There is a story that he served in the (polish?) army and possibly fled Poland.
Well, this isn't much, but could be some kind of a clue, I guess. Maybe he was in Polish II Corps (so called "Anders' Army") and perhaps he fought in Italy (hence the Italian coin turned into a pendant - but that's just a wild guess on my part :)).
I don't know, maybe your friend could try to find out something first by contacting:
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
APC POLISH ENQUIRIESBuilding 28 B, RAF Northolt
West End Road
Ruislip
Middlesex HA4 6NG
Telephone: 020 8833 8603, Fax: 020 8833 8866
e-mail: polishdisoff@northolt.raf.mod.uk
If she finds his files there and she'll know in which unit he served she could then find out more at the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum (documents there are filed by units' numbers):
The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum - London, 20 Prince's Gate, London, SW7 1PT, Tel.: 00 44 207 589 9249:
pism.co.uk
There's also the Central Military Archive in Poland - Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe (CAW):
caw.wp.mil.pl/pl/28.html
Archive Information - phone number: (22) 681-45-84, e-mail: informacja.caw@wp.mil.pl
but just a simple hint - Wladyslav - In Poland this forename is Władysław.
Yes, Looker is right.
caw.wp.mil.pl/pl/28.html
Hmm, I must have done sth wrong, I'll try again:
caw.wp.mil.pl/pl/28.html