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09-Jan-2008 |
     
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MR JOSEF WOJCIECHOWSKI (Veteran of the
Second World War ) The President of the Bradford Branch of the Parachute Regimental Association Josef was born in Mielnica Polska (Pronounced Melincia Podorski ) Poland on the 28th of September 1922 being the youngest of three brothers and one sister. He attended the local school in Mielnica however schooling was expensive so his mother decided that she would put him; with the help of the local Priest into a Seminary much to Josef’s disquiet. ‘The education’s free and you’re going to become a priest’ was the answer when asked why he had to go. However the plan never came to fruition and Josef like the rest of Europe was overtaken by events when Poland was invaded by Germany in 1939. With just seven years basic schooling Josef found himself with friends patrolling the local telephone lines in an attempt at preventing the fifth columnists cutting the lines and assisting the Germans. It was at about this time that the reality of war came home to Josef when Peter his elder brother was killed in action with the Polish Army at the gates a Warsaw. Shortly after the Germans invaded Poland from the West, the Russians invaded Poland from the East, as a result on the 10th of February 1940 at the age of sixteen Josef, and his mother were arrested by the Russian Secret Police NKVD. They and 2 million other Poles were deported from their Homeland and sent to Siberia in the Soviet Union. On the 7th of March they arrived in open cattle cars at their destination; a series of small hamlets along the route of the railway. It was while he was interned in this open camp that Josef met his Emilia, a young women who was to become the love of his life and the mother of their four children. Unknown to most deportees, the Polish Army under the Command of General Anders was being re-built on Russian soil, and it’s through his and other people’s efforts that Stalin allowed the army, and many thousands of deportees to leave the Soviet Union. The move for Josef, now a member of the new Polish Army started on the 2nd of April 1942 and culminated in him arriving in Scotland on the 17th of October the same year, with a stopover in Persia, Iraq, and South Africa en-route. During the move the Army group was named the Polish 8th Infantry Division but on arrival in Scotland the division was soon disbanded in name only, soon to be reformed into other formations as units began to train for things to come. Josef was billeted as were all the men in his training unit in hotels and guest houses in the small seaside town of Elie. It was about this time that a Polish Sergeant visited our happy band of warriors and not only serenaded them with his accordion but introduced them to a military parachute, indicating that a brigade of Polish Parachute Soldiers was being formed and would they be interested in joining? We move forward in time and find Josef is now a signaller in the Independent Signals Company as part of the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade under the command of General Stanislaw Sosabowski. The Brigade during this period was under intense training and in June 1944, moved South into England preparatory to mounting as part of the Orbat, for ‘Operation Market Garden’ pencilled in for around the middle of September 1944. Operation Garden, the airborne Element of the operation commenced on the 17th September 1944. Jumping onto the DZ at Driel in the Netherlands Josef joined the battle for Arnhem on the 21st September at 17.05 hours, only to be met by a hail of small arms fire including tracers ripping though his canopy. During the following two days casualties began to rise, especially as they had now started to cross the river in large number using small rubber rafts with paddles. However, the Germans soon picked up on what was going on, and quickly brought accurate fire onto the soldiers attempting to cross the river in the small flimsy craft. A call had gone out for heavy assault boats capable of carrying up to 10 men instead of the 3 as in the rubber rafts. The call was heard; and a number were provided by 30 Corps who arranged to have them brought to the Polish Brigade position. Unfortunately the position of the British Division at the other side of the river was becoming untenable. Consequently before many of the large boats could be used, the decision was made to withdraw the British Division to the North, and attempt with the help of the Canadian Engineers to cross the river to the Polish side and safety. As a consequence of this action, Josef moved as part of the Polish Brigade to Nimegan and thence to Brussels. Having been pulled out of the line the Brigade returned to England, and a camp with soft beds in Uffington near Stanford, where the Brigade was rested and reinforced. Having been brought up to strength and re-trained, the Polish Brigade was once again on the move, this time to Germany where ultimately it took up its duties as part of the BOAR tt the cessation of hostilities. The Brigade made its home and subsequently its Depot in Bessenbrook; which is about 30 kilometres from Osnabrook. Our tale doesn’t end here but does have a happy ending: Emelia who was initially left behind in the camp in Siberia when the re-forming Polish Army Was sent to Persia and ultimately England, was eventually moved to Persia herself some months later with many other polish civilians. The day after she left the camp a letter arrived for her from Josef asking about his mother. This letter took one year and 4 days to catch up with Emelia, who was now in East Africa and by a fluke received it one day before she left for England to join the Polish Air Force. Emelia, with friends arrived in Redcar to take up their duties, and it was during this period that she wrote to Josef regarding his enquiries concerning the health, and the whereabouts of his mother. Josef and Emelia Cwikla (pronounced Twikla) married in 1946 In Lincoln; they now live in Bradford close to their Daughter. Josef’s Mother? Yes she survived the deportation. And ultimately returned to her Homeland, where she was reunited with the family, and lived for many years before her death with her sister in the Western part of Poland.
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