wz. 34: cavalry sabre wz. 35: anti tank rifle that escalated quickly

Yep Sabres for Poles are like Katanas for Japanese.

I actually have a WZ.34 at home. A cherished find on my parent's farm while we tore down a stable.

Over 30 minutes, very respectful, praising the subject... We, Polish keyboard warriors, are satified. We will not be assholes here :D

The last successful Polish cavalry charge took place in Schoenfeld, then in Germany, in 1945, and ended with the German defenders being overrun and retreating. The Winged Hussars arrived for the last time that day .

Small Polish language lesson that will make it more distinct from Russian: When you see -ów at the end, don't pronounce it like russian -ov, but with an "ov" as in english "move". It makes a closer approximation.

Polish cavalry in 1939 was used in brigades as a mobile elite. Mostly fought (with a few exceptions) dismounted and had a higher proportion of anti-tank (37mm Bofors and a very effective AT rifle) and machine gun equipment than infantry regiments. The Wolynska cavalry brigade held up and bloodied the entire 4th Panzer Division at Mokra, destroying some 50 tanks and armored cars.

If anybody is curious about the myth of Polish cavalry charging German tanks; what actually happened is that a Polish cavalry unit counter attacked and drove back a German infantry unit. The Polish cavalry pursued the German infantry until the Infantry retreated into a unit of either light tanks or armoured scout vehicles at which point, the Polish Cavalry withdrew.

They made almost 40 000 of those sabres. I suppose they are quite rare for the reasons Matt mentioned and for one more - Polish soldiers before surrender often buried weapons in the ground, either hoping to use it someday again or just not wanting it to become spoil of war.

No first hand accounts, unfortunately, but among the more interesting usages of this sabre would be the battle of Krasnobród where the Polish Nowogródzka Cavalry brigades 27th and 25th Ulan regiments charged and routed the German 8th infantry division. In an effort to cover the infantry's retreat the German 17th Siebzehntes Reiter-Regiment drew sabres and counter charged the 25th leading to what might be the last cavalry vs cavalry action in military history. After a short but vicious melee the Germans retreated when the regiments CO was killed and the Poles regrouped, dismounted and began weeding out the last resistance in the town and monastery. On the importance of having kit easily identifiable as "Polish" the priority went to helmets. In 1918 the helmets used were primarily Austro-Hungarian and German Stalhelms later supplemented by large amounts of French Adrian helmets but the Polish military began looking for a distinct helmet as soon as 1919. Several models were experimented with before settling on the wz.31. And on pronunciation. Ludwików [ludˈvʲikuf] Kielce kjɛltsə/ KYELT-sə Cheers!

HUGE LOVE FROM POLAND FOR DEBUNKING CAVALRY CHARGING TANKS MYTH!!! LOVE YOU MATT!

There is a core misunderstanding around the use of Polish cavalry as a cavalry unit. It really wasn't cavalry in the traditional sense, going into battle on horseback and cutting down Germans with their sabres. A more accurate description would be to call them a mobile infantry formation - their use was to either plug gaps in the frontline or to cover retreating infantry. They were more like dragoons or later armoured infantry. In that role they were very successful

Hi Matt, just in case if you happen to wonder what "WZ.34" means: WZ stands for "wzór" which means "patter" or "model".

Cavalry: For when you don't have planes but you do have plains.

Hi Matt, thank you for making this video, but even more so for the way you approached the subject. It's truly humbling that you took the trouble to convey the importance of this weapon to Poland as a nation, and approached the subject with such respect to its significance to Poles. It would be easy to just discuss the weapon in technical terms, and as you're incredibly knowledgeable and a wonderful teacher, no one could fault that video for lacking value. But you really went to the trouble if understanding what that inanimate object means to a people and took the time to explain it wonderfully. Thank you for that.

The testing by striking with the flat is also described by Starzewski in the oldest Polish sabre treatise (1830), who mentions the "old tradition" of testing a sabre before buying it by striking with the flat on one's saddle pommel, which would make the sabre shatter, or bend and ring nicely.

Huta Ludwików in Kielce. The same place were Polish were doing helmets Salamandra

One of the best "szabla" on the world, and unfortunately, one of the last. Great parameters, great steel, true war saber. Thanks for this movie about Polish military history!

