8th Infantry Division ( Poland ) The 8th Infantry Division was a tactical unit of the Polish Army . It was active in the Polish - Bolshevik War , as well as during the Invasion of Poland in 1939 . During World War II , the division was reformed twice as part of two distinct armed forces : once as part of the Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising and again as part of the Polish Army in the East . History . Polish - Bolshevik War . The division was formed at the end of World War I as one of the first large infantry units of the renascent Polish state . It took part in the Polish - Bolshevik War . At the end of the war , in September 1920 the division ( then composed of four infantry regiments ( namely 13th , 21st , 33rd and 36th ) had 6210 men under arms and formed the core of the Reserves of the General Staff , along with the Siberian Brigade and 20th Infantry Division . As part of Gen . Latinik ' s Operational Group of Gen . Iwaszkiewicz ' s Polish 6th Army , the division ( then commanded by Col . Stanisław Burhardt - Bukacki ) took part in the Battle of Lwów and Polish - Ukrainian operations in Bolshevik - held Ukraine . After the cease - fire and the Treaty of Riga , the division was partially demobilized and its regiments were stationed in a number of Mazovia n towns , including Modlin , Pułtusk , Warsaw , Działdowo and Płock . Outbreak of World War II . During the Polish mobilization of 1939 , prior to the invasion of Poland , the division was mobilized and dispatched to the area west of Ciechanów , where it was to form a strategic reserve of the Polish Modlin Army defending the Modlin Fortress and the northern approaches to Warsaw . Commanded by Col . Teodor Wyrwa - Furgalski , the unit was to enter combat should the Germans break through the Polish lines . However , already on September 2 , the division was dispatched to the area of Mława , where it was to support the Polish units fighting in the Battle of Mława . The 8th Division arrived in the area in the early hours of September 3 . As the Mazovian Cavalry Brigade operating further eastwards was also endangered by German armoured troops , the army commander ordered the division to split its forces and attack in two directions : towards Grudusk east of Mława and towards Przasnysz . However , conflicting orders and German saboteurs operating in the rear disrupted both attacks and led to chaos in the Polish ranks . The situation was further complicated by insufficient reconnaissance , which led to several skirmishes between friendly forces . At first , the organic cavalry assaulted the staff company , mistakenly taking it for enemy forces , while later that day the 13th Infantry Regiment assaulted 32nd Infantry Regiment of Lt . Col . Stefan Zając . In the evening , the division was mostly dispersed and only the 21st Infantry Regiment of Colonel ( later General ) Stanisław Sosabowski managed to withdraw from the fights towards the Modlin Fortress . His forces were later joined by elements of the 13th Regiment rallied by its commander , while the remnants of the division , including the major part of the 32nd Regiment , were rallied by the division ' s commanding officer west of Opinogóra . The latter group started a retreat towards Modlin , where it suffered significant casualties from enemy aerial bombardment . Finally , the division arrived at the Modlin Fortress , where it received reinforcements and manned the defences of the area . The 32nd Regiment manned the Forts No . 1 and 2 , the organic artillery ( including the 8th Heavy Artillery Detachment ) manned the line east of Kazuń . Overnight of September 7 , the 21st Regiment arrived in the area , but was then dispatched further southwards to take part in the battle of Warsaw , while the 13th Regiment under Lt . Col . Alojzy Nowak manned the line along the Vistula near Gniewniewice , west of Modlin . Despite being badly shaken in the first days of the war , the division was successfully reorganized and defended its positions until the capitulation of the Modlin Fortress on September 29 . Polish Army in the East . Following the Sikorski - Mayski Agreement , in February 1942 , a Polish division started to be formed in Chok - Pak in Kazakhstan . The new unit , formed primarily of Polish soldiers previously held in Soviet Gulags , was commanded by Col . Bronisław Rakowski and received the name of 8th Infantry Division . However , it did not share the traditions of the pre - 1939 unit . Following the evacuation of Polish forces to Persia and then to the Middle East , the division was disbanded and its men were transferred to various other units of the Polish II Corps . Operation Tempest . In 1944 , during Operation Tempest , the command of the Home Army decided to unite various partisan units into regular divisions that would later form the core of the recreated Polish Army . The new division scheme was based on the pre - war territorial division of the Polish armed forces and the new units not only shared the traditions of their pre - war counterparts , but also a large number of soldiers and officers who were veterans of the pre - war units , who had returned home after the Polish Defensive War . During the Warsaw Uprising , all of the forces of the Warsaw Corps of the Home Army were reorganized into three divisions . One of them , composed of partisan units fighting in the borough of Żoliborz and separated forces fighting in Kampinos Forest , received the name of 8th " Romuald Traugutt " Infantry Division . Commanded by Lt . Col . Mieczysław Niedzielski ( nom de guerre " Żywiciel " ) , the unit was composed of the recreated 13th Infantry Regiment ( Kampinos ) and the 21st , 22nd and 32nd Regiments ( Żoliborz ) , as well as an improvised 7th Uhlans Regiment . The division took part in heavy fighting until the end of the Uprising . Eastern Front . After the Soviet take - over of much of Poland in 1944 , the Communist authorities started to form the 8th Division of the Polish People ' s Army in the area of Siedlce . The division , as well as its regiments ( 32nd , 34th and 36th Infantry , and 37th Light Artillery ) , received the numbers of the pre - war unit , but did not share its traditions . The new unit , formed in accordance with Soviet rules , became operational in early April 1945 . On April 15 , it was attached to the Polish 2nd Army and the following day it entered combat in the area of the Lausitzer Neisse river during the Battle of Dresden . After crossing the river , the division - deprived of artillery and air cover - took part in the heavy fighting for Nieder Neudorf and the village of Biehain . On April 17 , aided by the badly beaten Polish 16th Armoured Brigade , the division continued its assault on Ober and Mittel Horka defended by the elite Brandenburger Regiment . After the initial failure , the division managed to break the German resistance in an all - out assault and reached the Weisser Schops River , which it crossed under heavy enemy fire . Then the unit crossed the Neu Graben Canal and captured the towns of Odernitz ( 36th Regiment ) and Niesky ( 32nd Regiment ) . The latter town was captured after two days of heavy struggles . In the following days , the division continued the assault with heavy losses , capturing the towns and villages of See , Mocholz , Zischelmuhle and Stockteich . After repelling the German counter - attack south of Niessky , on April 20 , the division started a pursuit after the fleeing Germans , breaking the resistance at Gebelzig , Gross Saubernitz , Baruth / Mark and Guttau . On April 25 , the division reached the line of Strochschutz - Grossbrosern - Colln , after which it was stopped and then withdrawn to the rear for reinforcement . After the war . The division suffered heavy losses in the poorly planned operation in Saxony . Nevertheless , the Communist authorities claimed the operation to be a major success and the division received the name of " 8th " Dresden " Infantry Division " and the new patron in the person of Bartosz Głowacki , a Polish 18th century peasant hero ( ) . Parts of the division ( roughly 2 , 500 men of the 1st , 8th and 36th Regiments ) were then attached to the " Wisła Operational Group " and took part in the infamous Operation Vistula against the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the civilian population of the eastern Beskides . The action lasted until July 1947 , when the unit was withdrawn and partially demobilized . On March 30 , 1949 the unit was transferred to Western Pomerania and reformed into the Polish 8th Motorized Infantry Division , which became the direct predecessor of the modern 8th Mechanised Division . Both were active within the Pomeranian Military District .