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1945–1946 armed clashes
The battles of Bircza were a series of Ukrainian Insurgent Army attacks on the town of Bircza.
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The battles of Bircza were a series of Ukrainian Insurgent Army attacks on the town of Bircza.
During the first period of the Polish garrison (from August 1944) there were no elaborate defenses in Bircza. In the course of time, the soldiers of various battalions prepared individual sections of the defense according to their needs, digging trenches with covered shelters and connecting ditches. In the center of the town, on the market square, artillery and mortars were placed in dug-in positions to support the defensive lines with fire.
The defense was divided into three company areas, reinforced by CKM platoons. During the night the whole battalion remained at its posts. During the day, only observation was carried out, so the soldiers took turns resting and some of the subunit's personnel mostly operated in the surrounding area. The access roads to Bircza were controlled and blocked by military posts. The buildings were not particularly fortified, nor were wire entanglements or minefields used.
The weakness of the defense was that it was easy to see the system of firing points and the number of soldiers from the neighboring hills. Bircza also had a civilian population (both residents and refugees from neighboring villages), which Ukrainian intelligence presumably used to recruit its informants.
The top command and the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 28th IR were stationed in Bircza at the time. A collecting battalion from the 17th IR (subordinated to the commander of the 28th IR) was stationed there, as well as a divisional reconnaissance company, which operated during the day in the field and came to this village for night rest. The garrison was commanded by Lt. Col. Aleksander Wygnański.
In addition, Bircza was home to a group of demobilized soldiers from the division's units, since here they were assigned a rallying point from which they were to depart on October 23–24 for Przemyśl. Some of the demobilized no longer had weapons, but some managed to get to the outposts and take part in repelling the attack.
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) launched its first attack on Bircza on October 22, 1945, at 11:30 p.m. It was initiated by a small subdivision - a 30-man chota dressed in Polish uniforms. It marched in compact formation along the road from the direction of Przemyśl, thus confusing observers, and managed to approach close to the military outpost. Stopped by the soldiers and summoned to give the password, the UPA unit suddenly opened fire. At the same time, they fired white rockets, a signal to attack the Bircza garrison.
The core of the Ukrainian forces consisted of the "Rena", "Yara" and "Dry" units, as well as other unrecognized ones, belonging organizationally to the raiding "Podkarpacie" kuren under the command of "Prut". In addition, several nearby SKWs took part in the attack. The attackers wore white armbands on their left sleeves.
The group advancing along the road from Przemyśl, despite suffering losses, broke into Bircza, killing soldiers and civilian residents they encountered along the way. The main attack was directed by the UPA unit at the building housing the command and the area of the Orthodox church. Communication with the outposts of the defending soldiers was broken. The fighting inside the town lasted four hours. The regiment's headquarters was not captured, but more than a dozen buildings were burned.
Simultaneously with the attack on Bircza, another large UPA unit, in which the "Hromenko" sotnias, the SKW "Baron" militia and the SB "Pieti" militia were recognized, with a strength of about 300-400 men under the command of "Hromenko," launched an attack on Kuzmin, 10 km southwest of Bircza, to stop a possible relief for Bircza.
The 30th IR was stationed there at the time, and one platoon of the 28th IR, commanded by Lt. Karol Romanowski, who had been sent earlier to that village to pick up a contingent, was deployed on the edge of that village, in the area of the post office. Most of the Ukrainian insurgents wore MO armbands on their left sleeves to deceive their enemies. The main attack was directed at the area where the regiment's headquarters were located, and in this direction a sizable group managed to penetrate into the center of the village. A hand-to-hand fight ensued. After a two-and-a-half-hour battle, the UPA withdrew.
Polish losses amounted to nine dead soldiers, including one officer, Capt. Witold Hryniewicz - assistant chief of staff of the 28th IR - and five wounded. In addition, 11 civilians were killed. 10 residential buildings, a people's house, an army barracks and a sawmill were burned. In addition, up to 30 soldiers were taken prisoner; after propaganda talks they were released. On the UPA side, several partisans were killed.
Kuzmin's own losses were more severe. Most of the village was burned, the buildings in the area of the post office survived. 10 soldiers were killed; one officer - commander of the 3rd mortar company, Lt. Jan Pietroś - four non-commissioned officers and five privates. 23 soldiers were wounded: three officers - battalion commander Capt. Piotr Skakun, company commander Lt. Jan Wróblewski and adjutant to the regimental commander Lt. Michal Jaskulski, and nine NCOs. Lost were: 14 horses, three carts, a radio station and 10 km of telephone cable. UPA losses amounted to four killed (including "Baron") and nine wounded (including "Hromenko").
As a result of the fighting for Bircza and Kuzmin, a subdivision of the 40th pal was transferred to Bircza, and the communications and cooperation system was improved. The first attack on Bircza ended inconclusively, while the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) managed to penetrate the town, causing casualties and damage, they were unable to fully capture their objectives or decisively defeat the Polish garrison. Despite the attackers breaking into Bircza and engaging in combat for several hours, the Polish regiment's headquarters remained uncaptured, and the UPA forces eventually withdrew.
