Baptism of fire of the 1st armoured division.
On 8 August 1944 the division went into action. The day before, the 10th P.S.K.1 had gone up to the front line as a reconnaissance regiment, accompanied by the 10th Dragoon Regiment.
We were surprised by the proximity of the Germans in front of Caen.
On vast fields a few kilometres south of the town, the first shots were fired and the first casualties observed. Particularly heavy losses were suffered by the 8th Battalion, which attacked the fortified enemy lines on tanks.
The CKM squadron was divided into platoons and assigned to battalions2 .
As follows: the 3rd platoon commanded by Second Lieutenant Bogdanowicz joined the Podhale battalion, the 2nd platoon commanded by Second Lieutenant Walicki went to the 8th battalion, the 1st platoon commanded by Sergeant Boryna joined the 9th battalion. It is worth mentioning that just in front of Caen on a large field, the division was bombed by the allied air forces3 . It suffered heavy losses in equipment and personnel, especially in the 1st Anti-Aircraft Regiment.
Kazimierz Duda - War Chronicles - 8 August 1944 - Page 55
1 10 Pułk Strzelców Konnych : 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment.
2 To the three battalions of the 3rd infantry brigade.
3 1st attack on the division by Allied bombers (friendly fire) .
Translation from French version: Steven Duda
Original page 55