Chapter 2
During the first three days of the uprising, the military operations of the German forces were fairly chaotic, as attempts made to fight their way through the east-west roads leading towards the front proved fruitless.
Following the outbreak of the uprising, tanks from the SS-Staufernkasern on Ulica Rakowiecka 4 opened fire on the insurgents and targeted, among other locations, the school area on Ulica Kazimierzowska, which had been attacked by units from the regiment “Bastza,” and subjected Ulica Pulawska to heavy shelling. That evening, Tiger tanks were deployed on the corner of Ulica Rakowiecka and Ulica Pulawska, making it impossible for the resistance fighters to attack in a northerly direction towards the police district. One or two Tiger tanks drove over to Aleja Szucha to evacuate Germans who had been wounded during the resistance troops’ attack during the afternoon, and then returned to the garrison on Ulica Rakowiecka.
In the city district of Wola, a band of resistance fighters in the area around Ulica Ksiecia Janusza was scattered by two tanks from Ulrychów, another area of Wola (the tanks had been requested by the crew of a so-called police ambulance that had been shot upon by insurgents on Plac Kercelego, and had then succeeded in making it to Ulrychów). After an hour of exchanging fire, AK-Lieutenant “Ostoja’s” unit was driven back. Just before the uprising broke out, several tanks had driven along Ulica Obozowa and occupied the roads ringing the embankment and viaduct. This action prevented the destruction of the viaduct (also the viaduct on Ulica Wolska) which the AK’s engineer troops had planned to carry out. That evening a powerful armoured combat force (from available sources it is not clear which unit was involved but in all likelihood it was most probably the 19th Panzer-Division) rolled along Ulica Targowa passing through the city district of Grochów in the direction of the frontline. En route, the Germans fired upon the central control building for the Polish State Railways on Ulica Wileńska, which the insurgents had taken over.
An act of desperation or a show of German inginuity? An Italian M14/41 with a German PzKpfw 738(i) re-used by German police troops after Italy had surrendered in 1943. In Warsaw, the German police used a handful of these vehicles. This vehicle was destroyed on the first day of the uprising at Ulica Piusa XI.
An Sd Kfz 263 armoured radio car belonging to RONA brigade.
At Plac Zamkowy (Castle Square), companies under the command of Lieutenant Jg “Wilk” and Lieutenant “Lawinas” fought against a StuG 40 under the command of Kannert from the Fallschirm- Panzer-Regiment “Herman Göring”. The StuG 40’s crew had tried to make their way through Warsaw as the fighting there spread. On August 2, Tiger Tanks from SS-Staufernkasern provided protection for the wounded being transported from the garrison on Ulica Rakowiecka to the airfield in Okęcie. The Tiger Tanks rolled along Ulica Rakowiecka, over Mokotów Field to Ulica Żwirki in Wigury, and from there to the airfield.
Hetzers from Panzerjäger-Abteilung 743. blocked all insurgent attempts to attack the Europejski and Bristol hotels and other targeted objectives within the so-called Government district; among them, Palac Saski (the Saski Palace) and Palac Blanka (Blank’s Palace), while at the same time providing protection for the German positions some distance from the City Hall and Ulica Bielańska. German armoured vehicles also fought at Ochota – in Kolonia Staszica and the area fronting Okęcie. It was probably the anti-aircraft artillery’s half-track vehicles, for example, its Sd Kfz 10/4 type models, or the heavier Sd Kfz 7/2 version from the Luftwaffe force, which were used as mobile support points, or centres, for air-defence. Tanks from Ulrychów also participated in the fighting and fired on the barricade which had been raised up on the corner of Ulica Mylnarska and Ulica Wolska, along with the collection of freedom-fighting troops whose intent was to attack the fuel depot on Ulica Wawrzyszewska. A vehicle from Bemfortet (a tank?) made a rush in the direction of Plac Krasińskiego (Krasińs’ Square) and the PWPW (the national mint) On Aleje Ujazdowskie, soldiers from the “Jelén” division destroyed two police ambulances. Resistance units also set fire to some lorries and police cars, either Mercedes-Benz 1500s or Fords. In addition, some additional vehicles, as for example, a Mercedes-Benz 1500A (4x4) police car, were captured.
On August 2, the Germans repeated the operational tactics of their armoured vehicles from the previous day. Poor intelligence regarding the lay out of the city and the resistance fighters’ stronger and better organised defence, however, caused the attackers heavy losses. The resistance fighters captured two Panther tanks and a Hetzer. Earlier, they had captured an armoured cash-transport lorry, built on the chassis of a Chevrolet, model 157.
A convoy of armoured transport vehicles protected by two tanks set out from Aleja Sucha toward the besieged PAST-building, (State Telephone Company) on Ulica Zielna. In the area surrounding Ulica Świetokrzyska the German convoy was attacked by resistance fighters. One of the transport vehicles caught fire, and the tanks – which had been hit and damaged – turned around and withdrew. On August 2, an offensive was launched along Aleja Róż supported by one of the PzKpfw 736 (i) tanks from the police platoon. It was damaged during the fighting but managed to make it back to Aleja Sucha. The German armoured vehicle force also employed Hetzers from Panzerjäger.Abteilung 743 in an area by the Powiśle Czerniakowskie River, and in an area around Ulica Krochmalna.
A German truck, Tatra T 27b, captured by insurgents on 3 August 1944 at Ulica Kredytowa.
Officers from RONA brigade conferring in Ochota. In the middle is Major Jurij Frolov, commander of the brigade’s first regiment.
The home army advance. Note the array of weapons including a German MG15, 7.92mm calibre and a Polish licence-manufactured US Browning M1918A2 (BAR) 7.9mm calibre.
RONA brigade advancing. Note the soldier in the middle carrying a Russian DP 7,62 calibre light-machine gun. RONA brigade comrpised Russian volunteers and were mainly equipped with Russian weapons.
A Polish platoon assembled on the morning of 1 August 1944. At the bottom of the photograph, part of the Polish army’s self-made sub-machine gun can be seen. It was based on the British Sten gun.
The driver’s seat in an Sd Kfz 251 half-track vehicle.
The Victoria Hotel on Jasna Street served as the insurgent’s HQ during the first few weeks of August 1944.
A captured half-track vehicle, Sd Kfz 251/1 Ausf D belonging to 5.SS-Panzer-Division “Wiking” at Ulica Kopernika on 14 August 1944. From the left, in the vehicle: Sergeant Adam “Szary Wilk” Dewicz, Platoon Commander Tadeusz “Jas” Zielinski, Second Lieutenant Waclaw “Aspira” Jastzebowski. The fourth man’s identity is unknown.
A Polish platoon assembled on the morning of 1 August. Note that at least three of the soldiers are armed with sub-machine guns and hand grenades.
A captured half-track vehicle, Sd Kfz 251 /1 Ausf D belonging to 5.SS-Panzer-Division “Wiking” at Ulica Kopernika on 14 August 1944. From the left, in the vehicle: Sergeant Adam “Szary Wilk” Dewicz, Platoon Commander Tadeusz “Jas” Zielinski, Second Lieutenant Waclaw “Aspira” Jastzebowski. The fourth man’s identity is unknown.
German re-enforcements arriving in Warsaw. A half-track vehicle – Sd Kfz 250/1 – along with a motorcyclist navigate their way past a Polish barricade. Sd Kfz 250/1 were the smaller of the German half-track vehicles and were mainly used by reconnaisance battalions in the German motorised units.