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FROM POLAND VIA AFRICA
TO ENGLAND -
by Bolek Turowicz |
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Bolek and Bogdan |
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Bolek and his Mother |
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It was in February 1940, I was 8 years old
and I remember how Russian soldiers came and took my mother Anna, father
Włodzimierz, my younger brother Bogdan and me
from our home in Kajszówka nr.
Nowogródek and deported us to the depths of Siberia.
With many other families we were crammed into cattle
trucks and taken by rail more than a thousand miles north,
to the area near Archangel known as 'Oblast Archangielska'. I remember a large
lake somewhere, I think, north east of Archangel. We had no
possessions, as every thing was left behind, we were cold and
hungry. |
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In 1941,when Germany attacked Russia, Gen. Sikorski
reached an agreement with Stalin to release the Poles deported into
Russia, and General Anders recruted all
able bodied men
and women into
the army creating the Polish II Corpus. Recruitment centres were
set up for those that wanted to join the army and leave Russia. In the middle of winter, February
1942, we set out in
a horse drawn sleigh, our family together with a Russian
man. On the way wolves were attacking us but both my father and
the Russian had rifles and we managed to reach Archangel safely. From
there we made our way south by rail, I think to somewhere near
Moscow, where my father put us all on a different train to take
us further south The train was packed with Poles all wanting
to leave Russia. Conditions were terrible, starvation and
disease were rife and many people lost their lives, including my
younger brother Bogdan. |
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I can't remember the journey in detail but know
we ended up in Uzbekistan where my father, and hundreds of able
bodied men and women joined the newly formed Polish Army. The rest of the journey was made without my
father. With other Polish people mainly women , children and the
elderly we were sent to Krasnovodsk on the Caspian Sea and
sailed to the port of Pahlavi in Persia (now Iran). |
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We now travelled in lorries through
mountainous terrain to some sort of large building in Teheran,
which had both Polish and English army personnel. There was an
airport nearby, where you could see military planes landing and
taking off all the time. During our time in Persia, my little
sister who was only a few months old and due to malnutrition had
no resistance to illness, sadly died. Now there was just mother
and me and we did not know were father was. |
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From Teheran we travelled to Karachi, a very long journey,
and then by boat (the Orion) to Bombay. Here we stayed for some
time to rest and then, as India was not accepting any more refugees we sailed
on to Mombassa Tanganyika in Africa
and on to Dar-es-Salaam. After a few days our journey
continued, now in lorries, and we eventually arrived at the camp
of Kidugala. The nearest town was called Njombe at the northern
end of lake Malawi. In 1947 we moved to another camp called Ifunda, I was now nearly 16, but our travels had not yet ended. In
1948, with many other Polish D.Ps., we left Ifunda Camp for the
port of Mombassa on our way to England where we would
be reunited with my father whom we had not seen since 1942
when he joined the Polish Army to fight for our freedom as part
of the Allied forces. |
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As the train wound its way we looked through the windows and
could see African wild animals on the plains and grasslands,
which I can remember to this day. From the train I said a silent
farewell to the snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, which was visible in
the far distance. In one way, I was happy to be leaving Africa, but
in another I was sad as so much of my growing up, the years of
my adolescence, had been spent here. I was 11 when we arrived in
Africa and now I was almost grown up at 17. |
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A native band |
Unknown Priest and Friends
in Africa |
Christmas
in the
camp Kidugala |
Bolek and friend |
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Our ship, the Carnarvon Castle, had been used to transport army
personnel and was fitted out accordingly. We set off for England and
I had only been on board for a few hours when I had an attack of
malaria. It felt like Africa did not want to let me go. I did not
tell anyone as they would not have allowed me to travel. Once the
ship had left port I went to find the doctor who was in the ship's
bowels in a superbly fitted surgery. He examined me, gave me some
tablets and made sure I was put to bed. In a white bed, lying on a
soft mattress with nurses tending me - I felt like a king. I was the
only one in the sick bay and made the most of being so
well looked after. In a few days, my temperature dropped and I was
told, much to my disappointment, that I was well enough to go back to
the communal boys' quarters. I was given a bunk with blanket and
pillow, no more special care and treatment from the nurses. It was
extremely hot in the makeshift dormitory and we therefore spent much
of our time on deck at the top of the ship in the open air. We were
all youngsters, not used to being cooped up and none of us were
angels so we ran all over the place and found some small firearms
and rifles. These were covered up with tarpaulins and as soon as it
was noticed that we were 'investigating' a serving officer really
told us off and even threatened to place us under guard if he caught
us again. The women and girls were in separate quarters, and there
were cabins for 2 and 4 people and those who were lucky enough to
get a cabin went to a different canteen with waiter service. However
those in dormitories went to the main self-service canteen. The food
was reasonable and plentiful and quite different to what we had in
Africa. During the voyage we had concerts staged by our young people
and sometimes by the sailors. We also had dances but our lovely
girls stopped being interested in us young men and boys as the
sailors in uniform were much more interesting and exciting. Outside,
on the top deck, games and sport was organised and although there
was a swimming pool, it was out of bounds to us. Only the ship's
personnel had the use of it which was a shame. |
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I can't remember exactly how long the sea voyage took but I think
it was about 2 weeks. The ship made its way towards the Gulf of Aden
where it stopped to take on some cargo. We then sailed into the Red
Sea towards the Suez Canal. We had to wait our turn to continue our
way through the Suez Canal. At Port Said the ship docked and we were
allowed to disembark for a few hours. We then sailed on through the
Mediterranean Sea and through the Straits of Gibraltar and then,
with Gibraltar on one side and Africa on the other, the ship stopped
and dropped anchor, I don't know why. With tears in my eyes I
looked at the African coast for the last time and said goodbye. We
then sailed into the Atlantic Ocean towards the shores of England
and whatever faced us there. We disembarked on the 5th of May 1948
in Southampton - it was very very cold. We were clothed in light
summery clothes and really missed the hot African sunshine. |
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From Southampton we were
taken to Daglingworth, a military camp near Cirencester. After a few
days we were re-united with my father whom we had not seen for about
6 years. The last time I had seen him, I had been just a scamp of a
boy and now I was the same height, but a lot thinner. From
Daglingworth, my parents and I went to Wheaton Aston near Stafford
and then to Foxley in Herefordshire. This was where my father was
based and where he was working closing down the Polish army transport units.
It was here that I learnt to drive, in army vehicles called 15's. I
drove these to various army units to do film shows. I lived in Foxley for a
number of years before moving to Leicester.
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Foxley camp
dance group |
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Some of the names I remember:-
Halinka, Zosia, Krysia Sławek
and Ernest |
Slawek Regini, Bolek Turowicz unknown and
Ernest Myk in Foxley camp |
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