So the US had a President Ironcutter, nice

I'm an expat in Poland so enjoyed this especially, cheers mate 👍

I have to say I smiled when the first words was "Good morning" in Polish. Really made my day to hear that greeting from you (and the pronounciation wasn't bad). Thank you for very informative video, I haven't know all the tests that were used in the sabre factory. Really interesting to know, as I always thought the Prussians had the most strict tests in that field. Kielce - "ki" as in "kill", then "el", then "ce" as in "censor", but it's not soft c (which sounds kinda like s), but hard (maybe closer analogy would be something like "z" in "zornhau". Oh, and as a farewell it's "do widzenia" (literally "see you (later)"), as "dzień dobry" is used only for greeting.

They're in the first verse of the national anthem. "Co nam obca przemoc wzięła, Szablą odbierzemy." - "What the foreign power has seized from us, We shall recapture with a sabre." Apparently in later verses there's a backsword and some scythe. Video idea: scythe in warfare.

Polish cavalry during September '39 carried anti-tank rifles that could disable any panzer Germans threw at them, however that rifle was top secret and deployed briefly before war started. Polish soldiers were not nearly effective with it as they could be if they were more familiar with them. It was different technology from other rifles at the time, it was meant to kill crew and it worked.

I don't believe he ever got around to explaining the simple knucklebow in preference to a more protective guard. I suspect it's to make it easier to carry slung on the horse, and because by this time, fencing with another trooper armed with a sword would be rare (or not occurring it at all), and the hand protections was less critical.

I would love some more videos of swords from the ww2 era. Great job with the video, very fun to watch.

They definitely made their way west - found two in very good condition in a friend's attic in Michigan, USA. I sold one, and kept the other in my permanent collection.

Your pronunciation is surprisingly good, congrats on that :) I grew up playing with szabla wz 17 (..if I'm not mistaken) It was a super heavy thing to cut and parry with for a kid, I remember I could hardly swing it around and looked with awe at my daddy who swang it around like a toy.

According to "Świętokrzyskie museum 1963 volume": colonel Grzybowski was the head of the quality control and testing group , and he was probably killed at the beginning of the war. He was a real nightmare for the personnel of the Ludwików factory. He was pedantic and very demanding. Very often he tested sabres by himself, and he was a tall and strong man. Then, to the dismay of factory managers, the number of sabres that were thrown away used to increase. So it looks like we owe the quality of these sabres to colonel Grzybowski

Damn it's beautiful, the handle look almost modernist and combined with that blade it's just awesome.

Will Matt ever speak about the use of swords in WW2? There has been a number of cases, when swords were used with great effect.

Keep on doing these. I like to watch this stuff, to learn new things, and to stay calm. Thanks, Matt.

Awesome ! Thank you so much for this great episode. I am sitting here, with goose bumps, holding my Grandfather's WZ34 szabla. Cheers

This is a very good and durable sword.. I would say, one of the best.

Thank you for this film. Warming to a heart of a Polish patriot and history fan. Very accurate and respectful.

Hi, just found this excellently informative video. I'm very glad that Polish sabres are getting recognition. Poland and Hungary kind of introduced sabres to Europe as we picked them from Turks and Mongols. Just a short description of what means other than sabres Polish cavalry had in 1939; semi-automatic pistols, rifles, anti-tank rifles, hand machineguns, light machine guns, heavy machineguns, grenade launchers, 81 mm mortars, 75 mm field canons, 37mm anti-tank guns, and 40 mm AA autocanons which were also lethal to tanks of the time. Technically a Polish cavalry unit in 1939 could, or should have been able to take on even tank units when defending, and they did. The problem was insufficient number of anti-tank and anti-air canons caused by funds shortage, and then as more commonly known, poor command, lack of communication and coordination between different kinds of forces The cavalry however could stand their ground like any more modern unit would in similar circumstances. Classic charges also took place, some of them performed not by military cavalry, but by mounted police who also were armed with swords. Speaking of how iconic it was, the communist regime was trying to discredit the pre-war one in every way possible, and subsequently even a film replicating German propaganda about cavalry charging on tanks was made (Lotna). However, the cavalry was later rehabilitated in the TV show 'Four Tankmen and Dog', in which a cavalry unit commanded by a pre-war Master Sentinel destroys German paratroopers through surprise charge with sabres, and the tank driver receives a sword from the Master Sentinel. This sword is later grabbed in dramatic moments 'to give courage' and always saved, even when "Ginger' (the tank) is destroyed or when the tankmen run away whilst the building they had used for defence is being overrun by the Germans, and when Berlin falls, the tank's commander climbs on the Brandenburg gate to leave there a peaked cap that belonged to Cavalry Master who died firing a canon at German tanks. The series was made in the 60ies, and since then, never goes off the air. Also, the last unit of the regular army fighting on the Polish soil that just refused to surrender and kept marching around in uniforms and attacking German units, was the 110th Cavalry Regiment that later turned into 'the Separated Unit of the Polish Army' which wasn't crushed until 30th of April 1940, however the unit regrouped once again, at this point consisting of only 30 survivors, had one more skirmish and decided dissolution only after receiving a news that France had capitulated. This war episode was also given a full-feature film and the frantic refusal to give up is portrayed as a rational decision. The commander of said unit, major Henryk Dobrzański was himself a history enthusiast and a came from a noble family, so sabre and horse were also a symbol of the social class he originated from. Historical accounts suggest that Dobrzański and his officers in their decision were inspired by events of the Second Northern War, which in Poland was known as 'the Deluge'.

