish: Okręg Warszawa) consisted of: 2,629 rifles 3,846 pistols 657 submachine guns 145 light machine guns 47 heavy machine guns 29 anti-tank rifiles and PIAT anti-tank weapons 16 mortars and grenade launchers 2 anti-tank guns 30 flamethrowers 43,971 hand grenades 416 anti-tank grenades 12,000 Molotov cocktails 1,266 explosives

Types of weapons used can be divided into the following categories:Kirchmayer Jerzy "Powstanie Warszawskie" op.cit. pages = 162–163 Polish Army weapons hidden after the invasion of Poland (FB Vis, kb wz. 98a, kbk wz. 29, rkm wz. 28, etc.) Homemade weaponry (Błyskawica, K pattern flamethrower, sidolówka, filipinka, Molotov cocktails, etc.) Weapons scavenged from the Wehrmacht (Luger pistol, Karabiner 98k, MP 40, etc.) Weapons bought directly from the Germans or on the black market Weapons from Allied forces, primarily supplied via airdrop (M1911 pistol, Sten, M1 carbine, Bren, PIAT, etc.).

Complete List of Home Army groups in the Warsaw Uprising The following list does not correspond with the above area list. Unit group or sector Unit name Part of Notes GroupŚródmieście-Północ (City Center - North) Sector: North 'Rum' 3 com. AK Group 'Bartkiewicz' 'Żmudzin' 3 plat.(Each) AK After fall of Stare Miasto reinforced with 'Gustaw' 'Andrzej' 'Lechicz' 'Bohun' Group 'Chrobry II' 'Lech Żelazny' 3 com.(Each) AK / NSZ 'Lech Grzybowski' Group 'Gurt' 'Gurt' 3 com.(Each) AK Battalion WSOP Group IV Group 'Hal' 'im. Sowińskiego' 2 com. AK Group 'Harnasie' Group 'Harnasie' 2 com. AK Companies: 'Genowefa', 'Żyrafa' Company 'Lewera' 2 plat. Group 'Kiliński' Battalion 'im. Kilińskiego' 5 com. AK Group 'Wiktor' Company 'Wiktor' 4 plat. AK Disposition units KeDyw Disposition Unit 'A' 2 plat.(Each) AK Company 'Koszta' Defensive screen of Warsaw Company '100' WSOP 3 plat. District Headquarters Backup units Battalion KB 2 com. KB Disbanded due to lack of weapons, separate platoons assigned as support for main units. GroupŚródmieście-Południe (City Center - South) Sector: North 'Sarna' Battalion WSOP 'Bełt' 3 comp. AK Later named Battalion 'Ostoja' Battalion 'Sokół' 1 comp. KB Battalion 'Chrobry' 2 plat. PAL Sector: South 'Piorun' Battalion 'Piorun' 3 comp. AK Created from Battalion 'Zaremba' and smaller units Sector: East 'Bogumił' Battalion 'Kryśka' WSOP 4 comp. AK Known as Battalion 'of cpt. Sęp' Battalion 'Miłosz' 3 comp.(Each) Battalion 'Ruczaj' Battalion Siekiera 'Tum' Retreated from Stare Miasto Company of AL and PAL 1 plat.(Each) PAL / AL Gendarmery PAL Platoon PAL Sector: West 'Golski' Battalion 'Golski' 1 com. AK Later incorporated Battalion 'Odwet' Company 'Szafrański' 1 com. Backup of 'Golski' Backup units Battalion 'Iwo' 4 com. AK Company from Group 'Ubogi' 2 plat. Retreated from Ochota Powiśle Group 'Krybar' Battalion 'Konrad' 4 comp.(Each) AK Battalion 'Ubogi' Group 'Elektrownia' WSOP 2 comp. GroupWarszawa-Północ (Warsaw-North) Group 'Radosław' andunits of 'KeDyw' KG Battalion 'Czata 49' several comp. AK Battalion 'Miotła' 4 comp. After Wola fights disbanded due to losses Battalion 'Pięść' 1 comp. Included 'Agaton' platoon, destroyed in Wola Company 'Leśnik' 3 plat.(Each) Company 'Waligóra'Diversionary Brigade 'Broda 53' several unitsIncluded Battalion 'Zośka', Unit 'Osjan', 'Dysk', 'Topolnicki" company, motorized unit 'Żuk', intelligence platoon 'Wolski', medical unit 'Rola'. Group 'Kuba' and 'Sosna' Battalion 'im. Łukasińskiego' 3 comp.(Each) AK Battalion 'im. Czarnieckiego Gozdawa' Company P20 'Edward' 5 plat. Company 'Ryszard' (motorised) 3 plat.(Each) Company 'Batory' Platoon 'Roja' 1 plat. Company KB 'Nałęcz' 3 plat. KB Platoon NSZ 1 plat.(Each) NSZ Platoon of PPS Militia PPS Group 'Róg' Battalion 'Gustaw' 2 com. AK Later increased to 3 comp. Battalion WSOP 'Dzik' 3 comp.(Each) Battalion 'Bończa' Later increased to 4 comp. Company 'Orlęta' 4 plat. After retreat from Stare Miasto, merged with Battalion 'Gustaw' Company 'Lubiec' 3 plat.(Each) Company 'of Syndykalists' Battalion 'Wigry' 2 com.(Each) Battalion 'Antoni' Battalion 'Czwartacy' several plat. AL Backup units Battalion 'Chrobry I'o 3 comp. AK Charge Company 'Wyrwy' 2 plat. Brygada Koło 4 comp. NSZ Construction and firefight duties Żoliborz Sector: 'Żubr' Battalion 'Żubr' 1 comp. AK Sector: 'Żmija' Battalion 'Żmija' 3 plat.(Each) Sector: 'Zaglowiec' Company 'Żaglowiec' Sector: 'Żyrafa' Company 'Zyrafa' Sector AL Company AL 2 plat. AL PuszczaKampinoska (Kapminos Forest) Pułk 'Palmiry-Młociny' III. Dywizjon 78 pp. 3 comp.(Each) AK I. Dywizjon 'Janusz' Dywizjon of 'cpt. Dulka' Dywizjon 27 p. ułańow 4 comp. Dywizjon 23 p. ułanów 2 comp. GroupWarszaw-Południe (Warsaw-South): Mokotów Group 'Baszta' Battalion 'B' 3 comp.(Each) AK Mokotów sector Battalion 'O' Battalion 'K' 4 comp. 5 group WSOP 2 comp. Group 'Góral' Szwadron 'Szwoleżerów' 3 plat. AK Group 'Olsza' Company 'Grochów' 3 plat.(Each) AK Company 'Sadyba' Szwadron 'Jeżycki' Group 'Ryś' Company 'Gustaw' 3 plat.(Each) AK Czerniaków-Południe sector Company 'Krawiec' Company 'Granat' Pluton AL 1 plat. AL ForestChojnowski and Kabacki Group 'Gustaw' Battalion 'Gustaw' 3 comp. AK Group 'Lasy Chojnowskie' Battalion 'Grzegorz' 3 comp. AK Battalion 'Szary' 3 plat. NSZ Platoon 'Lanca' 1 plat. On September 20 this structure was reorganised to fit the structure of Polish forces fighting among the Western Allies. The entire force was renamed to Warsaw Home Army Corps (Warszawski Korpus Armii Krajowej), commanded by general Antoni Chruściel (Monter) and consisted of three infantry divisions: 8th Romuald Traugutt Infantry Division (8 Dywizja Piechoty im. Romualda Traugutta) commanded by col. Żywiciel-Niedzielski 10th Maciej Rataj Infantry Division (10 Dywizja Piechoty im. Macieja Rataja) commanded by col. Radwan-Pleiffer 28th Stefan Okrzeja Infantry Division (28 Dywizja Piechoty im. Stefana Okrzei) commanded by col. Karol-Rokicki The names of smaller units (battalions, companies and platoons) were left intact (as in the above table).

