Battle of Małków

Battle of Małków
Part of during the Polish–Ukrainian ethnic conflict in the World War II
Date February – March, 1944 Location Małków, Hrubieszów County, Lublin Voivodeship Result Polish victory
Belligerents
Peasant Battalions Home Army	Third Reich Ukrainian Auxiliary Police SS Galizien USN
Commanders and leaders
Stanisław Basaj	Unknown
Units involved
Battalion “Ryś” of the Peasant Battalions	Unknown
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Majority killed and wounded

The Battle of Małków (Polish: Bitwy o Małków, Ukrainian: Бої під Малковом; February — March, 1944) was fought between the Battalion “Ryś” of the Peasant Battalions and Home Army under the command of Stanisław Basaj against the Third Reich, Ukrainian Auxiliary Police and 14th Grenadier Division of the Waffen–SS “Galicia” in the Hrubieszów Country of the Lublin Voivodeship.^[1]

On 18 March 1943, the Ryś Battalion made a successful attack in the village of Górki against a detachment of Ukrainian nationalists; during the pursuit they managed to smash a German car column, also destroying 2 enemy detachments. But this was not the end of the Ryś battalion's successes, on 3 April it attacked the village of Prehoryłe, defeating a detachment of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and taking revenge for the massacres committed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In early May it drove out the Ukrainians in Hołuba.^[2]

Subsequently, the 3rd Platoon of the Ryś Battalion scored a decisive victory over the forces of the Ukrainian police and troops of the 14th Grenadier Division near the village of Mieniany. The battalion did not stop there either, attacking on 15 September in Sahryń, unfortunately unsuccessfully, but it was one of the few defeats of the battalion, which at that time faced the Ukrainian and German forces with ease.^[2]

In late autumn, Stanislaw Basaj's troops were quartered and gathering strength for further battles, but this calm was disturbed by the 14th SS Grenadier Division in the strength of 2 companies. They attacked the villages of Zabłocie and Małków, where Stanislaw Basaj's forces and the Home army were stationed, and easily dealt with the attack, The next day Ryś struck at the same forces that had attacked him, the Ukrainian forces were at a disadvantage, inflicting heavy losses on them, thus preventing the pacification of Malkov, but on 14 February probably 140 soldiers of the Ryś battalion and the Home Army fought a battle with German forces near Zabłocie, the day-long battle ended in a Polish victory and inflicting significant casualties on the Germans, thanks to which the Basaj's troops captured ammunition and weapons from the Germans. On 27 February, there was another skirmish near Małków, where the battalion claimed victory over the SS Combat Group "Beyersdorf" and the Ukrainian nationalists from the USN. Saving the Polish population, they bravely attacked another detachment of the 14th Division's Granadiers and police; the Ukrainians were beaten in the villages of Górna and Łasków; on that day still, Basaj and "Bold" again went to Małków for ammunition, where they easily dealt with the Ukrainian militia there. 2 USN members were killed in the short fight. The "Ryś" Battalion captured 2 rifles, 3 grenades and a reprimand pistol^[3][2][1][4]

On 28 February, 1944, the battalion's commander, upon hearing that the village of Małków was being pacified by combined German-Ukrainian forces, immediately set off to help the village together with the AK Partisan Detachment of "Czarus", while later 3 platoons of the Home Army joined the battle. After pushing out the enemy forces, the combined German-Ukrainian forces were attacked from 3 sides, the German offensive ended in a defeat, which was sealed by the death of the commander, and the death of many soldiers on the enemy side. While on the side of the partisans the losses were much smaller; 6 soldiers were killed and 16 wounded.^[2][5]

On 29 February three platoons of the 1st BCh Battalion led by Stanisław Basaj, jointly with an AK platoon (commanded by "Huragan"), in the village of Prehoryłe discovered an outpost of Ukrainian nationalists and smashed it; several dozen Ukrainian nationalists were killed from the UPA Company of "Bradiaha", while the Polish partisans had smaller losses, and the village was burnt down. On 5 March, 4 platoons from the 1st BCh Battalion, 116 soldiers under the command of Basaj and an AK platoon from "Czarusia" company of 35 soldiers, were attacked in the area of Prehoryłe - Małków by strong units of the 14th SS Grenadier Division and Ortschutz; the attack was repulsed and the Polish partisans suffered only small casualties in the process, while equipment was captured from the enemy.^[2]

On 15 March 1944 "Ryś", surprised near the village of Proske, smashed a German patrol. On March 16/17 the 1st Battalion fought a battle with a pacification group consisting of gendarmes, SS men and Ukrainian police from the UPA "Jahoda" group, which attacked the village of Łasków, the Zabłocie colony and Małków. The battalion was supported by Home Army units of Olszak "Hardy" and Aleksandrov "Brawura". The attackers were smashed. The effectiveness of "Ryś" actions caused a strong German response. On 19 March, units of the 14th SS Grenadier Division, Ortschutz, Ukrainian Police together with Germans from Schupo (Urban Police) and the Gendarmerie (Rural Police), launched a large-scale operation against the Basaj battalion and the "Wiktor" AK battalion. When the Germans encircled one of the "Rys" platoons in the village of Łasków, the main forces of the Basaj battalion and the "Wiktor" battalion rushed to the aid of the encircled. "Rys" pushed out the enemy and captured the Mircze-Kryłów road. At the same time, "Czarusia" and "Wiktor" companies of the Home Army drove the enemy back from the Sokal-Hrubieszow road and captured Mircze; having achieved these objectives, the Polish units captured the last points of enemy resistance in the villages of: Modryń, Modryniec and Masłomęcz The third phase of operations attacked Ukrainian nationalist USN bases in the villages of: Mieniany, Kozodawy, Cichobórz and Kosmów, completely driving out their crews. Significant losses were inflicted on the enemy, but the "Rysia" battalion also lost several men.^[6]