Badge for chauffeurs of the Polish Legions by Malopolska Museums

Description

The badge for the chauffeurs of the Polish Legions is shaped like a flat metal ring, featuring a letter "A" of the same width inside. On the reverse there are two protruding points – probably the remnants of a pin. The presented badge comes from a collection of several dozen exhibits, mainly badges from the period of 1914–1918, related to the Polish Legions, which were purchased by the District Museum in Nowy Sącz in the 1990s.The Polish Legions were established on 3 August 1914 on the initiative of Józef Piłsudski. The First Cadre Company constituted their nucleus, from which the Eastern and Western Polish Legions were created as separate formations of the Austro-Hungarian army. They were later converted into three brigades, led by, among others, Józef Piłsudski, Józef Haller, Bolesław Roja, Kazimierz Sosnkowski and Marian Żegota Januszajtis. The legionnaires fought their best-known battles at Rokitna, Laski, Anielin, Mołotków, Łowczówek, Jastków and Kostiuchnówka (now Ukrainian: Kostyukhnivka). On 20 September 1916, the Legions were transformed into the Polish Auxiliary Corps, and on 10 April 1917, into the Polnische Wehrmacht – the Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Poland. However, most legionnaires refused to swear allegiance to foreign monarchs and were interned in camps in Beniaminów and Szczypiorno. A few months later, the remaining legionnaires broke through and crossed the front line at Rarańcza near Chernivtsi (now Chernivtsi in Ukraine) on the night of 15–16 February…