36th Infantry Regiment ( Poland ) The 36th Infantry Regiment of the Academic Legion ( Polish " 36 pułk piechoty Legii Akademickiej " , 36pp ) was a Polish military unit . Initially made up of students from the universities of Warsaw , it fought with distinction in the Polish - Bolshevik War , the Polish Defensive War and in the Warsaw Uprising . The regiment was an all - volunteer force made up of students from Warsaw - based universities on November 11 , 1918 , that is the day Poland regained her independence . Initially the unit was simply named " Infantry Regiment of the Academic Legion " and took part in disarming the Austro - Hungarian and German soldiers remaining on Polish territory . Accepted formally into the Polish Army on December 3 , it was renamed the " 36th Infantry Regiment " and on April 5 , 1919 , it was allowed to retain its former name as an honorary title . The regiment were sworn on December 13 and on January 4 , 1919 it left Warsaw for Lwów , which was then under siege by the forces of the West Ukrainian People ' s Republic . Attached to the relief force under Gen . Jan Romer , it was initially made up of two battalions and a small NCO school . The regiment suffered heavy losses and both battalions were eventually merged . However , the unit managed to break through to the besieged city through Żółkiew , Kulików and Homulec . After that on September 7 the unit was reinforced with additional battalions formed in Warsaw and Modlin . During the Polish - Bolshevik War the unit was dispatched to the front on May 14 , 1920 , and took part in heavy fighting during the Polish retreat westwards . On June 3 it took part in the victorious battle of Duniłowicze . After the war this date became the Regiment ' s feast day . On August 13 and the following days , the regiment again took part in the Battle of Ossów ( heavy fighting for the town of Osowiec and the village of Leśniakowizna during the battle of Warsaw ) . In a series of withdrawals and counter - attacks , and despite heavy losses , the regiment withstood the Bolshevik assault on Warsaw thus permitting Józef Piłsudski ' s main assault group to outflank and destroy the enemy . Among the fallen was the regiment ' s chaplain , Rev . Ignacy Skorupka and the commander of 2nd Battalion , Stanisław Matarewicz . During the fighting heavy losses were replaced with a battalion of an improvised 236th Infantry Regiment formed mostly of students and Scouts of the Warsaw borough of Praga . After the battle the regiment continued to pursue the retreating Russian forces in the Ukraine and on September 24 , 1920 , took part in the liberation of an important railway hub in the town of Szepietówka . During the interbellum , the regiment was attached to the Polish 28th Infantry Division and formed a part of the Warsaw garrison . It took part in the May Coup d ' État of 1926 fighting in the ranks of the supporters of Piłsudski . On August 23 , 1939 it was mobilized and attached to the Łódź Army . In September 1939 , Commanded by Col . Karol Ziemski , the Regiment was dispatched to Greater Poland , where the regiment took part in the Polish retreat through Łask , Pabianice and Brwinów , and managed to reach the Modlin Fortress . The March Battalion of the 36th Regiment was left in Warsaw and served as a core of the Polish 336th Infantry Regiment that took part in the defence of Warsaw . Split onto two separate regiments , the 1st and 2nd " Defenders of Praga " Infantry Regiments under Stanislaw Milian and Stefan Kotowski , the unit held out until the final capitulation of Warsaw . During the German occupation , veterans of the 36th Regiment were joined in the VI Home Army Area . During Operation Tempest the Regiment was recreated and took part in the Warsaw Uprising . The soldiers of the regiment fought in the failed uprising in Praga , but also in heavy fights for the boroughs of Żoliborz , Mokotów and Czerniaków . It was officially recreated by order of Tadeusz Bór - Komorowski out of three previously - existing partisan battalions . Led by Maj . Stanisław Błaszczak ( nom de guerre " Róg " ) , it was composed of the Krybar ( Cyprian Odorkiewicz ) , Dowgierd ( Stanisław Taczanowski ) and " Żmudzin " ( Bolesław Kontrym ) battalions , each named after their commanders ' noms de guerre . After the capitulation of the Uprising , the soldiers shared the fate of the rest of the Armia Krajowa . The Regiment was not recreated after the war and its banner , founded in 1921 by the universities of Warsaw , is currently in the Museum of the Polish Army in Warsaw . In 1966 the regiment was awarded the Virtuti Militari , the highest Polish military decoration , by Władysław Anders and the Polish Government in exile . On December 12 , 1992 , the historical heritage of the 36th Regiment was accepted by modern Trzebiatów - based Polish 36th Mechanized Regiment , in 1994 reformed into the Polish 36th Mechanized Brigade . In 1991 the last president of Poland in exile , Ryszard Kaczorowski , returned the pre - war insignia to the newly elected Polish president Lech Wałęsa . Among them was the original Virtuti Militari awarded to the unit in 1966 . Initially attached to the regimental banner in the Museum of the Polish Army , on June 3 , 2000 , it was given to the 36th Mechanized Brigade and attached to its modern banner . In 2008 brigade was solved .