Battle of Huta Brzuska

Battle of Huta Brzuska
Part of the Polish–Ukrainian ethnic conflict and Aftermath of the World War II
Date 19 May 1946 Location Huta Brzuska, Przemyśl County, Stanisławów Voivodeship Result Ukrainian victory
Belligerents
Ukrainian Insurgent Army	Polish People's Army
Commanders and leaders
Martyn Mizernyi Mykhailo Duda Hryhoriy Yankivskiy	Jan Rotkiewicz Witold Popko Aleksander Wygnański
Units involved
Western Operational Group 26th Tactical District “Lemko” Company “Udarnyky–2” Company “Udarnyky–7”	Operational Group “Rzeszów” 9th Dresden Infantry Division 28th Regiment
Strength
Unknown	150 men
Casualties and losses
1 killed 1 captured	18 killed 15 wounded

The Battle of Huta Brzuska (Polish: Bitwa pod Hutą Brzuskę, Ukrainian: Бій під Гутою Березькою; 19 May 1946) was fought between the Companies “Udarnyky–2” and “Udarnyky–7” in the 26th Military District “Lemko” of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army under the command of Mykhailo Duda and Hryhoriy Yankivskyi against the 28th Regiment in the 9th Dresden Infantry Division of the Polish People's Army under the command of Witold Popko and Aleksander Wygnański in the Przemyśl County of the Stanisławów Voivodeship.

Background

In 14 May, the Companies "Udarnyky–2" and "Udarnyky–4” in the 26th Tactical District of the 6th Operational Group “Syan” were quartered in the village of Kupna, from where the evicted Ukrainian villages, already inhabited by the Polish People's Army, were supposed to be burned and their tasks was about to defend them.

Battle

In May 19, the Companies "Udarnyky–2” and "Udarnyky–7" at 02:00 moved to the forest above the village of Kupna and camped there. So that in the event of the Polish attack, the companies could take up the defense, they spread out in a firing line in the form of a triangle and set up racks and eavesdroppers. At 12:00, the rack, was which stood from the village of Huta Brzuska, noticed the Poles who were exactly approaching from Huta Brzuska and fired from a chair. The Polish armed units went in three swarms. They probably planned to attack to the village, because they thought that the departments of the UPA were in the village. The Ukrainians let them to a distance of an 20 meters and then opened a heavy fire on them with the exclamation: "Glory!" and went forward. Then the Poles lay down and also opened an machine-gun fire, then they advance and shouted: "Don't shoot, it's ours!", but the Ukrainian riflemen stopped them with an heavy machine-gun fire and the UPA began to attack them again. The Poles, when they saw that they had heavy losses, began to flee in a panic, leaving 18 men killed on the battlefield.

Aftermath

After the battle, the Company "Udarnyky–4" under the command of "Bis" went to the head of the department, then from the snags, from a distance of an 20 meters, a Pole, who was hiding there, shot "Bis" in the head with one round from the submachine gun PPSH–41 and killed him. As a civilian intelligence later reported that the Polish forces were numbered 150 men, of whom during the battle 18 men (including 4 sergeants) killed, 15 men wounded and 25 men were missing during the battle and the Ukrainian losses was about 1 men killed and 1 men were captured. The Ukrainians has captured: 2 armchairs, 2 submachine guns PPSH–41's, 250 cartridges for the heavy machine-gun “Maksym” and they took the weapons from the rest of the dead Polish soldiers on the battlefield.