The Ukrainian Insurgent Army launched its second attack on Bircza at 22:00 on November 29, on a bright moonlit night, supported by mortar fire. The size of the Ukrainian forces could not be determined, but some sources estimate there were 300–400 insurgents. At the time, the garrison of Bircza consisted of a collecting battalion of the 17th ID, operationally subordinated to the commander of the 9th ID. In addition, there was an MO company and a KBW company in Bircza. Bircza was shelled with mortar and machine gun fire. After a five-hour battle, at around 3:00 a.m., the UPA retreated. However, this attack was a sham; UPA didn't seek to capture Bircza. In reality, UPA's aim was to burn the villages around Bircza: Stara Bircza, Rudawka, Boguszowka, Korzeńec, Lomna and Huta Brzuska, a task that was accomplished.
During the battle, negligence was observed on the Polish side in terms of insurance, command, training and tactics. The collecting battalion of the 17th
DP did not present a high combat value, primarily due to poor combat training.
In order to prevent relief from Przemyśl, the road was blocked with felled telephone poles and trees. Notified by radio of the attack, the commander of the 9th DP immediately sent an emergency subdivision from Przemyśl to help, in the strength of one infantry company (about 100 soldiers) on four trucks, but due to the blockage of the road the unit did not reach the place.
As a result, during the second assault on Bircza, three Polish soldiers were killed and six taken prisoner were quickly released. Ukrainian losses are not fully known. According to Ginalski and Wysokinski, there were eight dead; the UPA reports several wounded, one of whom died. The UPA unit was commanded by Volodymyr Shchygielski, who was executed four years later in Rzeszow for the crimes of Ukrainian partisans.
The author of the attack plan was Lieutenant Mykhailo Galo "Konyk." The purpose of the attack was to destroy the People's Polish Army garrison quartered in the city, destroy the Civic Militia post, the office of the displacement committee, and burn down the city.
The attack was set for 2 a.m. Eastern Christmas Eve. However, as a result of various obstacles, it began in the various sections not at the same time - around 3:00 am.
The cure was divided into two groups - eastern and western.
The eastern group, that is, sotnia U-4 ("Burlaki") and U-7 ("Lastivki"), under the overall command of "Burlaki" were to lead the attack from the southeast (U-4) and northeast (U-7), with the aim of tying up the defenders with fire and diverting their attention from the north and southwest directions, from where the main attack was to come. In addition, the U-4 sotnia was to capture the bunkers near the palace and destroy the palace itself, the Citizen's Militia post and nearby houses.
The 511 squad was to create a barrage on the road south of Bircza, thus protecting the rear of the attacking Chots 510 and 512. The 510 squad took up a position on the escarpment east of the palace (50 m from the Polish bunkers), and the 512 squad took up a position in the Stupnica River, near the bridge west of Bircza.
The western group operated with two subdivisions, independently of each other - from the southwest U-6 ("Jara"), and from the northwest U-2 under the command of "Orski." There was also a position of the commander-in-chief "Konyk" at U-2. The western group also included a detachment of the Bezpeky Service (in chota strength). The units of the western group, overcoming the expected Polish resistance, were to join in the center of Bircza.
The Polish UPA reconnaissance estimated the Polish forces at 960 LWP infantry soldiers (it was a reinforced 2nd battalion of the 26th pp), in addition to about 140 militiamen in Bircza, and two trucks of NKVD troops, arriving the previous day. A mounted maneuvering group of about 100 soldiers was also stationed in Bircza, but in the evening it left for action in Dobra Szlachecka.
The main attack of the U-2 sotnia was led personally by "Konyk" from the direction of Novaya Ves. The assault was supposed to begin at 2 a.m., but due to the rough road it started at 2:45 a.m. The units marched in the following order: chota 504, 506, SB militia and chota 505. The column was very stretched, when the leading subunit was already reaching Bircza, the last chota was still at Nowa Wieś. "Konyk", along with the leading squad, stopped 300 meters from Bircza and waited for the commanders of the other subunits. At that moment, shots were heard in the section attacked by "Jara." "Konyk" gave the order to attack to the left, running.
Between the buildings of the suburbs, only the tyral of chota 504 "Pavlenko", at which "Konyk" and "Orśkyj" were located, managed to penetrate. Chots 504 and 505 of "Bartel" and "Chaika", which were further away, were late in their assault, having already entered the area lit by the burning building, and suffered heavy losses. The first building had not yet burned down when the next one caught fire. Subdivisions 505 and 506 were well lit, and attacked the brick building of the district office, located on a high slope, so they suffered heavy losses.
In addition, another building on the road to Nowa Wieś caught fire, and again illuminated the attack area, making it easier for the Polish to fire.
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