31:30 I believe I've heard about a few suprise cavalry attacks (september '39 campaign) on Germans camping sites. However it didn't have any operational importance. Polish cavalry Regiments during ww2 were actually mobile infantry units or even motorized infantry (on trucks, small tanks etc.). Actually the last big cavalry battle in Europe was in 1920 near Komarów, where Polish cavalry won over soviet Budionny' cavalry army (that deserves another podcast!). Anyways, a great and very informative podcast, thank you Matt!

It's important to note how effective the Italian cavalry was on Somalia against the british (led by Amadeo Guillet) and on the soviet union, this cavalry would not always dismount to shoot but rather charge with swords... I would love if you get your hands on those italian swords u.u

Excellent review. Thank You

The Soviets also extensively used cavalry on the Eastern front throughout WWII. Swords were used for attacking routing troops, soldiers on the march, and especially surprise attacks at night (or under cover of smoke).

In 1939 every major military power still had horse cavalry. I worked with a guy who had enlisted in the U.S. Cavalry in 1939 and boy he had some stories to tell.

This is the weapon of a Polish Hussar. Not as clumsy or random as a pistol. An elegant weapon... for a more civilized age

I'm really impressed. Your knowledge of the Central-European and Polish history and weaponry is really impressive. Hats off to you!

Well done! I'm impressed by the amount and difficulty of the testing those swords endured.

One of the reason why it's rare: Pple love to keep this swords for family only, give it from generation to generation. I'm from Poland and in our culture is to keep souvenirs from the war after grandparents. Some of them didn't see a sunlight from the times of WW2 :)

I just see Scholagladiatoria and a cool looking sword and clicked. I love the grip on that sword! If I had the money, I would've bought it!

Dzień dobry Matt, a raczej Dobry wieczór hahahaha (Ye almost nailed the pronunciation ;) )

You have great knowledge of history. Very interesting. Thanks.

Thanks for covering this subject. Regards!

As a Pole, I wouldn't say it was so important for Polish history, even in 39 nobody in Poland expected them to be in any real use, rather for show.

A great presentation! Germans also had cavalry in ww2. The 1st Cavalry Division was formed in October 1939. It fought in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and on the Eastern Front. The German cavalry corps, which in wartime consisted of horse, bicycle, and motorcycle troops, contained 18 horse regiments. Disbanded at the outbreak of the war in 1939, they were reformed into divisional reconnaissance battalions. In 1943 three regiments were reconstituted. By 1945 Germany had 6 cavalry divisions. WW1 was indeed a technological leap forward. During ww1 The British War Office and war journalists were using the Aeroscope cameras, invented and patented in 1910 by Polish Kazimierz Prószyński.

Dzień dobry, Matt, thank you so much for all info on the sabre and bringing in Polish history elements. Correctness of your Polish pronunciation is really impressive. God bless, take care

When the item is up for sale on the website, I get the feeling I'm watching a really up-market and exclusive version of QVC. Great fun.

would be interesting to make a video about the last swords actually used in combat, like 1917 cutlass, patton saber, wz34, shin gunto etc.

