Battle of Kępa Oksywska

Part of Invasion of Poland

Date	10–19 September 1939
Location	Oksywie Heights, near Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland
Result	German victory

Belligerents

Germany

Poland

Commanders and leaders

Leonhard Kaupisch

Stanisław Dąbek †

Strength

38,000

~15,000

Casualties and losses

Unknown

2,000 KIA
7,000 WIA

The Battle of Kępa Oksywska took place in the Oksywie Heights outside the city of Gdynia between September 10 and September 19, 1939. The battle, fought by the Polish Army and the German Wehrmacht, was part of the Polish September Campaign during World War II. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the campaign, with Polish KIA losses reaching roughly 14% of all the forces engaged.

On September 10, after a series of skirmishes in the vicinity of Reda at the western outskirts of Gdynia, the Polish commander of the Land Coastal Defence forces, pułkownik Stanisław Dąbek, was in a difficult position. His forces, centred on the port of Gdynia, were forced to wage a two-front war against the German forces advancing both from the west and from the territory of the Free City of Danzig. The main part of his forces was facing the German forces under General der Flieger Leonhard Kaupisch, advancing from the east along the shores of the Gdańsk Bay. At the same time a smaller detachment of the Polish forces prepared a stand in the area of Oksywie, where the German forces managed to cut the Poles out of the nearby Hel Peninsula. Thus Gdynia was besieged.

Although the Polish forces managed to halt the German blitzkrieg and the fighting resembled World War I on the western front, the besieged garrison was suffering heavy losses and desperately needed to shorten its front lines. As there was no chance of relief of the besieged Polish forces by a strong force from the Polish mainland, the Heights offered a decent defensive position. Although completely unprepared for defence, the area was densely forested and made enemy penetration and aerial and naval bombardment much more difficult.

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Wikipedia