Armoured Ford FT-B with its designer Tadeusz Tanski. Later, Tanski designed modern passenger cars CWS. He was murdered in 1941 in Auschwitz.

Armoured Ford FT-B

Armoured Ford FT-B

Armoured Ford FT-B

Armoured Ford FT-B

1st Armoured Car Column in action

Armoured train BP no. 13 "Krasnyi Kavalerist" was captured during Kovel raid

Four armoured cars of the Soviet 12th Army's Special (i.e: penal) Armoured Unit were captured on 11 September 1920 at Malorita near Kovel (now: Belarus).

On 28 May 1920, the 55th Infantry Regiment of the 14th Wielkopolska Infantry Div. captured one Austin-Putilov near Bobruysk. It had Soviet name: "Styenka Razin" and belonged to the 1st avtobronyeotryad. It supported Soviet infantry, and then stuck in a ditch and was abandoned. Just after its capture, it was given a name "Poznańczyk" (of Poznań city) and was the first vehicle to constitute the newly created Wielkopolski Armoured Car Platoon. The car's (and platoon) commander was Lt. Feliks Peto. In July the platoon was fighting in retreat from Bobruysk then was moved to Warszawa, where in August it was reformed into the 2nd Armoured Car Platoon. The car was light grey, with red inscription "Styenka Razin".

Soviet POWs. Soviet were so desperate that they conscripted children to fight.

Soviet POWs in 1920.

The 1st Armoured Car Column. The first four cars are armoured Fords.

Ford Tf-c (aka Ford FT-B or "model 1920") was the first armoured car constructed in Poland by engineer Tadeusz Tanski on his own initiative. This small armoured car, armed with one machinegun in a revolving turret, was built upon Ford T chassis. The prototype was completed end of June, 1920. A total number of 16 or 17 armoured Fords were built in "Gerlach & Pulst" factory in Warszawa. Their advantages were: good speed, manoeuvrability, and ease of maintenance and repair. They were quite silent and due to their lightness, they could ride through weak bridges but were very cramped inside. Just as the first cars were produced, they were sent to combat at once.

The armament was a water-cooled machine gun 7.92mm Maxim 08/15, or 05/s, with 1250 rounds, in a revolving turret. The crew, consisting of two: driver and commander-gunner, had 25 hand grenades.

The armour thickness was 8mm (vertical plates) and 3mm (upper plates), protecting against regular rifle bullets from all distances. The weight of armour was about 590 kg.

All armored Ford cars were assigned to the 8th Cavalry Brigade, and were operating in the area of Ostroleka and Pultusk towns. All eight Fords formed the 1st Light Armoured Car Column commanded by 2nd Lt. Edward Karkoz, later Lt. Felicjan Dziecielewski. The column, with the 8th Cavalry Brigade, was assigned to the 5th Army of Gen. Władysław Sikorski.

In the history of the Polish-Soviet-Russian war of 1920, which ended in the crushing defeat of the Bolsheviks, there is recorded a raid by armoured cars, crowned with an enormous success. The raid was effected with the help of a very primitive force i.e., passenger Fords converted into armoured Fords, at a period when the doctrine of independent use of armoured forces was still in its infancy, and it may be considered worthy of a golden page in the military history.

After the battle of Warszawa in the middle of August, 1920, the Polish Army, led by its brilliant Commander-in-Chief Joseph Piłsudski, started its pursuit after the retreating Bolshevik forces.

In the first days of September a short interruption in operations took place for the purpose of reorganising the forces for strategic pursuit. At the same time, on the south front, an action was conducted against Budienny, the commander of Soviet 1st Mounted Army – Konarmya, on the line of the rivers Bug and Zgnila Lipa. After the defeat of Budienny's army and the advance by the 3rd Army under General Sikorski to the line of the river Bug, decisive action was taken by the Commander-in-Chief, and the 3rd and 6th Armies constituting the southern front were pushed eastwards.

The following plan of action was decided upon: the group of General Józef Haller, consisting of two divisions of infantry and one corps of cavalry, had the task of capturing Luck [now: Lut'sk, Ukraine] by a swift attack pushing the enemy in the direction of Sarny (region of the Polesie marshes). This action was to be synchronic with General Krajewski's offensive on Kovel; his group consisted of two infantry divisions and a volunteer group under General Bulak-Balachowicz.

General Krajewski's objective was the immobilisation of the 12th Soviet Army, which was just beginning the re-grouping of its forces preparatory to an offensive in the western direction intended for the 12th September.

In view of the operations extending over large areas, and in order to take by surprise the enemy who were preparing for an offensive, the Commander-in-Chief resolved upon an armoured force raid. Another object of the raid was the seizing at Kovel of undamaged wide-gauge railway rolling-stock, enabling rapid action along the Russian railway lines. In order to bring the raid nearer to its base of action the Commander-in-Chief ordered the 4th Army to lead an attack on the 9th September with its left flank on Malorita - Mokrany [now in Belarus] and to break through the 12th and 4th Soviet Armies, a manoeuvre which resulted in the capture of Mokrany on the 11th September.

To perform the raid on the 10th September, a group was formed in Wlodawa under the command of Major Władysław Bochenek. This group consisted of 1st AC Column and two "motorized" infantry battalions of the 26th Inf. Regiment from the 7th Infantry Division, loaded upon 54 trucks, with two artillery batteries (eight 75mm guns towed by trucks), a total of about 1000 men. The 1st Column consisted of 7 Fords and 2 "semi-armoured" cars.

