Great-Grandfather was in the Polish army.

[Jan W]

I just found this forum and was wondering if someone could help me. My dad was in the Polish Army and was a POW. He died in 1986 so I can't ask him anything, obviously. My mom, who was taken by the Nazis in 1940, spent five years in various camps and on work farms and factories. When I was a kid, I remember her showing me a document about my dad being in the CMLO. I didn't know what this was and kind of forgot about it. My mom passed away two years ago and my brother was going through her records and paperwork and he found that CMLO document. It basically says that my dad was serving with the CMLO from 1947 to 1949 when it was disbanded and he was then serving with the CMWS and "was posted to Hamm on 13/2/50." The document is like a letter of recommendation, saying that my dad "proved to be keen and serious minded. He is fully reliable in his duties and his strict discipline and behaviours gives a good example to the other men." The document is stamped "C.M.W.S Ward No. 10 Hamm" and signed by a Capt. RASC dated April 19, 1950. I have another document that's titled C.M.W.S./C.M.L.O Discharge Certificate saying that my dad was discharged at "53 Civil Mixed Depot on 28 April 50" and the reason for discharge is "Emigration To Australia." Funny thing about this document, my mom told me the story of how she and my dad, who were married in 1945, were supposed to go to Australia, but my dad kept getting called back for chest x-rays. He had several x-rays taken to rule out TB, from what my mom told me. My dad found out later that his x-rays were being sold on the black market so that other people could get clearance to relocate to Australia. In 1952, my mom and dad relocated to America and ended up in Michigan, where my dad worked as a miner and then in sawmills. I was born in 1970 when my dad was 55 and my mom was 43. I'm an American but came very close to becoming an Aussie. I'm wondering if anyone else has similar stories of how their parents/grandparents/relatives were exploited like my dad was regarding his x-rays being sold on the black market.

[StefanM]

Jan, hi, thank you for sharing your father's interesting story. I have never heard of this black market trade in "healthy" x-ray plates for would be emigrants to Australia...a fascinating anecdote that would otherwise have been lost to history. TB would have been pretty common amongst forced labourers in German camps and factory barracks so I can easily imagine such a trade taking place.

[Piwo2]

Jan,
You can write the British Ministry of Defense(MOD) records section. You will need to provide proof that you are a family member and then for a fee they will provide you with the military records of your grandfather. There is a whole Polish section in the MOD.

best of luck.
Piwo