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This large camp, built by the Royal
Canadian Engineers in 1941on existing MOD land in rural Surrey near
to the village of Thursley, was named Teewdsmuir in honour of Lord
Tweedsmuir of Elsfield, 15th Governor General of Canada. With typical
basic accommodation of corrugated metal nissen huts, wooden
barracks and strategically placed communal ablution blocks. The camp
served as a transit camp for non-effective Canadian Army troops.
After WW2 Tweedsmuir Camp was home to many Polish ex-servicemen and their
families it closed in the early 1960s. |
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Piotr Pietrusiewicz
lived in Tweedsmuir
camp with his parents and twin sister and shares his memories of
life in the camp. |
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Piotr also runs a web site full of photos of life in Tweedsmuir camp some
of which I have used in this page |
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a link to his site is at the bottom of this page. |
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My father |
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Eugeniusz PIETRUSIEWICZ was born
on 13-9-1914 in Kraków, Poland and died
on 14-01-1967 in Elstead,
Surrey. During the war he served in the 2nd Polish Corps - 4th Armoured Regiment.
His war started in August 1939 when he was mobilised to serve on the
Eastern front. He was taken prisoner by
the Russians on the 26-09-1939 and imprisoned in the
notorious Starobielsk Camp until late 1941. As a soldier
of the Polish 2nd. Corps he travelled via Persia (Iran), Iraq, Egypt and
Palestine to fight alongside the British 8th Army, at Monte Cassino, Ancona and Bologna - Italy
in 1944/45. He was demobilised, in the rank of Sergeant,
at Witley Military Camp in 1948. |
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My mother |
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Eugeniusz PIETRUSIEWICZ. |
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My mother Aniela Pietrusiewicz
(nee Wójcik) born in Tenczyn, Poland on 18-12-1924.
She was only fifteen when Germany invaded Poland,
she was taken from her home by the Germans in late 1939
and transported by train to Austria. There she was a
prisoner and worked as forced labour on a large farming
estate just outside Klagenfurt. She has countless
stories of her imprisonment and how she was missing
her mother and father. When the war ended in Spring
1945 she was evacuated to Italy joining up with the
Polish Army, where she met my father. They were married in
a mass wedding ceremony in Italy in 1946 and were
transported to England to Hiltingbury
Transit Camp, Chandlers Ford near
Southampton, in August of that year. |
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In 1947 My twin sister Maria and I
were born in Diddington Polish Hospital no. 6 near St Neots and
we all moved from Hiltingbury camp to Tweedsmuir camp. We
first lived in a wooden hut at the top end of the camp. The
hut was divided into two family units and one night our neighbours
left a coal fire
unguarded whilst going
out to a film show in the "świetlica"
(community hall). My mother was looking after us and Lucia
Keller
whilst my
father had gone to visit a neighbour,
we were just over one year old, |
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Our wooden hut |
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Me outside our first hut before it burned down |
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Our Nissen hut |
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Photograph
shows us with my mother and a line of Terry nappies which had to be washed
(boiled ) and dried every other day. |
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It appears that
cloths left by our neighbour near their fire caught alight and very
quickly spread (the hut was of wooden construction). My mother only had
time to grab us twins, put us outside near a brick building before she ran
back to find Lucyna . The hut was fiercely on fire and my mother, in the
dark, was in a terrible panic but eventually found Lucyna under the
kitchen table. Relived as my mother was to have saved us children she was
unable to save most of our belongings and personal items. Next day the
camp administration found us new accommodation and supplied us with new
beds, furniture, etc from the Camp's storage pound. We moved into a Nissen
Hut near the centre of the camp opposite the road that lead to the
Communal Bath house. |
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I can remember many
a time being taken to what was a large room with at least half a
dozen baths and showers for a good scrub down, then wrapped in a
warm towel and taken home to bed. Our new home was very comfortable.
We were detached, had electricity, water and an indoor WC
(heaven). Cooking was done on a primus stove fuelled by paraffin. How did
my mother manage without the present washing machines etc?
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THE CHURCH
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As most Polish people are devout Catholics
it was no coincidence that every camp had its own church and resident
priest. Father Józef Bystry looked after the
spiritual needs of his flock in Tweedsmuir camp. Besides saying Holy
Mass
every Sunday, he performed christenings, marriages and funerals. Gave
religious instruction and prepared children for their first Holy
Communion. |
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Father Jozef BYSTRY. |
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All our lives were linked to Church activities. From an early age I was
volunteered as an alter boy which petrified me at first but later gave me
confidence and respect from others. I was particularly inquisitive as to
what the priest was drinking at mass as I offered him the dark red liquid.
