Virtuti Militari Thread

[andrzejku98]

Hi Everyone,

In answer to dastier's request for information on General Brygady Boleslaw Feliks Stachon, I just thought first of all I would introduce him in a photograph taken in Warsaw in December 1934, on his arrival in Warsaw from the UK.



Boleslaw Feliks Stachon was the first Polish Pilot to fly a Rotorcraft , he flew in it from England to Warsaw arriving there on the 10th December 1934





Photographed at Duxford the Avro Rota Nr 1 HMS80, former G-ACUU, flown by Stachon in 1934



Pplk pil Boleslaw Stachon in the late 1930's

I will post more tomorrow

Best wishes

Andrzejku

p.s. click on the photographs above to enlarge

[andrzejku98]

Hi Everyone,

A few more photographs connected with General Stachon, not bad for an Officer who retired twice in his life.



photograph of Boleslaw Stachon late 1930's in civilian attire



with his wife and friends in 1937



photograph of the Vickers Wellington he died in with its crew and ground crew 1941



General Stachon's son Zygmunt by his fathers grave at Breda



another photograph of the Generals grave at Breda

I hope that you like them.

Best wishes

Andrzejku

[Igor Ostapenko]

now wtornik in kollection - Nogalski ?

[Krakow1]

Here is a VM that I recently obtained. It belonged to Major Stanislaw Zwirski who won it in 1920 for bravery on battlefield, General Sikorski has written the order that awarded the VM to then Lieutenant Zwirski of 34th Infantry Regiment.
This VM is numbered 1651. This VM came together from the same place with a KW.
What is strange is that in 1939 Major Zwirski was awarded another VM by order of General J. Rommel, and later the VM was verified with a number 14293.
I have never seen a double award of the same class VM......

[Krakow1]

Here is a quick bio from "Heroes of September 1939" website..

[Krakow1]

Major Stanislaw Zwirski was awarded KW four times.
In 1939 he commanded II Bn 3rd Infantry Regiment Legions, fought in defense of Fortress Modlin,
after in Oflag II C Woldenberg where he was active in underground, in February 1945 he came back to Poland.
He joined the LWP, was made Colonel, there is nothing past 1947 on his military career.

[michiel01]

Hi again Michiel,

OK, in good faith that we'll see nice clear close up pictures of the VM cross and uniform next week . . .

VM #9773 was awarded for the Polish-Soviet war of 1920 to a Belgian national's valorous contribution to the Polish victory, Sergeant Maurice J. Billiet. The block of VM’s from numbers 9700 through 9924 were awarded to foreigners for their assistance in preserving Poland’s new independence after 123 years of partition and halting the spread of communism into Europe.

Regards,
Tony

Tony,

Appologies for the lame reply, but I finally got to open the cabinet this one is in:



it is number 199, do you happen to know who this one was awarded to?

Kindest regards,
Michiel

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hello Michiel. Thanks for your post and for being a man of your word! As they say, better late then never. 4th class VM No. 199 was awarded to Colonel Ottokar Brzoza-Brzezina for the September 1939 Campaign. He was posthumously promoted to General of Division in 1968. Colonel Brzoza-Brzezina was retired at time of the outbreak of WW2, but volunteered for service and eventually ended up fighting with Gen. Kleeberg's Independent Operation Group "Polesie" until their surrender to the Germans on October 6, 1939. He was imprisoned but freed in mid-October due to being Czech born. He returned to his home in Zielonki Poland and became involved in the Polish underground resistance movement which led to his arrest by the Germans in 1944 and imprisonment in II C Woldenberg. He survived the war and returned to his home in Poland where he lived out the remainder of his life.

Regards,
Tony

[michiel01]

thank you very much! I'll add this info to the museumdisplay! We had this VM donated decades ago, the source of this piece was lost in time, so we appreciate your help allot!

Thanks, Michiel

[andrzejku98]

Hi Michiel,

I found the photograph attached below on the internet, I hope you like it,



Best wishes

Andrzejku