Does anyone have any relatives who served with 1st Polish Armoured Division (Gen. Maczek)

My father also served in the 1st Amoured Division under gen Maczek, unfortunately he died last October.

My Starzynski died in the early 1980's. He had 2 daughters.

Colonel Szyndler was indeed the director of a munitions factory, his personal speciality was the design of gas masks, his initial qualification as a chemical engineer led him to work in the oil industry, he also served in France during WW1. During the invasion of Poland he and his family fled to the UK via Roumania and France. After arranging for the factory to be sabotaged he withdrew all the factories funds from the bank, on arrival in the UK he was court-martialed as the funds had somehow disappeared (the trial documents are on archive). He caused further anguish by refusing to take the workers families in the convoy that left the factory, while having his own wife and children with him. His son Jerzy lived in London (ending up in a cheap basement flat in Wimbledon) after the war and gained notoriety when his first wifes father chased him across gardens while shooting a pistol, unsurprisingly the story made the national papers, especially as the father-in-law stated in court that he only had one regret - missing the cheater! The judge was symathetic. Jerzy eventually managed to emigrate to Canda after 'borrowing' money from people who were glad to see the back of him. His sister Marysia was a doctor and emigrated to Canada before him, his other sister Teresa died of cancer in 1972 having not received a single visit or call from him during her prolonged illness, except to ask for money.

Hello Greg,my uncle Zdzislaw Ziemski who returned to Poland after WW2 won the virtuti militari for his exploits in the 24th lancers during the 1939 campaign and I recently received some documentation from the Sikorski institute about this which I forwarded to my cousin Andrew(his son) who lives in South Afica.I tried to get his service record from MOD in Northolt but Andrew cannot trace his father's death certificate so no luck.Crazy-he would be over 100 if he was alive!However I would be very obliged if you could give me any more information or possibly photographs.I am the son of Ludwik Ziemski who was also in 1st armoured div and was brought up in Dunfermline.Blessings to those heroes-they never received their just rewards!

Drop me a pm, I can send you some of my pictures.

Hello there, alot of interesting stuff on this site and just to quickly ask has anyone heard of the Traffic Control Squadron of the 1st Polish Armoured Division ? As like many of you I am reaserching my fathers war history and I have alot of information on the many holding and prison camps he was sent to, plus some info. on the collective farms he worked at on his way to Iraq and then Durban. He finally ended up in Scotland and in the TSC. His name is Feliks Sadowski, he was born in Wilno in 1919 and he was quite distinctive as he had a shorter, scarred left arm where he was shot at the age of 2 by a Russian.

Can anyone help ?
Thanks. Martin.

Hello I was just browsing through the forum and saw your mention of Lodz, my father was also in the 1st Polish Armoured Div, he was born in Lodz (Grabina) and spent time in Scotland at Taymouth Castle in 1940, I am setting up a website for my family and am also trying to get more information and photos...

my name is Caren Karasinśki..
my father was Napoleon Karasinski (he was Sgt Major) he was posted to Potsdam aster the war as part of the Allied forces to ensure the Peace treaty..until early 1947.

What a great name....is this a common name in Poland...?

Captain Zygmunt Starzynski was awarded Virtuti Militari and Cross of Valour 4 times whilst fighting with Polish 1st Armoured Div.
I have many uniforms insignia and photos of 1st Armoured Div, if anyone would like to see them please contact me.
drewhouliston@yahoo

First post. I've done some serious research on my grandfather, Stanislaw Jesinski. This website is really old and most of the pics now don't work, but it does include a short history of his war: just type in his name. He was also in the Polish War Choir. He sang in a number of big concert halls and was recorded by the BBC at the Albert Hall (although they weren't very forthcoming with a copy for me).

I got a lot of my info on him from the Ministry of Defence Polish Section (Mrs Hawran was a great help).

When he died in '97 I did some checking to find his sister - took me a year but I found her son living in Warsaw (she had died). Very nice man who was more than happy to send me photos and swap stories.

