Tomasz Barkiet

Geboren:

22 februari 1914, Lwów

Overleden:

24 september 1944, Drielse dijk

Nummer:

31548

Rang:

Korporaal 1

Onderdeel:

1ste Poolse Onafhankelijke Parachutistenbrigade, 9de Parachutisten infanterie compagnie, 3de Parachutisten Bataljon

Begraafplaats:

Oosterbeek, Airborne begraafplaats (Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery)

Vak/rij/nummer:

Plot XXXIV Row A Grave 4

Eerder begraven:

Roomskatholieke begraafplaats, Driel

Barkiet maakte deel uit van de troepen die in Driel landde ter ondersteuning van de Poolse en Britse troepen op de noordoever. Een uitgebreid verslag van de strijd is te lezen in het Dossier Driel44 op Polen in Beeld.

Voor korporaal Tomasz Barkiet wordt de ‘combat stress’ op de 24ste te veel. Hij pleegt zelfmoord. Samen met Mikiciuk is hij een van de twee geregistreerde zelfdodingen bij de brigade ten tijde van de ‘Slag om Arnhem’.

In 2016 schreef een Poolse medicus, Aleksander Rutkiewicz, in het Poolse ‘MILITARY PHYSICIAN’ een artikel met de titel: Four cases of stress disorders among Polish soldiers of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade participating in Operation Market Garden, pagina 310-313 (Cztery przypadki zaburzeń stresowych wśród żołnierzy 1. Samodzielnej Brygady Spadochronowej uczestniczących w operacji „Market Garden”).

Dit is zijn beschrijving van de dood van Barkiet

Case 2. Suicide under fire

The majority of the brigade eventually landed near the
village of Driel on 21 September 1944. Once it was
revealed that the ferry which the Polish soldiers were
supposed to use to travel to the north bank of the River
Rhine, to support the British, had been sunk, Gen.
Sosabowski decided that the soldiers should take up
positions in the village and proceed with its defense,
while at the same time seeking a way to cross the river.
On 22 September, German troops with the support of
armored vehicles attacked Driel, but they were repelled
by the paratroopers. There were no more attacks as
vicious as that on the following days; however, Driel
suffered severe shelling [3], with the most savage
targeting the Polish positions on 23 and 25 September,
where sharp force injuries accounted for nearly 80% of all
combat injuries. A safe shelter was nowhere to be found,
even the school housing the brigade’s main dressing
station was under fire as it lacked even the protection of
flags or large sheets with Red Cross markings. Between
22 and 25 September Driel was virtually cut off from any
supplies, and casualties could not be evacuated. The
soldiers began to run out of supplies, including dressings,
drugs and plasma [3, 8].
This was when the second suicide occurred. A 30-
year-old soldier from the 3rd parachute battalion, Cpl.
Tomasz Barkiet, took his own life. This tragedy took
place on 24 September1944 [9].