Piłsudczyk (armoured train)

Piłsudczyk (literally "Piłsudskyite") was a Polish armoured train of early 20th century. It was among the first armoured trains serving with the Polish Army and took part in the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919, the subsequent Polish-Soviet War and the Silesian Uprisings. Kept in reserve during the inter-war years it was again mobilised and used during the Nazi-Soviet Invasion of Poland of 1939. It was destroyed by its' crew on 20 September 1939 at the train station of Mrozy.

In early November of 1918, during the turbulent period of collapse of Austria-Hungary, the Polish troops captured an intact Austro-Hungarian train at the station in Prokocim near Cracow. It was composed of two modern artillery cars, two infantry cars and one assault car. The train was quickly split onto two armoured trains: Piłsudczyk, named in honour of the Polish Commander-in-Chief Józef Piłsudski, and Śmiały. Both were then accepted into the nascent Polish Army and took part in the Battle of Lwów, where they were crucial in lifting the Ukrainian siege of the city.

In 1921 the crew of the train took part in the 3rd Silesian Uprising, among others in the battle of Kędzierzyn, where casualties reached 20% of the crew. After the war the train was refurbished and attached to the armoured train school, and then in 1927 to the Niepołomice-based 2nd Armoured Train Squadron. As a train used for training of recruits, it was kept in fighting condition at all times, unlike most other Polish trains. By 1939 it was upgraded and extended to include: The train was armed with two ex-Russian armata wz. 02/26 guns, two ex-Austro-Hungarian 100mm Haubica wz. 1914/1919 howitzers and 19 heavy machine guns, and was reinforced with a TK-3 tankette and a Renault FT tank, both refitted as draisines.
 * armoured locomotive (hull number 377.402)
 * assault car with radio
 * 2 artillery cars
 * 2 platforms

Mobilised on 25 August 1939, the train was refitted with an additional unarmoured engine and attached to the Army Łódź, to reinforce the 30th Infantry Division in the area of Działoszyn. Following the outbreak of World War II the train fended off numerous attacks by German aviation, however the destruction of rail lines prevented the train from reaching the front line. It then withdrew to Widawa and then to Łask, where it was attached to the 28th Infantry Division. The train then patrolled the rails in the vicinity of Łódź, fending off many more air attacks. On 6 September it withdrew towards Warsaw with a special mission of escorting a transport of gold deposits from the banks of Poznań. It reached Warsaw on September 8.

Attached to the Wyszków Operational Group, the train then operated near Legionowo, Tłuszcz, Rembertów, Mińsk Mazowiecki and Siedlce. As the German motorised units outflanked the Polish defenders and captured both Mińsk and Siedlce, the train was caught in a traffic jam in a large cauldron to the east of Warsaw. Encircled by the Germans in the same cauldron were the supply train of Generał Sosnkowski, the 17th Railway Company and 17 different evacuation trains. An ad-hoc battle group was formed by the crews of the trains and commanded by Col. Mikołaj Prus-Więckowski, who decided to defend the area. Unable to escape encirclement, the train patrolled the Sosnowe-Mrozy line, where it defeated numerous German attacks. However, in a skirmish on 17 September one of the artillery cars was knocked out and in the evening had to leave the town of Mrozy. The following day the crew retook the town from the Germans, but on 19 September the assault car was lost too. Cut off from the Polish lines, by 20 September the train had only one gun and 3 machine guns operational, and no more than 6 shells for the single artillery piece. The train had to be abandoned at Mrozy and was destroyed by its' crew not to fall into German or Soviet hands.

The crew of Piłsudczyk tried to unsuccessfully reach Warsaw on foot, but instead joined the Independent Operational Group Polesie and continued to fight the Germans and Soviets until the battle of Kock.