Oh, and I'm a genealogist in real life! It helps.

Great researching Craig!

Would Stefan please contact me again as I have deleted you email.

In 2008 in Bielsko Biała took pleace The World Meeting of General Maczek's soldiers. The youngest veteran was 85 yo. The meeting was combined with different events. some photos:

video: tv.bielsko.biala.pl/maczkowcy_w_beskidach_1816.html

more photos and info:

bielsko.biala.pl/478,reportaze
army.mil.pl/10_08/241008_11dkp/241008_11dkp.html

all in polish

Thanks for the post McCoy - any idea where the pipes and drums came from?

Your welcome szkocja. yeap, Pipes and Drums are from Czestochowa. This is the only band in Poland playing traditional scottish music on scottish bagpipes.

cpd.tanihost.com

in the multimedia section you can see them playing.

photos from private collection

1st Polish Armoured Division reenactors:

my bros reenacting 8 Batalion strzelcow - part of Maczek's Division ( and me behind the camera ):

my grandfather served in the 1 polish armoured div. and i have also foto's of him at the akropolis his name was Bronislaw £yczak

This is the only picture I have of him at the Acropolis. There are name son the back so I'll check it out and let you know.

• 
  Zygmunt_Greece_1940..jpg
  

My father fought under general Maczek. I would love to see your photos.

My grand dad served with the tank regiment in ww2 at Normandy where he lost his arm. Am trying to find out anything about him, his name was Wasyl Wyrko. If anyone knows about him could you get in contact pls

I have been looking for some information regarding my maternal grandfather who fought in the allied forces, in the Polish battalion, I do not know which one; had medals for the liberation of France, some Italian medals. How can I find out more about him? Is there any site which lists all the soldiers in the West during Warld War II, I mean Polish soldiers. He is dead now, so I cannot ask him and he hardly ever talked about the war, too much horror, I guess. Can anybody help me.

If he served with the Polish Army in Exile then the Ministry of Defense in Britain will have his service record which would include his date of birth, place of birth and parents names. Once you have proof that you are related to him you can apply to the MoD for a copy of his records.

Thank yo so much. Do you know where to write? Do you know what kind of proof they require. I do not know if I can get my mother's or his birth certificates because I do not even live in Poland, perhaps just mine showing my mother's maiden name. Is there any internat site which lists the names of the soldiers, in which division they served?

The MoD will only release service records to a next of kin. So you will need a) proof of grandfather's death (death certificate) and b) that you are his direct next of kin.

The MoD will send you a "Certificate of Kinship" form which you have to complete and send along with the documentary proof you are your grandfather's next of kin. If your grandmother is alive for instance, the law is that MoD would only release this information to her and not you. There is a fee of £25.00 also.

You can download the "Certificate of Kinship form from here:
veterans-uk.info/pdfs/service_records/raf_kinship.pdf

Contact address for Polish service records (don't worry that it has RAF in the address; all Polish service records are archived here) at MoD:

APC Polish Enquiries,
Building 28B,
RAF Northolt,
West End Road,
Ruislip,
HA4 6NG,
Tel: 0208 833 8603
Fax: 0208 833 8866

e-mail: polishastdisoff@northolt.raf.mod.uk or polishdisoff@northolt.raf.mod.uk

The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London:
The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, 20 Princes Gate, London SW7 1PT, Great Britain.
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7589 9249

The Sikorski holds all the unit records of the Polish Forces of the West including the listings of service men and women, but you would need to know what unit your grandfather served with as these records are all paper documents not a searchable database. They don't have email so you need to write or phone. The head of the archives at the Sikorski is Mr Andrzej Suchcitz. As the insitute is manned by volunteers (mainly Polish forces veterans) replies can take some time but they will reply.

Hi Sorry so long in answering...have been veeerrrry busy..
No! I dont think Napoleon is a popular /common name in Poland. Dad went by a nick name (Polziu )his family called him ...

just before my father died, he gave me a family tree, going back to 1800's.
It appears that my Gt, Gt, Grandfather was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's Generals and fought several battles against the Russians..(which he won) and for which he was awarded 3 villages in Llodz (not sure where exactly)..Dad also said he was born on the remnants of one of these estates.

