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II RP Unique Badge of the 3rd Squadron, 4th Regiment of Zaniemenski Lancers.
£4,899.99
A unique commemorative badge issued in 1931 for the 100th anniversary of the battle of Kaluszyn (November Uprising 1831) to commemorate the charge of the 3rd Squadron of the 4th Zaniemenskiy Lancer Regiment. The badge is in the form of an eight-armed cavalry cross with pointed arms. It is enameled in blue and white colors, which refers to the regiment’s colors. In the central part of the badge is a circular shield with numbers and letters inside: “3/4 Regiment 11/XI/18”, which refers to the 3rd squadron of the 4th Lancer Regiment and the date November 1918 – the month of the regiment’s formation.
The reverse of the badge is made of metal, probably brass or tombac, without additional decorations. In the center there is a mount for a threaded pin with a nut.
Dimensions: 32mm x 32mm.
Overall condition as shown in the photos.
In stock
“A few words about the commemorative badge of the 3rd squadron of the 4th Lancers Regiment.
This unusual commemorative badge was most likely created on the initiative of the then commander of the 3rd squadron, rtm. Aleksander Stpiczynski (1928-1931). The year was 1931 and the 100-year anniversary of the November Uprising was being solemnly celebrated throughout the country. The Regiment of the 4th Lancers of the Kingdom of Poland celebrated the dates associated with the Regiment of the 4th Lancers of the Kingdom of Poland in a special way, and among all the battles was the one near Kaluszyn on April 2, 1831, which was carried out by the Regiment’s 3rd squadron. The main moment of the battle was the charge of the 3rd squadron from the 4th Lancer Regiment, which was commanded by the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Corps, Captain Władysław Zamoyski. The battle ended in total victory for the Poles, who smashed the Cossacks and scattered 3 battalions of Russian infantry. The cavalry corps that day took as many as 4,000 Russian soldiers prisoner. Hence on the badge number 3 broken by 4. And the date of the regiment’s reconstitution in 1918.
In the interwar period, the regiment’s 3rd squadron celebrated its squadron holiday on April 2. Rtm. Alexander Stpiczynski, who in all likelihood was the initiator of the creation of this extremely rare badge is a topic for a separate story. Lancer, architect, intelligence officer, cichociemny, cavalier of the Virtuti Militari, prisoner of concentration camps, emigrant in Ecuador, who never forgot about Poland and his colleagues from the Regiment. After returning from exile in 1975, he initiated a campaign among veterans to fund commemorative plaques in the places where individual squadrons were formed, as well as the regiment’s battles. The initiative to make a commemorative badge was certainly encouraged by the commander , Colonel Czeslaw Kozierowski. In the same year, 1931, he retired from the regiment (1920/21-1931), so this was probably his last decision related to the commemoration of the regiment’s history.
Let’s remember that it was on his initiative that a memorial chamber was established at the regimental casino and the history of the regiment was written down, unfortunately only the first volume was published. The badge must have been treated as a commemorative one, since it is not on the uniform , on any of the photos in the Foundation’s possession. Of course, there is no hard evidence that this was the case, the verbal accounts of former officers remain.
Zygmunt Kandora – deputy chairman of the 4th Zaniemenskiy Lancers Regiment Family Circle, member of the 4th Zaniemenskiy Lancers Regiment Foundation.”