The group received orders to raid Kovel by way of Wlodawa - Mokrany, a distance of 160 km. The attack of the armoured group on Kovel was to be synchronic with the frontal attack from the Bug River line of the 7th and 18th Infantry Divisions (the group of General Krajewski). The commander of the 12th Soviet Army, in spite of the fact that contact with the 4th Soviet Army had been broken through the Polish attack in the region of Malorita - Mokrany, considered the Polish action in that direction purely a demonstration; he decided to make for the weakest point, which in his opinion lay in the north west, and in this direction he threw his last reserves - one infantry division - thus completely neglecting the Brześć [now Brest on the Bug, Belarus] - Kovel road.

The coming of the motor group over this very same Brześć - Kovel road took the Bolsheviks unawares, and in this element of surprise lay one of the conditions of success. The surprise was, moreover, affected by a very sudden change of direction by the motor-group. The original direction of Wlodawa - Kobryn had threatened only Kobryn, while it placed the group at an even greater distance from Kowel. On the 11th September at 10 a.m. the group set off on the road leading to Mokrany, by way of Malorita.

The marching order was following: advance guard, 3 Ford and 1 White armoured cars, half a battalion of infantry and half a battery of artillery, and, behind the advance guard, 2 Ford armoured cars at a distance of 2 km to act in connecting files with the main force. The main force: 1 1/2 battalions of infantry, 1 1/2 batteries of artillery, supply cars and cisterns, the rearguard consisting of 2 Ford and 1 White armoured cars.

A distance of 65 km. was made in one day, i.e. until evening of the 11th September; during this time it was necessary to stop the whole marching column in order to repair the bridges. At 1 a.m. on the 12th the raiding column resumed its march. At 2 a.m. the first rattle of the machine guns was already heard - the head of the column rushed into the village of Horniki; the armoured cars of the advance guard dashed into the village before the surprised enemy could organise resistance, and 2 guns and some score of prisoners were taken. On reaching the next village, Ratno, the column encountered heavy fire which was silenced by the swift entrance of the advance guard into the village. When abandoning the place the Bolsheviks set a bridge on fire; there was no time to extinguish this fire, and the whole column crossed the burning bridge at top speed. A few minutes after the passage of the last car the bridge came down with a crash.

At Bucyn the enemy tried to stop the advancing column by shelling it from a battery placed on the road in front; fortunately the shells, owing to the nervousness of the gunners, fell far from the armoured cars, and a few minutes later the cars of the advance guard were in the midst of the gunners. After breaking the resistance of the enemy at Bucyn the advance guard made for Kovel with the utmost speed; it rushed into the town and through the streets firing in all directions.

In the meantime the main force was carrying out an artillery engagement with 2 armoured trains: BP no.72 "N. Rudnyeva" and probably BP no. 82 "Smiert' Direktorii" which had pushed through from the side of Brześć and Chelm to Kovel; the motor cars which were on the road formed a splendid target for the Bolshevik artillery, and as a result of its fire several cars were damaged and a number of soldiers wounded: batteries of the main force occupied positions from which they made severe damage to one of the Bolshevik armoured trains which with great difficulty managed to reach Kovel. The other train was forced to retreat in a westerly direction under sever fire from the Polish artillery. Towards the end of the artillery engagement against the Bolshevik armoured trains, the commander of the group, Major Bochenek, received the report of the capture of the Kovel railway station by the advance guard and of the enemy's flight. The column of the main force entered the town at 4 p.m.

The effect of the sudden appearance in the streets of Kovel of armoured cars firing on all sides was such that within the space of a few minutes the Bolshevik troops, about 2 infantry divisions, were leaving the town in considerable disorder. The commander of the 12th Soviet Army escaped in a motor car.

There was no time to make an inventory of the prodigious quantity of war material which fell into Polish hands; it was necessary to plan the defence and weigh the possibilities of holding the town should the enemy perceive, as he easily could, with what a small force he had to deal. The infantry, jointly with the artillery, the latter strengthened by the captured Bolshevik guns, occupied positions to the east and west of the town. All night armoured cars patrolled the neighbouring roads. It was only next morning at 10 o'clock that the advance guard of the 7th and 18th Polish Infantry Divisions, which had been fighting the enemy the whole of the preceding day, made their entrance into Kovel. Capt. E. Hinterhoff, the source of this description, who was on the staff of Polish 7th Infantry Division, entered the town with the advance guard and could see the effect of the action of our armoured force.

Only then was it possible to count the vast war material fallen into Polish hands: 2 armoured trains [BP no. 39 "Subbotnik" and BP no. 13 "Krasnyi Kavalerist"], 36 artillery guns, 3 aeroplanes and 12 cars, several hundreds of railway carriages loaded with large amount of war material, and, besides, all that the staff archives the 12th Soviet Army contained.

Thus did the brilliantly conducted raid on Kowel result not only in bringing immense spoil at a very inconsiderable loss (3 Ford armoured cars were damaged), but it produced a tremendous operational effect which rendered possible the accomplishment of the strategic plan of the Commander-in-Chief, and at the same time it seriously weakened the strength and shook the morale of the 12th Soviet Army.

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