Antoni Chruściel

Antoni Chruściel
Chruściel in the United Kingdom
Nickname(s)	Monter
Born	(1895-07-16)July 16, 1895 Gniewczyna Łańcucka, Austria-Hungary
Died	November 30, 1960(1960-11-30) (aged 65) Washington, USA
Years of service	1914-1948
Rank	Generał brygady
Battles/wars	World War I, Polish Defensive War, Warsaw Uprising
Awards
Other work	lawyer and translator

Gen. Antoni Chruściel ([anˈtɔɲi ˈxruɕt͡ɕel] nom de guerre Monter; 1895–1960) was a Polish military officer and a general of the Polish Army. He is best known as the de facto commander of all the armed forces of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, as well as Home Army's chief of staff.

Antoni Chruściel was born 16 July 1895 in the village of Gniewczyna Łańcucka halfway between Łańcut and Przeworsk, to Andrzej Chruściel, a local farmer and the vogt of that village. In 1909, while still a student at a local gymnasium in Jarosław, Chruściel joined the secret scouting troop; he was also active in the Zarzewie movement. In 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War he moved to Lwów, where he joined the Eastern Legion. Soon afterwards, as a citizen of Austria-Hungary, he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army. After graduating from an NCO school in May 1915 he served at various posts, including his service as a commanding officer of a company of the 90th Infantry Regiment. After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the chaos at the eastern front, Chruściel's regiment was the only unit in the entire Austro-Hungarian Army to return to the barracks as an organized entity and with arms. Few weeks later Chruściel, together with most of his unit, joined the newly formed Polish Army.

During the Polish-Bolshevik War Chruściel continued his NCO career in the 14th Infantry Regiment (formed mostly of the former 90th Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army), as the commanding officer of the 5th company. In January 1922 he became the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion of that unit, after which in October 1922 he was transferred to the Lwów-based 42nd Infantry Regiment, where he served as the commanding officer of the 3rd and then 6th company. At the same time he studied law at the Lwów University. Transferred to the Cadet Corps, in 1931 he graduated from the Higher War School in Warsaw and became a professor in the Infantry Training Centre in Rembertów. In October 1934 he became the head of the Tactics Department of the War School in Warsaw. In January 1937 he started his service with the 40th Infantry Regiment as the deputy commanding officer. After finishing his practice with that unit, in March 1938 Chruściel became the commanding officer of the famed 82nd Siberian Infantry Regiment stationed in Brest-Litovsk as part of Gen. Cehak's 30th Infantry Division.