Gallery – Polish 2nd Corps

General Anders' Polish 2nd Corps remained in Italy for some time after the war ended. In the summer of 1946, my father's unit was stationed near Ancona, on the Adriatic coast, so free time was often spent on trips to the beach. One day, he met a woman on the beach who worked in the camp canteen. This was my future mother, who had been transported as forced labour to Austria in 1942, was liberated by American troops in 1945 and then transported to Italy with other Polish women to join with the Polish Corps there. My parents would often arrange to meet on the beach on days off and one day, several weeks after they first met, they were delighted to see that Wojtek was there with his unit. They watched amazed as Wojtek wrestled with a couple of the soldiers from his unit and then several of the audience were invited to give Wojtek some food (he was always on the scrounge for anything to eat, apparently!) My father had a bułka that he'd brought with him which he gave to Wojtek and the second of the two photos shows my father in the act of offering it to him.

Jan Grzywinski

After WWII

Italy

near Ancona