Operation Belt Destroyed 13 German Outposts
In August of 1943, the headquarters of the Home Army was coming up with a new plan against the Germans. They were preparing to take armed action against the German border stations that were on the frontier between the areas annexed by the Third Reich and the General Government. The Home Army was poorly outfitted, but they believed that they had a chance to catch the Germans off guard and take out some of the German outposts.
The main operation took place on August 20-21, 1943. The objective was to attack seven German stations on the same night. It was successful, with all seven German stations being completely destroyed and only limited loss of life on the side of the Home Army. However, Tadeusz Zawadzki or “Zoska,” was one of those who were killed in the operation. This was a devastating loss as the 22-year-old was one of the most important personalities of the Polish underground, leading missions and encouraging others with his personality and activism.
With the success of Operation Belt, it was General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski that ordered the preparation of another armed action just ten days later. The operation was dubbed Operation Chain and was a continuation of Operation Belt. This operation took place at the end of November 1943 and involved several units of the Home Army attacking border stations on the southern part of occupied Poland.
There were also other attacks by the AK in the Autumn of 1943 that focused on German outposts on the border with Slovakia. The operations were largely successful, with 13 German outposts destroyed by February 1944 and minimal casualties for the Home Army. It was one of the major large-scale operations by the Home Army that was very successful.