Heliodor Laskowski's Artillery Battery No. 31

The "Helska", "Cyplowa" battery was formed on the basis of the order of the Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Army No. 370/IIIF, i.e. from 26 February 1934, and the order of the Chief of the Navy Command No. 562/34, i.e. from 27 February 1934. Talks on the purchase of four medium-caliber coastal artillery guns began at the beginning of 1933. On the initiative of 2nd Lt. Cmdr. Heliodor Laskowski, head of the Artillery Command and Armament Service of the Navy Command, the Swedish company Bofors was invited to the tender. The first contract with Bofors was signed on 20 December 1933 for the delivery of four 152.4 mm wz. 35 guns for the new coastal battery in Hel. Direct supervision of the range tests in Sweden and the subsequent assembly of the guns in Hel was exercised on behalf of the Navy by Warrant Officer Jan Lichy. In June 1935, the first batch of the delivery was loaded onto the Polish military transport ship ORP Wilia and transported to Gdynia. From there, the guns were transported to Hel by rail. The second batch reached its destination in September in the same way. The formation of the battery staff began in May 1935 in Oksywie, and its commander was Lieutenant Mar. Władysław Trzciński. In June 1935, the unit was given the name "Coastal Artillery Unit", in July it was transferred to Hel and became part of the Coastal Artillery Cadre Battery, reorganized from the Coastal Artillery Company of the Navy. The unit consisted of 1 officer, 6 non-commissioned officers and 57 sailors. The unit took part in assembling the guns on their stations. By order of the Minister of Military Affairs on June 26, 1935, it was given the name "1st Coastal Artillery Squadron Battery". Shortly afterwards, in 1936, its name was changed to XXXI Battery. After the premature death of the initiator, 2nd Lt. Commander Heliodor Laskowski, on January 1, 1937, the battery was named after him. There were plans to build a second such battery (4 152.4 mm Bofors guns) on the Hel Peninsula, but the project was not implemented until the outbreak of the war. Ultimately, in 1939 the battery had 2 officers and 160 non-commissioned officers and sailors on peacetime staff. == Specifications ==

General characteristics 152,4 mm Bofors wz. 35 gun • caliber 152 gun.4 mm • ammunition: 152.4 × 1250R • barrel length: 55 calibers • shell weight: 47 kg (armor-piercing and high-explosive) • initial velocity: 920 m/s • range: 22,400 or 26,000 m • angles of fire: • vertical: −8° to +47° • horizontal: 360° • gun weight: 10,500 kg • armor penetration: 78 mm at 15 km • rate of fire: 6 rds/min • number of guns on XXXI battery: 4 == World War II ==

in 1939 XXXI Battery was mobilized during the alarm mobilization in the green group within 24 hours by the Coastal Artillery Division. During the war, the battery was commanded by Captain Zbigniew Przybyszewski, and during his short stay in hospital (wounded), this function was performed by Captain Bohdan Mańkowski. XXXI Battery reached a strength of 4 officers and 230 non-commissioned officers and sailors. Armament: 4 wz. 35 guns cal. 152.4 mm, 2 wz. 1897 guns cal. 75 mm on wz. 1916 naval bases, 1 wz. 30 2 × 13.2 mm heavy machine gun, 4 wz. 30 heavy machine guns and 4 light machine guns. Additionally, after 3 September, the anti-aircraft defence battery from the sunken ORP "Gryf" was included in the following: 1 wz. 35 anti-aircraft gun 2 × 40 mm, 3 nkm wz. 30 2 × 13.2 mm. == After 1945 ==

After World War II, based on the gun positions of the former 31st Battery, the 2nd Battery of the 13th Independent Coastal Artillery Squadron was organized in 1946. The first commander of the Squadron was the pre-war battery commander – 2nd Lt. Commander Zbigniew Przybyszewski, who was soon removed, imprisoned and executed in 1952 as part of the Stalinist repressions as a result of the so-called commanders' conspiracy. In the period 1948–1949, an additional firing position was built, and the 152 mm Bofors guns were replaced with Soviet B-13 guns of caliber 130 mm (which required the reconstruction of the positions, including raising the floor by laying a 40 cm layer of concrete mix). In 1950, the squadron was disbanded, and in its place the Permanent Artillery Battery (BAS) was created and given the name 13 BAS. This battery operated until 1976, when coastal artillery was finally abandoned in Poland. in Warsaw The rebuilt battery positions, located in the military area in Hel, as well as two original 152 mm guns, have survived. One of the guns is located in the Navy Museum in Gdynia (open-air exhibition), and the other in the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. In May 2008, thanks to the efforts of the Coastal Defense Museum in Hel, position no. 4 of the Laskowski Battalion was restored and opened to the public, along with the post-war B-13 gun preserved there and a gallery located in the basement of the position. Since 2014, historical reenactments have been held annually on the anniversary of the capitulation of the Hel garrison in 1939 at the Heliodor Laskowski's battery. A group of local reenactors in the uniforms of the pre-war Polish Navy reenact a fire duel with German ships and the history of the 1939 war campaign. == Commanders ==

Battery Commanders Source: • Lt. Władysław Trzciński (May 1935 – June 26, 1935) • Capt. Stanisław Kukiełka (June 26, 1935 – April 8, 1937) • Capt. Bohdan Mańkowski (April 9, 1937 – October 24, 1938) • Capt. Zbigniew Przybyszewski (October 25, 1938 – October 2, 1939) • Capt. Bohdan Mańkowski (acting September 25–28, 1939) Deputy Battery Commanders • Lt. Franciszek Pitułko (until July 1936) • Warrant Officer Stanisław Brychcy (acting July 1936 – September 1, 1936) • Lt. Bohdan Mańkowski (1 September 1936 – 8 April 1937) • 2nd Lt. Zbigniew Deżakowski (acting from 1 November 1938) • 2nd Lt. Kazimierz Hess (16 January – 27 May 1939) • 2nd Lt. Bolesław Chrostowski (24 August – 2 October 1939) == Gallery ==

File:Bateria Cyplowa dzialo 01.jpg|Heliodor Laskowski's battery in 1939 File:Bateria Cyplowa dzialo 02.jpg|A camouflaged 152.4 mm Bofors gun position of the Heliodor Laskowski's battery in Hel, viewed by the Germans, 1939 File:Bateria Cyplowa dzialo 03.jpg|The interior of the combat position under the camouflage net, 1939 File:Bateria Cyplowa dzialo 04.jpg|Camouflage netting spread over the gun, 1939 File:Laskowski Battery Hel 1939.tif|A shelter located under the gun position and stairs for the crew, 1939 File:Bateria Cyplowa kolejka 02.jpg|The narrow-gauge railway track that supplied the entire Hel Fortified Area, 1939 File:Hel - panoramio (3).jpg|Remains of a 152.4 mm Bofors gun mount File:Hel 2023 18.jpg|Gun stand no. 4 with the post-war B-13 gun, 2023 File:Stanowisko nr 4 baterii im. Heliodora Laskowskiego w Helu.jpg|The B-13 gun was repainted in camouflage color in 2024 File:Rekonstrukcja historyczna "32 dni obrony" z 2024 roku.jpg|Reenactors from the Coastal Defense Group during a reenactment of gun operation, September 2024 == See also ==