born: December 7, 1906 in Taras, Radomsko province, Łódź voivodship, Poland

died: July 3, 1995 in London, Great Britain

buried: London, Great Britain – cemetery at Saint Bobola Church

wife: Janina nee Wojciechowska (1912-2003) – marriage in 1936

medals: Polish: Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari (No. 11310), Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, Cross of Valor – twice, Silver Cross of Merit, Commemorative Cross of Monte Cassino (no. 17790)

Fates before joining Anders Army :

Władysław Chudy completed a primary school in Przedbórz, and then continued his education in Radomsko, where in 1927 he obtained a secondary school-leaving certificate. In 1929, he began his military service in Gródek Jagielloński, and then was admitted to the School of Infantry Cadets in Ostrów-Komorów. On August 13, 1932, he was promoted to second lieutenant with assignment to the 72nd Infantry Regiment in Radom, and on March 1, 1935, he was promoted to lieutenant. In the same year he was transferred to the Border Protection Corps (Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, KOP). He served on the border with Lithuania, in the KOP “Sejny” battalion, for which he was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit. In 1939, he became the commander of the 4th company of the 134th Reserve Infantry Regiment.

Participant of the September Campaign of 1939. In the Battle of Brańszczyk – September 9, 1939, he was seriously wounded. The evacuated lay in hospitals in Tłuszcz, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Lublin and Brest-Fortress. Transported by the Soviets in June 1940 to the prison in Homel, after 6 months to Orsza. Sentenced to 10 years in a gulag, he served his sentence in the Ukhta camp in the Komi ASSR, doing murderous work logging the forest. Released under the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement.

Military history:

He joined the Polish Armed Forces in the USSR in Tockoje. There, he organized and commanded a company of light machine guns in the 3rd Battalion of the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 6th Lviv Infantry Division. In December 1941 he was promoted to the rank of captain.

After the evacuation of troops from the USSR and the reorganization of the army, he was appointed commander of the command company of the 16th Lviv Rifle Battalion of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division of the Polish 2nd Corps. Participant of the Italian campaign of the 2nd Corps (registration no. 1906/98), including the Battle of Monte Cassino, where after bloody fights he was awarded the Cross of Valor.

On August 15, 1944, he was appointed deputy commander, and on November 20, 1944 – commander of the 5th Kresowa Heavy Machine Gun Battalion of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division of the 2nd Corps. He commanded this battalion until the end of its’ service in the Polish Army, i.e. until 1947. On January 1, 1945, he was promoted to the rank of major. Then he participated with his Battalion in heavy fighting for the liberation of Bologna, for which he received the Order of Virtuti Militari.

In 1946, his wife and son joined him in Italy. After the evacuation of the units of the 2nd Corps to Great Britain, he commanded the units of the Polish Resettlement Corps, to be finally demobilized.

Post-War:

In 1948, his second son Jacek was born. The family decided to stay in exile. Władysław Chudy took a job at a radio equipment factory in Malmesbury (west of London), where he worked until his retirement in 1971. Then he decided to move to London to live closer to his sons.

From the beginning of his stay in Great Britain he was involved in patriotic activities. From 1949, he was a member-organizer of the National Treasury, initiating collections for various Polish patriotic purposes. He was a member of the Supreme Audit Office and a member of the Chapter of the Order of Virtuti Militari. In 1964 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and in 1990 – to the rank of colonel. He died in London in 1995.