Two remarkably well-preserved Polish military field telephones, believed to date from the September Campaign of 1939, have been discovered during a search for wartime relics near Sochaczew.
Members of the Sochaczew Group of History Explorers (SGOH), working alongside the Historical and Exploration Association “VIS”, spent last weekend searching woodland connected with the fighting that followed Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939.
Among the objects recovered were rifle cartridge cases, a backpack buckle, a military identity tag and coins. The most significant discovery, however, was a pair of field telephones, believed to be Polish AP-27 sets.
The telephones were discovered by Łukasz, a member of the “VIS” Association.
According to the explorers, the location of the find suggests that the equipment may have belonged to a unit of the Polish Army “Łódź”. The telephones appear to have been deliberately hidden or abandoned in woodland close to a route used by Polish troops during their retreat and subsequent fighting.
Despite spending more than eight decades underground, both sets have survived in surprisingly good condition. Following their discovery, the artefacts were carefully secured and protected.
The September Campaign
The September Campaign began on 1 September 1939 with Germany’s invasion of Poland, marking the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. Polish forces fought a series of major defensive battles as German armies advanced from the west, north and south.
Army “Łódź”, commanded at the beginning of the campaign by General Juliusz Rómmel, was deployed in central Poland and faced heavy German pressure during the opening days of the invasion. After German forces broke through Polish defensive positions, formations of Army “Łódź” were forced eastwards. Historical accounts of the campaign record the army being pushed back after German forces penetrated the defensive line along the Warta.
The wider Sochaczew region subsequently became one of the principal battlefields of the campaign.
From 9 September, the Polish Armies “Poznań” and “Pomorze” launched a major counter-offensive along the Bzura. The resulting Battle of the Bzura became the largest battle fought during the Polish campaign of 1939. As German forces brought additional troops and aircraft into the battle, Polish formations eventually attempted to break through towards Warsaw via Sochaczew and the Kampinos Forest.
The final phase of the battle, between 16 and 22 September, saw particularly heavy fighting around Sochaczew. Polish soldiers attempting to reach Warsaw crossed the Bzura under intense pressure, often abandoning heavy equipment as organised formations fragmented. Those who escaped the encirclement continued through the Kampinos Forest towards Warsaw and Modlin.
Against this background, even relatively small discoveries such as cartridge cases, personal equipment and communications devices can help identify the routes taken by individual units during the chaotic final stages of the campaign.
The discovery of two field telephones together is particularly noteworthy. Such equipment was essential for maintaining communications between command posts and units in the field, making the find a tangible reminder of the command and communications network used by the Polish Army during the fighting.
Remembering the Battle of Jaktorów
The weekend of historical exploration concluded on Sunday, when members of SGOH attended commemorations marking the 82nd anniversary of the Battle of Jaktorów at the Home Army War Cemetery in Budy Zosine.
This year’s commemorations took place on 27 September 2026 and included a field Mass, roll call of the fallen, the laying of wreaths and flowers, a historical event and a concert of insurgent songs.
The Battle of Jaktorów took place on 29 September 1944, five years after the September Campaign. It was fought by the Home Army’s “Kampinos” Group as its soldiers attempted to break through German positions after leaving the Kampinos Forest.
Today, the war cemetery at Budy Zosine contains the remains of 132 soldiers of the Home Army’s “Kampinos” Group who fell in the battle, including Major Alfons Kotowski, codename “Okoń”.
For the Sochaczew explorers, the weekend therefore connected two different chapters of Poland’s wartime history: the regular Polish Army’s struggle against the German invasion in September 1939 and the underground Home Army’s fight against the German occupation five years later.
The newly discovered field telephones, together with the smaller battlefield finds, provide another physical link to the soldiers who passed through the forests and fields of the region during those events.
Sources : Zwiadowca Historii
