Battle of Mieniany

Battle of Mieniany
Part of during the Polish–Ukrainian ethnic conflict in the World War II
Date 15 September 1943 Location Mieniany, Hrubieszów County, Lublin Voivodeship Result Polish victory
Belligerents
Peasant Battalions Home Army	Ukrainian Auxiliary Police
Commanders and leaders
Stanisław Basaj Stefan Kwaśniewski	Unknown
Units involved
Battalion “Ryś” of the Peasant Battalions Company “Pogoń” of the Home Army Company “Grażyna” of the Home Army	Unknown
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
1 killed 1 wounded	4–8 killed

The Battle of Mieniany (Polish: Bitwa pod Mienianami, Ukrainian: Бій під Мінянами; 15 August 1943) was fought between the Battalion “Ryś” of the Peasant Battalions and Companies “Pogoń” and “Grażyna” of the Home Army under the command of Stanisław Basaj and Stefan Kwaśniewski against the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police in the Hrubieszów County of the Lublin Voivodeship.

Background

On 14 September in the evening, the unit gathered in the village of Zabłocie, near the buildings of Szczygiel. During the assembly, boots captured earlier in the area of Sośnina Modryniecka were distributed to the soldiers. The unit, wearing its new uniforms, set out for the action. The assembly point was designated in the Witkowski forest, located south of Zabłocie, which aroused surprise among the soldiers, as the post in Mieniany was to the north.

At the grouping point, Basaj's unit was joined by other Home Army groups, including about 20 soldiers from the Pogonia and Grazyna units. After further attachments, including one in the Mircze forest, the unit moved along the tracks of the narrow-gauge railway through the Modryń colony to Dąbrowa. There, in hiding, details of the attack were prepared, including the tasks for each group.

Battle

On 15 September, at night, the unit set off from Dabrowa, crossing the road leading to Hrubieszów, to take up starting positions in the Mieniany forest. Under cover of darkness, near three distinctive oak trees, the assault groups split up and began their march towards the outpost.

The assault group, commanded by Ryś, was to attack the building from the southern side. However, an accidental clash with Home army soldiers, who were not informed of the action and hid in a nearby potato field, led to an exchange of fire. One soldier of the Ryś unit was badly wounded and the shelling alerted the policemen in the post, nullifying the element of surprise.

Basaj's Unit

Despite the setback, the unit continued the attack. Once in position, the post was fired upon with a heavy machine gun and individual weapons. The police officers did not respond with fire, hiding in the basement of a neighbouring building. During the attack, the group responsible for setting fire to the post managed to start a fire in a nearby shed, causing the fire to spread to the community building and then to the post. As a result of the action, all the buildings burned down.

Aftermath

When the action was over, the unit withdrew to the designated assembly point by the chapel. However, during the march, there was another exchange of fire - this time with the insurance from the Pogonia unit, which mistakenly opened fire in the direction of the partisans. After the situation was clarified and the firing ceased, the troops safely reached the chapel. As a result of the action, the Ukrainian police station was completely eliminated. The losses of the partisan unit were limited to one seriously wounded soldier. The action was important in weakening the collaborationist structures in the Lublin area.

Bibliography

• Jaroszyński, Wacław; Kłembukowski, Bolesław; Tokarczuk, Eugeniusz (2020). Łuny nad Huczwą i Bugiem (PDF) (in Polish). Światowy Związek Żołnierzy Armii Krajowej Okręg Zamość. ISBN 978-83-951832-2-5.