# Polish People's Army

The Polish People's Army (Polish: Ludowe Wojsko Polskie, pronounced; LWP) was the second formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the East during the latter stages of the Second World War (1943–1945), and subsequently the armed forces of the Polish communist state (1945–1989), which was formalized in 1952 as the Polish People's Republic.
The creation of communist-led Polish armed forces that were outside the command of the Polish government-in-exile was allowed and facilitated by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, following efforts made in the early 1940s by Soviet-based Polish exiles Wanda Wasilewska and Zygmunt Berling.
Initially called the Polish Army in the USSR from 1943 to 1944, it became the Polish Troops and Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland from 1944 to 1952, and thereafter the Armed Forces of the Polish People's Republic. During these restructurings, the Polish military was increasingly integrated into Soviet military and command structures, becoming comparatively more distinct and independent in 1956.
On 7 October 1950, the anniversary of the Battle of Lenino—one of the first major engagements of Polish Armed Forces in the East against Axis forces—was declared the official "Day of the Polish People's Army" by the People's Republic.

## History
### World War II

What became the LWP was formed during World War II, in May 1943, as the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division, which developed into the First Polish Army, unofficially known as Berling's Army. Because of the shortage of Polish officers and the policies of the Soviet Union, in March 1945 Soviet Red Army officers accounted for nearly 52% of the officer corps (15,492 out of 29,372). Around 4,600 of them remained in the LWP by July 1946.
It was not the only Polish formation that fought on the Allied side, nor the first one formed in the East. The earlier Polish force formed in the Soviet Union, known as Anders' Army, was loyal to the Polish government-in-exile and by that time had moved to Iran. The communist-led Polish forces soon grew beyond the 1st Division into two major commands – the First Polish Army (initially under Zygmunt Berling) and the Second Polish Army (commanded by Karol Świerczewski). The First Polish Army participated in the Vistula–Oder Offensive, the Battle of Kolberg and the final Battle of Berlin.

### Immediate post-war years

After the war the Polish Army was reorganized into six (later seven) military districts. These were the Warsaw Military District, headquartered (HQ) in Warsaw, the Lublin Military District, HQ in Lublin, the Kraków Military District, HQ in Kraków, the Łódź Military District, HQ in Łódź, the Poznań Military District, HQ in Poznań, the Pomeranian Military District, HQ in Toruń, and the Silesian Military District, HQ in Katowice.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Polish Army was under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union, Marshal of Poland and Minister of Defense of Poland Konstantin Rokossovsky. It was increasingly integrated into Soviet military structure and organization. This process was mitigated in the aftermath of the Polish October of 1956, when Władysław Gomułka formalized aspects of Poland's military relationship with the Soviet Union. The Sovietization of the armed forces structure was phased out altogether and thus the combat and service support structures were integrated once more into regular combat formations following the old Polish model.

### Cold War

An anti-Zionist purge in the Polish Army took place in 1968 to systematically remove soldiers of Jewish origin, following the Six-Day War between Israel and Arab countries.

## Characteristics
### Uniform

In 1949, the first fundamental uniform reform after the war was made. The "Dress Rules for the Soldiers of the Polish Army" were introduced and were to apply from January 1, 1951.
In the Polish People's Army, a soft field cap modeled on the pre-war one was introduced. After the war, the pre-war garrison caps were used again. Stiffened caps were only worn until around 1950 when they were completely replaced by round caps. In 1982, the Polish Rogatywka, modeled on the pattern from 1935, were restored in the Polish Army's Representative Company.
In the late 1950s, camouflaged field uniforms were introduced, starting with:
* wz. 58 "deszczyk" – used since 1958 to 1968.
* wz. 68 "moro" – used since 1968 to 1989.
* wz. 89 "puma" – incompletely implemented in 1989.

### Chaplaincy

Throughout the entire period of the existence of the Polish People's Army, its officers and soldiers were provided with pastoral care. Such a service was provided by the General Dean's Office of the Polish Army.

### Training

In the 1980s, the Polish People's Republic had 4 military academies and 11 higher officers' schools, which trained auxiliary corpsmen and corresponded in rank to higher educational institutions. In 1954, judo instructors from the Warsaw and Kraków institutes of physical culture, participated in the training program for border guards and military personnel of the airborne units of the Polish army.

