Although the popular image of the Polish Army is that of mounted lancers, Poland in fact had almost a thousand armored vehicles in the summer of 1939. Unfortunately, about 600 of these were small TK and TKS tankettes armed with two machine guns, similar to the Italian CV-35. While hardly impressive even by 1939 standards, they were nevertheless not much inferior to the PZK 1, which comprised roughly one-third of the German tank forces at the time.

Some of these tankettes, around 30, had been up-gunned with Solthurn 20mm antitank guns. The Poles had about 200 first line tanks: 50 French R-35s, 40 British-type "E" mediums (which had been up-gunned with the Bofors 37mm AT) and some 120 Polish-made 7TPs, a tank similar to the Russian T-26. Contracts had been signed to sell 50 of Poland's limited production of 7TPs to Yugoslavia.

But the real problem with the Polish armored force was its dispersal. Virtually all Polish armor was spread out in independent companies or even smaller formations. Although 12 tank battalions existed on paper, in reality there were only three at the start of the campaign. A few other battalion-sized units were thrown together at mobilization from companies of tankettes.

The largest combat-motorized units in existence were the two mechanized brigades. The High Command planned to form 12 of these brigades by 1942, some of them by converting cavalry brigades. The mechanized brigade was a reasonably well-conceived unit with a good balance of infantry, armor, and antitank. However, it was supposed to be equipped with Polish 1OTP tanks (comparable to the Russian BT-7 or Czech T-38), which at the time were only in the prototype stage. As it was, each mechanized brigade consisted of:

1 tank company (17-Vickers E's)
1 mechanized AT company (13 TKS with 20mm AT)
1 towed AT group (18-37mm AT)
1 AA battery (4-40mm AN
1 artillery group (12-75mm)
1 recon company (13 TK)
2 motorized regiments: 5,200 men.

Poland 1939

Introduction
Infantry
Cavalry
Artillery
Armor
Air Force
Navy
Campaign Overview