On Friday afternoon, September 20, 2024, relatives of Syktus Maria Lewkowicz visited the crash site in Hollands Kroon. Following this visit, Mark Hakvoort of the Hollands Kroon Memorial Poles Foundation wrote this report. Our thanks also for the beautiful photos we received, with which Syktus becomes more than just a fallen Polish airman.
Jazz musician and leading aircraftman Syktus Lewkowicz
On Friday afternoon, September 20, 2024, there were English-Polish relatives in the municipality of Hollands Kroon, Nick and Sally Lewkowicz. The plane of Nick’s uncle Sykstus (Marys) Lewkowicz had crashed just behind the farm of the Vosbergen family at Molenweg 38 Slootdorp. There are now apple trees at the site of the plane crash.
In the verge of Molenweg 38 is the memorial post for the six deceased crew members of the Wellington bomber Z1467 GR-L. A moment of remembrance was held for the deceased uncle Sykstus Lewkowicz. The SHHK foundation had provided the Polish national flag and the English Union Jack and the Vosbergen family provided flowers.
Sykstus was co-pilot (2nd pilot) of the Wellington bomber. Normally, at 30, he would have been too old for Bomber Command, but probably because he already had a pilot’s license, operational flying was allowed. In August 1934, he completed his flight training in Poland and obtained his pilot’s license. In the same period, he was a member of a jazz band.
After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Sykstus fled Poland with his two younger brothers Janusz and Antoni via France to England. All three of them went into military service. The middle Janusz was Nick’s father, flew a P-51 Mustang of the RAF. The youngest brother Antoni was in the Polish-English army and had fought in the battle of Monte Casino in Italy in 1944, among other things.
Janusz (Nick’s father) obtained English citizenship after the war and married an English woman. He had four sons, of whom Nick is the youngest. Nick and Sally themselves have three sons.
In the early 1960s, Janusz, Nick’s father, came to the Netherlands with his family (his mother and four sons). To visit the grave of his brother Sykstus Lewkowicz. There is a cemetery in Huisduinen near Den Helder. When he arrived there with his family, he could not find Sykstus’ grave. After asking around, it turned out that all war graves, including Sykstus’ grave in 1948, had been transferred by the Dutch government in collaboration with the English government to the Allied cemetery near Bergen op Zoom. Nick’s father had not been informed about this and was now looking for nothing 200 km away.
Jurgen from local TV channel RTV-NH was also present and interviewed Nick. Nick talked about his family in Poland, whom they visited during the Cold War and in the early 1990s. Afterwards, tea, coffee and apple pie were served at the Vosbergen family. Several photos were exchanged including photos of the Lewkowicz family in the 1930s, Sykstus during his flight training, birth photo and the jazz band.
Nick informed his three older brothers about the crash site.
On Saturday 21 September, the deployment of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade was commemorated in Driel. Apart from the fact that it was exactly 80 years ago on the day (and almost at the hour) that the Poles landed at Driel, it was an impressive commemoration in several respects.
Recognition of the Polish efforts
The first speaker was outgoing chairman Arno Baltussen. After the rehabilitation of the Brigade and General Sosabowski in the Netherlands in 2006, he has been campaigning for an official apology from the British government for years. After all, shortly after Operation Market Garden, General Sosabowski was blamed for the failure of the operation. In a broader sense, the British government abandoned the Poles after the war and, as one of the few Allies, they were not allowed to participate in the victory parade in London in the summer of 1946.
In an at times emotional speech, Mr Baltussen called on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to undo this injustice. In the words of outgoing chairman Baltussen, it is not too late now that there is still a veteran alive, Bolek Ostrowski (105) in Toronto, Canada.
He emphasised that it is always worth fighting for someone else’s freedom. And he would do it again and again.
It is worth fighting for someone else’s freedom, even if you haven’t experienced it yourself.
We wanted to embrace that value of freedom here in Driel.
