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When the uprising broke out, Kazimierz Chmielewski, a pharmacist and a medical orderly, became head of supplies, being assisted mostly by women. In the first days of the uprising, before the Polish provision system was introduced, the kitchens of the Red Cross provided food to the entire army in Poznań and in the forts. In only several hours, mobile kitchens, which drove the streets of Poznań and served meals to the soldiers, were set up. A few permanent kitchens were also established. One of them, managed by Miss Milewska, was located in the “Bazar” - Chmielewski maintained it with his own funds. The second one, led by Ms Góralska, was in her father’s Grand Cafe in Wolności Square. One of the girls who worked there was 17-year old Irena Buszkiewicz, from a family of merchants. She, together with her friends who were also scouts, helped to peel potatoes. There was a third kitchen, in the National Museum, which was set up by Helena Rymarowicz and insurgent Ruciński, thanks to the transport of donated food. More than ten girl-scouts and other female volunteers immediately got involved in working in the kitchen. In the castle there was a kitchen run by Halina Łebińska, while the kitchen in the police station building was managed by Teresa Pawlicka. More such places were set up later, among others on the premises of the Municipal Slaughterhouse.

Women who were not involved in work at any of the official kitchens helped as much as they could. These were women like Rozalia Nogaj née Chwiałkowska with her daughters and friends. Rozalia sent the girls to the insurgents with food. The girls, not being afraid of gunfire, tried to get the food directly to the places where the insurgents were fighting.

Another important issue was providing the kitchens with the necessary supplies. The outbreak of the uprising resulted in even more limited access to food. However, the entire general society was involved in finding it. Food products were donated by merchants, bakers, butchers, craftsmen - everyone who could, spontaneously gave what they could. Landowners played a significant role in providing food.

Although soldiers were often the chefs in these kitchens, women were responsible for the entire service. In Opalenica, an assembly point for soldiers was located at a railway station which is why a kitchen was set up there. It was run by Borowski, and Helena Woziwodzka with her sister and W. Drążanka assisted by serving the meals. Pelagia Klukowska and her sisters served hot tea and coffee to the insurgents passing through Wągrowiec. Other products they prepared for them were cigarettes, which they made of tobacco taken from Polish cigars. Another woman who worked as a field cook was Maria Konieczna who got injured when she was on duty. 

A food service point for the insurgents was set up in the house of the Budny family, and in the laundry facility in their yard. The place was managed by Ms Wichlińska from Helenowo. The food was provided by local estates – Tuczno, Helenowo, Kobylniki and others. Together with her sister, Ostrowska, Ms. Wichlińska personally visited the food service points, checking them and making lists of necessary products. They also frequently helped with cooking and distributing meals.

In a school in Miejska Górka, Felicja Pietruszyńska organised accommodation for nearly 80 insurgents. She also cooked for them, initially in a laundry boiler, and later in a field kitchen (taken from the Germans), which was set up in the yard of her parents’ farm. 

When the fighting for Zbąszyń started, Wanda Niegolewska immediately organised the supply of food to the section – every evening, a transport of food products, which included jugs with coffee, milk, sugar, bread and lard, was sent from Niegolewo. Maria Kurnatowska from Gościeszyn also delivered food to the insurgents and arranged means of transport. 

The communication and reconnaissance services

Communication between the conspirators and the insurgents who were still in hiding, as well as between the units established later, was of immense significance. Back then, there were still very few telephone lines, therefore the information passing between the staff and the units, as well as between individual units, was transported by special couriers and runners. Many women were among these.

Occupying railway stations and post offices was a necessary condition for ensuring further command of the fronts and securing the flow of information and orders. Thus, to the insurgents, women telephonists were “controllers”, supervising all of the telephone and telegraph connections, etc. By intercepting German reports, they often gained access to valuable information and details concerning the locations of enemy units. Then, via secret lines, they passed the information on to the conspirators. They were also intermediaries allowing contact between the conspirators. Female telegraphists working at railway stations did similar work. 

25-year-old Maria Hundt worked as a courier at a post office. Through a secret field line connected to a telephone exchange, she provided the insurgents with information on the location of German Grenschutz units. She was later turned in by another employee of the post office – a German woman, and brought before a court. Owing to the intervention of the uprising’s authorities, the People’s Bank in Kępno bailed her out and she was released until the next trial. In the meantime, the uprising came to an end and the Germans left Greater Poland.