Medal Wojska

[Elzunia GO]

Does anyone have access to the Medal Wojska lists?

I'm looking for a Junak who claims to have been at Monte Cassino. I suppose when they turned 18 they joined the army? I can't find him listed in MCC, 3DSK or 5KDP.

name: Michael Wirszycz born around 1926.
He is listed on Junacka Szkoła Kadetów, JSK - Palestine.

"came to the UK from Poland. He served as part of the Free Polish Army in World War II under General Anders fighting at El Alamein, in the Sicily Crossing and the Battle of Monte Cassino. He was presented with the Polish Military Cross for his services."
- ??? El Alamein, in the Sicily Crossing - doesn't sound likely to me but I'm no expert.

Any comments, tips would be appreciated,

Elzunia Gradosielska Olsson
Sweden
Kresy Family group

[Gonzo500]

Hi Elzunia

I have only a small amount of the Medal Wojska lists, anyone who has had access to the large binders they are in will know it is a nightmare to obtain information unless you are fortunate to find them in the main award section.

The Medal Wojska was awarded (and the information collated) in groups from 1946-48, and some even later.

That means you may have to search across many groups before you find the person you are looking for.

The MCC list is of course around 48800 the medal wojska list is around the 106000 mark so more searching to do.

The only advice I could give is to contact the PISM in London.

Regards Kevin

[Elzunia GO]

Thank you Kevin. Yes, I've been through the binders before so I know exactly what you mean. But as far as I know, this is the only way of finding out which unit a soldier was in. Or do you know of a better way?

I know the complete list MCC awards has not yet been uploaded and with Andrzej gone ........ what do we do?

Elzunia

[Gonzo500]

Morning Elzunia

Nice to hear you have had the "honour" of searching through the Medal Wojska binders.

Unfortunately that is the only way I know of if a soldier changed or was promoted and sent to another unit.

The MCC list was compiled as of when the action took place and the people of 2nd Corps who were eligible for the award.

The Medal Wojska list shows all the 2nd Corps personnel who were eligible for the award.

It is my understanding that many soldiers joined the 2nd Corps at the end of the war and were ineligible for the Medal Wojska award.

Also the Medal wojska list as with the MCC list is never regarded as 100% complete and or accurate.

I have had MCC medals in my collection and I have never been able to find them on the Medal Wojska list. Or the details are different.

If you ever find another way please post it for the benefit of all members

Regards Kevin

[TMZ]

Polish soldier at El Alamein? Incredibly unlikely. I've never seen any reference that says any Poles took part.

There were two battles - the first in July 1942 and the second in October and it is the second that is usually refered to as the Battle of El Alamein. If he was born in 1926 he would have been only 15 or 16 years old at that time.

El Alamein is some 350 miles from Tobruk (where the siege had lasted from April to November 1941) so even the Poles who were there could not have accidentally become involved.

Sicily invasion (Operation Husky - July 1943) - no Polish forces involved.

What dates was he in Palestine as a cadet?

Monte Cassino is perfectly OK of course. There were even MCCs awarded to those born as late as 1928 (although these may be the result of errors rather than genuine year of birth).

Ted

[Elzunia GO]

Thank you for responding. I thought this was the case with the battles.
I'm waiting to get more info about this person - the family apparently has his army records from the MoD. Will update if I find out anything interesting.

Elzunia

[TMZ]

JSK dates from a few Wikipedia pages:

June 1942 - Dowództwo Szkół Junackich (DSJ) created
August 1942 - JSK established at Barbara Camp, Bashif in Palestine, communication trades at Mena, Egypt, mechanical at Tel el Kabir, Egypt and Sarafand, Palestine
19 October 1942 - moved from Bashif to Qastina, Palestine
28 June 1943 - visited by Gen. Sikorski
Late 1943 - El Quassasin, Egypt
April 1944 - Castelpetroso, Italy (seems impossibly close to what would have been the frontline at that time, this could just have been for graduates who were about to be deployed)
9 January 1945 - Alessano
20 January 1945 - Bagno di Romagna
April 1945 - Terra del Sole

Places have varying spellings, some were co-located at major British Army camps. Small groups could easily have been located elsewhere from the main cohort.

[Gonzo500]

Hello all

As I stated earlier in this thread regarding the problems / mistakes between the Monte Cassino lists and the Medal Wojska lists.

Below is an extract from the Medal Wojska lists,





Regarding : kpr Sarnowski Stanislaw 1915/ 25
and : kpr Sarwa Zbigniew 1924/107


On the Monte Cassino Lists they are : MCC 39443 kpr Sarnowski Stanislaw 1915/257/III 10 Baon Saperow Korpusu. 10th Battalion, Corps Engineers.
and then MCC 45359 kpr Sarwa Zbigniew 1924/ 10/III 29 Kompania Samochodow.Sanitarnych. 29th Ambulance Company.


It looks to me as if the original typist made a small mistake or is it the MCC list which is wrong ??

We may never know,

Regards Kevin