Activities of the Polish Military Intelligence Unit in Tczew (1928 – 1930)

Between 1928 and 1930 a Polish military intelligence unit operated in Tczew. Its task was to penetrate the western communes in Ostpreussen (Estern Prussia), northern areas of Grenzmark Posen – Westpreussen (Border Province of Poznań – West Prussia) and the territory of the Freie Stadt Danzig (Free city of Gdańsk). The Unit reported directly to the agency of the Second Division of the Chief Staff of the Polish Army (encrypted as BIG) and was under cover of the Polish General Precinct in Gdańsk. In the intelligence nomenclature it was referred to as the Officer Post No 4 (PO 4). For a short period of time Tczew became the dispatch centre for the network of agents operating among others in Malbork, Kwizdyn, Elbląg, Olsztyn, Piła and Gdańsk. The Unit constituted an example of a short-range intelligence, active within 150 kilometres from the German border.

The Unit was headed by lieutenant Tadeusz Górowski (1899 – 1039), a young officer who had acquired his experience in diversion actions in the Upper Silesia. The decision to locate the Unit in Tczew was carefully considered since the town lay on the major (and transit) route connecting the East Prussia with the mainland Germany and Gdańsk with Poland. That was also where the best road crossed between Berlin and Konigsberg. Close to the border, Tczew was a tip of the wedge of the Polish territory cutting into Gdańsk and East Prussia.

The tasks given to PO 4 in the scope of offensive intelligence, which were similar to those issued for the other posts reporting to BIG (located in Grudziądz, Koscierzyna, Szczecin, Tczew and Królewiec), could be put in three groups: military, political and economic. The military aspect was considered most important. BIG expected information on the location and size of German military units, their motivation, nutrition, manoeuvres, mobilisation rules, military schools and trainings, physical training, training of reserves and regulations. Knowledge of training fields, airfields, weaponry manufacturers and ammunition proved equally significant. In the context of the limitations imposed on Germany by the Versailles Treaty data were searched for concerning ammunition storage locations, in particular secret ones, preparedness plans in case of military conflicts for civil and army organisations. In order to collect the information lieutenant Górowski had at this disposal a network of paid agents whose number varied from 6 to 15. These agents were soldiers, civil servants and peasants who predominantly lived in East Prussia.

W. Skóra