Military Gendarmerie Day in Poland Date in the current year: June 13, 2024

Military Gendarmerie (Żandarmeria Wojskowa) is a law enforcement agency that forms an independent part of the Polish Armed Forces and performs military police duties. Poland’s military gendarmerie in its present-day form was created in 1999, but its history began on June 13, 1831, when light infantry carabinier battalions were created in Poland to participate in the November Uprising against the Russian Empire.

Formations similar to military police or gendarmerie have existed in Poland throughout the entire 20th century. They have included the military police in the Second Polish Republic, the Service for Protection of the Uprising that functioned during the Second World War, and the Internal Military Service in communist Poland.

The present-day Military Gendarmerie was officially created on September 1, 1990. Military Gendarmerie Day was first celebrated in 1994. Due to a lack of information on the history of military police in Poland, the holiday commemorated on the anniversary of the Battle of Dębe Wielkie, which took place on March 31, 1831, for several years.

In August 2001, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland formally approved the new date of the Military Gendarmerie Day. The holiday has been celebrated on June 13 each year ever since.