From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cichociemni (Polish for Silent dark ones) were a secret unit of the Polish Army in exile created to maintain contact with occupied Poland during World War II.

Contents 1 The name 2 History 2.1 Early days 2.2 Training 2.3 Air bridges 2.4 The fight 3 Famous Cichociemni 4 Losses 5 Post war 6 See also 7 External links

Initially the name was informal and used only by the soldiers who volunteered to be dropped over Poland. However, from September 1941 it became official and was used in all official documents afterward. It was used both for the secret training detachment of the Polish Headquarters created to provide the agents with necessary knowledge, money and equipment, as well as for all agents that were transported to Poland and other German-occupied countries.

On December 30, 1939 Captain Jan Górski, a Polish Army officer who managed to escape to France after the Polish Defensive War of 1939, prepared a report for the Polish Chief of Staff in which he proposed the creation of a secret unit maintaining contact with the ZWZ by a group of well-trained envoys. The report was initially ignored, so Górski repeated it several times. Finally commander of the Polish air forces, General Zając, replied that although creation of such a unit would be a good move, the Polish Airforce had no means of transport and no training facilities for such an unit to be created.

However, Górski together with his colleague Maciej Kalenkiewicz continued to study the possibilities of paratroopers and special forces. After the capitulation of France they managed to get to the United Kingdom. They studied documents on German paratroopers and prepared a plan of creating a Polish Airforce in exile as a military unit specializing in covert operations support. According to their plan the airforce was to be prepared solely for the purpose of aiding the future uprising in occupied Poland. Their plan was never accepted, but on September 20, 1940, the Polish commander-in-chief, General Władysław Sikorski ordered the creation of the 3rd Detachment of the Polish General Staff (Oddział III Sztabu Naczelnego Wodza). The purpose of the newly-established unit was the theoretical preparation of covert operations in Poland, arms and supplies' delivery by air and - last but not least - training of the paratroopers.

The 3rd Detachment started to accept volunteers soon afterwards. Those who were chosen left their units silently and at night - hence the name, Cichociemni. Among 2,413 candidates, only 605 managed to finish the training and passed all the exams. 579 of them qualified for the airlift.

Among the volunteers were:

• 1 general
• 112 staff officers
• 894 officers
• 592 NCOs
• 771 privates
• 15 women
• 28 civilian envoys of the Polish government in exile

The training prepared by the Polish 6th Detachment of the General Staff (Oddział VI Sztabu Naczelnego Wodza) and the British Special Operations Executive consisted of five parts:

• preparation and physical training (kurs zaprawowy)
• psychological and technical research (kurs badań psychotechnicznych)
• parachute training (kurs spadochronowy)
• covert operations and partisan warfare (kurs walki konspiracyjnej)
• final course (kurs odprawowy)

During the first phase of the training all the volunteers were taught to use all weapons (including British, Polish, German, Russian and Italian) and mines. Additional courses were organized on which the soldiers were trained in basic covert operations, topography, cryptography, and sharpshooting. They were also taught all the details of life in occupied Poland, from laws imposed by the Germans to fashion popular in Warsaw under the occupation. The fourth course included all sorts of covert operations, jiu-jitsu, and shooting at invisible targets,

The final course included learning of a new, false identity. All soldiers who passed training were sworn in as members of the Armia Krajowa.

The first air bridge was organized on February 16, 1941. The Allied air commands carried out 483 air bridges altogether, losing 68 planes to air crashes and enemy fire. Apart from the Cichociemni themselves, approximately 630 tonnes of war material were delivered in special containers. In addition, the agents delivered the following amounts of money to the Armia Krajowa:

• 40 869 800 forged Polish zloty
• 26 299 375 dollars in banknotes and golden coins
• 1 755 pounds in golden coins
• 3 578 000 German marks

Until December 27, 1944 an overall total of 316 soldiers[1] and 28 envoys were successfully paradropped over Poland. Additionally, 17 agents were dropped over Albania, France, Greece, Italy and Yugoslavia. An unknown number of Poles were also dropped over France by the SOE to start an underground movement among the half-a-million strong Polish minority (among them the best known was Krystyna Skarbek).

Although the unit was organized in collaboration with SOE, it was largely independent. The Polish section of the SOE was the only one which chose its own men freely and operated its own radio communication with an occupied country. Also, the identities of the Polish agents were known only to the Polish General Staff.

Among those transported to Poland were soldiers of all grades. The oldest of them was 54 years old, the youngest was 20. As a rule, all volunteers were promoted one rank upwards at the moment of their jump.

In Poland the Cichociemni were transferred mostly to various special units of the ZWZ and AK. Most of them joined Wachlarz, Związek Odwetu and KeDyw. Many became important staff officers of the Polish Secret Army and took part in the Operation Tempest and the Uprisings in Wilno, Lwów and Warsaw.

