Józef Unrug

Vice Admiral
Józef Unrug
Born (1884-10-07)7 October 1884
Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany
Died 28 February 1973(1973-02-28)
Lailly-en-Val, France
Allegiance  German Empire
Poland Second Polish Republic
Service/branch  Kaiserliche Marine
 Polish Navy
Years of service from 1907
Rank Vice Admiral (Wiceadmirał)
Commands held SM UB-25, SM UC-11 and SM UC-28
C-i-C of the Polish Navy
Battles/wars World War I, Polish-Soviet War, Invasion of Poland (1939)
Awards

Józef Unrug (German: Joseph von Unruh; 6 October 1884 – 28 February 1973) was a Prussian-born Pole and Polish vice admiral who helped reestablish Poland's navy after World War I. During the opening stages of World War II, he served as the Polish Navy's commander-in-chief.

Biography

Józef Michał Hubert Unrug was born in Brandenburg an der Havel into a Polish family, of German descent, son of Tadeusz Unrug, a Generalmajor in the Prussian Army. After graduating from the gymnasium in Dresden, Unrug completed Naval college in 1907 and began his service in the German Navy. During World War I he commanded a U-boat, and was promoted to command a submarine flotilla.

In 1919, after Poland regained independence, Unrug left Germany and volunteered for the Polish Army. Soon afterwards he was transferred to the nascent Polish Navy, where he served as chief of the Hydrographic Division and then as commanding officer of a submarine flotilla. One of the most skilled officers in the Polish Navy, Unrug was quickly promoted to Rear Admiral. Overcoming his limitations in the Polish language, in 1925 he became Admiral of the fleet of the Polish Navy.

During the 1939 invasion of Poland, Unrug executed his plan of strategically withdrawing the Polish Navy's major vessels to the United Kingdom ("Operation Peking"). At the same time, he got all Polish submersibles to lay naval mines in the Bay of Gdańsk ("Plan Worek"). Following that operation, these vessels either escaped to the United Kingdom or sought refuge in neutral countries.

Despite having given up effective control of the national Navy, Unrug remained commander of land forces in an attempt to prevent the German recovery of the Polish Corridor. However, on 1 October 1939, after both Warsaw and Modlin had capitulated, Admiral Unrug decided that further defence of the isolated Hel Peninsula was pointless, and the following day all units under his command capitulated.

Unrug spent the rest of World War II in various German POW camps, including Fort Srebrna Góra,[1] Oflag II-C in Woldenberg, Oflag XVIII-C in Spittal, Stalag X-B in Sandbostel, Oflag IV-C (Colditz Castle) and finally Oflag VII-A Murnau. In the last camp he was the highest-ranking officer and commander of the Polish soldiers interned there. The Germans treated him with great respect as a former German officer by bringing former Imperial German Navy friends to visit him with the intention of making him switch sides. Unrug responded by refusing to speak German, saying that he had forgotten that language in September 1939. To the irritation of the Germans, Unrug would always insist on having a translator present or communicate in French, even though he spoke German like a native. Unrug's spirit and unbowed attitude proved to be an inspiration to his fellow prisoners.[2]

After Poland was taken over by the Soviet Union in 1945, Unrug went to the United Kingdom, where he served in the Polish Army in the West and took part in its demobilisation. After the Allies withdrew support from the Polish government, Unrug remained in exile in the United Kingdom, and then moved to France. He died there on 28 February 1973 in a Polish Veterans Hospital in Lailly-en-Val near Beaugency, at the age of 88. On 5 March the same year he was buried in the chapel of the Branicki family palace in Montrėsor. In 1976 a stone tablet commemorating Admiral Unrug was unveiled in Oksywie.

Honours and awards

Józef Unrug (left)
Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari
Polonia Restituta, Commanders' Cross
Gold Cross of Merits with Swords
Gold Cross of Merit
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
Iron Cross, First and Second Classes (German Empire)
Order of Dannebrog (Denmark)
Order of the White Elephant (Siam)
Royal Order of the Sword (Sweden)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Pomink historii: Srebrna Góra – Twierdza Srebrnogórska, nowożytna warownia górska z XVIII wieku" (in Polish). Nid.pl. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2014-04-06.
  2. ↑ Kazimierz Sławiński: Wspomnienie o kontradmirale, "Morze" Monthly, 9/1973, p.17
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