Wawelberg Group The Wawelberg Group ( ) , also known as the Konrad Wawelberg Destruction Group ( ) , was a Polish special - forces unit . The group began the Third Silesian Uprising on May 2 / 3 , 1921 by blowing up seven rail bridges linking Upper Silesia with the rest of Germany . Origins . The Wawelberg Group was organized by the Polish General Staff ' s Section II ( Intelligence ) as the " Destruction Office " in the waning days of 1920 ( see " History of Polish intelligence services " ) as rumors flew that the Inter - Allied Plebiscite Commission would grant almost all of Upper Silesia to Germany . Prompted by the rumors , the Polish Military Organization of Upper Silesia , which actively cooperated with the Polish Army , had begun forming a small , highly - specialized unit which would come to be called the Wawelberg Group . The Destruction Office took the " Wawelberg " name from the " nom de guerre " of its commander , Captain Tadeusz Puszczyński — " Konrad Wawelberg . " Puszczyński was a graduate of the Warsaw Polytechnic and had served in the World War I Polish Legions and in the Polish Military Organization . He had also participated in the 1920 Second Silesian Uprising . His crucial task was to find the right people and carry out acts of sabotage in the rear of the German positions . All the men in the Wawelberg Group had to be skilled combat engineers with extensive knowledge of explosives . The Group . The Group ' s deputy commander was Lt . Edmund Charaszkiewicz . Puszczyński recruited , from among his soldiers , two officer cadet s ( " podchorąży " ) , the brothers Tadeusz and Janusz Meissner . All four men would later be decorated with the " Virtuti Militari " , 5th class , on June 27 , 1922 . Puszczyński divided his men into four teams — " A " , " G " , " U " and " N " . These designations came from the initial letters of the Polish phrase " Akcja Główna Unieruchomienia Niemców " ( " Main Operation to Immobilize the Germans " ) . All the agents were armed , wore civilian clothes , and were provided with money . The men of the Wawelberg Group knew that , to overcome German military superiority in the area , they had to cut the rail and telegraph links between Upper Silesia and Germany . Therefore the teams were deployed about the western part of Upper Silesia , ready to attack . Team G , 13 men commanded by Lt . Włodzimierz Dąbrowski , was deployed near Gogolin and ordered to watch the rail line between Krapkowice and Prudnik . Team U , 10 men commanded by Lt . Edmund Charaszkiewicz , was deployed on the border between Głubczyce and Prudnik counties , to keep an eye on the rail lines Głogówek – Racławice Śląskie – Prudnik , and Głubczyce – Racławice Śląskie . Puszczyński — " Wawelberg " — himself , with a small team ( including former German Army sapper Wiktor Wiechaczek and miner and explosives expert Herman Jurzyca ) , deployed in the deep rear of the German positions , at the village of Szczepanowice ( ) , some five kilometers west of Opole ( since 1936 , it is a district of Opole ) . Their task was to blow up the crucial 200 - meter - long Oder River rail bridge . Operation " Bridges " . The Poles ' plan , " Akcja Mosty " ( Operation " Bridges " ) , was implemented on the night of May 2 / 3 , 1921 . Puszczyński and his men , equipped with some 320 kilograms of explosives , after initial difficulties managed to destroy a span of the Szczepanowice bridge . The other groups also succeeded in their objectives . Altogether the Poles managed to destroy seven rail bridges at such places as Szczepanowice , Kluczbork , Kędzierzyn - Koźle , Głogówek and Świętochłowice . The blowing up of the bridges initiated the Third Silesian Uprising , the greatest and best - organized of the three . The Germans , taken by surprise , needed time to repair their severed communications and to transport their troops , and the Poles took advantage of the situation . All the major rail lines leading to Upper Silesia ( such as the Wroclaw – Opole – Katowice , and the Nysa – Kędzierzyn - Koźle ) had been immobilized . Two German military rail transports had also been destroyed . Aftermath . After the operation , most of the Polish agents managed to withdraw to Sosnowiec , which due to its proximity to the border was the main base of Polish operations . The Germans captured an unknown number of the men who had blown up the bridge at the village of Dobra ; they were imprisoned for a few weeks at Opole . Also caught , near Głubczyce , were two Poles who were trying to make their way to Czechoslovakia , but the Germans did not know their identity and released them . The Germans announced , in the June 18 , 1921 " Amts - Blatt der Königlichen Regierung zu Oppeln " ( Official Gazette of the Opole District ) , a reward of 10 , 000 Reichsmarks for information about the perpetrators of the attacks .