## Equipment

| Helmet | Origin | Type | Notes |
| SSh-39/SSh-40 | Soviet Union | Combat helmet | Used during World War II and shortly after |
| Hełm wz. 31/50 | Polish People's Republic | Combat helmet | Pre-war polish helmet after modernisations |
| Hełm wz. 50 | Polish People's Republic | Combat helmet | Standard helmet in 1950-1967 |
| Hełm wz. 63 | Polish People's Republic | Paratrooper helmet | Used by airbone troops and special units. |
| Hełm wz. 67 Hełm wz. 67/75 | Polish People's Republic | Combat helmet | Standard helmet from 1967 to 1989. |
| Weapon | Origin | Type | Notes |
| P-64 | Polish People's Republic | Semi-automatic pistol | |
| P-83 | Polish People's Republic | Semi-automatic pistol | |
| P-33 | Polish People's Republic | Semi-automatic pistol | Licensed copy of TT-33. |
| AKM AKMS | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | Assault rifle | Standard issue rifle |
| PM-84 | Polish People's Republic | Submachine gun | Limited use |
| PM-63 | Polish People's Republic | Submachine gun | Standard submachine gun form 1963 till 1989 |
| 7.62 mm pm wz.41 | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | Submachine gun | Polish PPSh-41 produced domestically. |
| SWD | Soviet Union | Designated sniper rifle | Standard marksman rifle of PPA |
| PK | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | General purpose machinegun | Standard general purpose machinegun of PPA |
| SKS | Soviet Union | Semi-automatic rifle | |
| Mosin–Nagant | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic  Russian Empire | Bolt-action rifle | Domestically produced. |
| SG-43 Goryunov | Polish People's Republic  Soviet Union | Machine gun | |
| RPG-7 | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | Light AT weapon | |

### Ground Forces

| Tank | Origin | Version | In service | Notes |
| T-60 | Soviet Union | | 3 pcs. - 1944-1945 | After the war, several pieces were sent to military schools. |
| T-70 | Soviet Union | | 53 pcs. - 1944-1945 | Some of the tanks used after 1945 by the Internal Security Corps. |
| T-34 | Soviet Union | 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943 | 118 pcs. - 1944-1945 | According to Magnuski, many different versions of the T-34 vehicle were used, both early production and modernized ones. |
| T-34-85 | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | M1, M2 | 328 pcs. - 1944–1945. 1083 pcs. - 1955, 1444 pcs. - 1960, 417 pcs. - 1985 | Domestically produced 1355 pcs. between 1952 and 1956. In 1985, the military had 417 pieces of M1, M2 versions. |
| PT-76 | Soviet Union | PT-76, PT-76B | 68 pcs. - 1965, 108 pcs. - 1970, 112 pcs. - 1985, 30 pcs. 1990 | Some of the tanks were modernized in Poland by adding a DSzK HMG above the loader's hatch. |
| T-54 | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | A, AD, AM, AM1, AM2, T-55U | 1258 pcs. - 1965, 998 pcs. - 1970 | Between 1956 and 1964, 2,000 T-54 tanks were produced under license in Poland. |
| T-55 | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | A, AD, AD-1, AD-2, AM, AD1M, AD2M, AMS | 128 pcs. - 1965, 956 pcs. - 1970, 2653 pcs., 2100 pcs. - 1990 | Between 1964 and 1980, 5,000 T-55s were produced. Most of it was exported. |
| T-72 | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | M, M1 | 317 pcs. - 1985, 700 pcs. - 1990 | In the years 1981–1990, Zakłady Mechaniczne Bumar-Łabędy produced approximately 1,600 T-72 tanks. |
| IS-2 | Soviet Union | M | 50 pcs. - 1944–1945, 180 pcs. - 1955, 75 pcs. - 1960 | Withdrawn from use in the 1960s. |
| IS-3 | Soviet Union | | 2 or 3 pcs. | Brought for testing purposes. They did not come into use. Two copies have been preserved in museums in Poznań and Warsaw. |
| TD/SPG | Origin | Version | In service | Notes |
| SU-57 | USA  Soviet Union | SPG | 15 pcs. - 1944–1945, Few pcs. survived war. | Withdrawn from use in the 1950s. |
| SU-76 | Soviet Union | SPG | 130 pcs. - 1944–1945, 206 pcs. - 1955. | Withdrawn from use in the 1950s. |
| SU-85 | Soviet Union | TD | 70 pcs. - 1944–1945, 51 pcs. - 1955, 43 pcs. - 1960 | Withdrawn from use in the 1960s. |
| SU-100 | Soviet Union | TD | At least 3 pcs. - 1943-1945 | Withdrawn from use in the 1950s. |
| ISU-122S | Soviet Union | SPG | 32 pcs. – 1944–1945, 399 pcs. (together with ISU-152) – 1955, 49 pcs. – 1960 | Withdrawn from use in the 1960s. |
| SU-152 | Soviet Union | SPG | 3 pcs. - 1944-1945 | |
| ISU-152 | Soviet Union | SPG | 10 pcs. – 1944–1945, 399 pcs. (together with ISU-122S) – 1955 | Withdrawn from use in the 1950s. |
| ASU-85 | Soviet Union | SPG | 20-30 pcs. - 1965-1975 | Withdrawn from use in the second half of 1970s. |
| 2S1 Goździk | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | SPG | 166 pcs. - 1985, 490 pcs. - 1990 | Licensed production launched in the 1980s at Huta Stalowa Wola. |
| wz.77 DANA | Czechoslovak Socialist Republic | SPG | | The first copies appeared in WP in the mid-1980s. |
| APC/IFV | Origin | Version | In service | Notes |
| BWP-1 | Soviet Union  Polish People's Republic | IFV | 1 400 | |
| BMP-2 | Soviet Union | IFV | 62 | Sold to Angola after communism fell in country. |
| MT-LB | Soviet Union | APC | 15 | |
| TOPAS | Czechoslovakia  Polish People's Republic | WPT-TOPAS, -2AP, R-2, R-3 | 120 pcs. - 1968, 70 pcs. - 1990 | Jointly developed by Poland and Czechoslovakia |
| SKOT | Czechoslovakia  Polish People's Republic | -1A, -2A, S-260 Art, S-260 Inż., -WPT, -2AP, R-1, R-2, R2M, R2AM, R-3, R-3M, R-3AM, R-4, R-6 | 548 pcs. - 1966 2 500 total production form Polish Army | Jointly developed by Poland and Czechoslovakia between 1963 and 1971. |
| BTR-60 | Soviet Union | PU-12 | | Included with the 9K33 Osa SAM system delivered between 1980 and 1985. |
| BRDM-1 | Soviet Union | | | The first ones entered the army in the 1960s |
| BRDM-2 | Soviet Union | 9P133, 9P148, RS, 9P31 | 800 pcs. - 1990 | |
| FUG | Hungarian People's Republic | | | The first ones entered the army in the 1960s |

