Tailor of Inverness, The (8 page)

Germans held the Tobruk and it was tremendous losses on the British that time. But the second assault, our corps, the
2
^nd
corps went into battle with the British and Australians, Canadians. We managed to take Tobruk
.

And by then we had learned a lot more about what had been going on in these two years. We knew about the
concentration
camps, the atrocities there. We knew about the Home Army, that had been in existence in Warsaw. There was a lot of a resentment about that. When the Home Army were rising in Warsaw with a few guns and home made bombs but nobody came to help them. Just a few air drops of supplies from the British planes and there was a massive Russian Army sitting on the other side of the river Vistula just watching, doing nothing! Watching the Home Army running out of
ammunition
. Komorowski, the Home army leader told the allies that he had enough to fight for 8 days. They lasted nearly two months. Russian want them to be defeated so its easier to rule Poland.

We talked to our officers about it but what could they say? They were on the directive from London anyway. And Sikorski was killed in that supposed accident. That was tremendous blow to the morale of Poles, that Sikorski died. On that plane crash. From Gibraltar.

It is a bit dubious. Story about his death. A lot of people think he was set up for that. Because he demanded too much. From the British and Americans. He was on the way from Middle East. I saw him there, I saw him in Egypt in that camp. He spoke to us with General Anders. He had been in India to see Ghandi and from India he stopped in Egypt. And a Polish crew been flying him all the time. It was a converted Liberator. He and his entourage been flying all the time in that plane. Now. They flying from Middle East they landed in Gibraltar to refuel. That’s all. Refuel. Immediately after they landed, they were told that the plane is not safe to take off. They would have to transfer to different plane. And a Polish engineers on board, Polish mechanics, they checked it. Nothing wrong with the plane! But they still were ordered to leave the plane and go to another plane. The whole crew was left behind.
Sikorski and his entourage, his daughter, couple of generals, couple of colonels, was about a dozen of them went on another plane. British crew and a Czech pilot. They took off from Gibraltar. And a mile after they take off, they fell to the sea. Pilot escaped. Pilot escapes nicely. The crew from the Liberator, the Polish crew took off the next day with their plane to Britain. No repair was done to it, was nothing wrong with it. Why were they ordered to another plane? Was it not planned assassination? The Polish troops, they were not even allowed to talk about it. After Sikorski died. That was the command.

To this day, most of us think that it was all planned. By Churchill and Roosevelt. To appease Stalin. Because Sikorski was demanding too much. He wanted Poles to fight on Polish soil, nowhere else. And he wanted Polish sovereignty
guaranteed
.

I was made a sergeant but I got a field commission. So I was the first lieutenant, in charge of a company. One time I got lost in the desert. The certain point have to be taken, certain height on that desert. And when we very cautiously went in, there was nobody there! So I thought I’m in the wrong place! But I was in the right place. I should have stayed there. Thought I was in the wrong place, so I went on. To other position you know, but that was nothing there either, so we just got lost. We wander about for two days till divide the company in three and then, one party found our unit. We run out of food, we run out of water you see and everyone could hardly walk. So I got a quite a bollocking.

I never had the misfortune to be in hand-to-hand combat, ‘cos it is a misfortune, you know.

And when we took a prisoners, we come across quite a few Poles that were in German Wehrmacht, from Upper Silesia and that. We just weed them out and into the Polish Units. They weren’t considered to be traitors. Unless they were SS. But Wehrmacht, no, because they were just drafted
into 
Wehrmacht, in Upper Silesia and in Pomerania. Nazis regarded them as Germans, as
Volksdeutsch,
you see?

But I come across some Poles who were in SS. We come across one in Italy. He have the highest German decorations, ritterkreuz even, the knight’s cross, he still had it with him! Well he was naturally taken away, probably been killed.

After that cleaning up after Tobruk, all the units prepared to land in Italy. The Anzio Landing. The Americans went first and then we went second. We weren’t long in Sicily. The British Units came as the occupying force and we went to mainland. The British landed there already and we just went second. It was some fierce fighting in Sicily and on the mainland.

