Polish Army Tank Battle near Daugavpils, September 27–28, 1919

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Battle of Daugavpils, September 27–28, 1919

At the end of August 1919, the 1st Infantry Division of the Polish Army Legion launched an attack towards Daugavpils to forestall the Lithuanian army's attacks. On August 27, 1919, the Poles crossed the Latvian border at Turmanty. On August 30, Polish and Lithuanian attacks on Grīva began. The first attacks were unsuccessful, as fresh Red Army units were transferred to Daugavpils, including the Latvian 2nd Soviet Rifle Regiment. The front line stabilized approximately 2 km south of Grīva on the right bank of the Lauces River, which provided a wooden bridge across the Daugava River. On the left bank of the Lauces River, the 1st Battalion of the Soviet 30th Rifle Regiment was in defensive positions in the Grīva Fort of the Daugavpils fortress.

A new Polish attack began on the morning of September 27, 1919. The main attack was carried out by the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 6th regiment of the 1st brigade of the 1st legion infantry division, as well as the 1st battalion of the 1st regiment. The 7th and 8th companies of the 2nd battalion of the 1st regiment were to carry out a demonstrative attack on the Griva fort. The 5th infantry regiment was in reserve, including to monitor the Lithuanian army units in the Kalkūnai area. Approximately 7,000 Polish infantry were supported by 18 heavy and 19 light guns, one armored train, as well as the 1st tank company of the 1st tank regiment, which arrived from Vilnius on the night of September 27, with 24 French FT-17 tanks.

The attack began at 05:10 with artillery preparation fire, but at 05:30 the infantry, supported by tanks, launched the attack. The main attack was carried out by the 1st Battalion of the 1st Infantry Regiment from the vicinity of Peski in the direction directly north, in order to break into Grīva by the most direct route, seizing the dominant heights, and ensure the destruction of the wooden bridge. At the same time, two battalions of the 6th Infantry Regiment attacked Judovka from the east, also seizing the important heights on the southern bank of the Daugava.

It was the tanks that ensured the rapid capture of the Soviet positions, and the 3rd Company of the 1st Infantry Regiment captured the wooden (Gajok) bridge, which was immediately prepared for bombing by sappers. At this moment, the Soviet armored vehicles counterattacked, inflicting heavy losses on the infantry. In the battle at the wooden bridge, the commander of the supply platoon of the French tank company, Lieutenant Galtier, was wounded, while the aspirant Perret was wounded by a rifle bullet.

In order to capture the Griva fort and destroy the railway bridge it protected, a new attack was planned for the next day. Since the units of the 2nd battalion of the 1st infantry regiment had suffered heavy losses during the demonstration the previous day. On September 28, only one company from this regiment went, supported by two companies from the 5th infantry regiment. The attack was planned to be supported by a Polish armored train and two platoons of the 1st tank company with 10 FT-17 tanks. The tank force was reduced by two times, as there were both combat and technical losses.

The attack began at 05:10. The high railway embankment and the vast flooded meadow in front of the Grīva Fort made the attack difficult, which was exacerbated by the counterattack of the Soviet armored train. During the artillery fire, several tanks were hit and the tank mechanic of one of the tank platoon commanders, a Polish soldier, was killed. The Polish armored train managed to drive the Soviet train away with accurate fire, and as soon as the tanks occupied the end of the railway bridge, cutting off the Soviet retreat route to the northern bank of the Daugava, the Grīva Fort was occupied by 06:45. By 21:00, Polish sappers blew up the middle section of the railway bridge.

During the battles in August and September 1919, the Polish army near Daugavpils lost 123 soldiers killed and 371 wounded. 65 of the fallen soldiers are buried in the Laucesa Brothers' Cemetery.

1st Tank Regiment of the Polish Army

The 1st Tank Regiment of the Polish Army was formed by order of 15 March 1919 as part of the Polish Army in France commanded by General Haller. The regiment's base unit was the French 505th Tank Regiment, with Major Gilles Marais appointed as its commander. From the very beginning, the regiment was formed as a Franco-Polish unit, with most of the commanders being French. When the regiment arrived in Poland in June 1919, out of 45 officers, 34 were French, they also made up half of the non-commissioned officers and a third of the enlisted men. The regiment had a total of 841 soldiers.

The regiment planned to create five tank companies, which were numbered according to the division numbers of General Haller's army - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th. Each company planned to have three tank platoons, each with five tanks (three with 37 mm guns and two with 8 mm machine guns), one commander's tank, five reserve tanks, and a supply platoon with three tanks. In total, the regiment had 24 of France's newest FT-17 light tanks. The 1st tank company was commanded by Captain Jean Dufort, and the regiment commander himself participated in the battle of 27–28 September 1919, often moving with the infantry during the battle.

On September 26, 2025, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the Laucesa Brothers' Cemetery in honor of the Polish tanker who fell on September 28, 1919. The memorial plaque has a stylized shape of the armor plate of an FT-17 tank and the inscription "To the comrades in arms - in memory of the French and Polish soldiers of the 1st Tank Regiment of the Polish Army in the Battle of Daugavpils on September 27-28, 1919."