### Air Force

| Model | Origin | Type | In service |
| Lim-1 | Polish People's Republic | Fighter | 227 |
| Lim-2 | Polish People's Republic | Fighter | 500 |
| Lim-5 | Polish People's Republic | Fighter | 477 |
| MiG-19 | Soviet Union | Fighter | 33 |
| MiG-21 | Soviet Union | Fighter | 600 |
| MiG-23 | Soviet Union | Fighter | 40 |
| MiG-29 | Soviet Union | Fighter | 12 |
| Sukhoi Su-7 | Soviet Union | Attack Aircraft | 50 |
| Su-20 | Soviet Union | Attack Aircraft | 40 |
| Sukhoi Su-22 | Soviet Union | Attack Aircraft | 110 |
| Ilyushin Il-28 | Soviet Union | Bomber | 80 |
| Antonov An-2 | Soviet Union | Transport | N/A |
| Antonov An-26 | Soviet Union | Transport | 20 |
| Ilyushin Il-14 | Soviet Union | Transport | 30 |
| Mil Mi-8 | Soviet Union | Helicopter | 80 |
| Mil Mi-2 | Soviet Union | Helicopter | 200 |
| Mil Mi-24 | Soviet Union | Attack helicopter | 40 |

### Artillery
#### Rocket Artillery

* RM-70- 30
* BM-21 Grad-250 in 1980s.
* 9K52 Luna-M- 40 launchers in 1980s
* R-11 Zemlya - 22 launchers in 1960s
* Scud B- 25 launchers in 1980s

#### Towed artillery

* 76 mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3)
* 122 mm howitzer M1938 (M-30)- 715
* 152 mm gun-howitzer D-20-166

##### Selfpropelled artillery

* 2S1 Gvozdika-498
* 152 mm SpGH DANA- 111
* 2S7 Pion-8

### Air defense
#### Mobile missile

* 2K12 Kub
* 2K11 Krug
* 9K33 Osa

#### Mobile self-propelled AA guns

* ZSU-23-4 Shilka-150 were delivered from USSR until 1991
Towed anti-aircraft gun
* ZU-23-2-252 ZU-23 and 72 ZUR-23-2 series

### Artillery tractors

* Mazur D-350
* ATS-59
* AT-T

### Utility vehicles

* Willys MB
* Gaz-67
* Gaz-69
* UAZ-469
* FSC Lublin-51
* Gaz-66
* Ził-130
* Ził-131
* Ził-157
* KrAZ-255
* Star 28/29
* Star 66
* Star 660
* Star 200
* Star 244
* Star 266

## Engagements

* Battle of Lenino - 1943
* Lublin–Brest offensive - 1944
* Battle of Studzianki - 1944
* Vistula-Oder offensive - 1945
* Battle of Kolberg - 1945
* Siege of Danzig - 1945
* Battle of the Seelow Heights - 1945
* Battle of Bautzen - 1945
* Battle of Berlin - 1945
* Anti-communist resistance in Poland (1944–1946)
* Battles for Bircza - 1945–1946
* Operation Vistula - 1947
* Poznań protests of 1956
* Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia - 1968
* Polish protests of 1970
* Pacification of Wujek - 1981
* Martial law in Poland (13 December 1981 – 22 July 1983)