26. Site of the Battle of Warsaw (14/15 August 1920) in Wólka Radzymińska
One of the most important episodes of
the Battle of Warsaw in 1920 was the attack
of the 1st Battalion of the 28th Kaniów Rifle
Regiment commanded by Lieutenant
Stefan Pogonowski on the Soviet positions
in Wólka Radzymińska.
On the night of 14 to 15 August the Soviet army was planning to block and destroy radio contact of the Polish troops on the right bank of the Vistula River. The Polish troops who departed from the rallying point in the Legionowo barracks and were temporarily stationed in the vicinity of Alexandrów, at the high command’s behest, daringly attacked the Soviet army. By the attack in the direction of Wolka Radzymińska, the 28th Kaniów Rifle Regiment engaged in battle the enemy’s superior forces, thusly preventing the Soviet troops’ plans. Lieutenant Pogonowski’s units captured the Wólka Radzymińska district. It was the first decisive victory of the Polish troops at this stage of the war. According to General Lucjan Żeligowski, the attack of Lieutenant Pogonowski’s troops was a turning point in the Battle of Warsaw and, as a result, of the Polish-Soviet War.
This important victory was attained at the cost of lives of Lieutenant Stefan Pogonowski, who was killed when leading a charge of a battalion he commanded, of the cost of the 6th ‘Benedykt Pęczkowski’ company and of 18 soldiers who fell fighting for their country in the morning of August 15, 1920. In recognition of their heroism on the battlefield, both commanders were posthumously promoted to the rank of Captains.
In 1924, in nearby Zamostki Wólczyńskie, the President of the Second Republic of Poland Stanisław Wojciechowski unveiled an obelisk commemorating the soldiers of the 28th Kaniów Rifle Regiment who fell fighting for their country on August 15, 1920 (see item 27).
On the night of 14 to 15 August the Soviet army was planning to block and destroy radio contact of the Polish troops on the right bank of the Vistula River. The Polish troops who departed from the rallying point in the Legionowo barracks and were temporarily stationed in the vicinity of Alexandrów, at the high command’s behest, daringly attacked the Soviet army. By the attack in the direction of Wolka Radzymińska, the 28th Kaniów Rifle Regiment engaged in battle the enemy’s superior forces, thusly preventing the Soviet troops’ plans. Lieutenant Pogonowski’s units captured the Wólka Radzymińska district. It was the first decisive victory of the Polish troops at this stage of the war. According to General Lucjan Żeligowski, the attack of Lieutenant Pogonowski’s troops was a turning point in the Battle of Warsaw and, as a result, of the Polish-Soviet War.
This important victory was attained at the cost of lives of Lieutenant Stefan Pogonowski, who was killed when leading a charge of a battalion he commanded, of the cost of the 6th ‘Benedykt Pęczkowski’ company and of 18 soldiers who fell fighting for their country in the morning of August 15, 1920. In recognition of their heroism on the battlefield, both commanders were posthumously promoted to the rank of Captains.
In 1924, in nearby Zamostki Wólczyńskie, the President of the Second Republic of Poland Stanisław Wojciechowski unveiled an obelisk commemorating the soldiers of the 28th Kaniów Rifle Regiment who fell fighting for their country on August 15, 1920 (see item 27).