Polish Army uniform and cap

**Kingy** · 06-01-2011, 07:26 AM

This may be a silly enquiry given the lack of detail but could someone cast a forensic eye over the following photos of my father-in-law and offer any information at all on the uniforms and the cap. The only information I have is that he reportedly was in 4 Regiment (?) with rank of shooter. (Source straty)

**Adrian Stevenson** · 06-01-2011, 07:29 AM

The tunic worn in the top two photos is a US Army enlisted man's service dress jacket. Not unusual to see Polish soldiers wearing these.

Cheers, Ade.

**ChrisW01** · 06-01-2011, 05:29 PM

Hey Adrian would his wearing a US Army enlisted man's service dress jacket suggest he was part of a occupation force in Germany after the war? I seem to recall reading in this forum of Polish servicemen serving in British & American occupation units.

Chris..............

**Cenowski** · 06-01-2011, 05:40 PM

The bottom right pic is a Polish Tunic but dosnt seem to have any insignia on it at all to suggest any unit info, are these the only pics you have availble? No documents or any stuff?

**Gary J** · 06-01-2011, 07:08 PM

Possibly an "exile" cadet ?

Gary J.

**Adrian Stevenson** · 06-01-2011, 08:51 PM

Hi Chris, yes that is sometimes the case.

Cheers, Ade.

**Kingy** · 06-02-2011, 01:42 AM

Thanks people. The only other service information I have is that he was in the Polish Army during 1938-39, was captured by the Germans in September 1939, was sent to Offlag VII A, then to Stalag VII A on the 8th May 1940, then in the same month was put to work on a German farm at Hodingen where he remained for the rest of the war. He continued working there before migrating to Australia.
I don't have any other relevant photos or documentation.
Given this it begs the question as to the circumstances of his wearing a US Army jacket.
What about the cap, any information on that?
The other thing I am curious about is Offlag VII A. This apparently was an officer's prison camp. There is no doubt he was there but why?
I have attached a photo of his Offlag tag.

**Adrian Stevenson** · 06-02-2011, 08:18 AM

He would have been given the tunic after being liberated from the POW Camp. It was a case of outfitting the men with new uniforms with what supplies were available, sometimes the usual British made Battledress or US made kit.

Cheers, Ade.

**Cenowski** · 06-02-2011, 05:35 PM

The wikipedia information on that site does support that completely "The camp was liberated 16 April 1945 by the US Army"..... There are sites and organisations for searching for POW information and ofcourse Military archives, but its not easy by any means at all, plus if your not a fluent Polish speaker then i suggest you seek the help of one, i'm researching family history aswell so i know the frustration involved, plus im not fluent in Polish so have to keep chasing the Girlfriend for help..... Below is a picture also of a Polish POW in OFLAG VII-Marnau in us cut uniform..... fitting with with you own image question.....

Jan Wysocki as POW in Murnau | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I take it you visited all these links?

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Home

Life in the prisoners camp, Murnau - La vie dans le camp de prisonniers

Oflag VII-A Murnau - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oflag VII-B - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Thomas the Tank Engine** · 06-02-2011, 07:06 PM

Hi guys,
I think that the man from the picture might have served with the Polish Labor Service under the US Army command (Polskie Oddziały Wartownicze). BTW a very interesting book on this subject has just been published by IPN ( http://www.ipn.gov.pl/portal/pl/229/..._19451989.html ).

Regards,
Tom