POLISH ARMY LANCE PENNONS

REPUBLIC OF POLAND

LANCE PENNONS FOR CAVALRY UNITS, 1920-45

Notes

The interwar Polish Army included 40 regiments of cavalry, all armed in whole or in part with the lance. Each regiment had a distinctive lance pennon, which was also worn in miniature form as a collar patch on the uniform. There were additional distinctive pennons for certain other mounted branches of the army. The crimson/dark blue pennon for cavalry headquarters was also used by cavalry units with no regimental affiliation, such as separate cavalry squadrons of infantry divisions and the Remount Service. Cavalry squadrons of the Frontier Defense Corps had dark blue/green pennons.

Cavalry brigades were formed with two cavalry regiments, a battalion of horse artillery, plus mounted pioneers, mounted signals troops and a horse-drawn supply train. In the mid-1930's, recognizing that horse cavalry was becoming increasingly vulnerable on the modern battlefield, the Polish Army drew up plans for the conversion of a number of cavalry brigades into mechanized brigades. The cavalry regiments were to be reorganized as motorized infantry (though retaining their cavalry titles), the support units were to be motorized, and the brigade would also include an armored battalion, a mechanized reconnaissance battalion and a motorized antitank battalion. Pennon-style collar patches were introduced for these last three units (triangular for armored battalions), and actual pennons probably existed as well. Only two or three cavalry brigades had been converted by the time of the German invasion in September 1939, and these had little effect on the outcome of the campaign.

After the fall of Poland a Polish Army in Exile was organized, first in France, then in Britain and the Middle East. Its units took on the identities of various regiments and corps of the interwar army, including the 10th Mounted Rifles and the 24th Lancers of the Polish 1st Armored Division in Britain. This division, which fought with great gallantry in Normandy, flew these and other pennons from the radio masts of its vehicles.