the two men founded

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, on August 26, 1939, Pilecki was mobilized as a cavalry-platoon commander. He was assigned to the 19th Infantry Division under Józef Kwaciszewski, part of Polish Army Prusy.[3] His unit took part in heavy fighting against the advancing Germans during the invasion of Poland and was partially destroyed.[3] Pilecki's platoon withdrew southeast toward Lwów (now L'viv, in Ukraine) and the Romanian bridgehead and was incorporated into the recently formed 41st Infantry Division, where he served as Division's second-in-command, under Major Jan Włodarkiewicz.[3] During that conflict (known in Poland as the September Campaign), Pilecki and his men destroyed seven German tanks, shot down an aircraft and destroyed further two on the ground.[5][6] On September 17, Soviet Union invaded eastern Poland pursuant to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Involved in more heavy fighting on two fronts, by September 22, Pilecki's division was disbanded, partially surrendering to the enemies.[3] He returned to Warsaw with his commander, Major Włodarkiewicz.[3]

On November 9, 1939, the two men founded the Secret Polish Army (Tajna Armia Polska, TAP), one of the first underground organizations in Poland.[3][7] Pilecki became its organizational commander as TAP expanded to cover not only Warsaw but Siedlce, Radom, Lublin and other major cities of central Poland.[3] By 1940, TAP had approximately 8,000 men (more than half of them armed), some 20 machine guns and several anti-tank rifles. Later, the organization was incorporated into the Union for Armed Struggle (Związek Walki Zbrojnej), later renamed and better known as the Home Army (Armia Krajowa).[3][8] Within AK, TAP units became the core of the Wachlarz unit.[



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