Those mad, courageous Poles

Don't worry, your Monday Funnies will come a bit later but I have just read a review in The Telegraph of an 'absolute must read' book by Roger Moorhouse called "First to Fight: The Polish War, 1939".  I must confess that although I have read widely on many aspects of WWII, that opening campaign when first the Germans and then a fortnight later, the Russians, invaded 'plucky little Poland' is a mystery to me.

Polish Cavalrymen charging across a field, c1939 Credit: Getty/Popperfoto

And no, according to Mr. Moorhouse, the Poles did not mount cavalry charges against German tanks, they might have been mad (in the best sense) but they were not stupid!  What they did do was destroy some 1,000 German armoured vehicles and 600 German aircraft.  Even more important they managed to smuggle out three Polish mathematicians who were instrumental in breaking the 'Enigma' code, a truly enormous contribution to the eventual defeat of the Germans.

Now, I must go and 'ablute my person' and then I will sort out your, er, 'side-splitters'!

 

 

Comments

[Loz]

They were bonkers - in the best possible sense. Who would ride into battle with a pair of wings strapped to his shoulders looking like a Valkyrie? ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_ftYLvqPSQ

Two hockey sticks with feathers stuck to them. The rattling sound they made against the metal of the cuirass when the charge got to full throttle was like nothing you've ever heard.

Fine fellows. No surprise when they grew real wings a few hundred years later they were the tops ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._303_Squadron_RAF

No. 303 Squadron RAF (Polish: 303 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki") was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. It was the highest scoring of the Hurricane squadrons during the Battle of Britain.

"Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry," wrote Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, head of RAF Fighter Command, "I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle (of Britain) would have been the same."

And they were in Hurricanes. Imagine what they would have done in Spitfires.

SoD

[David Duff]

Blimey, SoD, where did you find that film sequence - absolutely terrific! And, of course, then there were the Polish Lancers of Bonaparte's time!

[Whitewall]

Heart pumping!

[Loz]

Certainly more reliable than you know who ...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/07/isnt-just-betrayal-feels-like-final-betrayal-say-syrias-kurds/

SoD

[Loz]

The cavalry charge that spawned the lie that the Poles charged tanks is here ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_at_Krojanty

They did charge and disperse a Jerry infantry battalion which helped a battalion and battle-group of their own to escape the onslaught.

The cavalryman in the wiki picture is an interesting thought though: A mounted anti-tank rifleman. Like the dragoons of old, but this one a highly mobile tank hunter. The Jerries wouldn't have liked that at all as their tanks were thinly armoured in 1939.

I wonder how many of those 1,000 armoured vehicle fell pray to the mounted tank hunters?

Note to self: Add this campaign to the endless list you know duck all about and will research.

I'm in the 17th century for warfare research and reading these days. Remember who saved Europe from the Muslim invasion in 1683 with the largest cavalry attack in history? ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna

Twoje zdrowie!

SoD

[Bob]

The American Trump Restaurant is different than the one in Syria. It serves only steaming bullshit garnished with gold leaf for $500 (£615) a plate. It's worth the price because the waiters constantly insult foreigners, reporters, Washington DC, conservatives, establishment Republicans, liberals and Democrats.

[Loz]

By George and all the Saints!

Did you know that croissants, bagels and cappuccino were all culinary inventions in celebration of the victory of the Battle of Vienna 1683? ...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna

Several culinary legends are related to the Battle of Vienna.

One legend is that the croissant was invented in Vienna, either in 1683 or during the earlier siege in 1529, to celebrate the defeat of the Ottoman attack on the city, with the shape referring to the crescents on the Ottoman flags. This version of the origin of the croissant is supported by the fact that croissants in France are a variant of Viennoiserie, and by the French popular belief that Vienna-born Marie Antoinette introduced the pastry to France in 1770.

Another legend from Vienna has the first bagel as being a gift to King John III Sobieski to commemorate the King's victory over the Ottomans. It was fashioned in the form of a stirrup to commemorate the victorious charge by the Polish cavalry. The veracity of this legend is uncertain, as there is a reference in 1610 to a bread with a similar-sounding name, which may or may not have been the bagel.

There is an often recited story that, after the battle, the residents of Vienna discovered many bags of coffee in the abandoned Ottoman encampment. The story goes on that, using this captured stock, Franciszek Jerzy Kulczycki opened the first coffeehouse in Vienna and one of his ideas was to serve coffee with milk, a practice that was unknown in the Islamic world.[45][46] However, this story was first mentioned in 1783; the first coffeehouse in Vienna had been established by the Armenian Johannes Theodat in 1685.[47] Another more likely story is that the captured stock of bitter coffee was mixed with sugar and steamed milk to produce a drink that was named Cappuccino (or kapuziner, in German) either in honor of the Capuchin Franciscan Marco d'Aviano who had inspired the Christian forces to unity and defense or because the Capuchin priest had a role in inventing it.

The next time I'm suckling on a cappo and stuffing my face with a croissant, which will likely be brekkie tomorrow morning and every morning until the lights go off, I shall raise a glass of orange juice to King John III Sobieski and his Winged Hussars, saviours of Europe.

SoD