ULA SZWABIAK'S
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS of life in the camp. |
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My father Wiktor Szwabiak
was sergeant in General Anders Army (5 KDP) Like most Polish soldiers that
survived the WW2, he did not talk a lot about deportations and the
hardships of war. He was very patriotic, and although we could not
return to Poland he ensured that I was brought up in true Polish
spirit. |
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Wiktor Szwabiak marching through Milan caring
the banner. |
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Polish soldiers in Milan1946 |
Ula and her mother Olga in Tilshead 1946 |
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In 1946 my mother and I travelled by train from Italy
to join my father who left Italy earlier with the Polish Army. We were placed in Tilshead camp in Wiltshire,
were we stayed briefly before moving on to Checkendon in
Oxfordshire and Middlezoy in Somerset. In 1948 my father was demobilised from the army
and we moved again this time as a family to Springhill
Lodges camp in Gloucestershire. This become our home for the next
ten years. |
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Our home in Checkendon 1947 one of Ula's first home in England |
Olga Szwabiak by her Nissen hut |
Ula on he first trice
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Springhill camp lay in a bowl
shaped area in the Cotswolds at the cross roads of the A44 and
the , B4081. Broadway was about 2 miles away, Chipping Campden
2.5 and Moreton in Marsh about 5 miles from the camp. Snowhill
Manor, still a tourist attraction now, lay about 2 miles the other
way. An idyllic, beautiful setting with honey coloured houses and farms
all around. |
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We were one of the first families to
arrive in Springhill, the camp was initially used as a military camp
holding German soldiers as prisoners of war utilising polish soldiers as
guards. Although there were no prisoners left, I remembers the top
part of the camp being fenced off with barbed wire where, I was told, the
prisoners had been housed before being repatriated. |
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From approx 1948 onwards the camp was
filling up with wives and children of the polish soldiers. All families
were housed in either rooms in barracks or Nissen huts. A family of three
was allocated one room in a barrack in the top part of the camp next to a
larch wood. I was about 6 or 7 years old at the time and still
remember the scent of the larch trees and being afraid of what seemed like
a large dark forest. We lived in this one room for about a few years before we were then given accommodation, consisting of 3 rooms in a barrack
near the main gate. |
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At the beginning there was a
communal canteen where we all had our meals, the National
Assistance Board who run the camp, employed people from the
camp as cooks and auxiliary staff in the kitchens. |
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In time communal feeding was
fazed out as cookers were installed in the barracks for anyone
who wanted to cook for themselves. Eventually everyone had
their own cooking facilities. After 4 years or so, as more
space became available, they were allocated three rooms in a
barrack close to the main gate. |
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Danusia
Aleksandrowicz Ula Szwabiak and unknown girl, with barracks and Nissen
Huts in the background 1949 |
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Some 3 miles away was Northwick Park
camp. The residents of the two camps knew each other well, you could walk
from one camp to the other in less than an hour, and they went to each
other's dances and other social events. The camps children shared the
primary school which was located first in Springhill and later moved to
Northwick. This is where Zosia Biegus, nee Hartman and I first met and
kept in touch to this day. Once our English was good enough to go to
mainstream English schools we were sent to local primary schools in Blockley and Chipping Campden.
In the early 1950s teenaged youth were sent to
Polish Boarding Schools coming home to see their families only
in holiday times. I remember great excitement in the camp when the buses
bringing home the teenagers from their schools arrived and also the sad
departures when the holidays ended. By the time I became a teenager the
Polish schools were closed and my generation were sent to local secondary
and grammar schools in Moreton in Marsh and Chipping Campden. boarding schools, coming home to their
families for the holidays.
There used to be great excitement to meet the buses both for departures
and arrivals. |
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My First Communion |
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Danusia
Remizo Ula Szwabiak Marysia Flondra Unknown. |
Ula Szwabiak
Krysia Stawiarska,
and Serafin
Potoczny OFM. |
MY FIRST HOLY COMMUNION 1952
Marian Zubek, Jan Szyszkiewicz ME Ula Szwabiak
Krysia Stawiarska, Stasio Chołaj, Wladek Wiechec, with Fr. Serafin
Potoczny OFM. |
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A bicycle was a
must for a teenager in that remote setting and I had her own faithful
steed which took me over hill and dale in those carefree days. The bike
had been assembled by my father, Wiktor Szwabiak, from parts salvaged from
the tip. A service much appreciated not just by me but also by many of
Springhill's children who relied on my father "Pan Szwabiak", the fixer
extraordinaire, to mend their bikes and toys. |
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Ula out side her home in Springhill 1956 |
Some of the younger children with Ula and her
bike about1952 |
Krysia Stawiarska, Ewa Demitrów
and Me, Ula Szwabiak with our favourite toy. |
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A number of
dignitaries visited the camp and I particularly remembers a cold day in
1953 when, dressed in her national costume and with a welcoming bouquet of
flowers in my hand, we waited for the arrival of gen. Władysław Anders. I
remembers presenting him with a bouquet of flowers before he was formally
greeted by a senior official from the camp. |
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General Anders in Springhill 1953
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Ula proudly displaying her new Chipping
Camden Grammar school uniform. |
Ula with her English friends Janet Lock, daughter of Mr. Lock
headmaster of Moreton in Marsh Secondary School and Stella Kay
daughter
of Mr Kay who had the chemist shop in Blockley |
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I took part in all
the National day and church celebrations and in most of the plays
that Mrs. Grosicka produced in the camp and later in Leicester, were many
families and she moved to. |
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It was a lovely time and place to grow
up and as some of us have met up, we still say it never rained at
Springhill, it snowed - proper snow - a good 2-3 feet, but otherwise we
always had sunshine. Ah! the memories of children. No worries, just play,
fun, laughter and sunshine |
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We stayed in
Springhill until it was announced that the camp would be closing
down. This must have been 1957, parents bought a house in Leicester and we
moved tout of the camp but a lot of people stayed and they were moved
to another camp,
Northwick
Park, which
was about 4 miles away. |
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Many thanks to Ula Turowicz 'nee' Szwabiak for her
thoughts and photos. |
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Page 1
Springhill |
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Page 2
The
camp and it'sPeople
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Page 3
Short Resume of Eugenia Grosicka
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Page 4 Current |
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Page 5
Springhill today |
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Other
Camp |
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Home |
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