Bortnowski, Władysław

Wladyslaw Bortnowski was born on November 12, 1891 in Radom. The son of Jozef and Zofia née Kaluzinski. He graduated from high school in Zhytomyr, then studied medicine at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow.


Here he joined the "Strzelce". In 1913 he graduated from a lower officer school. Since August 1914, he served in the Polish Legions, successively as a platoon commander, company commander and adjutant of the 1st, 5th and 7th Infantry Regiments of the 1st Brigade; he took part in all battles. He was severely wounded in the battle of Łowczówek. After the oath crisis, he was interned in Beniaminów.


After his release in April 1918, he assumed the duties of commander of the Cracow District of the POW.


On October 31, 1918, he began service in the reborn Polish Army. He organized the 5th Legion Infantry Regiment and commanded a company and a battalion. In 1919, he was a student of a course at the General Staff War College. In the period December 1919-October 1920, he was successively: operations officer of the 1st Legion Infantry Division, chief of Branch III of the Staff of the Operational Group of Gen. Edward Rydz-Smigly, chief of Detachment III of the 3rd Army Staff and chief of staff of the army. In November 1920, he began his studies at the Ecole Superieure de Guerre in Paris. After completing them in the fall of 1922, he returned to the country, taking up the position of staff officer of Army Inspector No. I in Vilnius. From 25.04.1925 he was deputy chief of Branch IIIa (Operations) of the Office of the Strict War Council. In the autumn of 1925, he became commander of the 37th Infantry Regiment of the Leczycka Land in Kutno. He stood at the head of the regiment on the side of Marshal Józef Piłsudski during the May 1926 coup.He moved to the Army Inspectorate in Warsaw (August 1926). In May 1927, he became head of Branch III of the General Staff. Subsequently, he commanded successively: from February 1928, the 26th Infantry Division in Skierniewice; in 1930, he commanded divisional infantry in the 14th Infantry Division in Poznań. From November 1931 he was commander of the 3rd Legion Infantry Division in Zamosc. In October 1935, he was made a general to work at the General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces.


In the fall of 1938, he became commander of the Independent Operational Group "Silesia" occupying Zaolzie. Since March 1939, the inspector of the army in Torun.


Colonel Stefan Rowecki, wrote about him as follows: "opinion of a very stout army commander.... is regarded as a candidate to succeed Marshal Smigly".


In September[září] 1939, he commanded the "Pomerania" Army, which, after losing a significant part of its forces in the Tuchola Forest, retreating south, reached the Bzura River. On September 9, he subordinated himself to the commander of the Army "Poznan", General Tadeusz Kutrzeba, and took part in the Battle of the Bzura. In the battle he was wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans. He was held in oflag Murnau VIIA.


After liberation in 1945, he went to Great Britain. He lived in London. In 1954, he moved to the United States. He died on November 21, 1966 in Glencove, Long Island, and was buried in Doylestown Cemetery.


A symbolic grave is located in the Powązkach Military Cemetery in Warsaw.


Promotions: second lieutenant 1914, lieutenant 1916, captain 1918, lieutenant colonel 1920, colonel 1924, brigadier general 1932, major general 1939.


Decorated with, among others: Order of [url=/topic/postview/260909/]Virtuti Militari 5th cl., Order of Polonia Restituta II, III and IV cl., Cross of Independence, Cross of Valor 4 times/=stupně/.
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Bortnowski-Wladyslaw-t30347#151197 Version : 0

This post has not been translated to English yet. Please use the TRANSLATE button above to see machine translation of this post.

Fotografie




Zdroj: www.generals.dk
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Bortnowski-Wladyslaw-t30347#330871 Version : 0

This post has not been translated to English yet. Please use the TRANSLATE button above to see machine translation of this post.

General dywizji Wladyslaw BORTNOWSKI (1891 - 1966)


1927 - 1928: Chief of Department III, General Staff
1928 - 1930: Commander of Infantry, 26. Infantry Division
1930 - 1931: Commander of Infantry, 14. Infantry Division
1931 - 1935: C.O. 3. Legion Infantry Division
1932: Promoted to General brygady
1935 - 1938: Special Purposes General to the Inspector-General of the Armed Forces
1938 - 1939: Commander of Operations Group Slask
1939: Promoted to General dywizji
1939: Inspector of the Army, Torun
1939: C-in-C, Pomorze Army
1939: Acting C-in-C, Poznan Army


Principal sources:
Generalicja Polska (I & II), by Henryk P. Kosk
Andris J. Kursietis, personal archives
URL : https://www.valka.cz/Bortnowski-Wladyslaw-t30347#236351 Version : 0
Discussion post Fact post
Attachments

Join us

We believe that there are people with different interests and experiences who could contribute their knowledge and ideas. If you love military history and have experience in historical research, writing articles, editing text, moderating, creating images, graphics or videos, or simply have a desire to contribute to our unique system, you can join us and help us create content that will be interesting and beneficial to other readers.

Find out more