Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion

The Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion (Polish: Samodzielny Batalion Kobiecy im. Emilii Plater) was a unit of the Soviet First Polish Army during the Second World War. Formed in 1943 it was intended as a front-line combat unit but was relegated mainly to police and sentry duty. It existed until the end of the war in May 1945, whereupon it comprised 500 members.

Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion
Active1943–45
Country Poland
Allegiance Soviet Union
BranchLand forces
TypeInfantry
Size690 women

Formation
Emilia Plater for whom the unit was named

The unit was formed on 15 July 1943 as an all-female unit of the Soviet Polish Army.[1] Its personnel were drawn from women deported from Soviet-occupied Poland and communist volunteers.[2] There was no shortage of volunteers from among the internees, many of whom were eager to escape the poor conditions of their imprisonment.[3] This was the first all-female Polish unit and had originally been opposed by the Soviet authorities who only relented when General Anders pointed out the widespread use of women in the Soviet Army.[3] The battalion was named after Emilia Plater, a female Polish leader who had fought against the Russians in the 1830 November Uprising.[1] The individual soldiers were nicknamed the Platerówski.[2] The commanders of the unit were men but its political officers were women.[1]

History

The unit numbered 690 women when it was formed.[2] It originally formed part of the Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division but from 19 August 1943 was transferred to the I Polish Corps (this formation became the First Polish Army on 17 July 1944). It was intended to be used as a front-line combat unit but issues with training and possibly a reluctance by its commanders to risk large-scale female combat losses meant that it was relegated largely to sentry and military police duty.[1] It also carried out medical and communications duties and provided training to women working elsewhere in the Polish Army.[1][2] Some women officers of the battalion commanded all-male combat platoons within other formations.[2] At the war's end in May 1945 the battalion comprised around 500 women, with 70 having been killed in service.[1][4]

The only woman ever decorated with the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union who was not a Soviet citizen is Aniela Krzywoń, a member of this unit, after she died of injuries sustained while rescuing important military documents from a burning truck after a Luftwaffe bombing raid.[5]

Women veterans of the unit successfully sued Polish journalist and author Henryk Piecuch for slander in the 1990s after he claimed the battalion was organised solely to provide sexual services to male officers.[6]

Organisation

Upon its formation the battalion comprised:[1]

  • Command unit
  • Five companies
    • 1st Infantry
    • 2nd Infantry
    • Fusilier
    • Machine gun
    • Anti-tank
  • Six platoons
    • Mortar
    • Reconnaissance
    • Signals
    • Medical
    • Engineer
    • Logistics
    • Transport (added late in 1943)
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References
  1. Sandler, Stanley (2002). Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 259. ISBN 9781576073445. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. Fidelis, Malgorzata (2010). Women, Communism, and Industrialization in Postwar Poland. Cambridge University Press. p. 38. ISBN 9780521196871. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  3. Cook, Bernard A. (2006). Women and War: A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to the Present. ABC-CLIO. p. 474. ISBN 9781851097708. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  4. Sandler, Stanley (2002). Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 260. ISBN 9781576073445. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  5. Sakaida, Henry (2012-04-20). Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941–45. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781780966922.
  6. Filipowicz, Halina (2015). Taking Liberties: Gender, Transgressive Patriotism, and Polish Drama, 1786–1989. Ohio University Press. p. 220. ISBN 9780821445006. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
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