The Battle of Krasnoprod could perhaps be characterized as an insignificant little conflict lost in the maelstrom of World War II that was just beginning. but the battle had an important peculiarity... Both opponents used cavalry... while only two islands humiliated an entire infantry division.
On September 23, 1939 the Battle of Poland had already been judged. The Germans from the west and the Soviets from the east had already choked Poland. Few Polish units continued to fight desperately to honor their weapons alone.
That morning the Polish Cavalry Brigade (TI) of Novogrodek was ordered to recapture the town of Krasnoprod near the current Polish-Ukrainian border. The German 8th Infantry Division (MP) was fortified there.
The city was built on a hill and the Germans had created two lines of trenches. The Poles were greatly outnumbered as their TI had suffered heavy losses and was a shadow of itself. Normally a Polish TI it had a strength of 7,000 men and had armored elements along with artillery, anti-tank and 3 or 4 Cavalry Regiments (SI).
Ulan advance
The Polish command ordered the 25th Ulaan Regiment as the first echelon of the attack (SO) of Colonel Bogdan Staslevski. The Polish colonel decided to attack with two islands, in different places, in order to break up the concentration of fire of the Germans.
Around 07.00 in the morning the 1st Ili rushed out and surprised the Germans. The German infantry fled towards the center of the city pursued by the Poles who slaughtered them with swords and spears.
The 2nd Division under Lt. Gen. Tadeusz Gerleski attacked in turn but was counterattacked by the organic cavalry division of the German 8th Division (East Prussian Cavalry Regiment). Then a fierce jousting took place as if the knights of old had come to life.
However, the Poles proved to be invincible and put the German horsemen to flight as well, whom they pursued all the way to the city. There they were confronted by German machine guns and suffered terrible losses.
Only 30 men of the island were alive. The brave Gerleski was among the dead. Nevertheless, the Polish horsemen, just two islands away, recaptured the city and even captured 100 Germans, including the commander of the 8th MP, Lieutenant General Rudolf Koch Erpach. The Poles also freed 40 compatriots who were prisoners of the Germans.
It was an incredible victory achieved thanks to courage and surprise by a force of only two miles of an army that was already defeated and knew it, and whose homeland was almost entirely occupied. And that alone says a lot about the morale and patriotism of the Poles in 1939. The exact losses, on either side, are not known