Polish Regimental Badges WW2

[wadowicznic]

Tony
Truly incredible collection.
This forum is becoming World Best in the subject – thank You.
Clearly we re now displaying the unique quality.

By the way, I have never seen the ID of the 1 Motorized Artillery- I only have a badge (oicture attached).
It must be years ago when you bought it – I have not seen it in London for the last 7 years

1st Motorized Artillery Regiment – enameled officer’s version and other ranks version along with its award document. Both made by Ludenscheid Germany based firm Steinhauer.

The enameled version belonged to Captain Wladyslaw Stankiewicz. I’ll post another of his badges shortly.

Also some details of the regiments KIA “Polegli” and injured “Ranni” along with award counts.

[wadowicznic]

Tony,
Best 3 DSk set i have ever seen - congratulations.
I am adding the small collar badge to complete the picture on this division.

Here they are . . .

Top left: silver – marked “.800”

Top right: alpacca / white metal (copper-nickel-zinc alloy) – marked “ALP”

Bottom: plated zinc-alloy “pot metal”. Unmarked. Possibly unique make up for a Lorioli badge exhibiting typical characteristics where the base metal corrosive alloy composition results in the flaking off of the decorative plating.

Also posted is a seldom seen ‘deluxe’ cased version which houses an .800 silver badge



Coming up . . .

[wadowicznic]

Tony
It is truly is impossible to compete to compete with this set / badge and uniform. I would even risk a statement that Sikorski Institute in London does not have an uniform / ID and the badge.

This badge is really great and impossible to find now! Where / how did you buy this set? – Australia?

Artillery Cadet Officer School – along with matching award document number 12. Hallmarked silver, made by Rattray and Co – Dundee.

It remains mounted to his uniform, which is the way I obtained it.

Picture of the owner also posted.

[wadowicznic]

So that we have a full picture on 1 Tank Regiment,
I was lucky years ago to acquire a shoulder patch- they are apparently more difficult to get tan badges.
This is a genuine one – I am proud of it,

For me it has a value of a bar of gold!
A

1st Armoured Regiment

2 versions of the badge shown: Kirkwood & Son – Edinburgh, and immediate post war made by fim Steinhauer, Ludenscheid Germany

[wadowicznic]

Fellows
Let’s continue on the 1 Polish Armoured Division if we can to assemble the complete collection.

This is my favourite Polish Badge. Which is yours?

1 Anti-tank Artillery Regiment
Badge made by Spink in London – Silver

Truly beautiful design – priceless

Please post yours, I know there had been 2 types
Anybody has an ID?
A

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Where / how did you buy this set? – Australia?

I may have told the story here on another thread before, but this uniform set was found locally at a ‘gun show’ six years ago. PSZnZ Polish militaria is virtually non-existent at our militaria swap meets here in western Canada, so I was shocked to see the uniform, badges, documents and three photo albums full of pre-WW2 and PSZnZ era photo all sprawled out over a vendor’s table. Price for the lot was the equivalent of about $500USD.

I almost missed out on this set as there were two other interested parties who saw teh lot before me and expressed interest but decided to first take in the rest of the swap meet . The vendor (a fellow whom I know) warned me about this so decided to take the set right then and there. Later that same day I was offered $1000 for the lot!

After the purchase I went about researching this officer – Wladyslaw Stankiewicz. My reference materials did not mention him, and an internet search also proved fruitless. About a year or so later a book titled “The Soldiers of General Maczek” was released. And as I do with all such new releases I purchased the book – which contained the breakthrough info I had been seeking. The book revealed that Captain Stankiewicz went on to become a world renowned political science professor and author of many books. He was retired professor emeritus of political science at the University of British Columbia and was affectionately known as “WJ” rather than Wladyslaw, hence my inability to find information using his formal Polish name. When I ran a Google search for WJ Stankiewicz bingo! - the screen was flooded with website links. And one of those sites happened to be the personal webpage of WJ Stankiewicz himself, along with contact information. This website remains active:

W.J. Stankiewicz

The thought then occurred to me that if Stankiewicz was still alive why would he have let go of his photo albums, especially the one showing his family life in pre-war Poland? As we all know, uniforms, badges and related equipment are sometimes sold off by the veteran or descendants, but photo albums do not usually leave the family’s possession. Were these items were stolen?

I sent an email to Prof. Stankiewicz via the website link where it said a reply may take several weeks. I wrote that I had found his uniform and other items, and that I was concerned about how they left his possession. It didn’t take long to get a reply. The next evening I received a phone call from him and we had a very pleasant initial chat. I was a little apprehensive on how a seasoned academic in the field of political science would sound, but instead of the dry starchy type I expected Stankiewicz proved to be a very humble quiet-spoken man, with a real sense of humour and sharp wit. The call also confirmed my hunch - the items had in fact been stolen from him about decade earlier during a break in at his retirement home on the UBC campus.

