Gray Ranks " Gray Ranks " ( ) was a codename for the underground paramilitary Polish Scouting Association ( " ) during World War II . The wartime organisation was created on 27 September 1939 , actively resisted and fought German occupation in Warsaw until 18 January 1945 , and contributed to the resistance operations of the Polish Underground State . Some of its members ( " — the Storm Groups ) were among the Home Army ' s best - trained troops . Though formally independent , the Gray Ranks worked closely with the Government Delegation for Poland and Home Army Headquarters . The Gray Ranks had their own headquarters , the " Naczelnictwo " , manned by five or six persons . Overview . Since its organization in 1916 , scouts within the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association ( " Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego " , ZHP ) had taken active part in all the conflicts Poland was engaged in around this time : Great Poland Uprising , Polish - Bolshevik War , Silesian Uprisings , and the Polish – Ukrainian War . After the German Invasion of Poland in 1939 , the Nazis recognized the ZHP as a threat . Polish Scouts and Guides were branded as criminals and banned . Under the leadership of Florian Marciniak , the ZHP carried on as a clandestine organization . The wartime Scouts evolved into the paramilitary " Szare Szeregi " ( " Gray Ranks " ) , reporting up through the Polish underground state and the Armia Krajowa resistance . The codename " Szare Szeregi " was adopted in 1940 . It was first used by underground scouting in Poznań . The name was coined after an early action of the Polish Scouting Association , in which boy scouts distributed propaganda leaflet s among Germans from Lithuania , Latvia and Estonia who had settled in the homes of Poles expelled to the General Government . To create confusion , the leaflets had been signed " SS " — later expanded to " Szare Szeregi " , a name that came to be adopted by the entire organization . Older Scouts carried out sabotage , armed resistance , and assassinations . The Girl Guides formed auxiliary units working as nurses , liaisons and munition carriers . Younger Scouts were involved in so - called minor sabotage under the auspice of the Wawer organization , which included dropping leaflet s or painting the kotwica sign on the walls . During Operation Tempest , and especially during the Warsaw Uprising , the Scouts participated in the fighting , and several " Szare Szeregi " units were some of the most effective in combat . The Gray Ranks also included the White Couriers , who between late fall 1939 and mid - 1940 helped smuggle many persons out of Soviet - occupied southeastern Poland into Hungary . In 1940 , the Soviet Union executed most of the Boy Scouts held at Ostashkov prison . In 1945 the ZHP restored its former name and returned to public existence . However , the communist authorities of Poland pressured the organization to become a member of the Pioneer Movement and eventually it was banned in 1949 . The only existing part of pre - war ZHP is ZHP pgK . Principles . The Gray Ranks followed the prewar principles of the Polish Scouting Association : service to the people and country , and education and improvement of their skills . In addition to the prewar oath , the following line was added : In addition to the Scouting moral code , the Gray Ranks also followed a basic three - step path of action . The program was nicknamed " " Dziś - jutro - pojutrze " " ( " Today - tomorrow - the day after " ) : Structure . The Gray Ranks ' structure was based on the prewar structure of the Polish Scouting Association , modified to suit the new circumstances of occupation and repression . The basic unit was the troop ( " drużyna " ) , comprising some 20 boys or girls . Each troop was composed of several squads ( " zastępy " ) , each " zastęp " comprising 7 persons . Several troops from a specified area ( city district , village or town ) formed a district ( " hufiec " ) , which in turn formed part of a region ( " chorągiew " — literally , a banner or standard ) . During World War II , the several units were referred to by their own code - names : The commander ' s office and headquarters of the Gray Ranks were code - named " the Apiary " ( " Pasieka " ) . The Gray Ranks ' successive commanders were : At the apogee of the Gray Ranks ' strength , Headquarters commanded 20 banners . To control the movement , the area of prewar Poland was divided into departments , each supervising several banners : An additional banner was formed in the General Government and commanded all the scouts from Greater Poland expelled from their homes by the Germans ( ul " Chrobry " - beehive " Chrobry " ) . An additional banner was formed for scouts expelled from their homes to the General Government ( " ul Złoty " - " Gold beehive " ) . Coordination among the departments and beehives was directed by inspectors subordinate to the Headquarters : Eugeniusz Stasiecki , Edward Zurn and Kazimierz Grenda . Ranks by age . As of 1 May 1944 , the Gray Ranks numbered 8 , 359 members . Initially only older scouts ( Senior Scouts , Senior Guides , Rovers and Rangers ) , aged 17 and up , were admitted . Soon , however , younger children were admitted , and in 1942 a new structure was adopted , based largely on the prewar structure of the Polish Scouting Association . " Zawisza " . Troops organised for children between 12 and 14 years of age were code - named Zawisza , after Zawisza Czarny , a medieval Polish knight and diplomat . The troops did not take part in active resistance . Instead , the children were prepared for auxiliary service for the upcoming all - national uprising and taught in secret schools for their future duties in liberated Poland . Among the best - known auxiliary troops formed by the " Zawiszacy " was the Scouting Postal Service organised during the Warsaw Uprising . Combat Schools . The Combat Schools ( " Bojowe Szkoły " ) comprised youngsters aged 15 to 17 . They took part in " small - sabotage " operations . These included propaganda operations directed at the Poles , German civilians and German military units . The best - known operations were : Other famous operations included marking street lamps as " " Nur für Deutsche " " ( " Only for Germans " ) , implying that those who hanged people would themselves be hanged ( from street lamps ) . Other operations occurred after the Germans began destroying monuments to Polish national heroes and historical personalities . These included a monument to Jan Kiliński , leader of an 18th - century Warsaw uprising against the Russians during the Kościuszko Uprising . The Germans dismantled the monument and placed it in the cellars of the former National Museum , for delivery to a German steel mill . The scouts were notified of where the monument was hidden and overnight marked the walls of the former museum , " People of Warsaw ! I am here . Kiliński " . As part of their secret training , the Combat Schools boys and girls prepared for service with the Home Army as members of commanders ' troops , communication units , and reconnaissance units . During the Warsaw Uprising , Combat Schools units in Warsaw ' s Downtown District formed a company ; in other districts , they formed platoon s . Assault groups . The Assault Groups ( " Grupy Szturmowe " ) , comprising youngsters aged 17 and up , were directly subordinate to the Home Army ' s " KeDyw " ( Directorate of Diversion ) . The groups trained at secret NCO schools and officer schools for commanders of motorised and engineering units . Most members also studied at underground universities , to gain knowledge necessary to reconstruct Poland after the war . The best - known NCO schools included Warsaw ' s Agricola . The assault groups took part in " major sabotage " , including armed struggle against the occupiers . The assault groups formed the backbone of the Home Army ' s special troops . They liberated prisoners from German prisons and transports , blew up railroad bridges , carried out executions ordered by special courts , and fought pitched battles against German forces . The assault groups in Warsaw were organised into several battalions , including the famous " " Baszta " " , " " Zośka " " , " " Parasol " " and " " Wigry " " , which later took part in the Warsaw Uprising and were among the most notable and successful units on the Polish side . Other units , mainly in the Radom - Kielce area , joined the partisan units operating in the forests of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains . Assault - group operations . Notable assault - group operations included :