[…]
To this day, the British government has not officially acknowledged the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade.
Efforts for freedom always deserve recognition and appreciation. Efforts for freedom are always right and can never be labelled as “guilty of defeat.” Efforts for freedom are always a victory.
This is also what the British veterans who fought in Arnhem have always said. As a token of their gratitude, they sponsored a monument and plaque at the Polenplein in Driel, in honour of General Sosabowski.
In this way, they have already shown their appreciation, but the formal recognition from the British government would also be greatly appreciated.
Efforts for freedom must go hand in hand with recognition. Recognition expresses appreciation and attention and ultimately leads to motivation. We owe this to Bolek and all the veterans who fought for our freedom, to motivate generations to follow in their footsteps and commit to freedom. Freedom only exists if everyone fulfils their duty to commit to freedom.
Hereby, I repeat my request to the British Prime Minister:[…]The restoration of honour can still take place while Bolek is among us. Considering Bolek’s age, there is no time to lose. There is still a chance to look the last Polish veteran in the eye and say those significant words: “Thank you, thank you for fighting for our freedom.”
With this plea, Arno Baltussen added weight to the letter with this appeal that the British Prime Minister had previously received from the foundation in collaboration with the mayors from the Airborne Region.
What will be our commitment?
One of those mayors, Mayor Patricia Hoytink-Roubos of Overbetuwe, told two personal stories of Polish soldiers, Jozef Pietryga and Bazyli Lincewicz. She called on those present to think about what our legacy could be:
After eighty years, the unconditional and courageous efforts of men like Jozef Pietryga and Bazyli Lincewicz and all the others are still an example. And it holds up a mirror to us. What imprint do we want to leave for our children? Are we willing to fight for something bigger than ourselves? Are we willing to make a sacrifice for that?
This is what we still need to do today. We see that the war is closer and closer. Literally, through the fighting in Ukraine.
But also when I look at our own country, the circumstances are somewhat similar to those in the 1920s. Also then there was polarisation, anti-Semitism, uncertainty and instability. This created fertile ground for the ideology of the Nazis.
Let the outcome not be the same today. Let us prove the history wrong. Let us show that we can do it differently, even if the current situation resembles the one of the past.
Contributions from the Prime Ministers
The commemoration was to be attended by the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, and the Netherlands, Dick Schoof. With the high water in Poland, the Polish Prime Minister was represented by the Minister of Veterans Affairs, who read a letter from Tusk.
The Dutch Prime Minister also uses the efforts of the Poles to make the link to current affairs and our role in it:
Today, let us consider their example a call to action. A call to stand firm for the freedoms and values they fought for with such dedication and determination, 80 years ago.
To the generations that have grown up since then, ‘war’ has been something that happens elsewhere. Something that happened in the past. Something that is over and done with. At least: that’s what we were able to tell ourselves for a long time. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine revealed the truth.[…]
For Poland – one of the countries that liberated us – it feels even closer. That’s why it’s so essential for Poland, the Netherlands and other countries to stick together and support each other – as members of NATO and as fellow European nations. That’s why we must stand together in opposition to aggression and violations of the rule of law. Without hesitation or compromise. We must. We must, because the alternative is unthinkable.
In his letter, Prime Minister Tusk expressed his gratitude to the Dutch people for the way in which they have commemorated the Polish efforts and worked for their rehabilitation over the years:
As I have already mentioned, we remain grateful for your memory of the Polish brigade and its general. In particular, I would like to thank you for your efforts to commemorate the Poles who fought at Arnhem, which resulted in Queen Beatrix awarding the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ highest military award – the Military William Order – in 2006, with General Sosabowski being distinguished with the Bronze Lion Medal.
However, there is one more reason for our gratitude, namely the push to recognise the contribution of Polish paratroopers in Operation Market Garden and to acknowledge their efforts, with the letter calling for such recognition sent to the government of the United Kingdom this July. Many mayors of Dutch cities signed the letter.