As much as I like you talking about ancient, medieval and early modern melee weapons, these rare videos on early 20th century swords and edged weapons are always so fascinating. As someone interested in WWI era military history, I've always found the combination of old design methods (or inspiration taken from old design methods) with some 20th century elements and design trends to be really interesting. Concerning the Wz. 34 sabre, it really does feel a bit more powerful having a proper single-edged sturdy cutting sword in your scabbard, rather than just the thrusting cavalry swords of the late 1800s and early 1900s, doesn't it ? I can't quite imagine fighting with an 1908/1912 sword or the Patton sword in self-defence, on foot, outside of the saddle and a cavalry charge. Now, with the Wz. 34 and its other early 1900s precursors, I could imagine being a lot less defenceless, as it's not as overspecialised a sword. It is, as you note, in essence the same basic sabre design that's been in use in Poland for many centuries, successfully, with relatively little variation. Thank you for another great video. :-) P.S. Huta Ludwików would be "Ludwików Steelworks" and the Wz. abbreviation is Wzor, i.e. "Pattern". Interestingly enough, central European states still used the "Pattern + year" naming convention well into the 20th century. Also for firearms, helmets, etc. Czech uses the same basic convention, Vz., meaning Vzor ("Pattern"). The Vz. 24 rifle of Czechoslovakia would be the "Pattern (19)24 rifle", and so on.

Aesthetically pleasing, interesting history, awesome sword, I'd love one

What a very informative and detailed presentation on the subject! Hat's off! You not only covered the technical, historical and military aspects of the saber but as well you've mentioned about the meaning it carries to Polish people. Indeed there is a very strong bond between "sabre" and Polish identity as a nation, which is clearly expressed at the very beginning of our national anthem: Poland has not yet perished, So long as we still live. What the foreign force has taken from us, We shall with sabre retrieve.

Very informative and interesting video!

Thanks for the video, very informative. Great sword.

Beautiful, well designed sword. Wish I had the cash. Wonder how many of them it took to put it all together...?

Greetings from Poland and thank you for this video:).

It would be interesting to have a saber all done up in the art deco style, or any of the other styles that were popular at that time.

You really can't beat that sound when it's drawn

I've read a lot of WW2 history. Much of it before the internet. I do remember a German account of a spirited engagement on horseback in Poland with sabre and pistol. It seemed like both sides were keen for it, and willing to forgo any advantage conferred by modern weapons in order to get to what they considered as the real battle. I don't remember the book title, ironically I was more interested in tanks and planes then.

Thany You for this video. Greetings from Poland :)

It's wild to learn that swords were used in WW1 to some degree of success and now swords used from 1918 to 1939! And still useful wild.

Huta Ludwików...That is why that sabre is also called "Ludwikówka"

Thanks for the vid sir.

'wz. 34' stands for 'wzór 34' that is meaning 'model 34'. Huta - Ironworks 'Dzień dobry' is a greeting. If you are saying goodbye you should say 'dowidzenia'/'do zobaczenia' (see you later) or 'miłego dnia' (have a nice day). You can also use 'Bywajcie' (plural) / 'Bywaj' (singular) or 'Bądź zdrów!' that means 'Be well/Be healthy'.

Polish sabers ( specially hussar versions) are greatest white weapons of all times. With hussar saber you you could fight all 4 fighting styles: - western europe, knight's style, using saber like sword, - eastern europe style- stepes, polish style - middle east/arabian fighting style - far east fighting style, using saber like katana. It it only blade that can be used like this, for example with katana you can't fight against swords and swords are useless in katana style. Saber is only way to be so versatile. My family still have some our ancestors sabers - hussar sabers ( few generations of my ancestors were hussars), hungarians, ottomans, russians XVI - XIX century sabers , german wwl saber ( my grandgrandfather was calvalry capitain), austrian ww1 saber, etc. We have also saber wz.34. We have katanas, arabian swords/sabers, rapiers and swords too and I practice many styles of fencing ( It is so great and traditional). And in my opinion there isn't anything better than hussar saber. It is amazing. When I was kid and I was in my grandparents mansion I liked to take ( without asking, the don't let me play with antic, 400 years weapon ) damascus steel hussar saber, tiger fur, hussar armour ( it was so heavy... ) and go riding on horse and imagining that I am hussar like my ancestors.

I think you could look into the design of husaria (winged hussars) lances - and the effect of their use.. (they were substantially longer than infantry pikes.. a magnificent piece of ingineering, and warfare tactics..

