[1] Klemens Stanisław Rudnicki (nom de guerre Klimek) was born on 28 March 1897 in the town of Żydaczów, Austrian Galicia (now Zhydachiv, Ukraine).

On 1 September 1931, after completing the course, he was promoted to officer, and named lecturer of general military tactic at the War College.

Together with his regiment, Rudnicki fought in the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland, after which he joined Polish resistance movement in the city of Lwów occupied by the Soviets.

[1] Released in September 1941, Rudnicki immediately took the post of deputy of the 6th Lwów Infantry Division, part of Polish Armed Forces in the East.

On 1 April 1945 Rudnicki was promoted to Generał brygady, and in May, after the war had ended, he was named commandant of the 1st Armoured Division, and until 1947, remained in northwestern Germany.