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The incident prompted false reports of Polish cavalry attacking German tanks, after journalists saw the bodies of horses and cavalrymen. Nazi propaganda [ 3 ] took advantage to suggest that the Poles attacked intentionally since they had believed the Germans still had the dummy tanks permitted by the Versailles Treaty 's restrictions.
The Polish cavalry, however, was successful against the German tanks in the Battle of Mokra. [3] The Polish cavalry did not discard the lance as a weapon until 1934 or 1937 and continued to use it for training purposes up to the outbreak of World War II .
The Germans managed to destroy 7 Polish tanks with artillery, but just after, they lost five of their Panzer tanks. After receiving several more direct hits and losing two more large Panzer tanks, the German tank crews simply ran away. Polish 7TP tanks pursued and kept beating the rest of the tanks off. The German soldiers now met the Polish ...
A group of German and Italian war correspondents, who visited the battlefield noticed the dead cavalry men and horses among the armored vehicles. Italian reporter Indro Montanelli promptly published an article in the Corriere della Sera, on the brave and heroic Polish cavalry men, who charged German tanks with sabres and lances.
The German invasion of Poland began on 1 September 1939. The Wehrmacht seized half of Poland quickly despite heavy Polish resistance. Among the erroneous myths generated by this campaign were accounts of Polish cavalry charging German tanks, which did not, in fact, take place.
In the face of this development, the surviving German defenders withdrew, allowing the Poles to consolidate their gains in and around the village at 1700. [5] 7 Polish cavalry men, 124 Polish infantry, and 16 tank men were dead for circa 500 dead Germans. Today, a plaque mounted on a stone near the edge of Żeńsko commemorates the cavalry charge.
20th Infantry Division, commanded by Mauritz von Wiktorin, was involved in two notable battles on that day: at the Charge at Krojanty, the Polish 18th Pomeranian Uhlans charged units of the 76th Infantry Regiment on horseback and were then dispersed by German armored cars, birthing the Nazi propaganda myth of Polish cavalry charging German tanks.
German 4th Army advances into the "Danzig Corridor"; a cavalry counterattack ("Charge at Krojanty") by the 18th Uhlans gives birth to the myth of Polish cavalry attacking German tanks. [12]: 509f. German 8th Army and German 10th Army advance from Silesia and are delayed by rearguard actions of withdrawing Polish defenders. [13]: 122