I am trying to find information on my grand uncle Roman Sikora. He was born in Poland. He served in the Polish Army during WWII. I know that he was an Officer/Captain. He served in Poland, England and France. I was told by my father that he was killed in Normandy in 1944/1945. He also said that he was in an Army tank.
Ministry of defence gave me a lot of information and lists. My father was Jozef Michel Rzemieniecki and he was in the 2nd Polish Army, 3rd Carpatian Riffle Brigade. After the war he went to Holland were he met my mother. I wrote a book about his live during the war. There was even a investigation form from the russians in 1939 which he signed laying in the Hoover Institute in America. So search the internet and you will find a lot of information. By the way nu father was from Sosnow near Lwow, now Ukraine.
Hi I am trying to trace my farther. Francis Joseph Nicklewinski. I know that he was born in Poland (possibly) in Tymowa, in 1921. He was in the military (possible a submariner) and was stationed in Scotland (possibly at Thurso) during WW2. He married in 1950, at which time his surname changed to Nickel, and immigrated to Australia in 1951. I found 2 versions of his marriage certificate, one in the name of Nicklewinski and another with the name of Nickel. I also found an index to his application for naturalization in the National Archives but the document is "Closed for 100 years" the reason given as "Contains sensitive personal information which would substantially distress or endanger a living person or his or her descendants". Francis never talked about his past and we have no other information about his family or his time in Scotland. I would love to hear from anybody who can help further my discovery.
am trying to find out about my father ,Robert Ignacy Panszczyk, he was in the signals I believe .Escaped from Poland via Hungary ,to Greece, he said he worked his passage to Egypt ,after that not much known, Except he was in Scotland in approx. 1944 . upon demob, he finally settled in the Salisbury area of Wiltshire. Very keen to fill in the gaps, finally died in 1996, buried in Reading, Berkshire .
Have service history of father from RAF Northolt and it says in it the term 5PAL does any one know what it means .I think it may be 5th Polish light artillery can anyone confirm this please.
@Poltrace Talked to a local Militaria dealer a while ago and he had sold some photographs and info on submarines to a polish collector of militaria. Apparently there were only 2 subs of the polish navy used in the war.Polish collector will be here in October at local militaria show, will pass on your info.
the term 5PAL does any one know what it means .I think it may be 5th Polish light artillery can anyone confirm this please.
5PAL - (5 Wilenski Pulk Artylerii Lekkiej) 5th Wilno Regiment of Light Artillery. A part of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division - en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=5th_Kresowa_Infantry_Division&oldid=723745931
I would like to access "1st independent Polish Parachute Brigade list of participants" to check if my grandfather is on it, where do I access this list?
My father Witold Eryk Sprott born in Katowice 23.7.25 was in Bari in Southern Italy with Polish troops at the end of WW11: he told me recently he approached the US army stationed there to ask for ? Amnesty? to join up with them but was turned away and ended up escaping on a boat to UK via Algiers : he has never returned to Poland. Does this ring any bells with anyone? He is very reluctant to discuss anything of this time with us his family.
He might have been drafted to the Wehrmacht like many other Silesians. They had often been forced to sign the Volksliste and many young men were subsequently drafted into the Wehrmacht. Some did it volunteerily of course.
Since your father wanted to join the Allies, he probably wasn't happy about serving the Reich. But that's my wild guess. Only your father knows the truth. There's a Wikipedia page about Poles in the Wehrmacht if you want to find out more.
in Bari in Southern Italy with Polish troops at the end of WW11
It doesn't make much sense! Are you sure he was in the Polish army? If so, you can find his file. If not ....sorry.
Allies landed in Salerno and Reggio di Calabria - Bari is across the way of Southern Italy. If he was there with any army it seems likely it was German Army. .but that wouldn't account for them turning him off, they would have taken him as a prison of war. unless all this is somehow mix up. Was he a deserter, a criminal escaping justice. I don't know, you may want to find out.
Why would he approach Americans? There was II Polish Corps. as a part of the Allied forces.
ended up escaping on a boat to UK via Algiers
Escaping what, whom? The simplest way to find out the truth is to find what Army he was serving in - I'm sure there are relevant records in existence.
I am researching my grandfather, at least trying to find out who he was from a few facts. Things seemed to have narrowed themsevles down to a town called Peterculter (short name culter) in Scotland. I found this table on a webpage today. I believe it means 2nd Infrantry Brigade though i have no idea where i can find more information about this brigade and what division is what part of etc. I do not profess to know army structures very well so understanding what this Brigade is comprised of, what it forms part of itself, and who commanded it would be useful to help me find information about it.
2nd Infantry Bde Culter, Aberdeenshire
If anyone even knows anything about persons stationed in and around Cutler would be nice to hear from you.
Trying to trace relatives of Marion Scubicevski? He lived in Lancashire changed his surname to Duncan-Shorrock after the war. Can any0ne tell me how to trace relatives in Poland?
@Sheish My wild guess is that his name was originally Marian Skubiszewski. I guess you need to know his birthplace at least. Did he keep in touch with any of his relatives?
