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Tadeusz WICHROWSKI - "Wicher" For you must know that there are two ways to fight - one has to be a fox and a lion ! Nothing gives the character of partisan war better
than this quote from Machiavelli's dissertation The Prince. Damp
dug-outs, cold, lice, complete privation, constant threat and uncertain
future - nothing can better give the reality of partisan's life. A life
- which nobody would claim, since not protected by international conventions.
A life as cheap as rifle or handgun's bullet.
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Tadeusz Wichrowski was born on August 4, 1916 in Dabrowa Gornicza. In 1931, after graduating from Mining School, he worked as a diesel engine mechanic in one of the factories in Sosnowiec. Drafted in 1938 to serve in the 17 Infantry Regiment in Rzeszow, he completed Divisional Infantry Non-Commissioned Officers School with specialization - heavy machine-guns, and was promoted upon completion to the rank of a corporal. He went to war with his home regiment - wounded in the hand during defensive operations in the Dynow area; interned in Hungary (initially a camp in Huszt, later other camps, closer and closer to the Yugoslavian border). From that time, except for fragmentary memories of combat, he remembered especially an absurd order for general arms and equipment cleaning, which were then carelessly thrown in heaps in front of Hungarian officials. In the area of Jawornik, he witnessed the theft of the military materiel and an ambush of Polish soldiers by the then organizing bands of Ukrainian extremists. Within a few short months, thanks to a well organized evacuation campaign, first through Yugoslavia and then on board of a Greek merchant vessel he reached France. There he joined the then forming 2 Rifle Division, with which he went through the French Campaign of 1940. During defensive operations in the vicinity of Belfort, close to the Swiss border, he and his 5 Heavy Machine-Gun Platoon were captured by the Germans. He remembers that time most of all as an unprecedented picture of disintegration of the French Army and overwhelming, defeatist attitude of the French. For Polish military units, trying to hold the defence lines no matter the cost, the French population had, on many occasions, only insults ("those damned Poles"). When nearing one country town, where Wichrowski's detachment was preparing defence positions in haste, there came a very worried delegation from the town headed by its mayor. They demanded that Poles relinguish all defence measures immediately. However, what the Poles did immediately, was to inflict well deserved corporal punishment on the mayor, in front of his suite, for his national despondency, after which, without any further delay they employed the whole delegation to dig trenches. Chaos, caused by warfare, resulted in looser guard of POWs. An attempt to escape with one other fellow inmate (Tadeusz Misztal) ended with success. After they changed their uniforms for civilian clothes and assessed the current situation, both decided to go back to the occupied Poland. Paradoxically, a German army train proved to be a relatively quick and safe mode of transportation. Hidden under a tarpaulin on a lorry with military materiel heading east, cold and hungry, they crossed France and Germany in three days. Close to Plzen, in German-occupied Czechoslovakia, they managed to leave the highly guarded transport and resumed further travel, part on foot, part on "borrowed" bicycles. From time to time they chanced upon friendly Czechs, who gave them shelter, some smoked bacon or bread. The crossing of the former Polish-German border and the return to his hometown went without a hitch. After he became acquainted with the situation in occupied Poland, Tadeusz Wichrowski took a job with a construction company on the expansion of the train station in Sedziszow. However, in danger of being deported to Germany by the Nazi forced-labour regulations, he made contact with the Underground and joined one of the Salamander Association's (Zwiazek Jaszczurczy) military detachments operating in the Voivodship of Kielce under the command of "Dymsza". Also at that time he met Mjr. Leonard Zub-Zdanowicz - "Zab", possibly the most colourful character of the Polish Underground, hated by the communists, and not only by them. Some time later, due to "Zab"'s persuasion, Wichrowski moved to a National Armed Forces' (Narodowe Sily Zbrojne, NSZ - an Underground organization which evolved from the Salamander Association) detachment operating in the Voivodship of Lublin under the command of "Step", as a heavy machine-gun specialist. And in this detachment, now as Staff Sergeant "Wicher", he fought until the creation of the Holy Cross Brigade (Brygada Swietokrzyska) of the National Armed Forces in August, 1944. "Wicher" took part in numerous operations against the Germans as well as the communist and murderous bands of Ukrainian chauvinists (the so-called Ukrainian Insurgent Army) which terrorized the population of the Central and Eastern Poland. He has also took part in training the recruits. Two of the more well known combat operations, the latter of which resulted in