5th Infantry Division (Poland)
By late April 1919, the Lwów Division (Dywizja Lwowska) consisted of 7000 soldiers, 54 cannons and 136 machine guns.
The Lwów Division initially advanced towards Zolkiew, and in late May, as part of Operational Group of General Wladyslaw Jedrzejewski, it captured Zborów (May 30).
Moved some 50 kilometers east, it guarded the frontline in the area of Letychiv (Latyczow), along the swampy Southern Bug.
During the Kiev offensive, the Lwów Division together with 12th and 18th Infantry, belonged to Sixth Army of General Waclaw Iwaszkiewicz.
As part of the Sixth Army, it fought in the victorious Battle of Brody (29 July – 2 August), and then covered the city of Lwów, fighting near Lopatyn.
On October 18, 1920, the division withdrew to the line of the Zbruch river, which marked the newly established Polish–Soviet border (see Peace of Riga).
According to Plan West, the Lwów Division was attached to Kutno Operational Group, which was a reserve of Polish General Staff.
Its mobilization began on August 27, 1939, and on September 3, 1939, the 19th Infantry Regiment was transferred by rail to Włocławek, where it was attached to the Detachment of Colonel Sadowski, part of Pomorze Army.
This part of Poland was regarded as crucial in Polish defensive plans, because of the Wehrmacht's advance towards Warsaw from Eastern Prussia.
The 28th and 40th Regiments completed their mobilization on September 5, to be transported by rail to Biała Podlaska, via Dubno, Kowel and Brzesc nad Bugiem.
On September 6, Commander in Chief Edward Rydz-Śmigły decided to send 40th Infantry Regiment to Warsaw, to reinforce the garrison of Polish capital.
Due to the activity of the Luftwaffe, which bombed Polish rail lines, only elements of the division managed to reach their destinations.
Regimens of the Lwów Division distinguished themselves in the Siege of Warsaw (1939), defending the districts of Wola, Praga and Bemowo.
Divisional 19th Infantry Regiment, which was attached to Pomorze Army, fought in the Battle of the Bzura, where it was decimated by the Luftwaffe and ceased to exist on September 17.
Formed on the Eastern Front as part of the Soviet-controlled Polish People's Army, the 5th Infantry Division trained for combat near Łuków in the second half of 1944.
