Operation "Bridges"
The Poles' plan, Akcja Mosty (Operation "Bridges"), was implemented on the night of May 2/3, 1921. Puszczyński and his men, equipped with some 320 kilograms of explosives, after initial difficulties managed to destroy a span of the Szczepanowice bridge. The other groups also succeeded in their objectives. Altogether the Poles managed to destroy seven rail bridges at such places as Szczepanowice, Kluczbork, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Głogówek and Świętochłowice.
The blowing up of the bridges initiated the Third Silesian Uprising, the greatest and best-organized of the three. The Germans, taken by surprise, needed time to repair their severed communications and to transport their troops, and the Poles took advantage of the situation. All the major rail lines leading to Upper Silesia (such as the Wroclaw – Opole – Katowice, and the Nysa – Kędzierzyn-Koźle) had been immobilized. Two German military rail transports had also been destroyed.
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