John Radzilowski
Eighty years ago, June 6, 1944, the Allied Invasion of German-occupied France began. D-Day remains one of the most famous battles of World War II. It was the largest amphibious operation in history. American, British, and Canadian forces stormed ashore on five Normandy beaches to create a foothold in Adolf Hitler’s “Fortress Europe.”
On June 6 we rightly honor the tens of thousands of young Americans, Brits, and Canadians who stormed the German-held beaches but the 80th anniversary is a perfect time to recall the important role of Polish forces in the D-Day operation.
Many, including most Americans, don’t even know the Poles even participated in D-Day. Others may know the story of the Polish 1st Armoured Division which arrived in Normandy in July 1944 and played a crucial role in the final battle of the Normandy campaign. (That is a story for another article!) But the Poles also played a role in the invasion itself, one that is too often overlooked. One of the biggest roles was that of the Polish Navy.
The biggest Polish unit on D-Day was the light cruiser ORP Dragon. (ORP, or Okręt Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, stands for “Ship of the Polish Republic.”) The powerful destroyers ORP Piorun (Thunder) and ORP Błyskawica (Lightning) and escort destroyers ORP Krakowiak (Cracovian) and ORP Ślązak (Silesian) made up the armed component of the Polish Navy.
The Allied invasion required the largest fleet every assembled to transport troops and material to the French coast. Polish liners MS Batory and MS Sobieski transported soldiers, while the merchant vessels SS Chorzów, SS Katowice, SS Kmicic, SS Kraków, SS Narew, and SS Poznań were used to transport weapons and supplies.
As the invasion fleet approached the coast on the night of June 5, ORP Ślązak had the honor of leading the British invasion fleet through the cleared channels of the enemy minefield and on the invasion beaches. Beginning at 6 a.m. on June 6, over 600 guns on board American, British, French, Polish, Dutch, and Norwegian ships opened fire on the German defenses.
Dragon, Ślązak, and Krakowiak were tasked with direct support of the British landings on Sword Beach. At 7 a.m. Dragon turned its guns on German coastal batteries. One Polish sailor recalled “The volleys of our guns fired. We were completely blinded. There’s a ringing in your ears, smoke irritates your nostrils, dark spots come to your eyes, and they look like an advertisement for Stephens ink. Red flashes of exploding shells appeared on the horizon. Behind them, salvos followed one after the other and the Dragon went crazy for good.” The Polish cruiser silenced three German batteries in turn. Then the ship got a report of German counterattack. British artillery spotters called in more salvos from Dragon. After several minutes of intensive firing, the spotters called for a cease fire. The Polish crew did not know at the time, but their fire had been directed against the only major concentration of German tanks near the beaches and halted the only significant counterattack that could have seriously threatened the Allied landings on June 6.
While the Polish cruiser was blasting away at German defenses further inland, her smaller sisters were in action as well. Ślązak under the overall command of British Rear Admiral Arthur Talbot, provided close-in support for the British landings, drawing enemy shells away from the vulnerable landing craft and firing to suppress German defensive fire. Later in the morning Ślązak established radio contact with the 41st Royal Marine Commandos advancing on Lion-sur-Mer where they came under accurate and heavy German fire.
Cdr. Romuald Tymiński, captain of Ślązak, remembered that at about 2:30 p.m. he received an urgent request for support. The British commandos were pinned down and taking losses. Tymiński asked the British observer to correct the ship’s fire, but the observer answered with an angry stream of epithets, saying he couldn’t even raise his head above the ground. Admiral Talbot had ordered his ships not to fire unless they had an observer to correct their shots. Tymiński made the decision to disobey the order, driving Ślązak as close as possible to the coast, the ship’s batteries took the Germans under direct fire. He recalled: In order not to waste time on obtaining permission given the seriousness of the situation, I ordered, on my own responsibility, to open fire on the indicated targets. After 40 minutes of our bombardment, the observer reported that the Germans had left the forest but were still in the chateau. He asked for another 20 minutes of fire for this purpose, which we were happy to do. When we informed the observer that we had ended the bombing, we heard his enthusiastic voice on the microphone: I think you saved our skin. Thanks to you for this. Meanwhile, Rear Adm. Talbot sent us a signal: ‘Silesian. Good job.’ In the evening, before communication with us ended, the artillery observer once again sent: Thanks, from the commandos.”
The next morning, both Ślązak and Krakowiak were back in action supporting the British commandos and they linked up the British and American beaches. At Port-en-Bessin, the Polish ships again helped silence German gun positions and this time sent motorboats of armed sailors ashore to help the commandos mop up the remaining German defenders.
Meanwhile, to the west, the destroyers ORP Piorun and ORP Błyskawica were part of 10th Destroyer Flotilla along with British and Canadian ships shielding the invasion from the German Kriegsmarine. On the night of June 8/9, the destroyers engaged three German destroyers and a torpedo boat near the isle of Ushant as they headed toward the invasion fleet. One German destroyer was sunk and the remaining vessels retreated toward the port of Brest with the Polish and Canadian destroyers in pursuit. The German destroyer Z-32 was cornered and forced aground. Błyskawica poured fire into the vessel, forcing the crew to abandon ship. It was last major action of German surface ships of the war.
A few nights later, Piorun and Błyskawica in company with HMS Ashanti, were in action again, this time intercepting a group of seven German minesweepers near the island of Jersey. The Polish-British force sank four of the minesweepers and heavily damaged two more, effectively eliminating the German force.
The Poles did not escape the fighting without loss. On July 8, a German manned torpedo hit ORP Dragon killing 37 sailors. The remaining crew were able to evacuate the stricken vessel. Too badly damaged to be repaired, the Dragon was sunk to provide a breakwater to protect the landing beaches and most of the crew would go on serve aboard the cruiser ORP Conrad, which was given to the Poles to replace Dragon.
The Polish Navy gave proud but often forgotten service during the war, but in the waters of the English Channel her ships and crews played an important supporting role in the great D-Day invasion.
The photos of Blyskawica taken in Gdynia by John Radzilowski
Good article!