Composition of smaller fighting forces Although the vast majority of the resistance in Warsaw were members of Home Army, there was a small number of fighters who weren't members of that organisation. In the course of the Uprising some 1,700 members of other resistance organisations joined the Uprising. Those included the Armia Ludowa, Gwardia Ludowa and Narodowe Siły Zbrojne.

Along with the Polish soldiers who took part in the Uprising, there were also members of other nationalities. Among them was a number of Hungarian deserters and Italian escapees from POW camps in Poland. Another ex-POW soldier was RAF Sgt. John Ward, whose numerous coded radio dispatches gave an eyewitness account of the fighting to the British government and Polish government-in-exile, as well as the London press. There was also the Slovak 535th platoon under Lt. Stanko. It was composed mostly of Slovaks, Georgians, Armenians and Azeri, and suffered heavy casualties in the course of the uprising (up to 70%).

It is believed that some 25,000 Jews were hiding in Warsaw before the Uprising. The vast majority of them died together with other Polish civilians. However, many Jews (possibly as many as 1,000), including those released by Home Army from the Warsaw concentration camp (Gęsiówka), joined the Home Army. During the final stage of the battle a number of Soviet soldiers (possibly as many as 3,000, most of them members of Polish units in Soviet army) also crossed the river and fought the Germans in Powiśle area. Airdrops were carried out by allied airmen from Italy, mostly by Poles, Canadians and the British.

German units As of 23 August 1944 the German units directly involved with fights in Warsaw were divided into: Kampfgruppe Rohr (commanded by Generalmajor Gunther Rohr) Waffen-Sturmbrigade RONA (commanded by Waffen-Brigadeführer Bronislav Kaminski) Kampfgruppe Reinefarth (commanded by SS-Gruppenführer Heinz Reinefarth) Kampfgruppe Dirlewanger (commanded by SS-Oberführer der Reserve Oskar Dirlewanger) Kampfgruppe Reck (commanded by Major Reck) Kampfgruppe Schmidt (commanded by Colonel Schmidt) various support and backup units Warsaw Garrison (Group of Warsaw Commandant) commanded by Lieutenant General Stahel A large section of the forces on the "German" side were, according to Norman Davies, drawn from "'collaborationist forces'" including Russians who had left in the Tzar's era and Azeris.

References

Jerzy Kirchmayer. Powstanie Warszawskie. Książka i Wiedza, Warsaw, 1959. . Hardcover, 576 pages.