derwolfsmantel:

Polish cavalry in Sochaczew, 1939. (via)

This is the second picture I’ve seen of Polish Calvary in the Second World War and it never ceases to give me the most definite chills of soldiers in warfare. Poland’s army was comprised of about 10% cavalry at the opening of the war, and they were distributed pretty much throughout the country. They served to produce some of the most heroic moments the Poland campaign as well as the most effective. German rank and file in general was not mechanized until the late war, and Polish cavalry served as some of the best methods of transport for soldiery to fill in gaps and breaks that the blitzkrieg produced, likewise, it showed a great lapse of technological advancement between the warring countries. The story of a lance charge against Panzer tanks however, is a complete myth by German propaganda (and later by Soviet sources to prove the stupidity of the Poles). In fact, cavalry charges by Polish infantry were mostly used in desperate breakthroughs against encirclement and surprise attacks in spontaneous guerrilla warfare. One of the more sickly amusing occurred during the battle of Mokra, when Polish cavalry quite accidentally ran at high speed into infantry elements attached to tankettes in an advance. The German support units panicked when lance-wielding Polish cavalry began a very disorganized but effective attack. The charge was not planned nor executed very well, but it forced the tankettes to advance without infantry support.

Although some of the best Polish forces fought on horseback, the juggernauts on their East and West borders proved too much for plucky little Poland.

source: my head, google it