Photo of a group of Polish soldiers

[wayupnorth]

Hello again to you all. I've attached the pictures from my father's collection. He is in many of them. On the page labelled "Russia 1942", you will see that the first item on the left is a page from a book. My father appears at the extreme right of that picture with his hand showing on his right shoulder. This was a picture taken during the march following his release from a Russian prison camp after the Germans invaded Russia. The gentleman appearing alone in the bottom right picture was a friend of my father in the camp. He was taken away during the middle of the night by the guards and never seen again. I'm particularly interested in identifying the dignitaries located in the Italy section, page 4, bottom right picture. My father had told me who they were but i have forgotten their names. I hope you enjoy these pictures and, as usual, any information you can provide will be appreciated.
Regard from John in the Canadian Arctic.Russia 1942.pdfItaly 1944-45 page 5.pdfItaly 1944-45 page 4.pdfItaly 1944-45 page 3.pdfItaly 1944-45 page 2.pdfEgypt 1943.pdfPalestine 1943.pdfIraq 1943 page 2.pdfIraq 1943.pdfEngland 1946.pdf

[wayupnorth]

Tony, please feel free to modify what i have done with the attachments on above post. if there is an easier way or better format, to use go ahead and make the changes. I'm a troglodite when it comes to formatting things! Thanks

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hi John,

Thanks for posting the photos. PDF file links aren’t ideal for forum viewing, and may not be permanent. I wasn’t able to convert them in their entirety, so I selected some of the photos from each group and saved them as screenshot jpegs – starting with Iraq 1943, and also including a portrait photo which I assume is your father (with Cross of Valouur ribbon bar):

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Next up is Palestine 1943. General Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski is visible in one of them:

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Italy 1944:

[A.J. Zawadzki]

And finally a couple from England 1946

Regards,
Tony

[wayupnorth]

Thanks for helping, Tony. Actually, the potrait guy is not my father, but one of his friends. My father is the guy furthest to the right in the last England shot right above. He is the one with the head of wavy hair. Interesting thing was his hair was straight until he caught typhoid fever. His hair fell out and when it grew back, it was wavy.

[A.J. Zawadzki]

. . . He is the one with the head of wavy hair. Interesting thing was his hair was straight until he caught typhoid fever. His hair fell out and when it grew back, it was wavy.

Interesting. He certainly had plenty of it, and cut in a way that was more in keeping with the "moptop" look of '64 than '46!

Cheers,
Tony

[ChrisW01]

Hello John thanks for sharing those great images.

Was your father in the 6th 'Children of Lwow Armored Regiment?
Was a little tough to make out but I see a photo of damaged tanks at
Pedimonte which is where the 6th first went into action after Monte Cassino.
What was his job?

Chris......

[Jim]

Ade,
Looks to be a photo from one of the survival courses run by the Poles.
Even though there's a black beret amongst the troops, these courses tended to be a "basic must" for the paratroopers.

The card actually says ... Scotland ... Cupar (Cupar Angus) 1942 .. which was right on top of the area used by the parachute Brigade.

Gary J.

... I would say para's ... training in the Fife area circa 41-42.
. equipment looks to be a variation on the morse signalling lamp.

The Museum of Technology, the Great War and WWII"

Gary - Coupar Angus (Perthshire) and Cupar (Fife) are not very far apart, however Cupar is closer to Leuchars airfield and I don't think there is any airfield near Coupar Angus, the latter is however closer to the mountains which would be typical terrain for survival courses.
I wonder were the Polish paratroopers billeted in both towns at different times (perhaps different stages of training)?