Today and the legacy
We hope that the commitment of the Poles is indeed reflected in actions today. Whether our legacy is drawing a line against aggression and injustice, continuing to recall the role of the Poles or the actual rehabilitation by the British government. We hope above all that the commitment of Bolek and all others was not in vain and that he may still witness the rehabilitation.
Want to watch the commemoration again?
The commemoration can be viewed on YouTube (see below). There was a short interview about the historical context beforehand. Would you like to watch that too? Then go to the report on the Omroep Gelderland website.
Speeches
The full speeches can be read on the website of the Driel Polen Foundation
In 2020, the book ‘Vergeten Helden’ (Forgotten Heroes) was published. Photographer Johannes vande Voorde followed the Polish armored division from Normandy to Wilhelmshaven and took photos on that route and portraits of veterans. Dirk Verbeke wrote the texts (with an introduction by Dr. Iwona Guść). The result was a beautiful monument in book form to these forgotten heroes of our liberation.
At the beginning of October, both authors presented the Polish edition ‘Zapomniani Bohaterowie’ in a translation by Iwona Mąckza during a meeting organized by IPN.
This cycling route passes the important sites in and around the villages of Driel and Oosterbeek, where the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade fought during the Second World War.
The route of 40 kilometers passes by the dropzones and the headquarters of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski. This route is part of the national route along the most important locations in the Netherlands liberated by Polish forces. The starting and ending point of this route is the information center “The Poles of Driel.“
Why this route?
The Foundation Driel – Polen is committed to keeping alive the memory of the Polish liberators who fought in Operation Market Garden in 1944. The highlight is the annual commemoration in September. We noticed there is interest throughout the year. That is why in 2014, the information center was established, now serving as the start and endpoint of this route.
With this cycling route, in collaboration with Liberation Route Europe (LRE) and other partners (including Polen in Beeld), we aim to bring the stories to life at the locations where they took place. We previously did the same with our walking route.
What can you see along this route?
The route takes you through the beautiful Over-Betuwe region, which was the battleground for the land army and a significant part of the parachute brigade. The route also leads you over the Veluwezoom and through the battlegrounds around Oosterbeek, where the Polish forces fought in the bitter struggle in and around the perimeter. This is the area where the Allies tried to hold their ground against advancing German troops after the Arnhem bridge was lost.
Stories
At the various important locations, we share the story of our Polish liberators. Often, these are the stories of soldiers who, sadly, could not tell their tales and are now buried at the cemetery in Oosterbeek, which is, of course, also a stop along the route.
Headquarters: You will pass by the house where General Sosabowski had his headquarters.
Landing Zone: September 19th gliders landed with Polish equipment. Corporal Trochim was killed. His grave remained anonymous for a long time.
Positions: In Driel, gunner Karol Standarski distinguished himself by repelling a German attack. He crossed the Rhine and again distinguished himself in Oosterbeek where he was killed.
How to follow the route?
There are several ways to follow the route.
Download the Liberation Route Europe app and search for the route to follow it with the app. It also includes stories and images of the important locations.
On this day 85 years ago, after the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. France followed later that same day.
In Poland, the participation was welcomed. Now the army only had to hold out against the German superiority until the British and French arrived. Such support was not forthcoming. Nevertheless, the participation of both countries was crucial. The conflict expanded into what we later called ‘The Second World War’.
Nevertheless, participation was also important for Poland. After the battle against Germany, and from September 17 also against the Soviet Union, was lost in October 1939, the government and army were able to flee. From autumn 1939 to the summer of 1940, work was done in France to rebuild the army. The Poles also fought against the German invasion of France.
After the lost battle in France, they fled to the United Kingdom. From there, another 5 years of fighting followed before Germany was defeated. A battle in which the Poles also lost people in the Netherlands. Struggle that meant freedom for us in Western Europe. For Poland, a period of communism followed and only real freedom with the first free democratic elections in 1989.
