27th Volhynian Infantry Division () was a World War II Polish Home Army formed in the Volhynia region in 1944. It was created on January 15, 1944, from smaller partisan self-defence units during the Volhynia massacre and was patterned after the prewar Polish 27th Infantry Division.
History
The 27th Volhynian Infantry Division of the Home Army (AK) was the first large Polish military unit to openly engage in combat with the Germans as part of Operation Tempest. Volhynia, even before the war, was a region with the smallest percentage of Polish population, further decimated by Soviet deportations, German terror, and the ethnic cleansing carried out by Ukrainian nationalists since 1943. Considering the dire situation, the local AK command, led primarily by commander Colonel "Luboń" and chief of staff Captain "Ostoja", decided to concentrate all forces in one region, east of the Bug River, and form a single large corps.
Bąbiński issued the mobilization order on January 15, 1944, and headed to Kupychiv, where his headquarters was to be located. Most local Polish units refused to comply with the order, not wanting to leave the Polish population without any defense against the still marauding UPA units. Consequently, the division-strength unit was formed mainly from the Kowel and Łuck inspectorates. And numbered about 6,500 people in January 1944. After mobilization in March 1944, the division became one of the largest partisan units in Central Europe with 7,300 soldiers, officers and NCOs.
The division initially aided local self-defence units during the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and fought against the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. It also fought German anti-partisan units and regular Wehrmacht troops. The unit commander, Colonel Babiński strictly prohibited any repressions against women and children. Despite this and despite the orders by the Polish government not to harm civilians, some Polish partisans retaliated against the massacre of Poles by burning down Ukrainian villages and killing ethnic Ukrainians whom they encountered on Volhynian roads.