Mikołaj Bołtuć

Mikołaj Bołtuć (born 21 December 1893 in Petersburg, killed in battle 22 September 1939 near Łomianki) was a brigadier-general of the Polish Army, commander of the IV Polish infantry Division during World War II.

He was the son of Ignacy Bołtuć, Russian General of Polish descent, and Anna Bołtuciowa, née Łabuńska, of Rzeczyca.

Mikołaj Bołtuć was enlisted in the Russian Kadet officers school in Omsk at age seven.

During World War I Bołtuć served in the Tsarist Army. He fought with distinction in the Finnish Civil War in 1918. After the Bolshevik Revolution He served as captain in the White Russian army during the Russian Civil War until the evacuation of Odessa, where he commanded the last leaving vessel.

He returned to Poland and joined the Polish military. He commanded units near Kamieniec, Podolski and elsewhere. During the Soviet-Polish war of 1920 he commanded the unit Strzelcy Kaniowscy. Bołtuć, still as a captain, commanded the defense of Zamość. Then he took Wyszków, the location of the puppet government organized by the Bolsheviks.

In the interwar period he worked for the General Command, and later held command functions in Wilno and Toruń. His nomination to the rank of general was held back for several years, in part due to his anti-religious attitude and reservations about Poland's military spending patterns. He was known for clarity of judgment and leadership skills.

During World War II he commanded an Operation Group (a unit short of an army) within the Army Pomorze, the only Polish unit that, for two days, entered German territory (in East Prussia) during the September Campaign, withstanding attacks of much larger German forces. Due to the danger of being flanked Boltuc had to withdraw to Modlin. When the Modlin Fortress was able to accept only his officers but not his soldiers, he let his soldiers be demobilized, although most refused to leave. He also encouraged volunteers to go with him to try and sneak through the German siege of Warsaw. According to written family records, leaving home before World War II he said "This is not the war we are going to win and I am not the kind of a soldier who would surrender". In the morning of 22 September he was killed in battle of Łomianki from the sniper fire. He was leading the charge . Most of his soldiers are at the Łomianki cemetery near Warsaw. Gen. Boltuc's tomb, in a form of a field stone, is at the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw.

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