The video of the impressive military parade of the Polish Army Day held in Katowice

@DefAviation ES 8·16·2019 · 6:35 0

Yesterday, the Polish Army Day was celebrated, which coincided this year with the 99th anniversary of the historic Polish victory in the Battle of Warsaw (1920), the first military defeat of communism.

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You can see here the complete video of the parade, published by the YouTube channel of the Polish Catholic radio station Radio Maryja:

I indicate below what you see in the video:

• 0:00:00 / Review to the troops by the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, accompanied by Lieutenant General Rajmund Andrzejczak, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army.
• 0:16:00 / Arrival of the President of the Republic of Poland to the rostrum of authorities. The flag of the President of the Republic is raised.
• 0:17:30 / The National Flag of Poland is raised while the troops sing the National Anthem of Poland, the Mazurka of Dąbrowski. The Team Iskry of the Polish Air Force makes a pass emitting smoke trails in the colors of the Polish flag.
• 0:20:40 / Speech by the Minister of Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak.
• 0:24:06 / Speech by the Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.
• 0:32:38 / Speech by the President of the Republic, Andrzej Duda.
• 0:42:15 / Troops sing "My, Pierwsza Brygada," the anthem of the Polish Legions of World War I, a patriotic march that was very popular during the Polish-Soviet War (1919-1921). Since 2007 it is the official anthem of the Polish Army.
• 0:45:17 / The ground parade begins. It is started by members of the Honor Guard of the Polish Army Representative Regiment.
• 0:56:50 / The air parade begins. In addition to Polish aircraft, two F-15 fighters of the United States Air Force participated.
• 1:07:56 / The parade of vehicles begins. In addition to Polish vehicles, vehicles from the armies of Croatia, the US and Romania also paraded.
• 1:20:04 / The armored parade begins. In addition to Leopard 2A5, Leopard 2A4 and PT-91 combat tanks of the Polish Army, two US Army M-1A2 Abrams also paraded.

  Empieza el desfile acorazado. Además de carros de combate Leopard 2A5, Leopard 2A4 y PT-91 del Ejército Polaco, desfilaron también dos M-1A2 Abrams del Ejército de EEUU.

In Poland it is called Wojsko Polskie (Polish Army) to the whole of the Armed Forces of that country, which include the Wojska Lwedowe (Land Forces), the Marynarka Wojenna (Navy), the Siły Powietrzne (Air Force), the Wojska Specjalne (Special Forces) and Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej (Territorial Defense Force, a militia created in 2017). In addition, there is a Military Police, independent of other military forces, called Żandarmeria Wojskowa (ŻW, Military Gendarmerie).

In the parade yesterday, 2,600 soldiers, 180 vehicles and 60 aircraft from all branches of service of the Polish Army and also from several allied countries participated, specifically Croatia, Estonia, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States.

A parade commemorating the centenary of the Silesian Uprisings

This year the parade was held in the city of Katowice, capital of Silesian Voivodeship. The election was not accidental: today, August 16, the centenary of the beginning of the Silesian Uprisings is celebrated, starring the Polish population of that territory then in the hands of Germany, with the aim of joining the Republic of Poland. The uprisings ended the partition of Upper Silesia, passing to Poland its western part, of Polish majority. Those facts are remembered in Poland as part of the recovery of their national independence and as a sign of fidelity of the Silesian Poles to their Homeland, that's why this year's parade motto has been "Wierni Polsce" (Loyal to Poland). The events have been held next to the Monument to the Silesian Insurgents.

As a curiosity, a PT-91 tank (the Polish version of the Soviet car T-72) participated in the parade with a curious decoration (it appears in the second 1:28:32 of the video). In its right half the vehicle carried a gray painting commemorating the Silesian Uprisings of 1919-1921. The left part of the car was commemorating the defense of Poland against the German invasion of 1939 (September 1 will be 80 years old), and showed the camouflage worn by Polish tanks at that time.