Stanisław Świtalski

Stanisław Jan Ferdynand Świtalski was a Polish colonel who was a Certified officer that served in World War I, the Polish–Ukrainian War and in the Invasion of Poland.

Biography He was the son of counselor Józef Świtalski and Helena née Chądzyńska. After graduating from the folk school in Gródek and the gymnasium in Lviv (1908), he entered the University of Lviv. Before World War I, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lviv (1913). From August 1914 to July 1917

Stanisław Świtalski (on the right) and Lt. Józef Gigiel-Melechowicz during their period of service in the Legions From November 3, 1918, On November 1, 1923, he was assigned to the Army Inspectorate No. I in Vilnius as the 2nd clerk. On September 1, 1926, he was transferred to the composition of the general to work at the General Inspector of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Stanisław Burhardt-Bukacki to the position of the first officer of the staff. On March 31, 1927, he was transferred to the 82nd infantry regiment in Brest to the position of the regiment commander. In October 1931 he was appointed commander of the infantry division of the 9th Infantry Division in Siedlce. In 1934 he was transferred to the in Poznań to the position of the assistant commander for supplements. On April 2, 1938, he was appointed commander of the 16th Pomeranian Infantry Division in Grudziądz.

On September 2, 1939, due to ineffective command, he was dismissed from the position of the division commander and placed at the disposal of the commander of the Pomorze Army. On September 7, he took command of an improvised combat group consisting of guard, stage, Military Training and survivors from other army units. On September 10, this group, after joining the 3rd Battalion of the 144th Infantry Regiment which consisted of about three infantry battalions and was tasked with maintaining the crossing over the Bzura River in Sochaczew. While the remnants of the group were breaking through the Kampinos Forest, Świtalski was killed in a fight with the Germans in the vicinity of the Krzywa Góra gamekeeper's lodge. Initially buried at the place of his death, in 1951 the ashes were exhumed and he was buried at the Powązki Military Cemetery (section B10-6-9).

Awards Virtuti Militari, Silver Cross (1921) Cross of Independence (June 6, 1931) Order of Polonia Restituta, Officer's Cross Cross of Valour (Awarded 4 times, 2nd Cross awarded in 1921) Commemorative Medal for the War of 1918–1921 Medal of the Decade of Regained Independence Wound Decoration (May 12, 1936)

Foreign Awards (1929)