Is there a list of those in the Polish Army during WWII?

Look at my post # 117 in this thread regarding obtaining Polish military records from the MOD. I think this is your best course of action but you will probably need to provide proof of relationship and a copy of a death certificate.

Hi there!

Im trying to find more information about my great grandfather who i believe fought in the "1ST POLISH INDEPENDENT PARACHUTE BRIGADE" during WW2. He enlisted in scotland and was called 'Alfons Stolarski'

any help would be amazing

regards

Merged:

Help me Identifying a Polish Soldier History

Im looking for the military record of a polish soldier from the 2nd Corps who fought in Italy in WWII.
his name was Wilhelm Smolczyk, born in 1925, resgistered number on the dogtag 220, Catolic.
Any info would be apreciated.
Regards

He would have been in Anders Army then.
Have a look at this thread, in particular post numbers 4 and 14.

https://polishforums.com/genealogy/poland-list-names-anders-army-5336/

my grandfather served in the 1st ind para brg and was at arhnem wounded and picked up by the red cross,his name was wladislaw kulesza 1835 2nd lt I am trying to find any record or military service records.van anyone please help me or point me in the right direction it means so much to me and my family.

Trying to find any info on my Dad... His name was Kazimierz Roszczyk but known as Eric. He was in the 8th Polish Heavy AA Regiment and was a Bombardier. He fought at Monte Cassino and i have his medal. From his army papers (all that we have on him) his last known address was in Naples Italy, we know he was a prisoner of war in Italy or so he told us. On Reaching England he was sent to a Polish Resettlement Corps where he was staying at The Hostel Cross Gates Radnor Wales.

Any info or links would be very appreciated. Thank you.

Annette Bondarek (UK)

I wonder if any one can help. I have been trying to trace any remaining members of my Dad's family. He lived in NE Poland, now Belarus, in a village called Stajki, Braslaw, Wilno, which was totally destroyed by the Germans in 1943. All attempts to trace have failed. I cannot find a genuine source to trace people as many leads are false or do not reply to emails. He joined a partisan group during that time, was captured and escaped from German labour camps x3 and ended up in Scotland in the Polish army towards the end of the war. I would be most grateful for any information on the family, village etc. his name was Ksawery Bondarek (first name originally Sylvester) and the family followed Russian Orthodox religion.

Many thanks.

@Wenders12
My grandfather and his brother were also in the 8th Heavy AA regiment, and also ended up in Radnorshire. One place to look might be the index of the repressed (stevemorse.org/siberia/siberia.html .... this is the version), a list of people deported from Poland by the Russians. There is a Kazimierz Roszczyk born in 1915 listed, I don't if that could be your Dad.

Thank you Karas78 i will look into that, My father was born in 1915 so it sounds like it could be him.

Thank you Karas78 that is my dad i am sure as he was born 1915 and his father was Adam. I didn't know that he was deported from Poland, we just thought he left by joining the Army, My dad was a very quiet man and hardly ever spoke about his life in Poland nor the war years. I have some digging to do now to see what else i can turn up. What was the name of your granddad and his brother dad may of mentioned them and i do have a few photo's of dad and some friends from the Cross gates Hostel in Radnorshire Wells

Hi Wenders
My grandfather was Jan Karas and his brothers name was Stanislaw. Very similar to you neither them nor a third brother who lived in Holland spoke about the war or their life in Poland before it. The little we thought we knew turned our to be wrong once we started researching a couple of months ago.

It looks as though, according to that register that there maybe some documents relating to your father held at Stanford university, I think the contact details are on my work e-mail so I'll send them tomorrow.

If you give your fathers name, place and date of birth in the e-mail, that should be enough for them to find the information. The e-mail is irenac@stanford.edu, you will probably hear back quite quickly.

Thank you so much for the links. I will send my dad's info off and see what happens. Your granddads and his brothers names dont ring any bells, Just checked on my photos i have but none of them are written on with names or places where they was took. One is of dad with his Army mates from the Polish Army days.

Thank you once again
so appreciate this

Please can anyone help in finding more information on my father. I have all his war records and was part of initially 22 Infantry Battalion, then 14 Wilensky Rifle Battalion. It says he was forced into German labour and then conscripted into German army between 43/44 then captured/taken POW by allied troops in Italy. On the 8th Sept 1944 he was booked into No 209 POW camp. On the 16th Sept he was transferred into 22 Infantry Battalion and the rest is fine.

So my question is trying to trace where this POW camp was On the booking in paper work I have it states POW camp 209 and for the life of me I have tried finding where my father was captured. Can anyone help in getting more info please?

Sorry, if it helps more my fathers name was 30067601 Private Jerzy Mozer born 25/6/25 in Szla, Przasnysz, Warszawa

Hi Wenders

I was over my parents yesterday I had a quick look at my grandfathers record again, and he was also put up in the cross gates hostel. I wondered if I gave you an e-mail address would you scan me a copy of the photo, to see if they are on it? Thanks

I dont have a scanner any more, but i can take a photo on my phone and email to you Karas78 if you give your email.

Regards
Wenders

You're right, I couldn't find much at all, other than links via The National Archives:

discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2355644
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/record?catid=1530288&catln=6
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C966650

Those 3 links suggest that 209 camps were in Italy, North Africa and the Middle East. I have looked at a list of POW camps in Italy but 209 is not listed.

I can only suggest contacting The National Archives to see if they can help you. Good luck.

