The insurgent attacks on the Bielany airfield were an unsuccessful attempt by the Home Army soldiers to capture the in Warsaw during the early days of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.
In the insurgents' plans, capturing the Bielany airfield was highly prioritized. The task was assigned to soldiers from the VIII Region Łęgi of the Warsaw County Subdistrict, supported by part of the forces from the Żoliborz Subdistrict. Despite the significant reinforcement brought by the arrival of nearly 900 soldiers from the Stowbtsy-Naliboki Group to the Kampinos Forest, the Kampinos and Żoliborz units were too poorly armed and too few in number to seize the heavily fortified airfield and the neighboring German strongholds. The first attack, carried out on 1 August 1944, at "W" Hour, was purely demonstrative. The second attack, launched early on August 2, was repelled after many hours of fighting, resulting in heavy Polish casualties.
As a result of this failure, the Kampinos units remained incapable of conducting significant offensive operations until mid-August 1944. Soon after repelling the Polish attacks, the Germans permanently ceased using the airfield.
Airfield and its crew The construction of the Bielany airfield began before the outbreak of World War II. Initially, it was intended to function as a sports airfield. By September 1939, the runway had been marked and prepared, but no buildings had been erected. After the German occupation began, the unfinished airfield was taken over by the German Air Force. It was used by the Germans during the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and later served as a base for four German reconnaissance units, a transit airfield, and a training center. Simultaneously, the Germans began expanding the airfield's infrastructure. By summer 1944, the base included, among other facilities, a control and observation tower, four hangars, transmitter stations, and refueling points. The runway was 700 m long.
The airfield's support and additional security were provided by a complex of fortified structures and defensive points located in Bielany and nearby villages. The most important of these included:
Horstlager – a complex of several small barracks adjacent to the airfield tarmac (from ). The camouflaged barracks among the trees housed mainly utility rooms and officer quarters. The complex of buildings of the University of Physical Education at 34 Marymoncka Street, converted into barracks for an aviation regiment during the German occupation. The university complex secured the approach to the airfield from the south. It was fenced with barbed wire and fortified with shooting positions, machine gun nests, and anti-aircraft artillery positions. Additional guard posts were placed in nearby buildings. Waldlager – a complex of twelve one- and two-story barracks defending the approach to the university complex from the east and south. This facility was secured by makeshift earth fortifications and a barbed wire fence. The Camaldolese Church in the , adjacent to Horstlager. It was secured by two concrete bunkers and several shooting positions. Bautruppen-Lager in the village of Wawrzyszew, intended for personnel and workers. The size of the permanent crew and details of the fortification of this complex are unknown.
The Germans attached great importance to securing the Bielany airfield. Fortified defensive positions were established in villages north of the base, and two anti-aircraft artillery batteries were stationed there. The airfield area was partially secured with a barbed wire fence. After a successful sabotage operation carried out by Kedyw soldiers of the Home Army on the night between May 3 and 4, 1944, the Germans further tightened security measures, increasing the crew size and building additional defensive positions. By 13 May 1944, four anti-aircraft gun batteries on tracked chassis were stationed at the edge of the airfield. A month later, the base's crew was reinforced with an additional 20 anti-aircraft guns brought from the university area and outside Warsaw. Moreover, the airfield area was expanded at the expense of houses in one of the nearby villages.
On the eve of the Warsaw Uprising, the Bielany airfield and its surrounding facilities were one of the most important German resistance centers in northern Warsaw. According to Grzegorz Jasiński's findings, on 1 August 1944, the German defensive points in Bielany were manned as follows:
The airfield tarmac, along with Horstlager buildings and Bautruppen-Lager barracks in Wawrzyszew, was defended by a crew of about 500, including the German Air Force Alarm-Bataillon Weckerle. Also stationed there was the 1st Battery of the 769th Light Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division, equipped with 12 guns (including 37 mm caliber guns). In the village of , located a few hundred meters northwest of the airfield tarmac, the command post of the 378th Searchlight Battalion was located. In the village of , there were two searchlights secured by a platoon of German Air Force soldiers. The university complex was defended by about 250 soldiers. Waldlager was defended by about 100 soldiers. The Camaldolese Church housed 20 Germans, 20 Turkmens, and 20 Czechs. In the buildings at 16 Zuga Street in Bielany, several dozen soldiers were quartered, guarding 80 foreign workers employed there.
In reality, at the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, the German forces in Bielany were much larger. Shortly before the "W" Hour, the crews of the local defensive points were reinforced with additional subunits equipped with heavy weapons. The garrison of the university, Waldlager, and the church alone was strengthened to about 700 soldiers supported by armored cars and tanks. Thus, at the "W" Hour, the German forces in the airfield area and its neighboring facilities could not have been fewer than 1,200 soldiers supported by anti-aircraft artillery, as well as armored and anti-tank weapons. Additionally, in nearby Boernerowo, where German Air Force vehicle workshops were guarded by several dozen auxiliary soldiers, about 100 Ukrainian collaborators and subunits of the 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring were stationed. In case of a significant threat to the airfield, these units could come to its garrison's aid.