The cichociemni took over various duties in occupied countries:

• 37 started working for the intelligence
• 50 were radio operators and envoys
• 24 were staff officers
• 22 were airmen and airdrop coordinators
• 11 were instructors of armoured forces and professors of anti-tank warfare in secret military schools
• 3 were trained in forging documents
• 169 were trained in covert operations, diversion and partisan warfare
• 28 were envoys of the Polish government

Among the most notable Cichociemni were:

Rank	Name and nick-name	Dropped	Note
colonel	Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki - Antoni	March 14, 1943	commander of the 2nd Detachment of the Armia Krajowa General Staff (intelligence and counterintelligence), discovered the German V-1 and V-2 testing facility at Peenemünde. Fought in the Warsaw Uprising.
general	Leopold Okulicki - Niedźwiadek	March 14, 1943	deputy Chief of Staff of the Armia Krajowa, commander of the Nie organization, arrested by the NKVD, probably tortured to death in Lubyanka prison in Moscow on December 24, 1946
captain	Tadeusz Klimowski - Klon	January 7, 1942	Chief of Staff of the Polish 27th Home Army Infantry Division
captain	Adam Borys - Pług	October 2, 1942	organizer of the Agat group fighting against the Gestapo
ensign	Adolf Pilch - Góra, Dolina	February 17, 1943	organizer of a 1000 people strong cavalry partisan unit in the Nowogródek area, broke through to the Kampinos forest near Warsaw and liberated it with his men; between June 3, 1943 and January 17, 1945 they fought in 235 battles.
lt. col.	Maciej Kalenkiewicz - Kotwicz	December 28, 1941	organizer of the Cichociemni and the main planner of the Operation Ostra Brama, KIA in the Battle of Surkonty with the NKVD forces on August 21, 1944.
lt.	Józef Czuma - Skryty	February 18, 1943	organizer of a partisan unit of his name in the area of Warsaw, arrested by Gestapo on July 12, 1944, probably tortured to death in Pawiak prison.
colonel	Józef Spychalski - Grudzień, Luty	March 31, 1942	commander of the Kraków AK Area, arrested by Gestapo on March 24, 1944.
colonel	Roman Rudkowski	January 26, 1943	commander of the 3rd Detachment of the Home Army General Staff (air forces and aerial deliveries).
major	Bolesław Kontrym	September 2, 1942	organizer of the secret police force, took part in the Warsaw Uprising. After the war arrested by Urząd Bezpieczeństwa and executed in January 1953.
major	Hieronim Dekutowski "Zapora" "Odra", "Reżu", "Stary", "Henryk Zagon"	September 2, 1942	He was dropped at night on September 17, 1943 along with kpt. dypl. Bronisław Rachwał "Glin" and ppor. Kazimierz Smolaker "Nurek" as a part of the operation “Neon 1” . Initially, he was a staff officer in the Home Army outfit under the command of Tadeusz Kuncewicz "Podkowa". Eventually, he became a commanding officer of the 4th company of the 9th Pułk Piechoty Legionów AK of the Local Inspectorate of the Home Army "Zamość". In addition to his regular fighting with German anti-partisan units and sabotage, he organized hideouts for Jewish refugees in his partisan camps. After the war, he joined Wolność i Niezawisłość. He was arrested by Urząd Bezpieczeństwa tortured, and tried in secrecy on November 3rd, 1948. He was sentenced to death and executed on March 3rd 1949. He was buried in the garbage dump.
major	Jan Piwnik "Ponury"	November 7, 1941	Dropped into occupied Poland on November 7th, 1941. He was the commanding officer of KeDyw of Radom-Kielce district of the Home Army. He organized large Home Army unit called Zgrupowania Partyzanckie Armii Krajowej "Ponury". He was KiA near the village of Jewlaszcze on June 16, 1944.
General	Elżbieta Zawacka - "Zelma", "Zo"	September 10, 1943	the only woman among the Cichociemni to be dropped into occupied Poland, she served as a courier between the HQ of the Home Army and the Polish government in exile. After the war she was arrested and tortured by Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, yet she survived. After her release from the prison, she got her doctorate degree from Gdansk University.

Out of 344 men transported to Poland 112 were KIA:

• 84 in fights against the Germans or tortured to death by the Gestapo after being arrested
• 10 committed suicide in German prisons and concentration camps
• 10 executed by the Communists during and after the war
• 9 were shot down with their planes before reaching their targets

Out of 91 cichociemni who took part in the Warsaw Uprising 18 were killed in action.

On August 4, 1995, the Polish special forces unit GROM adopted the name and traditions of the Cichociemni.

• Armia Krajowa
• KeDyw
• Polish government in exile
• Special Operations Executive
• Stanisław Sosabowski

• Cichociemni - history forum