[1][2][3][4] Commanded by Colonel, later General Stanisław Maczek, it is considered one of few Polish World War II military units (brigade size or larger) not to have been decisively defeated in 1939.

[3] The 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade's commanding officer was Colonel Stanisław Maczek, and his chief of staff was Major Franciszek Skibiński.

Equipped with only light tanks and tankettes and without a battalion ("dywizjon") of heavy artillery attached to it, which left the unit with only 8 heavier cannons, it went into battle during the first day of the German invasion.

After the Battle of Jordanów Maczek's unit faced the entire German XVIII Corps of General Eugen Beyer and successfully shielded the southern flank of the Polish forces along the Beskids.

With the tacit support of Hungarians, most of its soldiers managed to reach France to join the Polish Army led by General Sikorski.

During the Fall of France in June 1940 the veterans of "The Black Brigade" were evacuated to Great Britain where they became the core of the Polish 1st Armoured Division formed in February 1942.

A detailed account of the brigade and its actions is a major part of the historical fiction novel A Witness to Gallantry: An American Spy in Poland 1939.