puppygod:
Nope. For one thing, lances at the time were only parade equipment and hence Polish cavalry simply didn’t have lances with them in the field.
Actually, one of my professors claimed that this cliche (charging with lances against tanks) stemmed from German propaganda films of 1940, and was later popularized by communist Polish and Soviet propagandist as a symbol of misguided pre-war chivalristic mindset.
It began as a distorted report of the Charge at Krojanty .
Thanks, Kellner, but keep your mouth shut about John Wayne with a .50 in his arms, ok?
I was reading Wikipedia’s article on Polish cavalry (thanks for the link Ludovic ) and it noted of the sixteen confirmed cavalry charges by the Poles in 1939, most succeeded. Were the Germans caught without their weapons? Ambushed? How fast exactly can a cavalry charge go at full gallop and how many shots can a rifleman get out in time?
There is a wargame called Horse, Foot, and Guns (.doc file) which may help answer some of your questions.
PISTOLS, representing early 18th century cavalry who moved deliberately in close formation and often received enemy cavalry charges at the halt with a fire of pistols and/or carbines rather than counter-charging, such as the French (>1730) and the Austrians (>1751). This tactic was the best against Turkish sipahis, but less effective against European cavalry charging sword in hand.
REPEATERS (1863-1905), representing cavalry mostly armed with repeating magazine carbines as well as with sabre and revolver, and at least as likely to fight with most troopers dismounted as to fight entirely mounted, such as later Union cavalry of the American Civil War.
MOUNTED RIFLES (1880>), representing sharpshooters or infantry with modern rifles riding ponies, mules or camels, such as Boers or regular camel corps, or cavalry whose carbines have been replaced by rifles to fight mostly on foot in a single firing line. They were very wary of cavalry who had swords.
RIFLE CAVALRY (1905>), representing riders with modern rifles, but keeping (or if Australians after 1917 scrounging) swords and combining dismounted fire with decisive mounted charges.
LIGHT HORSE, representing those undisciplined irregular skirmishing horsemen or camel men who dominated the war of outposts, sought to engulf unwary enemy cavalry, but more often hovered in swarms around formed enemy than charged desperately to disaster, such as 18th century Austrian hussars, Russian Cossacks, Tartars, Maratha pindaris or marauding Bedouin. Also used for Light Cavalry present in small number for scouting, but not numerous enough to be formed into brigades, such as British, Loyalist and Rebel cavalry during the American War of Independence, and partisan rangers of the American Civil War.
Not a whoosh, just some half facts and propaganda. From kellner’s link on the charge at Krojanty ;
Although such a charge did not happen and there were no tanks used during the combat, the myth was used by German propaganda during the war. German propaganda magazine Die Wehrmacht reported on 13 September that the Poles had gravely underestimated German weapons, as Polish propaganda had suggested that German armored vehicles were only covered with sheet metal, leading to a grotesque attack .
