cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22853347

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/49th_Hutsul_Rifle_Regiment

On the night of September 15/16, 1939, the 49th Hutsul Rifle Regiment and the 98th Infantry Regiment (38. Reserve ID) attacked parts of the SS-Standarte Germania, which was stationed in the villages of Przelbice, Muzylowice, Mogiła and Czarnokonce. The SS had been ordered to close the roads leading east and prevent Polish troops from reaching Lwów. It has been established that in Muzylowice, where the main Polish attack took place, the following German units were stationed: the regiment’s HQ, 3rd. battalion and support subunits. To catch the SS by surprise, Colonel Hodala and Colonel Bronisław Prugar-Ketling (commandant of the 11th Carpathian Infantry Division) ordered their soldiers to unload their rifles and use bayonets.

After 30-minutes of fierce hand-to-hand combat, which started at 9 pm, the Germans suffered heavy casualties, with at least 205 KIA and WIA. The commander of the III battalion SS-Obersturmbannführer Willy Koeppen and the regiment’s aide-de-camp SS-Obersturmführer Schomburg were among those killed by bayonets. The regiment’s HQ fled to Jaworów and German soldiers scattered in panic across the area. Several prisoners were taken and the SS lost almost all of its heavy equipment, including 16 75mm artillery pieces, 8 105mm artillery pieces, 15 AT guns, the majority of mortars, plus all vehicles (20 armored vehicles and transporters, 70 motorcycles, 50 trucks and cars).