Born: August 10, 1919, Szczęsnówka, (Kisielówka), Horochów, woj. wołyńskie, Poland
Died: November 25, 1993 in London, Ontario, Canada
Buried : St. Peter’s Cemetery, London, Ontario, Canada
Family: father Tomasz; mother Feliksa (maiden name : Piotrowska); siblings : Bolesław, Helena, Stanisław, Jadwiga, Wacław, Marian, Józef and Tadeusz
Military Medals: Polish Medals: Krzyż Walecznych; Medal Wojska; Krzyż Pamiątkowy Monte Cassino; Krzyż Czynu Bojowego Polskich Sił Zbrojnych na Zachodzie; British Medals: 1939-1945 Star, Italy Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-45
Fates before joining Anders Army : The family, Tomasz and Feliksa along with their children, Jadwiga, Wacław, Marian, Józef, Tadeusz and Witold, and Feliksa’s sister, Waleria Piotrowska, were arrested by the Russians at night on February 10, 1940. Witold’s other siblings – Helena and her family and Stanisław and his family were not deported. They were not residing at the same location as they had their own houses and families. Bolesław was missing in action from the September 1939 defensive campaign. The family was deported to Specposiolek Kuklovo in Archangielsk Oblast (close to Niandoma) in the Soviet Union for forced labour. The forced labour consisted of cutting down trees and sawing them into logs.
Military history: After the amnesty in 1941, the family travelled to join the Polish army, which was forming in the south, travelling from specposiolek Kuklovo to Tockoje, Buzuluk, Guzar, Dzalal-Abad, where Wacław and Witold joined the Polish Armed Forces. Waleria Piotrowska, Marian, Tadeusz and Józef Ferenc died along the way south. Tadeusz is buried in Guzar. What remained of the family was then evacuated with the Polish Armed Forces and attached civilians to Pahlavi in Persia via Krasnovodsk. His father, Tomasz, died in Teheran of typhus and is buried in the Polish Cemetery. Witold trained with the Polish Army, first assigned to the 3rd Rifle Company, 17 Infantry regiment 6th Infantry Division while in Iran. Then he was transferred to the 6th Company, 5th Engineers Battalion, 5th Kresowa Infantry Division, 2nd Polish Corps, 8th British Army. Witold served in the Middle East (Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt) 1942-1944 and in Italy 1944-1946. In Italy he saw battle in all the major engagements, including action on the rivers Sangro and Rapido/Southern Apennines, Battle for Monte Cassino, Gustav-Hitler line, Battle for Ancona/Goths line, Northern Apennines, River Senio and the Battle for Bologna/Lombardy Plain. He was wounded in action at Monte Cassino. His brother Wacław was transferred to the 1st Armoured Division under General Maczek. His mother, Feliksa, and sister Jadwiga were first sent to Karachi, India, and then to Morogoro Camp in Tanzania, Africa. Stanisław‘s wife and children were brutally killed by the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) in Kisielówka. Stanisław and Helena, along with Helena’s son Henryk survived the war and were resettled to the Hrubieszów area.
Post-War: After the war, Feliksa and Jadwiga joined Wacław in settling in England. Witold immigrated to Canada from Italy, sailing aboard the SS Sea Robin and disembarking in Halifax on November 12, 1946. From there he travelled by rail to St. Thomas. He completed a two-year farm contract in Walkerton, which was required by Polish veterans in order to obtain landed immigrant status in Canada. He then moved to London to find employment and to join the larger Polish community here. He worked on construction and retired in 1983/85.
He was a founding member of Polish Combatants’ Association (Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów – SPK) Branch No. 2 in London and helped build the SPK Hall and Our Lady of Czestochowa Church. He served as Vice-President in 1961.
author : Stan Skrzeszewski
source : “Book of Remembrance / Książka Pamięci”, Polish Combatant’s Association, Branch 2. London, Ontario, Canada, 2018.
