Peasant Battalions

The organisation was formed in August 1940 as the Peasant Guard ('Chłostra') and took the name Peasant Battalions in spring 1941. Its commander-in-chief throughout the war was Franciszek Kamiński. The BCh operated mainly in the countryside of the General Government: they protected villagers against requisitions and expulsions, carried out sabotage and partisan warfare, and fought their hardest battles defending the Zamość region in 1942–1943.

In 1943 the leaders of the peasant movement, under pressure from the government in exile, agreed to merge with the Home Army. The agreement was carried out only in part: some tens of thousands of soldiers were transferred to the AK, while the rest, including the People's Security Guard formed in autumn 1943, stayed independent. In 1944 BCh units fought in Operation Tempest, sometimes alongside the AK and the People's Army. The organisation was disbanded in 1945.