Component units in the Kraków Defence Forces.
(Following on the Kraków theme)
The unit controlling Kraków is listed as the "8th Motor Rifle Division", which is actually something of a misnomer. The Polish called those units "Mechanised Divisions"
By the way, I really don't think the 8th are going to disband the colours and call themselves an OTK unit if for no other reason that the local OTK unit was already in place.
Here's the official Order of Battle from 1985:
8th "Dresden" Mechanised Division
- 16th "Dnowsko-Łużycki" Tank Regiment
- 28th "Sudecki" Mechanised Regiment
- 32nd "Budziszyński" Mechanized Regiment
- 36th "Łużycki" Mechanised Regiment
- 4th Artillery Regiment
- 83rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment
- 47th Rocket Artillery Battalion
- 1st Tactical Missile Battalion
- 15th Division Artillery Commander Command Battery
- 5th Reconnaissance Battalion
- 19th Sapper Battalion
- 13th Signal Battalion
- 8th Supply Battalion
- 8th Maintenance Battalion
- 39th Medical Battalion
- 64th Chemical Defence Company
Also, the 8th will be associated with a few other units that would have been in Kraków. These are:
3rd "Carpathian" Brigade WOP ("Border Protection Troops")
- 264th WOP battalion
- 32nd WOP battalion
- 34th WOP battalion
5th Podhalańska Brygada WOW ("Internal Defence Forces"; "Wojsk Obrony Wewnętrznej")
- command and staff
- three motorized infantry regiments (each with three battalions, a - mortar battery and a battery of guns)
- tank battalion
- 122 mm cannon squadron
- 120 mm mortar squadron
- 57 mm AA cannon squadron
- reconnaissance company
- company of sappers
- chemical company
- communications company
- traffic regulation company
- medical company
Kraków Territorial Defence "Bartosz Głowacki" Regiment. ("OTK").
- command and staff [4] .
- 4-6 infantry companies each with 3 infantry platoons and a heavy machine gun platoon
- special company including sapper platoon, communications platoon and chemical platoon
- supply platoon
This is who we think the "ORMO" were. They are the local military defence unit.
Kraków Civil Defence Units ("OP") Obrona Cywilna PRL
Don't underestimate these people, this is what every civilian is more or less part of. As Poland was a communist country they subscribed to the "People's War" concept and everyone had a role to play in the conflict. If you had nothing else you could do the OP took you.
Kraków Militia ("MO") This was the pre-war police force. It must be remembered that Polish police were paramilitary.
One unit you'll notice that are not here is the local ORMO units. This is because the ORMO was an arm of the Polish communist party, the guys the 8th are rebelling against.
Also I should belabour the point that Polish society in the Cold War was more militarised than what we in the west (assuming the reader is western) are used to. Some sort of civil training was very common. Civil Defence was especially widespread. Note that "civil defence" meant just that; not only did they do disaster relief and medical services but the OP also did things like create strongpoints, assist AA weaponry and other military functions.
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