Civilian population receive us with open arms, oh they were very very friendly. It seem in Italy, Poles were somehow more friendly with the civilian population than anybody else.

So we pushin on to Rome, and that’s when the Monte Cassino halted us. Up to then, there was not much resistance. Italians, they just gave up, they didn’t bother fighting much. But the Germans did at that monastery at Monte Cassino. We were held back there for three or four months

Tremendous a lot died there. It was a such a fortress and there was no other way to get through…you would have to make another landing. It was out of the question, to prepare another landing. So we have to go through there, through that pass at Monte Cassino to get to Rome. Unit after unit went but the machine gun and artillery emplacements were all in caves you see? The bombs fallin on a top of them and not doing them any harm. Well, the command thought that all the heavy guns and the heavy artillery is where the monastery is, but it wasn’t anything at all there! The monastery was completely devastated. Oh was fierce fighting you know, bit by bit…bunker by bunker, with a flamethrowers and grenades. I was in the supply unit. So we were not at the very front.

And then I was on the wing of Adriatic. We plod on until
Bologna. And then after that, we hold it and the Americans and British took that wing and then we were sent back to Ancona.

It was there at some point that it was over. It was announced at morning parade that the war is finished. Everybody hooray, now you going home soon! Felt quite happy more or less! Plenty vino and cognac oh…it wasn’t that plentiful, but it was! The Italians been hiding it somewhere.

It was quite a, sort of a unbelievable jubilation.

But as it aspired, we didn’t manage to go home because of the agreement between Churchill and Roosevelt and Stalin regarding division of Poland you see? So we couldn’t go back. We couldnae go back in force as we had planned. Of course we were not forbidden to go. A lot of them did go. But not for a while after because as things stood our units, our regiment, our battalion, stood as part of the occupying force of Italy.

Americans were next to us in Ancona but we didn’t mix much. A few fights with them over the blacks. The first time I ever met black man, it was amazing. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Oh, he’s so black! You know? He say someting, I don’t know what they say, I didn’t speak English that time! And later I found out they were segregated in the American Army, the blacks and the whites. I have a few pints with the buggers, the Americans.

In the café you know, we came in and was no much room and a two black soldiers sittin’ there and, and er, others standing, the white Americans and nobody sitting beside the blacks, so I just sit there with another chap and we just start drinking away and talkin’ a hand talk and Italian a few words and a vino and a vino and a vino and that was talk you see! And white American comes to me and says that I shouldn’t be sitting there.

I say, ‘Why shouldn’t I be sitting there, what the hell is wrong with it?’ 

‘Because he’s black!’

‘I say, ‘I know he’s black. Whats wrong with that? And you soldier and he soldier and you fight together and you can’t sit beside him, what the hell is that?’

I never knew such segregation. Daft, completely, but there you are. It still to this day exist, I’m sure. Or is it? Maybe no.

We just maintained the peace and order in the country. The part that we patrolled that was on the Adriatic coast, Ancona, Porto Ascoli, Porto Civitanova, Porto San Giorgio. We never had that much trouble. The mafia, I didn’t know what it was! I thought it was some sort of a business ting you know. We sold a lot of surplus stuff to them. We have to hand it over when the occupation ceased. Trucks, blankets, various thing that the army have all been brought to one dump and we handed that over to the Italians. We couldn’t take all the trucks and equipment we had back to Britain. And you barter sometime. A box of blankets for a case of cognac. We sold half of it at least, but we didn’t know we were selling to the mafia. Some wise ones made a lot of money, but I was not wise enough regarding that. I had a chance to do it but it was a time that one loses the value of things you know? Monetary value was lost to me and to a lot of people. But ach, I not regret that, I lived quite well and drunk river of wine and a river of cognac!

I spoke Italian reasonably good but you know what, I’m forgetting, comes very difficult now.

I nearly got married in Rome you know! One time I been tearin’ to Rome from Ancona on the motorbike and I met the old man standing outside his car and looking at it so I knew it was something wrong there, so I stopped and say Quescosa? Say that its car no going. So I say maybe its no petrol, so I put a little petrol. Still car won’t start. I’m no much of a mechanic but found a loose wire sticking out so I say ‘Where ta devil it go, maybe it go there,’ so I stick
it there. Started!
And oh, he thanked me and invited me to come to see, when I’m in Rome. So next time when I was in Rome, I went there. And it apparently transpires, he was a very wealthy man! Oh I got a surprise of my life!