Pictured (source IWM): Poles taking to the streets when the news broke that the UK had declared war with a banner saying ‘Long live England’ .
The summer of 1940 saw a massive battle for air superiority in the skies of Great Britain which became know as ‘The Battle of Britain’ starting at the 16th of June with ‘Adlertag’. In the mean time the Polish units – with already battle hardened pilot – where trained in RAF procedures. On August 2nd 303 Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw Fighter Squadron was formed (in Polish 303 Dywizjon Myśliwski „Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki”).
On August 30, 1940 during another training exercise Polish pilot Ludwik Paszkiewicz spotted a German Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighter in the area, and he shot it down. An event used in the epic film the Battle of Britain.
The next day, the squadron was declared operational and officially put on full duty to become the highest scoring unit in the Battle and gained lasting fame which resulted in books and films. A long read can be found on Polen in beeld (long read in Dutch but embedded clips are in English).
Few people know that later in the war the unit saw action in the skies over the Netherlands and lost three men of which details can be found on our website:
For Catholics, August 15 represents the Assumption of Mary. In Poland, it is also Army Day. This can be traced back to the 1920 battle against the Soviet Union and the ‘Miracle on the Vistula’.
The aftermath of World War I
Whereas the general view is that World War I ended on 11 November 1918, a turbulent aftermath followed in several countries in central and eastern Europe due to the collapse of the pre-war powers. So too in Poland, which regained its independence. Something that is commemorated every year on 11 November.
For that independence, the necessary struggles had to be fought. On the western side of Poland was the ‘Greater Poland Uprising’. The only successful uprising in Polish history in which the region around Poznan separated from the German Weimar Republic and joined Poland.
Miracle on the Vistula
The biggest battle was fought with the Russians in the east. Initially, Piłsudski began the struggle to turn Belarus and Ukraine into satellite states and the Polish army was successful. They came as far as Kiev and took it. In the summer of 1920, the tide turned and the Russians entered Poland as far as near Warsaw.
As foreign diplomats began to leave the Polish capital, Piłsudski worked out a daring plan. On the night of 6-7 August 1920, he carried out his operative flank attack. It succeeded! The Soviets took themselves completely by surprise. In two successive battles, Pilsudski’s brigades destroyed two-thirds of the Red cavalry armies.
There was talk of the miracle on the River Vistula (Wisła). The remnants of the Bolshevik army sought refuge in flight. Their sluggishness, fatigue and long supply lines had killed the Soviets. In the process, they had also ignored the Communist hatred of Polish citizens and peasants.*
The Poles had managed to break the Russian codes and were therefore aware of the Russian plans. Another interesting detail is that a Russian commander left the flank of the main force uncovered because he was busy attacking Lviv / Lwów for his own profiling. The attack was in vain and the commander was Stalin.
On the occasion of the Polish victory, 15 August in Poland is not only the Catholic feast day of the Assumption of Mary but also Polish Army Day. For us, a day to remember the hundreds of Polish servicemen listed on our site for losing their lives on Dutch soil.
Painting accompanying this article is "Cud nad Wisłą" - painting Jerzy Kossak
The book ‘Anti-tank Artillery Squadron in the Battle of Arnhem’ was published in 2022. A booklet full of facts and analysis on the deployment of the Polish anti-tank unit of the Parachute Brigade. Because of this focus, it also gives great insight into an often underexposed part of the battle on the north side of the Rhine.
The deployment of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade in Operation Market Garden
Without detailing the plans here, the plans at the start of the operation were to transfer the brigade from Britain to Arnhem in four stages. The bulk, the lightly armed paratroopers were to be dropped southeast of the Arnhem bridge near Elden on the third day (i.e. 19 September). For more details on the plans and the total Polish deployment, see our dossier Driel 44 (n Dutch).
