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The little khaki army bag full of
photos. |
Anna Ziębicka |
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In 2013, somewhere in the Exeter
area, a small khaki army bag was found. The bag was full of
photos and memorabilia that belonged to Anna Ziębicka. Some of the photos
date back to pre WW2 Poland but the
majority were of
Anna and her husband Feliks in the Polish army in the Middle
East and, after the war, in the UK. |
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Anna's family or where she lived in Poland, the story is interpreted
entirely from the photos, inscriptions on the back of some of the photos and
a few army documents which were with the photos in
the bag. |
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After some research we discovered
that Anna was born in Poland on the 3rd February 1902.
As a
12 year old she went through the horrors of WW1 then,
20 years later, came WW2. Some time between the two wars Anna married Feliks
Ziębicki. |
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Feliks
Ziębicki
was born in
1897. Very old photos tell us
that between the wars he lived in
South Eastern Poland in a
settlement called Osada
Wojskowa Sienkiewicze in
Dederkały,
near
Krzemieniec,
Wołyń.
Today it is in the
Ukraine.
In February 1940 both Anna and Feliks together
with thousands of other Poles were deported to the USSR in the first
wave of deportations. |
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Following the
German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the subsequent announcement, in August 1941, of
the so called amnesty for Poles, both managed to join the Polish army that was
formed in the USSR under the command of General Anders. In
1942 they travelled with what became the Polish 2nd Corps to Persia to
protect vital British interests in the Middle East. Feliks and the 2nd Corps went on
to fight alongside their British allies at Monte Casino and
the Italian campaign. Anna Joined the Polish Women's Auxiliary Service. |
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The six photos below were titled "Osada
Wojskowa Sienkiewicze"
where Feliks lived some time between 1920 and 1940 |
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The photos show the first settlers in Osada Sienkiewicze.
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Osada
Wojskowa Sienkiewicze
in
Dederkały,
near
Krzemieniec,
Wołyń,
1920-1939 |
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Juliusz Szydłowski and Feliks
Ziębicki
"Osada
Wojskowa Sienkiewicze" |
Kazio Stasiewicz "Osada
Wojskowa Sienkiewicze" |
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Teheran Persia 1943 |
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Anna's Soldier's Service and
Pay Book
issued
in Teheran Persia 1943 |
Polish cemetery in Teheran. |
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Left:- My best friends |
| Leśnikowicz
Jadwiga |
| Kalinowska Helena |
| Ziębicka Anna |
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A memento to my beloved Feliks from your
ever loving Andzia - Teheran 29/V/1943 |
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Right: A memento to be long
remembered by my truly beloved Feliks, Andzia |
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Teheran 2nd September 1943.
Camp no. 3 |
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Anna and Feliks travel to the Middle East
with the Polish Army. |
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Tel Aviv Palestine 1943 |
Anna in the Middle East
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Anna and Feliks in the Middle East |
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Anna in Egypt with the army bag that was found in
Exeter |
Anna and friend |
Anna |
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Feliks with some of his unit
in the Middle East |
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Feliks (sitting) with some of his friends
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Feliks Ziębicki |
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Anna apparently working in a Polish Hospital in the Middle East
- the photo is annotated on the back as Hospital no. 5 El Kantara. |
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Anna and Feliks |
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Hospital no. 5 El-Kantara
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Feliks in the UK receiving treatment in
Stracathro
Hospital, SCOTLAND 1946 |
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Stracathro
Hospital, situated four miles north of Brechin in Scotland was a purpose
built WW2 military hospital. Military
casualties from the armies of Great Britain, Poland, United States, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, and other nations, along with wounded soldiers
from the German forces and their allies, were brought to Stracathro
Hospital for treatment. |
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The inscription in Polish on the back of
the photo reads: |
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Left;- SKOTLAD (written
phonetically as a Pole
would hear it) |
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Stracathro hospital |
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| This
is how I looked after the operation |
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| Left;-Feliks is at the front lying down
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Right:- Feliks is first man on the left. |
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The inscription below
left reads: |
| A memento for my beloved wife from the
Scottish Stracathro hospital. |
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Feliks is Second from the right. |
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Stracathro
Hospital |
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Feliks convalescing in Bystock Court, Exmouth, DEVON
1946 |
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Bystock Court, a listed Grade II building, was used
during the Second World War as a convalescent home for
Polish servicemen. After leaving
Stracathro
Hospital, Feliks was sent to Bystock Court to convalesce. |
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BYSTOCK COURT EXMOUTH DEVON 1946 |
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Left below reads:- This is the house I currently live in. The house
of a Lord. |
Feliks |
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Today 17/V1 /46 Bystock Convalescent Home Exmouth, Exeter England |
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Right;- Convalescing in Bajstock
(written phonetically in Polish)
Southern England |
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Feliks with Polish comrades convalescing
in Exmouth 1946 |
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Polish Hospital no.11 Llannerch Panna
North Wales |
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The next group of photographs show
Anna and Feliks in Polish Hospital no. 11 in Llanerch Panna, Penley North
Wales. Photos from El Kantara appear to show Anna working at the
hospital there so it is likely that Anna was working at the Llannerch
Panna Hospital and Feliks may have been an ambulance driver. Hospital
no. 11 was closed in the early 1950s and staff and
patients moved up the road to Hospital no 3 Penley. |
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Feliks and Anna in Llannerch Panna Penley
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Feliks, Anna and a friend in the grounds of
Llannerch Panna |
Feliks in Llannerch Panna |
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Corpus Christi procession with Fr. Józef
Gołąb |
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In the 1950s Fr. Gołąb moved to
Springhill Lodges camp in Gloucestershire. |
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Tending their garden in Llannerch Panna |
Anna with comrades from the Polish Women's Auxiliary
Service |
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| Some time in the 1950s Feliks and
Anna moved to Lower Quinton in Warwickshire were Feliks found employment
in the MOD Central Engineers stores at Long Marston. I found it a strange
coincidence as my father also worked in Long Marston in the 1950s. |
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| I have spoken
to
a number of people who lived in Lower Quinton as children and
remember the couple as kind, gentle and very patriotic.
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| On the 21 August 1978 Feliks died aged 81 and is buried in Stratford upon Avon cemetery.
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| After Feliks' death Anna moved to Ilford Park
Polish Home, Newton Abbot Devon were she died in 1992 aged 90. She
is buried in Newton Abbot cemetery. |
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| This is the
story we have been able to piece together from the contents
of the abandoned little khaki army bag. |
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Feliks Ziębick 20/11/1897--
21/8/1978 |
Anna Ziębicka
3/2/1902---31/5/1992 |
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