The Home Army commander whose decision led to both the uprising and its surrender
On 5 October 1944, he left Warsaw at the head of the surrendered Home Army units and entered captivity.
Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski was the Polish military commander who led the Home Army and later became a political leader of the government-in-exile in London. Seeking to secure Polish control of the capital before a Soviet-backed political settlement, he ordered the Warsaw Uprising on 1 August 1944, but the revolt became isolated as Western aid remained limited and Soviet forces did not intervene. He authorised negotiations that ended the uprising in October 1944, entered German captivity, and after the war served as prime minister of the émigré government, defending the continuity of a defeated Poland’s statehood.
Career Timeline
- 1915–1918Cavalry officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War
- 1918–1939Polish Army cavalry officer and commander of the Cavalry Training Centre at Grudziądz
- 1939–1941Organiser of the Kraków underground and commander in western Poland
- 1941–1943Deputy commander of the Home Army
- 1943–1944Commander-in-chief of the Home Army; ordered the Warsaw Uprising
- 1944–1947Commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces, including German captivity
- 1947–1949Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile in London
- 1956–1966Member of the Council of Three in Polish émigré politics