The anti-tank artillery, and their jeeps with supplies would land via gliders on day two and three on the north side of the Rhine. The heavier equipment was en route by road via Belgium. Polish ambulances, for example, eventually arrived in Driel.
The photo below shows a 6-pdr gun being loaded into a glider. The second photo shows such a piece behind a jeep. These are British troops, by the way. Of the Polish pieces only one photo is known to us (see photo above this post).
Since the gun crew of the 6-pounder anti-tank guns consisted of more than the two men who could fly with the gliders, the rest would be dropped as paratroopers. Until the units were back together, the plan was that the glider pilots would rotate in as gun crews.
So much for the plans. Things ended up working out differently.
Day two: The first guns reach Oosterbeek
On the second day of the landings, 18 September, the gliders still fly and land fairly undisturbed on the planned landing zone ‘S’ (LZ-S) near Wolfheze. From there, they drive via Heelsum to Oosterbeek, where the pieces are brought into position close to the British headquarters at Hartenstein. They are positioned roughly around the junction Oranjeweg – Utrechtseweg and Sonnenberglaan.
This the book charts nicely based on the reports of Lieutenant Mleczko who traced the position of the guns on the map. As the book records, 18 Poles – supplemented by the glider pilots brought five guns into position.
Day three: big loss of material and men
On the 19th, the paratroopers’ flight is cancelled due to fog at the airfields. The second group of gliders with guns did leave and landed at LZ-L north of Oosterbeek around Johannahoeve in the late afternoon. At the time, there was heavy fighting around that area between the now advancing Germans and the British defending there. As a result, a lot of equipment was lost during the landing and, of the ten overflown guns, only two eventually left the landing area while one was immediately deployed on the edge.
Of the eight combinations of jeeps with trailers, only two leave the landing area. Apart from equipment, the Poles also lose men (read Edward Trochim’s story) as they are killed, wounded or captured right away.
When the rescued jeeps, guns and trailers reach the others in Oosterbeek via Wolfheze, 44 Poles with seven guns are available on the north side of the Rhine.
From Hartenstein to the southside of the perimeter
The book gives a detailed account of how the pieces support the battle on the north-west side of the Oosterbeek perimeter as the Germans advance there and try to take the area occupied by Allied troops.
A the end of Wednesday it becomes clear that the Polish anti-tank units are needed to help defend the south side of the perimeter where the Germans are trying from both the west and the east to cut off the British from the Rhine and thus from the XXX-Corps advancing from the south. During this transfer of pieces, the Poles are shelled and lose several more men.
On the southern side of the perimeter, they then take position near the Old Church and at the T-junction Kneppelhoutweg, Benedendorpsweg. The photo below is an iconic photo from the battle near Oosterbeek and shows a 6-pound gun manned by men from No. 26 Anti-Tank Platoon, 1st Border Regiment. The deployment of the Polish pieces will have looked similar.
‘Gallipoli II’, a 6-pdr anti-tank gun of No. 26 Anti-Tank Platoon, 1st Border Regiment, 1st Airborne Division, in action in Oosterbeek, 20 September 1944. The gun was at this moment engaging a German PzKpfw B2 (f) Flammpanzer tank of Panzer-Kompanie 224 and successfully knocked it out. (IWM BU 1109)
The unit’s ‘infantrymen’
While part of the anti-tank unit fiercely battles in Oosterbeek, the other part waits for their flight to the battlefield. This finally happens on the afternoon of 21 September. The drop zone has then moved from the Elden area to Driel. The men of the anti-tank unit who then land in Driel, in the absence of their anti-tank guns assignment, are deployed as regular infantry in the defence of Driel against German attacks.
Attempting to cross the Rhine on the night of 22-23 September, just over 50 men of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Company reach the north bank. They take up positions on the south-west side of the perimeter around the Kneppelhout road already mentioned.