Well, Polish calvary was supposed fight a bit like motorised infantry. They were supposed to fight on foot like infantry, using horses to move them and their heavy equipment around on pretty far distances through plains of modern Ukraine and Belarus. Talking about equipment, they had a lot of stuff like AT guns, howitzers, mortars and machine guns, as well as tanks and armoured cars. At the time, these were some of the most advanced units. They were actually pretty effective in 1939, but if the war was fought against Russians, these would be absolutely deadly in the plains. Charges were supposed to be conducted only with an element of surprise, like attacking an unprepared column of infantry in march. Btw: Your pronouncion is pretty decent. With the szabla you actually nailed it.

Very well presented! I thoroughly enjoyed this video! As a Pole I am looking to acquire one o these at some point.

If you know about wing hussars then some Polish cavalry officers changed orginal handguard and grip for its ancestors hussars saber handguard and grip and they are incredibly rare

It was mostly ceremonial and status symbol for the polish officers sort of like katana was for the Japanese officers. Contrary to most myths polish cavalry was by most equipped with quite good and sophisticated weapons like an antitank rifle UR Wz35 and 37mm Bofors antitank canon. There were for the most elite and professional soldiers and they took a heavy toll on the inwading Germans. Horseback charges were very few and far between, these guys were not suicidal, there were professionals they knew that one prepared machine gun nest can mow them all out, the charges were ordered only in two circumstances, first, where the enemy was very close and would be taken by total surprise, second, where the charge was the only way to break from encirclement. Also Poland in 1939 was in the process of mechanizing cavalry, 2 out of 11 cavalry brigades were already motorized using trucks tankettes and light tanks rather than horses.

The handle and hilt on that thing is sweet!

Italian then Polish sabre love the spirit Matt- though I prefer the Horse Artillery "Italian" 1855 pattern to the 1833 one, don't judge me love clip-back points! Poles had such an impact on modern sabres design IMO and I don't even speak of their role during the Napoleonic wars from Spain to Russia. New question Matt what about the Royal engineers drivers and the 1852 Prussian sabres? How long did they use them? Cannot find sources on the matter. Thank you so much sir take care, especially in these times

Very interesting video! Greetings from Poland :)

As an American, the iron cut, or Eisenhower, is particularly interesting. Especially via WW2. Thx!

My god, Polish Forged in Fire would be awesome.

Funnily enough, I just ran across one of these in an antique store yesterday

The sheer amount of testicular mass in Polish military history is just outstanding.

As I know only only two european countries designed new bladed weapons after world war 1: USSR, Poland. Both of them used them against nazis. But our last battle blade was designed in 1927, so this weapon is the last model of the european battle, not ceremonial long blade.

Great video, a lot of facts I did not know, even some of my relatives carried those in '39. One thing: as for parting, it should have been "do widzenia". Have a nice day and I hope you find a good buyer for this one.

09:47 "In the 19th century Poland wasn't really recognised as a country"... That's a bit of an understatement. In 1795, Poland was simply eliminated as a state, Prussia, Russia and the Habsburg empire divided it between them. Only in 1918, Poland became a sovereign state again.

The sword slap on a wooden block would probably be done to expose irregularities in the chemical material structure of the sword. The slap would cause a fault point failure and then the rap on the spine would cause the failure to manifest in breakage.

Thank You

Any chance of talking about Pictish square shields? Very bizarre and oft overlooked they are.

"lot of authority in the cutting part" kocham angielski !!!

You ask for examples of this sword being used - can't provide that, but the recent "First to fight" by Roger Moorhouse is the first English language (popular) history book on the German invasion of Poland in 1939. While not focusing on swords, it does decribe the use of cavalry and debunck myths as you briefly alluded to) in that conflict - I recommend it

I have the same at home after my grandfather. Beatifull work.

Fun fact: In officer corpse standard equipment regulations weren't that closely controlled, so in case of some aristocratic officers, it was in a good tone to have a hussar sabre set in wz. 34 handle and sheath, if you had one. :)

Great to have swords that withstood brutal tests.

thank you for using the wording germans instead of nazis

👍 Greetings from Poland!

And the wojtek version? :D that guy sure needed a melee weapon beside his claws.

AND THEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!

Hej! Bardzo dziękuję za obszerny film o polskiej szabli bojowej! Yes - very very thank You!!!

That testing sounds like something straight out of forged in fire!

Last thing I expected was being randomly recommended a video about the only sword I own.

Thanks for this movie..im from Poland