In response to Soviet sabotage activities in the Borderlands of the Second Republic, on 12 September 1924, the Minister of Military Affairs, General Władysław Sikorski, issued an order to create a special military formation − the Border Protection Corps (BPC) which was subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Throughout the entire period of its existence, the formation was an important element in the system of the country’s defence, and its main objectives were to protect the eastern border and ensure security in the ethnically diverse border areas. The structure of the BPC was based on a military structure: the corps consisted of infantry brigades, regiments and battalions, as well as cavalry squadrons. Directly on the border line, guardhouse crews were on duty.

The BPC soldiers guarded the Polish border for 15 years. During that period they managed to improve security in the Eastern Borderlands. At that time, the sight of the BPC uniforms in border areas was a permanent element of the frontier landscape. In its service, the BPC followed the knightly ethos, the borderland motifs of which were found, among others, in the (literary) works of Henryk Sienkiewicz and Wincenty Pol.

It was a special honour for every soldier serving in the BPC to receive a commemorative badge “For Border Service”, made to the same design for officers and privates alike. It depicted an eagle (the state emblem), below which there was a ribbon with the name of the decoration. Behind the eagle, the badge featured a red and white border post with a plate and 19 rays radiating upwards. The oval rim was decorated with a laurel wreath. Receiving the badge was an honour and a source of pride.

In September 1939, BPC soldiers took an active part in the defence of the Polish borders, both eastern and western. Many of the corps units fought against the Wehrmacht. The BPC guardhouses were also the first to resist the Soviet invaders, trying to hold back the many times more numerous Red Army forces that attacked Poland on 17 September 1939. Many BPC soldiers sacrificed their lives in the heroic fight during the war. Many of them became victims of the Katyń massacre and ended up buried in death pits. Members of the corps fought on almost all fronts of the Second World War.

Soldiers of the Border Protection Corps became a symbol of faithful service in protecting the borders of the Republic of Poland, and their attitude remains a model of conduct for today’s Border Guard officers.

Grzegorz Cwyl

The obverse of the coin features a figure of a soldier of the Border Protection Corps against the background of an outline of a border post. On the reverse there are images of the Border Protection Corps badge and a border post depicted in the colours of the Republic of Poland.

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