On the second attempt, on the night of 23-24 September, over 150 men reached the north bank from Driel. These included the ‘infantrymen’ of the anti-tank unit. Because by then a large part of the guns had been knocked out, they were deployed at van Lennepweg to help defend the perimeter there while other troops supported the British at Stationsweg in Oosterbeek.
In more detail
The book obviously covers the timelines, locations and, for many of the fallen, the circumstances of their deaths in much more detail.
Because of the details and the use of not always well-explained abbreviations, it is not a bookt that reads easily but the authors Nigel Simpson and Mateusz Mroz can be forgiven. The book is a must-have for anyone with an above-average interest in the Polish effort, especially as it highlights the often underexposed role of the Poles in Oosterbeek.
In the near future we will use this information to supplement Polish War Graves’ pages with this information, for example the two heroic actions of Karol Standarski, who paid for this with his life in Oosterbeek.
Every Polish liberator had his own story about the route that brought them to the Netherlands. In ‘Five Prisons to Arnhem’ we are introduced to the story of Bartek Mazur. The book was published in the US in 2022, but is now also available in the Netherlands through Polen in Beeld and the Driel Polen Foundation*.
Common routes
There are roughly three common routes how our Polish liberators came west to join the parachute brigade or the armored division. First, after the autumn campaign of 1939, many soldiers emigrated to Romania and Hungary to travel to France to join the Polish armed forces. A second route followed Poles who were deported by the Soviet to labor and punishment camps deep in the Soviet Union. They were released after the Soviets also entered the Allied camp and then traveled via the Caucasus, Persia and Africa to the UK. The third route were the Poles who were unlucky enough to come to the west via German conscription or forced labor. They defected to the Allies as soon as they had the chance.
This story by Bartek Mazur takes a different route.
Past five prisons
Bartek Mazur grew up with a talent for languages and the piano. His plans at the end of the lyceum were disrupted by the German invasion in 1939. In 1940 he heard that his father had been murdered as a political prisoner in Mauthausen. That makes him determined to get revenge. Together with two friends, he decides to travel through Germany to Switzerland to report to the Polish consulate there. Everything seems to be going well until they are arrested in Switzerland. Then his journey through the five prisons of the title begins. His journey takes him to France and Spain before the final confinement in the UK.
Bartek as a Lyceum student
As can be deduced from the title, that is not the end point. He joins the paratroop brigade and is deployed to Driel as part of Operation Market Garden.
The writer and his book
The book was written by Bartek Mazur himself who wanted to record his memories for his children. His daughter Edina showed the texts to a publisher who said: “You have a book!”. As we understood from the daughter, it still required some effort to convert the handwritten memoirs into a publishable text supported with images, but then there was the book.
And that effort pays off. It is a book that is pleasant to read with an attractive style. The writer, who became a psychiatrist and visual artist after the war, and his daugther as editor, find a good mix of memories and reflections on his experiences.
The handwritten memoirs and photos of Bartek in his uniform
The daughter’s foreword and afterword also strengthen the story with good additions. It is bizarre, as described in the foreword, that the Mazur family is sitting at the table when they think they hear their arrested father knocking on the door with his walking cane. Unfortunately he is not there and later this event turns out to correspond to the moment of death in Mauthausen.
Driel
Bartek and his best friend Sławek were part of the paratroopers who crossed the Rhine from Driel on the second attempt. When Bartek wanted to get in, the boat was full and his friend left for the fighting in Oosterbeek. Bartek stayed in Driel. When the battle in Oosterbeek was ended and troopswithdrew accros the Rhine, Sławek did not return from Oosterbeek. They only see each other again after the war.
The friends after the war in Scotland
Reflections
From the perspective of the writer himself, who as an aging man looks back on his young self, it could be called a ‘bildungsroman’ in literature, in addition to the ‘road trip’ that it also is. It is interesting to read how the psychiatrist analyzes an incident in Driel and how his feelings of revenge against the Germans developed.