Forces and plans of the Home Army In the insurgent plans, capturing the Bielany airfield was of significant importance. Initially, Home Army staff officers anticipated that the airfield would be bombed by Allied aircraft at the outbreak of the uprising, similar to airfields in Okęcie and Grójec. Subsequently, Home Army units were to strike the defenders, shaken by the bombing, secure the airfield, and staff it with pre-trained personnel. Success in this operation was expected to facilitate the transfer of soldiers from the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade and Polish air squadrons from the United Kingdom to Warsaw.
The main role in capturing the Bielany airfield was assigned to the units of the VIII Łęgi District of the Warsaw County Subdistrict. This district was commanded by Captain , codenamed Szymon, who oversaw Home Army structures in the pre-war municipalities of Czosnów, , and the eastern part of . According to the insurgent plans, at the "W" Hour, the main forces of the VIII District were to concentrate in the hills 93, 103, and 96 at and then strike the German positions protecting the airfield from the north. After breaking through the enemy defenses, Szymon's soldiers were to take over the airfield and Horstlager buildings (the latter in cooperation with Żoliborz units). Other units of the VIII District were to capture the factory in Łomianki and the workshops in Dziekanów Leśny, seize transport means on the Vistula, and block the Warsaw–Modlin road at the . Additionally, they planned to conduct offensive operations towards Kazuń once reinforcements from the arrived.
At the outbreak of the uprising, the VIII District was expected to field two infantry battalions, commanded by Lieutenant Janusz Langner, codenamed Janusz, and Captain Stanisław Nowosad, codenamed Dulka. On the eve of the uprising, both battalions had reached their full strength with five front-line companies each. Two platoons and structures were also formed. In July 1944, two youth company platoons from the III Dęby District (Rembertów) were assigned to the Łęgi District. These were commanded by cadets , codenamed Murzyn, and Wojciech Pecyński, codenamed Polana, and consisted primarily of young boys from the and Łomianki areas. Simultaneously, in preparation for the uprising, weapons and ammunition were being stockpiled. However, armament remained one of the VIII District's weakest points. Captain Szymon stated in his post-war memoirs that after mobilization in July 1944, the VIII District's units had only between 350 and 400 armed soldiers. Edward Bonarowski claimed that the Łęgi District's forces did not exceed 440 armed soldiers, mostly equipped with weapons from September 1939.
Insurgent plans anticipated that while the Łęgi District units attacked the airfield from the north, the III Bielany District units of the Żoliborz Subdistrict would capture the key German defensive points in Bielany. They were then to attack the airfield from the south and, in cooperation with the VIII District units, seize the Horstlager buildings. Captain , codenamed Serb, commanded the III District. The specific tasks of his subunits were as follows:
Second Lieutenant Stanisław Rudowicz's company, codenamed Brzoza (platoons: 211, 213, 214), along with Lieutenant Marian Redwan's company, codenamed Ojciec Marian (platoons: 255 and 256), were to attack the university complex from the northwest (from Marymoncka Street). Lieutenant Jerzy Terczyński's company, codenamed Starża (platoons: 212, 237, 239), had two tasks. One platoon, supported by a section of assault engineers, was to attack the "Tailoring School" buildings at 66 Zabłocińska/Marymoncka Street. Meanwhile, the remaining two platoons, supported by two sections of assault engineers, were to strike the Waldlager buildings from the southeast and then continue the assault towards the university. Second Lieutenant Jerzy Zdrodowski's company, codenamed Kwarciany (platoons: 247, 248, 249, 250 motorized), also had two tasks. One platoon, supported by an assault engineers section, was to capture the church. The other three platoons were to attack Waldlager from the northeast and then support the assault on the university. Military Uprising Protection Service platoons were to build eight barricades on the main communication arteries of Bielany and capture or isolate weaker German resistance points.
The III District was one of the most populous but also one of the most poorly armed districts of the Żoliborz Subdistrict. According to Grzegorz Jasiński's findings, on 31 July 1944, the III District had 941 soldiers (875 front-line soldiers and 65 Military Uprising Protection Service soldiers), including 81 women. However, at the same time, the III District had only 2 PIAT grenade launchers, 45 rifles with 4,500 rounds, 8 submachine guns with 800 rounds, 44 pistols with 1,880 rounds, and 1,776 grenades.
Arrival of Góra's group
On the night between 25 and 26 July 1944, Captain Szymon received news that a several-hundred-strong unit, whose soldiers wore uniforms of the pre-war Polish Army and spoke Polish with an eastern accent, had stopped in Dziekanów Polski. The next day, the commander of the VIII District went to Dziekanów to assess the situation personally. Upon arrival, it was found that the leader of the newly arrived unit, Lieutenant Adolf Pilch, codenamed Góra, had gone to Warsaw. His deputy, Lieutenant , codenamed Kula, informed Szymon that the Stowbtsy-Naliboki Group of the Home Army had arrived from the Naliboki Forest in the Eastern Borderlands.