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August 9, 1968

Cipher Telegram 2961-2330, To the commanding general of the 2nd Army of the Polish Armed Forces, copy to the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, Division General Cde. B. Chocha.

This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation

Top Secret

 

Copy Nº 1

 

Incoming cipher message number 2961; outgoing number 2330

Unit name: USSR 9 August 1968 20.00

 

To the commanding general of the 2nd Army of the Polish Armed Forces, copy to the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, Division General Cde. B. Chocha.


Dear Cde. General!

 

In accordance with an agreement, during the period 12 [Translator's note: crossed out and "11" written above] to 20 August a joint frontal map exercise will be conducted for the command and control of troops using radio and other technical means. I have been entrusted with control of the exercise. The exercise involves operations groups of the staffs of the armies (Second krt) [and] divisions which have been brought in for the exercise "Dunay". During the exercise the operations groups of the army and division staffs will be quartered at some distance allowing for the return to their primary command posts within three to four hours. The operations groups of the army and divisions have the necessary number of personnel capable of carrying out the exercise play of combat operations and maintaining intensive around-the-clock operation of radio equipment in command radio nets of the staff, the chiefs of troop arms and services, the rear, and liaison and support. The exercise will be conducted against the following operational background (map 500000):

 

First. The central front of the "Easterners" composed of the 18th ,19th, 20th, and 38th Armies, the 2nd Army of the Polish Armed Forces, the 1st Guards Tank Army, the 4th and 14th Air Armies, and the 15th TD have the mission of defeating the opposing forces of the "Westerners" in the Frankfurt and Stuttgart sectors, and reaching the Trier-Karlsruhe-Freiburg-Traunstein line on day eight-nine of the operation. The first echelon armies of the front, continuing the offensive in the border zone, are to fight battles at the [following] lines by 0700 12 August: - 18th Army, (MSD [Motorized Rifle Division] - three) (Schwartzenborn, Fulda (excluding) Schweinfurt having before themselves the 3rd AK [Armored Corps] (FRG) and the 16th MPD [Motorized Infantry Division] of the 1st AK (of Belgium); the 19th Army (MSD - three) (- Coburg, excluding Bayreuth)  (excluding) Cheb, having before them the formations of the 5th and 7th AK (US). Both armies - are notional [uslovnye]. On the right the Baltic Front attacks in the direction of the Ruhr. The boundaries with them are Berlin, Magdeburg, and Trier.

 

Second. The 2nd Army of the Polish Armed Forces (the 4th MD, the 10th and 11th TD) being located in the occupied area, have received the mission to concentrate in an area (excluding) Dessau, (excluding) Halle, Grimm, and Torgau by the morning of 13 August in readiness to commit to battle from the line Langen (10 km south of Frankfurt), Lindenfels (25 km southeast of Darmstadt) with the objective of forcing the Rhine River (krt) [Nüt__ein] on the march, defeating the approaching enemy reserves and seizing the line Trier, Saarbrücken, Pirmasens by the end of 18-19 August. The movement zones are: from the right Wroclaw, Zielona Góra, Dessau. From the left - Walbrzych, Görlitz, Sprenberg, Leipzig.

 

Third. From the right the 18th Army attacks in the general direction of Frankfurt and by the morning of 15 August seizes the area of Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Hanau, Friedberg with the main forces. Beginning 0000 15 August the boundary with it is Fulda, Langen, Bad Kreuznach, (krt) Trier. From the left the 20th Army beginning on the morning of 14 August commits to battle from the line Rieneck (50 [km] south of Fulda) (excluding) Volkach, (20 km south of Schweinfurt) and, launching the main strike in the direction of Würzburg and Stuttgart, by the end of 17 August seizes the area of Eppingen (40 km northeast of Karlsruhe, (Schwäbisch Hall, Adelsheim). The boundaries with it beginning 0000 hours 15 August [are] - Rieneck, (excluding Mannheim), (excluding Landau.

 

Fourth. The use of nuclear weapons is by special order. The army has two nuclear-armed missiles for each tactical operational launch installation.

 

Fifth. Information about air support, the enemy, and the organization of communications will be reported additionally.

 

Sixth. The manning level of army forces is actual. Army reserves are in accordance with the data about exercise "Dunay". The deployment of the army rear units and institutions are in accordance with the decision of the commanding general of the 2nd Army.

 

Seventh. Please submit [your] decision to the exercise control staff (Legnica) by cipher by 1800 10 August.

 

Regards,

 

S. Shtemenko, General of the Army

 

Chief of Staff of the OVS

 

Decrypted 10.8.1968 00.30

by Major Durlej   One copy, to the addressee

 

The Soviet exercise control staff provides the Polish forces with information regarding the upcoming joint military exercise.



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Document Information

Source

Institute of National Remembrance (IPN-BU). Translated for CWIHP by Gary Goldberg.

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Original Uploaded Date

2012-07-27

Type

Cable Report

Language

Record ID

114736

Original Classification

Top Secret

Donors

Leon Levy Foundation