Kraków Army was one of the Polish armies to take part in the Polish Defensive War

Invasion of Poland (1939)

The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...

 of 1939. It was officially created on March 23, 1939 as the main pivot

Pivot

Pivot may refer to:* Pivot, the point of rotation in a lever system* More generally, the center point of any rotational system* Pivot joint, a kind of joint between bones in the body* Pivot turn, a dance move- Computing :...

 of Polish defence. It was commanded by Gen. Antoni Szylling

Antoni Szylling

Antoni Szylling was a Polish general, considered, along with Generals Wiktor Thommée and Stanisław Maczek, to have been one of the most successful Polish Army commanders during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.-Biography:...

.

Tasks

Its main task was to delay advancing German troops and withdraw eastwards along the northern line of the Carpathians

Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...

 and defend the heavily industrialized

Upper Silesian Industry Area

Upper Silesian Coal Basin is a coal basin in Silesia in Poland and Czech Republic. It also contains a number of other minable resources...

 Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...

 region.

Operational history

During the war it was forced to retreat when German push penetrated Polish defences to the north and flanked it. It tried to organize lines of defense on the rivers of Nida

Nida River

Nida is a river in central Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river , with a length of 151 kilometres and a basin area of 3,865 km2. This includes the protected area called Nida Landscape Park.Towns and townships;...

, Dunajec and later, San

San River

The San is a river in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, a tributary of the Vistula River, with a length of 433 km and a basin area of 16,861 km2...

. Later in the course of war it joined the Armia Karpaty, forming the Małopolska Army. Together they fought at the first battle of Tomaszów Lubelski

Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski

Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski took place from 17 September to 26 September 1939 near the town of Tomaszów Lubelski. It was the second largest battle of the Invasion of Poland and also the largest tank battle of the campaign. It resulted in the destruction of the Polish forces...

 (September 17–20), capitulating afterwards.

Organization

The Army was commanded by general Antoni Szylling

Antoni Szylling

Antoni Szylling was a Polish general, considered, along with Generals Wiktor Thommée and Stanisław Maczek, to have been one of the most successful Polish Army commanders during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.-Biography:...

; his chief of staff was colonel S. Wiloch.

It consisted of four infantry divisions, two mountain infantry divisions, one motorized cavalry brigade, one mountain brigade and one cavalry brigade.

Kraków Army	Unit	Polish name	Commander	Remarks
Army units - gen. Antoni Szylling Antoni Szylling Antoni Szylling was a Polish general, considered, along with Generals Wiktor Thommée and Stanisław Maczek, to have been one of the most successful Polish Army commanders during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.-Biography:...
	6th Infantry Division 6th Infantry Division (Poland) Polish 6th Infantry Division was a unit of the Polish Army in the interbellum period, which took part in the Polish September Campaign. The Division was created on May 9, 1919 in the area around Krakow, its first commandant was Colonel Ignacy Pick....	6 Dywizja Piechoty	Bernard Mond Bernard Mond Bernard Stanisław Mond , son of Maurycy and Salomea Spanier, was a Jewish general of Polish Army in the interwar period. He fought in First World War, Polish-Ukrainian War, Polish-Soviet War and Second World War.In November 1918 he commanded the "Citadel" section during the defence of Lwów...
	7th Infantry Division	7 Dywizja Piechoty	gen. bryg. Janusz Gąsiorowski
	Krakowska Cavalry Brigade	Krakowska Kraków Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...  Brygada Kawalerii	gen.bryg. Zygmunt Piasecki
	10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade	10 Brygada Kawalerii Zmotoryzowanej	płk. Stanisław Maczek
	22nd Mountain Infantry Division	22. Dywizja Piechoty Górskiej	col. Leopold Engel-Ragis	in theory reserve of Łódź Army, in practice delays made it unavailable on that part of the front (part of Karpaty Army Karpaty Army Karpaty Army , formed on 11 July 1939 under Major General Kazimierz Fabrycy, was created after Germany annexed Czechoslovakia and created a puppet state of Slovakia.-Tasks:...  till 2 September, Kraków Army afterwards
Śląsk Operational Group Operational Group Operational Group was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the Invasion of Poland. It was corps-sized, although various Operational Groups varied in size.... - gen. Jan Jagmin-Sadowski Jan Jagmin-Sadowski Jan Jagmin-Sadowski , was a general of the Polish Army, having served in World War One as a member of Józef Piłsudski's legions, as well as commanding Polish forces during the invasion of Poland in 1939....
	23rd Infantry Division 23rd Infantry Division (Poland) 23rd Infantry Division was a unit of the Polish Army in the interwar period . Created in 1921, its headquarters were stationed in Upper Silesian town of Tarnowskie Góry...	23 Dywizja Piechoty	płk. Władysław Powierza	Upper Silesian
	55th Infantry Division 55th Infantry Division (Poland) The 55th Infantry Division was a reserve unit of the Polish Army during the interbellum period, which took part in the Polish September Campaign...	55 Dywizja Piechoty	płk. Stanisław Kalabiński	reserve
Bielsko Operational Group Operational Group Operational Group was the highest level of tactical division of the Polish Army before and during World War II and the Invasion of Poland. It was corps-sized, although various Operational Groups varied in size.... - gen. Mieczysław Boruta-Spiechowicz
	21st Mountain Infantry Division	21 Dywizja Piechoty Górskiej	gen. Józef Kustroń Józef Kustroń Józef Rudolf Kustroń was a Brigadier General of the Polish Army in the Second Polish Republic, commandant of the 21st Mountain Infantry Division.-Early life:Kustroń spent his childhood in the southern town of Nowy Sącz, where his family had settled...
	1st Mountain Brigade 1st Mountain Brigade (Poland) 1st Mountain Brigade was a unit of the Polish Army during the interbellum period, which took part in the Polish September Campaign. Commanded by Colonel Janusz Galadyk, it was part of Operational Group "Bielsko" of the Army Kraków. It consisted mostly of units of the Border Defence Corps , sent to...	1 Brygada Górska	płk Janusz Gaładyk	mostly elite KOP Border Protection Corps The Border Protection Corps was a Polish military formation that was created in 1924 to defend the country's eastern borders against armed Soviet incursions and local bandits.... troops

Further reading