Hi there

Apologies as I have very little to go on, but looking for any ideas. My father was born in the UK in September 1944 to a British mother and given up for adoption - he didn't start looking into his history till about ten years ago and although he located his mother and had limited postal contact, she didn't tell him anything particularly useful before she died.

His older adoptive sisters told him that a parcel used to come from Poland every year for him till about 1955 (his birth mother, and adoptive family were known to each other but not closely, as above he hasn't been able to find out how much his birth mother knew of his father, whether they kept in touch for a while etc) and all he really knows is that she was likely to have been living in Norfolk when he was conceived presumably around December 1943.

We've got a possible name or family name of Szmit or Szmitz from someone linked to me through Ancestry but that's about it so far!

Could anyone suggest any potential resources for trying to identify individuals who might have been stationed or based in the Norfolk area around that time? Obviously I am continuing to try to get information to help identify further family links.

Sorry it does sound like a needle in a haystack job but no harm in trying!! Thanks in advance

Fiona

Hi, My father Jerzy Kaczykowski was taken from the family farm in Northern Poland and forced into the German army and worked on labour gangs moving ammunition and repairing roads etc. Liberated in France and sent to Scotland where he joined the free Polish Army. Are there any records of his whereabouts in Scotland during this time

Excuse me but only Volksdeutsche were eligible for the german forces. For that he had to register before in the "Deutsche Volksliste ". That was for sure an purposeful act, nobody would had been forced to. To the contrary it got the subscribers alot of privileges, but one could even be scratched from that list if found "unworthy". One of the drawbacks had been the possibility of conscription into the german army though.

The german forces had been generelly for german citizens only. Not to confuse with the support units made up of foreign personal or the foreign legions of the Waffen SS...

It was ok for Freiwillige (foreigners) to fight in the German army.and hundreds of thousands did.

You might want to read this.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Germans_in_the_German_armed_forces_during_World_War_II

Nope...it was as I said...you confuse


with the german army. There were a gazillion foreigners in the "Nazi forces" in support units and foreign legions...or whole armies like Vlassovs and what not...but the regular german forces like the Wehrmacht were german citizens only!

(Or whoever was declared as ethnically german like Volksdeutsche from Poland)

There were lots of those support units especially since the war in Russia from 1941 onwards...they were needed. I read that it were russian helper which showed the Germans how to keep their tanks going even in deep frost.

PS: In German these foreign volunteers were called "Hilfswillige"....at the height of WWII every third soldier for the Nazis was a foreigner.

As the number of the Wehrmacht during the war decreased to about 2,5 million the number of the Hilfswilligen actually increased by another million.

@Polonius3
Do you know if they have an email address? I live in the U.S., and can't really call to Poland.

Is there any possibility someone would have enlisted with the anders army under a different name or emigrated to Canada under a different name. My grandfather was in the anders army, enlisting while in the gulags and emigrated to Canada from Scotland after the war. I can't find his name under any of the online lists and I dont know the specific unit he was in. Really keen on finding out more of his unit and maybe seeing if I could apply to get his Italian campaign medal, as I don't recall seeing them as a kid.

good afternoon ! I am looking for information about my grandfather, who was Polish born in Warsaw and fought in WWII, his name was Janusz Nowakowski Nikolayedsky. I was born in 1927, I think. He has several medals, but we know very little because he died in 1957 in Venezuela, my mother almost did not know him. Can you please help me get information ??

You're best bet is to contact polishveterans association (USA Canada eu etc), polish home army veterans association (pl), The Polish ex-combatants association of great britain (uk), institute of national remembrance (pl), polish resistance foundation (uk) and other such groups

Please help, I am looking for info on my fathers family. His name was Witold Golebiewski, born 17 Feb 1917 in Odessa, where his father Bronislaw was in Russian Army, Bronislaw was killed in 1920 and family moved back to Poland, possibly Radom area. Dad was in prison camp in Siberia until 1942 when he joined Polish Air Force and came to England, Dad's mother was Monika Baldyga, and he had 3 older sisters, Bronislawa, Wladyslawa and Genowefa. I know nothing further back, and would appreciate any ideas. Thank you so much. Monika

My father was in the Polish army in WWIi was demobbed in England, lived & married in Sheffield. I would like to get a copy of his military records how can I do this? Any help much appreciated

Contact the Polish section of the MOD. Here are the details:

Margaret Goddard or Barbara Kroll
APC Polish Enquiries
Building 60
RAF Northolt,
West End Road
Ruislip,
Middlesex HA4 6NG

Phone: 0044 (0) 208 833 8603
Email: margaret.goddard135@mod.uk

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.

Have a look also at this link:

polandinexile.com/addresses.html

All the relevant addresses both in the UK and Poland are contained here. Hopefully they will be of some help.

I have a photo of my great grest uncle in military uniform. He was born in Roliv Ukraine but was in the Polish Army around WWII and consequently lived in Poland after the war. Someone told me that the uniform indicates he was a Brave 2nd class in a Native American unit in the Polish Army. Is this correct? I haven't found any mention online of Native Americans participating in the Polish Army.

I am looking for polish army officer staying in torquay devon uk after serving in north Africa is name is Andre model

Hi,
When my father (M. Kazimierczak/kazimierczyk) passed I wrote to Northholt to inquire about my fathers ww2 army records. I paid the fee required and got a 2 sentance letter back....... hopelss. Were none the wiser. It was a waste of time. Now I am try to trace my grandfather who was also in the polish Army during ww2, who was taken priosoner by the Russians and eventually died in Iraq. Has anyone any tips where I can get anymore information? About both. I would be truely grateful.