大象传媒

My Grandad, Zygmunt Piatkiewicz, was born in Novogrodek in 1917, a time when Poland did not exist. His father was a General in the Russian Army and was caught and executed in 1919 by the Bolsheviks. My Greatgrandmother had to see Lenin himself to plea for the family to be allowed to return to a newly formed Poland. He agreed, but made her leave her 2 eldest sons in Russia.
Thus my Grandad settled in Poland with his mother and sister. He was lucky enough to be accepted into the Korpus Kadetow officer school in Rawicz. Here he learnt how to be a soldier. He also learnt how to run, becoming a cross-country star at the age of 17. By 19 he was representing Poland at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He finished 4th in the 3000m steeplechase and was predicted a gold in 1940. He would sadly never realise this dream though. He also excelled in tennis and football, playing against Chelsea and Arsenal who were touring Poland.
He Graduated from KK2 Rawicz in 1939. War Broke out in September 1939, threatening Poland's very existance. My Grandad was sent to fight the Russians who had invaded from the east. He fought in the battle of Grodno as a Leiutenant and survived bayonet charges as they fought off the Russians.
Poland would not win the day however, and my Grandad and his men escaped to Lithuania to be interned. However, he escaped and was caught in Warsaw some weeks later in Poland by the NKVD and was shipped out to a Gulag. He was lucky not to be shot.
When the Germans invaded the USSR, the Poles formed an uneasy alliance with their new allies and the troops were released. Half stayed in Russia, the others, including my Grandad followed General Anders to join the British in Iraq.
After training and re-equipment my Grandad took part in the invasion of Italy.
Wounded in the fighting, he recovered and trained with the Polish Commandos. He joined them in 1944, having taken part in the bloody battle for Monte Cassino in May 1944. It was here that the Poles took the town after months of fighting, when the Germans repulsed British, American, and New Zealand forces before the Poles won the day.
It was soon after this, in August 1944 that my Grandad won Poland's highest military honour, the Virtuti Militari, (equivalent of VC).
After leading his men through a series of hills outside Andrea Di Suassa on the Gothic Line. The platoon of my Grandad came under intense German artillery fire and many were wounded including my Grandad. Back at the aid station, the platoon were decemated with morphene in short supply. My Grandad insisted on having the shrapnel removed without any morphene, and insisted on going back up the hill, alone, with a machine gun. It is alleged he saw the red mist. He charged up the hills firing from the hip. The Germans thought they were facing a full platoon and ran away, leaving my Grandad to take the town single handed.
He was awarded the Silver VM number 10715 in the December.
The citation read:
"whilst himself wounded, without any regard for his own life, he rescued and carried out wounded from under heavy enemy artillery fire, then without regard for his own wounds he ran back into action with a light machine gun to single handedly repel the enemy attack."
After this he would take part in the battle for Bologna and Ancona.
After the war he was unable to return to a communist run Poland and settled with his wife (who had faught in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944) in England.
Othe military decorations include the Polish Military Cross, Kryz Waleczny (x2)Italian Military Cross, Al Merito Militari, Monte Cassino Cross, Polish September 1939 Cross, Italy Star and other British Campaign medals.
He worked in industry until 1982, raising a big happy family. My Grandad died in 2003, he never talked much or blew his own trumpet, its a shame so many heros never share their story, and I hope this short story pays enough homage to a fine man.

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