Cpt. Ludwik Zwolanski, 1st Polish Para Brigade

[Krakow1]

About 2 years ago I met a fellow collector who told me that he had a Polish Para Officers uniform for sale. Another made up uniform I told myself.... But I was very wrong.
I asked if he wanted to sell it, and asked for pictures.
He told me that he purchased the uniforms from a Polish Air Force collector in Australia, sometime about 2003 - 2004.
He told me that the Officer was in Market Garden, and that the Family in Australia did not wish to disclose his name. There was also a female BD, and the story I got was that the Captain fell in love with a girl, got her a job at Polska YMCA and later married her.
The set consisted of :
walk out BD,
female BD,
Denison Smock,
Beret.

Finally I received the pictures. And the price .....

After looking at the pictures I knew I had something special....... right away I sent the pictures to three People whose opinions I value very much. Tony Zawadzki, Gary Jucha, George Cholewczyski.

Here is the set as shown to me initially .


Tony Z was the first to get back to me and he ok'd the set. GFC said same. Gay J took a moment to respond.....

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Then Gary J responded..... He said : " These things belonged to Cpt Zwolanski who won a VM for swimming across the Rine. " Gary said that 10 or so years ago he was after this set, but somehow did not get to buy it. He also said that the Collector from Australia identified the set to him as Cpt Zwolanski's uniform.
I emailed the collector I bought the set from and said: " This set belonged to Cpt Zwolanski, I wanted you to know what you had.." He said : Bravo, you put it together ....

Gary has also sent me few pictures of Cpt Zwolanski, I just asked for his permission to show them, I am waiting for his response.

Captain Zwolanski got immortalized in the film " One Bridge too Far ".

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Picture from Marek Swiecicki book, " Czerwone Diably... "

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First mention of Cpt Zwolanski I found on website : " Ukrainian rebellion in Borderlands ".

Night of 17/18 September 1939 in village Potutory by Brzezany in ambush on a military truck convoy fighters of OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalist ) killed 32 Poles and 50 got wounded.
Lieutenant Zwolanski was wounded there, brought in on a stretcher to a house, and later moved to Hospital in Brzezany. There the Soviets found him, but the plain uniform he wore and lack of documents helped him and he claimed to be enlisted, not Officer. Lucky for him it worked.

[Krakow1]

The very first SOE mission to destroy Pessac Power Plant, to hamper the italian submarine base in Bordeaux.

Operation Tangmere : 8/9 March 1941 : Cpt Kalcinski, LT Bogdziewicz, Dendor, Kruszewski, Miciek and Zwolanski. All qualified Paratroopers.

Mission : to blow up a Pessac Power Plant near Bordeaux, France.

There are different accounts as to what failed.... aircraft had to turn back and it crash landed killing at least one and wounding few. For Lt Zwolanski his leg wound form 1939 opened up again....

[Krakow1]

Uniforms just arrived.... getting some sun on them....

[Krakow1]

The Denison smock, made in 1944, i tried to look for issue stamps but these are too faded to read. However one clue is leading me to say that this smock was worn at Arnhem by Captain Zwolanski.

There are holes in the epaulettes where stars used to be. Right before Arnhem rank were taken off the Denisons and never put back on. Smock was a part of uniform for Arnhem. Smock is dated 1944, and the alterations.. the single long zipper, the pouch on the back. This is only my opinion.