3DSK photos

[TMZ]

I thought I would post some more photos from the small collection my father had kept. I will be interested in any comments on these - especially the first one. The coloured one is signed on the back by Jan Saszkiewicz.

[TMZ]

Some of my specific questions on these are:

Photo 1, does anyone know what this ceremony is? Can you tell what ranks are in the photo?
Photo 2, I know this is Bologna (I found the street) so this must be 1945? Is the man in overalls a tankie or maybe just a driver.
Photo 3, I guess from what I have found out now that this is HQ Company?
Photo 4, does Jan Saszkiewicz appear on the MCC data? Any other data for him?
Photo 5, again I guess this group must be HQ Company. Is this the right number of men for them?
Photo 6, I have not seen this uniform, with the cross belt, before. Is this unusual in any way? What rank would these men be?

Thanks again for everyone who shares their knowledge and expertise here to help with research.

[andrzejku98]

Hello TMZ,

With regards to the 1st Photograph, the Chaplain is a Kapitan the other officer is a Pulkownik (Colonel) right foreground.

With regards to Photograph Nr, 4 unfortunately Jan Saszkiewicz does not appear on the Recipients List of the Monte Cassino Cross, nor does he appear on the list of soldiers of 3DSK.

Photograph Nr. 6 shows 2 Officers wearing the sam browne Belt with cross strap, taken more than likely in Palestine or possibly Italy.

Apologies for not being able to help any further, perhaps one of the other forum members will be able to help with the others, I will check to see how many members for 3DSK HQ Staff there where and let you know.

Best wishes

Andrzej

[TMZ]

Thanks Andrzej. Jan Saszkiewicz was a friend of my father (maybe from Poland or Siberia) so perhaps was not 3DSK but another unit.

[andrzejku98]

Hello TMZ,

In answer to your question of how many personnel made up the 3DSK Headquarters Staff the answer is 367 Officers NCO's and Other Ranks.

The above number does not include Brigade Headquaters Staff.

Best wishes

Andrzej

[TMZ]

Another small question. I have found at this site is a list of all 3DSK members Janusz Stankiewicz. Genealogia, przodkowie, badania genealogiczne, forum dyskusyjne (lots of good photos there too)

Against my dad's name is 'd-two dyw.' I can now recognise dyw. as dywizij (division - starting to get the hang of military research in Polish!) but what does the 'd-two' mean and how does this relate to the 'Komp. Sztab' on his MCC certificate? Might they relate to two different points in time?

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hi Ted, thanks for the link, although I can't seem to get it to work.

d-two = dowództwo = command, so in this instance your dad is linked to the Divisional Command of the 3DSK, of which the Kompania Sztabowa was a component.

Here are the HQ battledress collar badges:





Regards,
Tony

[TMZ]

Thanks Tony, those are very pretty.

One other question in general about Polish II Corps and uniform and badges.

Obviously I have no photos of my dad wearing those, in fact the only photo showing badges is the one in my avatar, where he has the coloured collar tabs but no metal badges.

I read that most badges were made in Italy and some of the simple cloth ones were made by the men themselves. But at what time did they do this? Presumably they would only have had time to do this after hostilities had ended. Is that right? Does presence/absence of these badges help to put a rough date to any photos?

Also, does anyone know what sort of jobs a humble Strzelec would be doing in d-two dyw.? What other sub-units came under Kompania Sztabowa?

I have some diary pages that might throw some more light on this for me, if someone is able to translate.

[TMZ]

Just to close out one of my previous questions:

Photo 4, does Jan Saszkiewicz appear on the MCC data? Any other data for him?

His name is actually Jan Paszkiewicz as I have realised I misread the hand-writing and I think that makes him born 1915 and of strz. 4. bn. 3DSK from the list of 3DSK available.