ANGUISH OF DEFEAT - POLES SURRENDER AT KOCK

October 6, 1939

Eight thousand Polish soldiers of the Samodzielna Grupa Operacynja Polesie (Independent Operational Group Polesie) surrendered to German forces today at 10:00 hours. In his last orders General Franczisek Kleeberg wrote that the reason for capitulation was that they had run out of ammunition and food, as his troops had never lost a battle since the invasion began. General Kleeberg was taken by German forces and imprisoned at Oflag IV-B Koenigstein.

Polish General Franczisek Kleeberg

For the past week the soldiers had been fighting unaware that Warsaw capitulated on September 28th.
On September 30th, German commander of the 10th Army Division, Walter Von Reichenau, knew that a large division was positioned between the Bug and Vistula Rivers, near the town of Kock,  He dispatched all the forces at his disposal to destroy the remaining Poles:  the German 29th, and 13th Motorized Infantry Divisions, each having 16,445 soldiers, 2,676 trucks, 1,944 motorcycles and 18 armoured cars including some independent units.

In the early morning of October 2,  the Commander of the German 13th Motorized Infantry Division, General Paul Otto, dispatched the 3rd Battalion of the 93rd Motorized Infantry Division, with support by the 8th Battery, 13th Regiment of Light Artillery.  The units were split into two groups and sent to Serokomia and Kock. At 08:00 hours, the guard platoon of the No. 2 Company of the "Wilk" battalion came under artillery fire by the German units.  After considerable time, the Germans withdrew.  The Polish 179th Infantry Regiment was alerted and moved to defensive positions near the city of Kock.  At about 11:00 hours the Germans attacked the Polish positions again, which by then were strengthened with additional units.  The German attack failed and they withdrew.  At dusk German motorcyclists appeared near the church in Kock and began firing but withdrew when the Poles fired back.

Polish troops are devastated by the surrender and expected that fighting would continue for several weeks longer, raising hopes that England and France would intervene.  The Polish forces put up a brave and fierce fight despite the lack of Allied support.  German General Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt of Army Group South commented in his report that "The Polish Cavalry attacked heroically; in general the bravery and heroism of the Polish Army merits great respect. But the higher Command was not equal to the demands of the situation."

Polish Prisoners of War

In a major speech in the Reichstag today, Hitler again proclaimed his desire for peace with Britain and France, He added that he has done nothing more than to correct the injustice imposed on Germany by the terms of the Versailles treaty and assured Britain and France that he has no plans for war against them.  Hitler made blistering accusations against Churchill for being a war-monger and creating the state of affairs. Feigning an attempt at conciliation, Hitler proposed a European Conference to meet and resolve the few remaining differences. British Parliament is in an uproar. Such proposals are no doubt a precursor to the Nazis  "liberating" other countries as well.

The government of Finland has mobilized her standing armies.

In China, Chinese forces win the first battle of Changsha after having repelled Japanese forces. In the 11 day battle over 40,000 Japanese troops were killed.  This is the first "setback" of the Japanese expeditionary forces against Chinese Nationalist forces since the fighting began two years ago.  The 120,000 strong Japanese forces have also lost significant numbers of armaments when it was ambushed by Chinese troops defending Changsha, capital of the Hunan Province.


Link:
Polish Greatness.com