Brigade III of the Polish Legions was a unit of the Austro-Hungarian Army

Austro-Hungarian Army

The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...

, manned by Austrian Poles. It was formed in 1915, existed till 1917, and was a part of the Polish Legions in World War I

Polish Legions in World War I

Polish Legions was the name of Polish armed forces created in August 1914 in Galicia. Thanks to the efforts of KSSN and the Polish members of the Austrian parliament, the unit became an independent formation of the Austro-Hungarian Army...

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History

The Third Brigade was formed on 8 May 1915, as part of the Polish Legions in World War I

Polish Legions in World War I

Polish Legions was the name of Polish armed forces created in August 1914 in Galicia. Thanks to the efforts of KSSN and the Polish members of the Austrian parliament, the unit became an independent formation of the Austro-Hungarian Army...

.

The Brigade commanders included: Zygmunt Zieliński (April 1915 - September 1915), Wiktor Grzesicki (September 1915 - July 1916), Stanisław Szeptycki (July 1916 - October 1916), and Bolesław Roja (?).

In 1917 the III Brigade together with the I Brigade followed Józef Piłsudski during the Oath crisis

Oath crisis

The Oath crisis was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions.Initially supporting the Central Powers against Imperial Russia, Piłsudski wanted to defeat one of the partitioning powers with the hands of the two remaining...

, refusing to swear the oath, and was disbanded.

Battles

Major battles fought by the Second Brigade included:

• battle of Jastków (31 July to 3 August 1915)
• Battle of Kostiuchnówka
  Battle of Kostiuchnówka
  The Battle of Kostiuchnówka took place from July 4 to July 6, 1916, near the village of Kostiuchnówka and the Styr River, in the Volhynia region of modern Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire...
  
  (4 to 6 July 1916)

Organization

The Third Brigade comprised 2 infantry regiments (the 4th, 5th and the 6th periodically served in it), a cavalry regiment (the 3rd), artillery battalions, and support units.