A huge villa just outside Rome and I know right away it’s quite a wealthy people you know? Greet me like a long lost brother, aye! Meal right away and everything. So I stayed a night there. So that er -Vittorio…Bolognese, Vittorio Bolognese! He come from Bologna, so he called Vittorio Bolognese. Introduce his daughter to me. She was quite a nice girl, but I somehow didn’t care that much…Aeola. Aeola was her name. Vittorio say ‘Next time you in Rome, come here.’ So I went there, oh I stay there number of times and he took me to show his property. He owned three huge hotels in Rome. Two of them were in operation, one was not in operation, damaged by the war and was being rebuilt. He was wealthy man and she was his only child. For about a year of that time I was visiting Vittorio and Aeola. He been at me to marry Aeola and help him in the hotels business. What ta hell I knew about the hotel business but, nonetheless, I would have learned.

But somehow I didn’t want to stop in Italy. Not sure if I like the country or someting I just don’t know. Don’t know what I didn’t like that time! I was very confused, oh very confused! You didn’t know what to do for the best, where you going to stay or anything like that. I tried to explain, I just couldn’t stay in Italy, I must go to England to get demobbed first. ‘Och, I’ll, I’ll get you demobbed here!’ he said. Probably bribe and who knows what. But I was just determined to go. To tell you the truth, I didn’t fall in love with her. Oh, they wrote to me no end, number of letters I got from them, ‘cos I kept contact with them when I was in England. He was sorry that I not coming back to Rome, well…I probably would be better off if I’d stayed in Rome, who knows? Who knows?

I was always trying to contact mother and father. Was never
any way. And so latterly I contacted America – Anna Buhai, my cousin – and she writes that Kazik’s in Glasgow! I didn’t know Kazik was alive or not!

As soon as I heard from Anna, contacted Kazik. He come to see me. I stayed in Bury, near Manchester. Met Kazik for the first time since ’39.

Och, many a time we talk about what we went through the war and all that, all the hope go to Poland, back to Poland, back to there, back another bugger all, we didn’t get back to Poland. We could have went, of course a number of us went back. Like my friend Jerzy, George from Katowice. And another Jerzy, was two Georges, he was from Upper Silesia, he went back. But lost touch. Jankowski, I was right through war with him. He was older than I. He might not be around. Very nice man. When we parted, I stayed that time in Bury. He says, ‘Well, I think I’ll stay here.’ He was planning to go to Wrexham, in Wales. I kept in touch with him for a while and then, och, you lose touch, so that’s that.

And I just somehow didn’t want to go to Poland because you see, our home was now, well the Russia, so there was no point going back. There was nothing to go back for because I know the system. I know the system! If I went back, you would be going to jail! Was 5 years at least, or maybe more. For being away to the west. To get ‘rehabilitated’ as thay call it. Probably 5 years wouldn’t be enough, would be 10! As soon as I left Russia I would never go back because if I go back I would by the scruff of the neck into jail!

It’s not necessary to be against the state. You could say that you didn’t like that man in the kolkhoz, or you don’t like that horse! Then you accused of being against the state! That’s the case! It’s a fact! And to hell with you. Because you must remember that all the work, necessary work like a railway, the canals, even the mines, they were all done by prisoners in Russia. They never paid anything for any work! If they require
say 2 or 3 thousand people on certain project, they
mass-arrested
. Five years for you,10 for you, 7 for you then away…you against the state, that was the fact, people told me, and I believe it! And I would go back to that?! Never! Huh-huh, that’s how it is.

Even those Polish soldiers that were whole wartime fighting against the Nazis, when they went back, they were not even allowed to write a letter to the west! For years! Like those two Georges. Faithfully promised to let me know how they get on. Not a peach, not a thing. And I knew afterwards, they were not allowed. Simple as that. Most of them were sent to jail for at least a year or two, to get ‘rehabilitated’.