Stalin's appeal to Churchill, were: the extermination of the "Slowik"'s communist band near Borow in August 1943, and in September 1944, settling the matters with communist bands of "Bialy" and "Iwan Iwanowicz". The two bands joined forces and were preparing to exterminate the recently organized Holy Cross Brigade. This second operation began very unfortunately for the Brigade - "Step"'s patrol, a dozen strong, under the command of the very "Wicher", was ambushed near Rzabiec by considerable communist forces and after running out of ammunition was forced to surrender. Communists' intensions were clear - after the interrogation of their captives, they started to prepare for the execution. Fortunately, one of the captured soldiers was able to escape without being noticed and get the Brigade's help. This arrived swiftly - the communists were defeated and almost all of them were killed during their attempt to escape. At the same time the Holy Cross Brigade organized punitive expeditions against more and more impudent bands of Ukrainian chauvinists, which terrorized Polish and Ukrainian populations. On those expeditions went well equipped NSZ's shock units, able to translocate quickly on long distances, execute operations from ambush and quickly moving away from the scene. "Wicher" especially remembered one of those operations near Hrubieszow, under the command of Capt. "Flis". The bandits, somehow warned about their arrival, but utterly unaware of the opponents' strength, poured out of the village at dawn and rushed through open fields to a frontal attack on the positions of the NSZ detachment lying in ambush at the edge of the forest. "Wicher", clutching the grips of his machine-gun, saw the now dangerously close silhouettes of the attackers and, despite his combat experience, nervously awaited the order to open fire. But the order was not coming. Today, he admits that in those heated moments he was having his doubts. However, the commander of the NSZ detachment, aware of his ascendancy, allowed the bandits to approach them so close, that it made it impossible for them to retreat - activity of the Ukrainian chauvinists' bands died away for quite some time in this area. "When we were going against the Ukrainian bands, we didn't expect a 'bread and salt' welcome. And neither did we come to them with bread and salt." - remembers "Wicher" thoughtfully. ['bread and salt welcome' is a Slavic custom of welcoming guests with bread and salt to signify sharing of all that the host possessed as expression of hospitality] "Wicher" gained great trust of Mjr. "Zab" as the two were often seen together, also at the Col. Antoni Dabrowski's - "Bohun"'s headquarters. This convinced the communists that, despite a relatively low rank in the military, "Wicher" must be a part of the staff or head of important intelligence operations. This is mentioned by a well known communist grub - Machejek, in his "historic works". "Wicher", as it happened, was acquainted with him personally when Machejek was captured by the "Step"'s squad among a group of communists. Due to his young age and lack of conclusive evidence of his anti-Polish activity, Machejek's life was spared. Looking back at this, "Wicher" says: "If I only knew then, what scoundrel he was...". In January, 1945 the Holy Cross Brigade began its dramatic war march to the West. Pressed hard by the Soviets and Germans, in cold and hunger, through Silesia and Czechoslovakia, the Brigade finally reached the western frontline. As the only military unit of Underground Poland, it combatively collaborated with the Allies (the American Army) in combat with enemy, helping to destroy a Nazi division. The Brigade also freed female prisoners from a concentration camp in Holisov. In that final period, the Brigade's Command did not forget about "Wicher" and assigned him to a four-person patrol with the mission to cross the frontline and make contact with Gen. Patton's Americans. Stealing through difficult, unknown terrain amidst amassed German army units and outposts took almost two days, but ended with a success - the American soldiers greeted the Underground Poland's patrol emerging from the woods not only with great surprise, but also with quite understandable disbelief. After the official end of the war, "Wicher" served in the Polish
Guard Companies, formed from the soldiers and officers of the Holy Cross
Brigade. He also instructed in companies formed from Poles still remaining
in the occupied Germany. When, due to treason of the Western Allies,
the chance to have an independent Poland was lost, he decided in 1948
to emigrate to Canada. • Although he thinks that he has fulfilled his soldier's and civic duty as much as he could, which might be indicated by his decorations: the Cross of Valour (trice awarded), Army Medal, Golden Cross of Merit and the National Armed Forces' Armed Deed Cross, to mention the important ones - watching current revival of communism in Poland, he says he is ready to go with his machine-gun into the forest again. If only health had allowed. February, 1996 Tadeusz Wichrowski passed away on January 3, 2000 in Vancouver, British Columbia Translation: Agnieszka K. Marszalek
Last modified September 20, 2008 9:01 PM |
