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.
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:
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'.
On August 1, the Home Army's arsenal consisted of:
Types of weapons used can be divided into the following categories:[1]
The following list does not correspond with the above area list.
Unit group or sector | Unit name | Composition | Part of | Notes | |
GroupŚródmieście-Północ (City Center - North) | |||||
Group 'Chrobry II' | Battalion 'Lech Żelazny' Battalion 'Lech Grzybowski' | 3 comp. 3 comp | NSZ NSZ | ||
Sector: north | Battalion 'Rum' | 3 comp | AK | ||
Group 'Gurt' | Battalion 'Gurt' Battalion WSOP Group IV | 3 comp. 3 comp. | AK AK | ||
Group 'Kiliński' | Battalion 'im. Kilińskiego' | 5 comp. | AK | ||
Group 'Harnasie' | Group 'Harnasie' Company 'Lewera' | 2 comp. 2 plat. | AK AK | Companies: 'Genowefa', 'Żyrafa' | |
Group 'Bartkiewicz' | Companies 'Żmudzin', 'Andrzej','Lechicz', 'Bohun' | each 3 plat. | After fall of Stare Miastoreinforced with company 'Gustaw' | ||
Group 'Wiktor' | Company 'Wiktor' | 4 plat. | AK | ||
Disposition units | Company 'Koszta' Company '100' WSOP KeDyw Disposition Unit 'A' | 2 plat. 3 plat. 2 plat. | AK AK AK | Defensive screen of WarsawDistrict Headquarters | |
Backup units | Battalion KB | 2 comp. | KB | Due to lack of weaponsdisbanded, separate platoons assigned as support for main units | |
Group 'Hal' | Battalion 'im. Sowińskiego' | 2 comp. | AK | ||
GroupŚródmieście-Południe (City Center - South) | |||||
Sector: east 'Bogumił' | Battalion 'Ruczaj' Battalion 'Miłosz' Battalion 'Kryśka' WSOP Battalion Siekiera 'Tum' Gendarmery PAL Platoon Company of AL and PAL | 3 comp. 3 comp. 4 comp. 3 comp. 1 plat. 1 plat. | AK AK AK AK PAL PAL/AL | known as Battalion 'of cpt. Sęp' retreated from Stare Miasto | |
Sector north: 'Sarna' | Battalion WSOP 'Bełt' Battalion 'Sokół' Battalion 'Chrobry' | 3 comp. 1 comp. 2 plat. | AK KB PAL | later named Battalion 'Ostoja' | |
Backup units | Battalion 'Iwo' Company from Group 'Ubogi' | 4 comp. 2 plat. | AK AK | Retreated from Ochota | |
Sector: west 'Golski' | Battalion 'Golski' Company 'Szafrański' | 5 comp. 1 comp. | AK AK | later incorporated Battalion'Odwet' backup of 'Golski' | |
Sector: south 'Piorun' | Battalion 'Piorun' | 3 comp. | AK | Created from Battalion 'Zaremba'and smaller units | |
Powiśle | |||||
Group 'Krybar' | Battalion 'Ubogi' Battalion 'Konrad' Group 'Elektrownia' WSOP | 4 comp 4 comp 2 comp | AK AK AK | ||
GroupWarszawa-Północ (Warsaw-North) | |||||
Group 'Radosław' and units of'KeDyw' KG | Battalion 'Czata 49' Battalion 'Miotła' Battalion 'Pięść' Company 'Leśnik' Company 'Waligóra' | several comp. 4 comp. 1 comp. 3 plat. 3 plat. | AK AK AK AK AK | After Wola fights disbanded due to losses Included 'Agaton' platoon, destroyed in Wola | |
Backup units | Battalion 'Chrobry I' Brygada Koło Charge Company 'Wyrwy' | 3 comp. 4 comp. 2 plat. | AK NSZ AK | Construction and firefight duties | |
Group 'Kuba' and 'Sosna' | Battalion 'im. Łukasińskiego' Battalion 'im. Czarnieckiego Gozdawa' Company P20 'Edward' Company 'Ryszard' (motorised) Company 'Batory' Platoon 'Roja' Platoon of PPS Militia Company KB 'Nałęcz' Platoon NSZ | 3 comp. 3 comp. 5 plat. 3 plat. 3 plat. 1 plat. 1plat. 3 plat. 1 plat. | AK AK AK AK AK AK PPS KB NSZ | ||
Group 'Róg' | Battalion 'Gustaw' Battalion WSOP 'Dzik' Battalion 'Bończa' Company 'Orlęta' Company 'Lubiec' Company 'of Syndykalists' Battalion 'Czwartacy' Battalion 'Wigry' Battalion 'Antoni' | 2 comp. 3 comp. 3 compt. 4 plat. 3 plat. 3 plat. several plat. 2 comp. 2 comp. | AK AK AK AK AK AK AL AK AK | later increased to 3 comp.
| |
Żoliborz | |||||
Sector: 'Żubr' | Battalion 'Żubr' | 1 comp. | AK | ||
Sector: 'Żmija' | Battalion 'Żmija' | 3 plat. | AK | ||
Sector: 'Zaglowiec' | Company 'Żaglowiec' | 3 plat. | AK | ||
Sector AL | Company AL | 2 plat | AL | ||
Sector: 'Żyrafa' | Company 'Zyrafa' | 3 plat. | AK | ||
PuszczaKampinoska (Kapminos Forest) | |||||
Pułk 'Palmiry-Młociny' | III Battalion 78 pp. I Battalion 'Janusz' Battalion 'of cpt. Dulka' Dywizjon 27 p.ułańow Dywizjon 23 p. ułanów | 3 comp. 3 comp. 3 comp. 4 comp. 2 comp. | AK AK AK AK AK | ||
GroupWarszaw-Południe (Warsaw-South): Mokotów | |||||
Group 'Baszta' | Battalion 'B' Battalion 'O' Battalion 'K' 5 group WSOP | 3 comp. 3 comp. 4 comp. 2 comp. | AK AK AK AK | Mokotów sector | |
Group 'Ryś' | Company 'Gustaw' Company 'Krawiec' Company 'Granat' Platoon AL | 3 plat. 3 plat. 3 plat. 1 plat. | AK AK AK AL | Czerniaków-Południe sector | |
Group 'Olsza' | Company 'Grochów' Szwadron 'Jeżycki' Company 'Sadyba' | 3 plat. 3 plat. 3 plat. | AK AK AK | ||
group 'Góral' | Szwadron szwoleżerów | 3 plat. | AK | ||
ForestChojnowski and Kabacki | |||||
Group 'Lasy Chojnowskie' | Battalion 'Grzegorz' Battalion 'Szary' Platoon 'Lanca' | 3 comp. 3 plat. 1 plat. | AK NSZ NSZ | ||
Group 'Gustaw' | Battalion 'Gustaw' | 3 comp. | AK |
The names of smaller units (battalions, companies and platoons) were left intact (as in the above table).
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 a Slovak 535th Home Army 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.
As of 23 August 1944 the German units directly involved with fights in Warsaw were divided into:
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.