We arranged to meet the following week. I brought along the photo albums and several other items with the intention of first returning these. We had a wonderful meeting and a very long and fascinating discussion about his army service with the 1st Polish Armoured Division, and then in the immediate post war period with the Polish 2nd Corps. He refused to accept the return of any of these items. I insisted that at the very least he accept the albums, and I wasn’t taking no for an answer.

We went on to become good friends meet regularly. Sadly WJ passed away in the autumn of 2006. At the time we were discussing launching into a project of writing his WW2 memoirs when he suddenly fell ill. My friendship with this wonderful WW2 veteran is easily the high point of my collecting ‘career’. It once again proved to me what a remarkable generation that was, as it indeed has been called “The Greatest Generation”.

One interesting detail I learned was that this tunic was saved by WJ’s father (Lt. Col. Jozef Stankiewicz of the 2nd Corps Geographic service) and given to his son sometime after war. WJ admitted to me that it would have been lost otherwise. The Cadet Officer School badge had always been mounted to the left breast pocket since this service dress tunic was purchased during his military academy days in the early 1940’s. I suspect that this badge would have eventually been replaced by the regimental badge for the 1st Motorized Artillery Regiment, so it remains an interesting preserved piece in it’s wartime state and condition. Pictured below in a WW2 period portrait are father and son in this very tunic. The elder Stankiewicz was awarded the Virtuti Militari during the Polish-Soviet war in 1920. The pre-war photo album contains some very interesting pictures of his father’s military service.

I was honoured to be invited to speak at WJ Stankiewicz’s memorial service (program printed below) and was in some very lofty company as people had travelled from around the globe to pay tribute to this accomplished man. It was a surreal feeling to think that a find at a local swap meet led to this remarkable chapter in my life.

As the Stankiewicz’s did not have any children of their own (he once said “my books are my children”), Marketa, his widow – a really wonderful woman, handed me the photo albums to keep along with his other wartime items.

Hopefully this long reply hasn't bored you too much!

Regards,
Tony

PS Also pictured below is the entire Stankiewicz lot just after purchase. If only I could find more such groupings for $500!

[A.J. Zawadzki]

This is my favourite Polish Badge. Which is yours?

1 Anti-tank Artillery Regiment
Badge made by Spink in London – Silver

Truly beautiful design – priceless

Wonderful badge! Congratulations on finding one of these beauties. I have yet to acquire one. At least three have slipped through my fingers to collectors with deeper pockets than I. The hunt continues . . .

Regards,
T.

[Gary J]

Tony, ... what can I say ....
Your a Gentlemen !!!
Your honesty was obviously appreciated by the way in which the friendship blossomed !

1st Class !!!!

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Tony, ... what can I say ....
Your a Gentlemen !!!
Your honesty was obviously appreciated by the way in which the friendship blossomed !

1st Class !!!!

Many thanks for your kind words Gary. As you’ll agree, it’s always an honour to meet and chat with WW2 veterans. I was really blessed to have spent time with Captain Stankiewicz and hear his recollection of his wartime experiences. Ironically, none of this would have happened had it not been for a thief breaking into his storage locker years ago.

And speaking of his recollections, In 1977 Stankiewicz issued a limited numbered edition booklet of memoirs of the Normandy campaign – No. 30 of 133 which he gave to me (pictured below). A very cool bibliophile pressing that he created to hand to friends and fellow veterans of his regiment. As mentioned in my earlier post, he was looking forward to expanding on this earlier effort and publish a more comprehensive book of memoirs, which sadly was not to be.

Regards,
T.

PS the caption below one of the pictures below is taken from an entry in “The Soldiers of General Maczek”, which is where I first found mention of Captain Stankiewicz leading me to making eventual contact with him.
PPS also posted is a brief bio taken from the cover of one his his other books

[wadowicznic]

Tony
The Stankiewicz's set is remarkable and the best I have seen associated with 1 AD both in terms of actual artefacts and storry. The way you handled the relationship is exceptional too.

Congratulations
a

Many thanks for your kind words Gary. As you’ll agree, it’s always an honour to meet and chat with WW2 veterans. I was really blessed to have spent time with Captain Stankiewicz and hear his recollection of his wartime experiences. Ironically, none of this would have happened had it not been for a thief breaking into his storage locker years ago.

And speaking of his recollections, In 1977 Stankiewicz issued a limited numbered edition booklet of memoirs of the Normandy campaign – No. 30 of 133 which he gave to me (pictured below). A very cool bibliophile pressing that he created to hand to friends and fellow veterans of his regiment. As mentioned in my earlier post, he was looking forward to expanding on this earlier effort and publish a more comprehensive book of memoirs, which sadly was not to be.

Regards,
T.

PS the caption below one of the pictures below is taken from an entry in “The Soldiers of General Maczek”, which is where I first found mention of Captain Stankiewicz leading me to making eventual contact with him.
PPS also posted is a brief bio taken from the cover of one his his other books