I am doing research in to the paratroopers that flew from RAF Saltby during WW2. My grandfathers Farm was knocked down to build the airfield in 1941 and I am keen to establish some kind of lasting memorial/ history to all the brave young men who flew from here.
I am particularly interested in the Polish 1st Brigade who served under General Sosabowski as I feel their role is not being as widely publicised as it should be...
@Veronica Sprott please see this link on what happend this might help fill in blanks "successful Allied landings completed at Taranto" thats below bari remember the troops had to fight north to the gustav line and also across the british army was also a mish mash of troops in this case the 8th army,comprising of canadians, indians,poles.kiwis etc Polish Cemetery at Casamassima near bari there are about 431 graves of Polish soldiers and officers of the 2nd Polish Corps who died between 1944 and 1945 Combatants who are buried there either died on the Gustav Line on the Sangro River, or had been wounded there or at Monte Cassino and had died either in hospitals in Bari or Naples.type in google for wiki link to memorial
hope this helps as my grandads english was undestandable but somtimes muddled in meaning italystarassociation.org.uk/history/the-forgotten-army-italy-1943-1945/
the only thing i can think is at the end he was trying to get to america alot of poles didnt want to go back hence living in britain..it wasnt on the cards at the time theyd get to stay that came after The Polish Resettlement Act 1947..
Hello, I'm trying to possibly find information about my great grandfather Henri Zaleski, I believe he was a paratrooper during the battle of Arnhem and maybe trained in the uk?? I know nothing about him other than he spoke 5 languages. And moved to Britain after ww2.
Tricky to find info about my Polish heritage living in New Zealand
Hello there I am trying to trace my fathers army records like many young polish men he fought for for both sides in the second world war. He was In the Germany army as a machine gunner and saw action in Belgium,Denmark,Holland And Italy where He escaped the Germany army and Joined the free Polish Army where he served as a commando under General Anders until he came to England with the Polish resettlement corps in late 1946. He died in in June 2016 aged 95.
Hello again just for further information my dads name was Marian kowalkowski he was born on 1.11.1920 in Bydgoszcz Poland and he like so many of his country men was reluctant to chat about his experiences regarding the ww2. But obvously it is a matter of great interest to my family to trace his army records
Hi, all, I am trying to find out more on my father, who was a Polish paratrooper. He rarely spoke of his service, but I found documents that showed he had an undercover name...... he told us that he came across at Dunkirk, and then jumped 7 times. His name is Henry S. Buczkowski. Thanks for this amazing info, but if anyone has access and can find any info on my dad and share, I would appreciate it. Thank you for the info on this website!
Hi two quedtions. 1. My father Mieczysław (marcel) JASILEK, was posted to the Orkney Islands during the war. I believe he was in the polish army. Does anyone know the name if the army division that was in Orkney?
2. In polish is it possible that JASILEK and JASIEWICZ could be different spellings of the same name ( I kniw my father was in Italy and there is a JADIEWICZ with his christisn name listed.)
Trying to trace his full military recird so any answer to no.1 would be great. This site is amazing -so sad so many people died with their amazing war stories an heroisms telling no one Susanne Jasilek .
Your best bet would be to contact the Polish section of the MOD. They keep military personnel records and information regarding specific combat units. There were quite a few units based at Orkney during the war, although I can't find any listed under Polish forces in Scotland:
polishforcesinbritain.info/Locations.htm
For MOD Polish records, please contact:
Margaret Goddard or Barbara Kroll APC Polish Enquiries Building 60 RAF Northolt, West End Road Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 6NG
I am guessing that you will also need to provide proof of relationship, and possibly a copy of his death certificate in order to get his military records.
My mother in law recently died and we've been clearing out her stuff. We found some documents and photos relating to her husband - name above. He died ~15 years ago
As far as we know he enlisted before WW2 in the Polish Army and was gazetted as a 2nd lt. Once Poland was over run he fought his way across Europe and ended up in Scotland. We have his registration for the Polish Army in France in Dec 1939 and his discharge from the Resettlement Corps in 1948, but the bit in between is a bit vague.
He never used to talk much about the wartime, but we believe he dropped into Arnhem and after an accident/injury then went on to train paras for the rest of the war. We found some 'action' photos from paras dropping from planes etc which we guess is in Scotland.
Anything anyone could do to fill in the missing years would be most useful.
@Panszczyk Sorry for the delay in the reply. He died in 16 January 1996. If you wish to contact us, please do, by way of this forum. With your email address. So I can contact you directly. Regards
I am trying to research the army history of my father in law Aleksander Walczynski. He was born in Czeberaki,Poland in circa 1918. I have a photo of him as a young man dressed in Polish army dress uniform. In the 40s he ended up in Scotland based at Dupplin Castle as a maintenance engineer with the Polish Army Corps rank of Corporal but have no idea how he managed to get there. Can anyone advise how I can find out?.
Home / History / Is there a list of those in the Polish Army during WWII?
