Tyszowce. In October 1920, he was awarded the Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari. Inter-war Poland After the Peace of Riga, Kopański was demobilized and allowed to finally finish his engineering studies, this time at the Warsaw University of Technology. However, in 1923, he returned to army service and became the deputy commander of the Artillery Officers School in Toruń. Promoted to the rank of major in 1924, he held that post until 1927. In October of that year, he was dispatched to Paris, where he commenced his studies at the Ecole Superieure de Guerre, one of the most notable military academies of the time. After a brief service in the French School for Artillery Officers, he returned to Poland, where he became the commander of the 3rd Detachment of the General Staff (Operational). In May 1930, he became the commanding officer of one of the battalions within the 6th Heavy Artillery Regiment, stationed in Lwów, but resumed his post in the General Staff a year later. In early 1935, he became the deputy commander of armoured troops and, after additional two years of service there, he was made the commanding officer of the Stryj-based Polish 1st Regiment of Self-propelled Artillery, the most technologically advanced Polish artillery unit of the time. On 13 March 1939, in the course of the Polish secret mobilization, Kopański became the head of the 3rd Detachment of the General Staff and six days later, he was promoted to colonel. World War II Polish Defensive War After the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War, Kopański remained on the staff of Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły. The staff was evacuated from Warsaw on 6 September 1939 to Polish temporary headquarters in Brześć nad Bugiem. However, due to fast pace of German advance, the headquarters had to be evacuated further southwards, through Młynów, Kołomyja and Kosów, to the town of Kuty, where it was to organize the defense of the so-called Romanian Bridgehead. However, the Soviet invasion of Poland of 17 September 1939 made that plan obsolete and Kopański was evacuated to Romania, a country which at that time was allied with Poland. There, at both German and French insistence, the Polish highest authorities were interned by the Romanians. However, most of the soldiers interned in prisoner of war camps were able to escape with the secret consent of the Romanian authorities; Kopański himself fled the Călimăneşti internment camp,