Warsaw Uprising 1944: August 25 - Polish Insurgents Escape Through Sewers

During the night members of the AK have escaped from the Old Town Sector through the sewers and have made their way to the City Centre. In Mokotow, defence measures are being reorganized by the new district commander Col “Karol” . The Mokotow unit currently has about 5,500 soldiers, three thousand of which are fighting on the front lines. Ever more wounded insurgents, rear troops and a small group of civilians are leaving the Old Town through sewers and heading for Zoliborz.  With them are the city’s civilian administration with Deputy Prime Minister Jan Stanislaw Jankowski “Sobol” and Chairman of the National Unity Council Kazimierz Puzak “Bazyli” move to Srodmiescie.   

 

Polish Insurgents cross Warsaw via underground network of sewers

Polish Soldiers Escape Old Town through the city sewers

In the Old Town German forces continue to attack on the State Securities Plant buildings on Sanguszki Street. Polish insurgents from the “Lesnik” group have suffered severe losses. Polish forces have evacuated Warsaw civilians from buildings under their control. Heavy fighting continues for the Jan Bozy Hospital on Bonifraterska Street, the “Fiat” factory on Sapiezynska Street, and the Canonesses Convent in Teatralny Square. 
 

Teatralny Square as it appeared in 1925. Jablonowski Palace is on the left.

Under heavy German fire the insurgents North Group under the command of Col. Karol Ziemski "Wachnowski" has moved position from the ruined and burnt out building of the Main Archives of Old Records on Dluga Street to the chapterhouse of St. Jacek’s Church on Freta Street. Meanwhile in Srodmiescie  a company of the “Kilinski” battalion has seized a strong German outpost in the former “Café Club” coffee shop on the corner of Nowy Swiat and Aleje Jerozolimskie Streets.  This has put a stop to the constant barrage of enemy fire on the barricade linking the two parts of Srodmiescie. 

 

Roosevelt & Churchill
wearing "same hats"

There has been a flurry of messages between Churchill and Roosevelt these past few days. In the latest message to Roosevelt, Churchill re-iterated his intention in not giving up and in seeking a resolution to the plight of the Poles.  

However, President Roosevelt has expressed his lack of confidence in the Polish situation. Churchill has begun to apply pressure on the US President demanding that he send Amercian Air Force to Warsaw and that their planes land on Soviet airfields  but without the consent of the Soviet authorities.  There is no response as yet from the White House. In the meantime Polish insurgents are fighting the enemy with whatever weapons they can seize from the Germans, or manufacture on their own. 

President Roosevelt is in the midst of the presidential campaign. Without a doubt he will be re-elected as polls indicate that his popularity is at an all-time high. Recently he has met with delegates of the Polish American Congress (PAC). The PAC was founded earlier this year and has already rallied almost 3,000 Polish delegates from around the country. At their first Congress delegates emphasized the patriotic commitment of Polish-Americans to the United States, to the war against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. They appealed to the US government to support the freedom and sovereignty of Poland, an Ally, at the end of the war. Roosevelt has guaranteed Poland`s inviolable freedom according to terms of the Atlantic Charter in which all nations great and small will be part of a just and peaceful international order. Lt. John Ward, a British soldier, and member of the AK has dispatched messages again today to London reporting on the days events in Warsaw. 

 

Lt. John Ward

The message reads as follows: To Colonel P… Sir, help is badly needed in the centre of the city of Warsaw. The ammunition for the anti-tank weapons, type "Piat," that were sent has all been used. Sir, the main things needed are grenades, anti-tank weapons, heavy machine guns, rifles, ammunition of all types. The best area for descent is the area south of Jeroboams Avenue, tending east of No wy Swat, west to Marshmallows and south to Pius Street. This area is free from Germans. Sir, I received your message of the 19.8.44 on the 20.8.44. The boy scouts organization in Warsaw is doing work that is beyond all praise. Many young boys have given their lives in service of their country. The boys are keeping up the international tradition of the scouts. During the past 24 hours there have been no outstanding events in the battle for Warsaw. The fighting was continued as bitterly as ever without any great result. The amount of damage being done by the enemy mine-throwers is colossal. Wildcat, Cruz, Pius, Mokotow, TKOs Streets and Jackdaws Avenue have been very badly damaged during the past 48 hours, casualties are high. In the City Centre large fires continued to burn throughout the night. Food supplies are growing shorter each day, and there is no means of replenishing them. Heavy artillery was heard during the night at a distance of about 12 miles from the city.    

Churchill giving a back-handed V sign