Henryk Sucharski
| Henryk Sucharski | |
|---|---|
Henryk Sucharski
|
|
| Born |
November 12, 1898 Gręboszów, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | August 30, 1946 (aged 47) Naples, Italy |
| Allegiance |
 Austria-Hungary (1917-1918) Poland (1919-1946) |
| Years of service | 1917-1946 |
| Rank | Generał brygady |
| Commands held | Westerplatte |
| Battles/wars |
World War I |
| Awards |
 _2r_BAR.PNG){kind=small} 
|
World War I
Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Lithuanian War
Polish Defensive War
Henryk Sucharski (1898–1946) was a Polish military officer and a major in the Polish Army. At the outbreak of World War II, he was one of the commanders of the Westerplatte position in Danzig, which troops under his command defended for seven days against overwhelming odds. Sucharski survived the war and was posthumously promoted to the rank of general.
Sucharski was born on November 12, 1898, in Gręboszów, a village near Tarnów, to a peasant family. He finished a local bi-yearly trade school and then a similar school in Otfinów. In early 1917 he graduated from the 2nd KuK Gymnasium in Tarnów and on February 13 he volunteered for service with the Austro-Hungarian Army. During his service in the March Battalion of the Bochnia-based 32nd Landwehr Regiment, he passed his matura exams and in February 1918 graduated from an officers school in Opatów. Dispatched with his regiment to the Italian front of the Great War, Sucharski was infected with malaria and spent the remainder of the war in various hospitals in Sanstino and then Celje.
Upon his return to Poland, on February 7, 1919 he joined the Polish Army and the Tarnów-based 16th Infantry Regiment, in part composed of his former Austro-Hungarian unit. In March he took part in the defence of Cieszyn Silesia against the Czechoslovakian invasion and in June he was promoted to the rank of Corporal. By the end of October he was transferred to the North-Eastern sector of the front of the brief Polish-Bolshevik War where he took part in fighting along the Lithuanian border during the brief Polish-Lithuanian War for the region around Suwałki. On January 14, 1920 he was promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and voluntarily joined the storming battalion of the 6th Infantry Division. For his bravery (and wounds) in the battle for Potnica and Bogdanówka on August 30, 1920, Sucharski was awarded the Order of Virtuti Militari, the highest Polish military decoration. He also received the Cross of the Valorous and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant after the war.
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