My own research has come up with one General (Count) Vincenty Krasiński (slightly different spelling ? But interestingly my father always pronounced the name as Krasiński

Not sure if that is common in Poland it seems to be so in other countries, that the spelling of surnames can and does change slightly over the years mainly due to illiteracy..etc

I cannot speak or read polish myself so have a problem trying to research as most of this information is obviously in polish.

My dad was called Jan (known as Janek)Dabek and I am sure served in the first armoured division. He met my mother when he was given a billet in their house after the liberation of Breda in 1944. He then went into Germany and later to a settlement camp near st neots in the uk. I have only just started looking for my Polish roots and am so sad that I didn`t ask him more. He just didn`t speak much about his Polish life. I know he was born in a forced labour camp in kostroma.

Was there a tank regiment? I remember those words from when I was young and if so then that is what he was in. I know he went to Normandy

what an excellent lot of info on this thread. I have written for a death cert and will then get army records as next of kin. I found out today that he (Jan called Janek Dabek) was in 24th lancers. All my brothers and sisters are co-operating and I am getting pictures together. My brother has a souvenir book and it has a good picture of the tank unit in Ghent. My dad is on top of a tank. I will be getting the book next week for a loan and will scan pictures. I will try and post some but will have to work out how to do that first

I just found out he had to learn a low class trade as a shoemaker in Codford. It was gutting when I heard that these very brave men were called aliens

Same regiment as my father.

A friend of my father's served in the submarine ORP Dzik in the Med. After the war he also had to take a menial job. He told me about having to load beer trucks at 4.30am and even though he was a sailor he could only get the worst jobs on tramp steamers.

Nevertheless it's great to hear that you are making headway in your search. I hope you continue to make new discoveries.

My father-in-law served in the 1st Polish Armoured Division i know he spent time in Scotland
and fought in Holland i know little else about what happen to him, he met my mother-in-law in Germany after the war (she had been taken as slave labour when she was 14years old.) I know they met in a German Village that had been given over to the Poles at the end of the war they married and came to the UK - I am looking for information about what happen to him in the war and the name of the village his name was Wacław Engelhardt. both my in-laws have sadly passed away it was hard to ask them to much as it was very painful for them

Timeline
My father served in 1st Armoured Division, my mother was slave labour 16 years old when taken from village near £odz. They got married in Germany in town called Meppen.

Wiesiek

See sjam's post above with the contact details for the MoD, Polish Affairs.

The MoD will only release service records to a next of kin. So you will need a) proof of grandfather's death (death certificate) and b) that you are his direct next of kin.

The MoD will send you a "Certificate of Kinship" form which you have to complete and send along with the documentary proof you are your grandfather's next of kin. If your grandmother is alive for instance, the law is that MoD would only release this information to her and not you. There is a fee of £25.00 also.

You can download the "Certificate of Kinship form from here:
veterans-uk.info/pdfs/service_records/raf_kinship.pdf

Contact address for Polish service records (don't worry that it has RAF in the address; all Polish service records are archived here) at MoD:

APC Polish Enquiries,
Building 28B,
RAF Northolt,
West End Road,
Ruislip,
HA4 6NG,
Tel: 0208 833 8603
Fax: 0208 833 8866

e-mail: polishastdisoff@northolt.raf.mod.uk or polishdisoff@northolt.raf.mod.uk

The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London:
The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, 20 Princes Gate, London SW7 1PT, Great Britain.
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7589 9249

The Sikorski holds all the unit records of the Polish Forces of the West including the listings of service men and women, but you would need to know what unit your grandfather served with as these records are all paper documents not a searchable database. They don't have email so you need to write or phone. The head of the archives at the Sikorski is Mr Andrzej Suchcitz. As the insitute is manned by volunteers (mainly Polish forces veterans) replies can take some time but they will reply.