Bartek wrote his last words after the 50th commemin 1994, where he saw his best friend Sławek from the war in Driel, whom he had lost sight of after 1953.
Friend meet again after some 40 years in 1994
Sławek (l) and Bartek in Poland
Want to read this story yourself?
Would you like to read Bartek Mazur’s experiences yourself? The English-language book is in the US available via Ebay (but comes with almost double the amount of shippingcosts.
In the Netherlands it is available for €25 at lectures that we give together with the Driel Polen Foundation. Can’t wait for that? Send an email via our contactform.
Please include your name and address in the Netherlands. For sending by post, we do charge an additional €5 to cover shipping costs. We will of course first send you an email explaining how you can pay for the book.
Photos courtesy of Edina Mazur This article was first published in Dutch on Polen in Beeld.
In 1944, the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade (1 SBSpad) landed near Oosterbeek and Driel as part of Operation Market Garden. The brigade’s men came from all over Poland or, to be precise, from the territory of the Second Polish Republic (image 1).
Shifting boundaries
After the invasion of Germany on September 1, 1939 and the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939, areas in the west and the east were annexed to Germany and the Soviet Union respectively. Naturally, the areas of the Soviet Union were occupied by the Germans in 1941 during the German attack on the Soviet Union. When Germany is defeated at the end of the war, the Soviet Union reclaims the territory conquered in 1939 and the areas are incorporated into the Soviet Socialist Republics of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. To compensate, areas of Germany in the west are becoming Polish (image 2). After some ‘corrections’ in the 1950s, the national borders as we know them were created.
This means that several members of the brigade come from areas that are now part of countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania or the Russian enclave around Kaliningrad to the north of Poland.
Victims from the Eastern Borderlands
In February 2023, Graham Francis published a list of the fallen Polish paratroopers who came from these areas in the newsletter of the Arnhem 1944 Fellowship. He entitled the article “The Ukrainian Connection.”
The list of 45* fallen soldiers includes the abbreviation KIA for ‘Killed in Action’, DoW for Died of Wounds, and AOWC for Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery, also known as ‘Airborne cemetery in Oosterbeek. View the list (in PDF).
Naturally, we received permission to reuse this list.
Total share in the brigade
At the end, Graham Francis makes the following observation: Of the 97 paratroopers killed, 45* are listed as coming from areas in the east that were no longer Polish after the war. 32 of them come from what is now Ukraine. He extrapolates this and concludes that of the total brigade, about 800 men come from these areas, of which about 560 come from areas in present-day Ukraine.
What remains unmentioned is that this also applies to General Sosabowski. He is originally from Stanisławów (nowadays Ivano-Frankivsk in Ukraine). An area that was part of the Austria-Hungary Empire when he was born in 1892.
Footnote
It is good to make a comment on all these analyses. The regions we are talking about were ethnically very diverse in the years before the Second World War. Only after the war, with the shifting of borders, did population movements follow, creating more homogeneous nation states. Of course, this also plays a role in the fact that the Jewish population group, which formed a substantial share of the population before the war, was largely wiped out in the Holocaust.
Illustrative of this is the map (image 3) with the various dominant ethnic groups on the territory of the Second Polish Republic. Also interesting is the article by journalist Pieter van Os who describes how people in the region when asked about their (ethnic) origin during a census in that period indicated that they did not identify with a nation state but with the region.
From the Eastern Borderlands to Arnhem
When Germany and the Soviet Union occupied Poland in October 1939, some of these paratroopers fled to Romania and Hungary. From there, many found their way to France and Great Britain to join the Polish army.
Another important part was deported by the Soviets to labourcamps deep in the Soviet Union. Those who were not killed or survived the hardships of the camps could only join the Polish army from 1941 when the Soviet Union entered the Allied camp after Germany’s attack. Some traveled a distance of 40,000 kilometers on their way to their deployment at Oosterbeek and Driel.
