109 Photos of the Red Army

[oakranger]

I think that photo of the calvary was in the early part of the war.  There were many calvary units at the beginning of the war, but most trasitioned to armoured units by 1942.  From one of my books on the Polish Lancers, I found this;

I knew how the Polish face off against the German panzer in the opening of the war.  Cannot image what the German must have been thinking when they see a Calvary of Polish horses attacking them.  What about the middle and end of the war?  I understand that food was ration and sure that many horses where slaughter for food.   

I read how the U.S. troops in the Philippians used horses in a calvary charge on a Japaneses gun placement (1942).  It was the last time, in my understanding, U.S. used horses in fighting.

[Obie303]

From every book I've ever read that talked about the Polish Lancers (there are very few references in the history books), I have not found any evidence to show they were actively in combat with horses after 1939.

Here's a website that shows the Germans using their calvary in the invasion of Poland, 1939.  The horses were used mostly as transports and not a combat unit.  http://www.ww2.pl/The,1939,Campaign,22.html

On another website, this listed a few of the calvary charges during WWII.  This site mentions your reference to the US troops in the Philippines and a few that I was not aware of.  http://www.suite101.com/content/the-last-cavalry-charges-a66100

Needless to say, I would agree with you.  Horses became a rare commodity and thus the last of the organized units to use them ended early in the war. 

[oakranger]

From every book I've ever read that talked about the Polish Lancers (there are very few references in the history books), I have not found any evidence to show they were actively in combat with horses after 1939.

Here's a website that shows the Germans using their calvary in the invasion of Poland, 1939.  The horses were used mostly as transports and not a combat unit.  http://www.ww2.pl/The,1939,Campaign,22.html

On another website, this listed a few of the calvary charges during WWII.  This site mentions your reference to the US troops in the Philippines and a few that I was not aware of.  http://www.suite101.com/content/the-last-cavalry-charges-a66100

Needless to say, I would agree with you.  Horses became a rare commodity and thus the last of the organized units to use them ended early in the war. 

Maybe i mis-read something about that.  I will have to look again on that.

[Obie303]

You know what, I was wrong about the last charge being in 1939.  I did find another web page that shows the last calvary charge was on March 1, 1945 made by the 1st Warsaw Calvary Brigade.  These were Polish units fighting with the Soviets till the end of the war.  

link:  [url]http://www.suite101.com/content/the-polish-wwii-cavalry-in-1939-a66108/url]

I hate to use website as definitive proof, but this is the only source I could find on the Polish troops fighting with the Soviets in 1945.  Bear in mind though, much of my books about Poland in WWII are written about the Polish fight against the Germans and the Soviets.  Many of the authors are less than polite when it came to talking about the Red Army.  

There are so many myths about the Polish forces during WWII.  It's easy to mistake fact from a work of fiction.  Finding books on the subject are very difficult to find.  Most of my reading is from journals and articles about the subjects.  

link: [url]http://www.polamjournal.com/Library/APHistory/Cavalry_Myth/cavalry_myth.html/url]


But, it's a great conversation topic.

[oakranger]

You know what, I was wrong about the last charge being in 1939.  I did find another web page that shows the last calvary charge was on March 1, 1945 made by the 1st Warsaw Calvary Brigade.  These were Polish units fighting with the Soviets till the end of the war.  

link:  [url]http://www.suite101.com/content/the-polish-wwii-cavalry-in-1939-a66108/url]

I hate to use website as definitive proof, but this is the only source I could find on the Polish troops fighting with the Soviets in 1945.  Bear in mind though, much of my books about Poland in WWII are written about the Polish fight against the Germans and the Soviets.  Many of the authors are less than polite when it came to talking about the Red Army.  

There are so many myths about the Polish forces during WWII.  It's easy to mistake fact from a work of fiction.  Finding books on the subject are very difficult to find.  Most of my reading is from journals and articles about the subjects.  

link: [url]http://www.polamjournal.com/Library/APHistory/Cavalry_Myth/cavalry_myth.html/url]


But, it's a great conversation topic.

See if the info is cited.