Piłsudczyk ( armoured train ) Piłsudczyk ( literally " Piłsudskyite " ) was a Polish armoured train of early 20th century . It was among the first armoured trains serving with the Polish Army and took part in the Polish - Ukrainian War of 1918 - 1919 , the subsequent Polish - Soviet War and the Silesian Uprisings . Kept in reserve during the inter - war years it was again mobilised and used during the Nazi - Soviet Invasion of Poland of 1939 . It was destroyed by its ' crew on 20 September 1939 at the train station of Mrozy . In early November 1918 , during the turbulent period of collapse of Austria - Hungary , the Polish troops captured an intact Austro - Hungarian train at the station in Prokocim near Cracow . It was composed of two modern artillery cars , two infantry cars and one assault car . The train was quickly split onto two armoured trains : Piłsudczyk , named in honour of the Polish Commander - in - Chief Józef Piłsudski , and Śmiały . Both were then accepted into the nascent Polish Army and took part in the Battle of Lwów , where they were crucial in lifting the Ukrainian siege of the city . In 1921 the crew of the train took part in the 3rd Silesian Uprising , among others in the battle of Kędzierzyn , where casualties reached 20 % of the crew . After the war the train was refurbished and attached to the armoured train school , and then in 1927 to the Niepołomice - based 2nd Armoured Train Squadron . As a train used for training of recruits , it was kept in fighting condition at all times , unlike most other Polish trains . By 1939 it was upgraded and extended to include : The train was armed with two ex - Russian armata wz . 02 / 26 guns , two ex - Austro - Hungarian 100mm Haubica wz . 1914 / 1919 howitzers and 19 heavy machine guns , and was reinforced with a TK - 3 tankette and a Renault FT tank , both refitted as draisine s . Mobilised on 25 August 1939 , the train was refitted with an additional unarmoured engine and attached to the Army Łódź , to reinforce the 30th Infantry Division in the area of Działoszyn . Following the outbreak of World War II the train fended off numerous attacks by German aviation , however the destruction of rail lines prevented the train from reaching the front line . It then withdrew to Widawa and then to Łask , where it was attached to the 28th Infantry Division . The train then patrolled the rails in the vicinity of Łódź , fending off many more air attacks . On 6 September it withdrew towards Warsaw with a special mission of escorting a transport of gold deposits from the banks of Poznań . It reached Warsaw on September 8 . Attached to the Wyszków Operational Group , the train then operated near Legionowo , Tłuszcz , Rembertów , Mińsk Mazowiecki and Siedlce . As the German motorised units outflanked the Polish defenders and captured both Mińsk and Siedlce , the train was caught in a traffic jam in a large cauldron to the east of Warsaw . Encircled by the Germans in the same cauldron were the supply train of Generał Sosnkowski , the 17th Railway Company and 17 different evacuation trains . An ad - hoc battle group was formed by the crews of the trains and commanded by Col . Mikołaj Prus - Więckowski , who decided to defend the area . Unable to escape encirclement , the train patrolled the Sosnowe - Mrozy line , where it defeated numerous German attacks . However , in a skirmish on 17 September one of the artillery cars was knocked out and in the evening had to leave the town of Mrozy . The following day the crew retook the town from the Germans , but on 19 September the assault car was lost too . Cut off from the Polish lines , by 20 September the train had only one gun and 3 machine guns operational , and no more than 6 shells for the single artillery piece . The train had to be abandoned at Mrozy and was destroyed by its ' crew not to fall into German or Soviet hands . The crew of Piłsudczyk tried to unsuccessfully reach Warsaw on foot , but instead joined the Independent Operational Group Polesie and continued to fight the Germans and Soviets until the battle of Kock .