Kampinos Group

The Kampinos Group was a partisan formation of the Home Army fighting in the Kampinos Forest during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The Kampinos Group was formed based on the structures of the VIII District of the Warsaw County Subdistrict of the Warsaw District, as well as various units of the Home Army that found themselves in the Kampinos Forest as a result of the Operation Tempest. In August and September 1944, the group tied up significant enemy forces, thereby relieving the besieged Warsaw. Its units fought in 47 battles and skirmishes and temporarily liberated the central and eastern parts of the forest from German occupation, inhabited by several thousand people. Over 900 soldiers of the Kampinos Group also set out to aid the capital, taking part in attacks on the Warszawa Gdańska railway station and in the defense of Żoliborz. At the end of September 1944, the Kampinos Group attempted to break through to the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. Initially, the Polish formation effectively evaded the German encirclement, but due to command errors, it was surrounded and defeated on September 29 near Jaktorów. However, many Home Army soldiers, including several cohesive units, managed to break out of the encirclement. Some of them continued to fight until January 1945.