One day I found myself alone in the sacristy with a bottle containing this
elixir and curiosity got the better of me. I opened the bottle to
investigate and remember to this day the aroma. It smelt like sherry but I
resisted the temptation to have a swig. |
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Inside the church Fr, Józef Bystry
saying mass. |
I am nearest the camera 1953 |
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My
father had a powerful tenor voice and would lead the church choir
into well rehearsed hymns. The church would reverberate with their
strong voices. Mrs Ryzner was a pure soprano and sang with my
father creating haunting melodies of familiar Polish songs. The
Boże Ciało processions were always well supported and photographs
show my father and other choir members following Father Bystry and
his entourage. |
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CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION
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Corpus Christi processions take
place on the first Sunday following Trinity Sunday. At the
end of the mass it is customary to have a procession usually
outdoors to four altars. In all Polish camps this tradition,
repeated every year, brought the whole community to work together
in building and decorating the four altars, which were
strategically placed so that every corner of the camp was
visited. Children dressed in white lead the procession strewing
petals at the feet of the priest carrying the Blessed
Sacrament and all the people following in song. |
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On the right is one of
the outside altars build against the wall of a hut. |
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The various stages of the procession winding its
way around the camp. |
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FIRST COMMUNION |
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Every year children that reached the age
of eight/nine were prepared for their First Holy
Communion by the priest Fr. Bystry |
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My First Communion was on 13th
June 1954. |
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Monika Bakałas, Jadzia Kuszal,
Barbara Sysiak, Maria Pietrusiewicz, Teresa Stasiewowicz, Sandra
Francak,? Poremba, Tadeusz Kublic, Piotr Pietrusiewicz, Leszek
Chruscz, Jurek Klonowicz. |
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On the right is my
sister Maria and me. |
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Polish children are very lucky as
they receive presents not only at Christmas but also on St Nicholas day
( Święty Mikołaj) which falls on the 5th of December. In all the camps
the ritual was very similar and well
organised by the respective parents who sneaked presents into the
community hall, where every one had gathered, and
then
St Nicholas, assisted by an Angel and a little
devil,
handed them out accordingly as children were called up to meet
him. We
were in awe of the frightening figure of the Devil and the
striking godly figure of Święty
Mikołaj dressed in bishop's robes assisted by the Angel.
The role of St. Nicholas was played by one of the children's fathers
and
on one occasion, unknown to me and my sister my father was playing
the main role of Father Christmas and asked me some very awkward
questions about how good I had been that year, before handing over my
present. I left the stage with my present clutched in my arms in tears
because somehow "Święty Mikołaj"
had known all my transgressions that year! |
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Right;- Around
1950s. Swiety Mikolaj. Mr
Jozef Kuszel (left of Swiety Mikolaj.) Mr Franczak (right of
Angel) Mrs Czertko (lady far right), Jadzia Kuszel (girl holding
dog) girl to right Sandra Franczak |
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Left-Christmas 1952.My father is
standing behind Father Christmas. My sister Maria is resting her
head on Father Christmases beard and I am on her right hand side.
Władysław Wilmowski is 4th from the right holding his present. |
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Sunday mass, processions and other religious celebrations were the norm.
Adults would attend dances in the community hall building where the
occasional film evening would also take place. Dances would attract people
from a wide area to experience Polish music and culture. Later on,
Thursley village hall was used for staging cultural evenings. A picture
taken in 1955 shows me speaking and declaring my patriotic feelings. |
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Above declamation in Polish
text I remember to this day. |
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My role dressed as Kosciuszko celebrating
Polish constitution day 3rd May in Thursly village hall on
22nd May 1955. |
Nativity play. Top left Pan ADAMEK, ?, Zosia
ANTONIAK. Middle row, girl on far left: Urszula
RYZNER. Middle row, girl in middle: Urszula PORĘBA, girl to the right
of Mary: Jadzia KUSZEL. |
Margaret Adamek in her
National costume. |
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My father had been involved in singing and acting since his
early days in Kraków and he had one other passion - football.
He had played First Division standard as goalkeeper in Kraków
before the war and later represented his Army Unit in Iraq and
Italy. Back in the Camp, the local Polish Football Team was
called Jasper it travelled all over the country to play
competitive matches. On many occasions I went with him and
remember standing behind the goal and praying he would not be
beaten. My mother would have the chore of washing the Jasper
football kit and drying it uniformly on our washing line. It was
hard work for her particularly after a muddy encounter but the
extra money was a godsend. Farm work was available and women
from the camp took advantage of transport laid on by Secrets of
Milford to go daily and pick vegetables. It was hard work
but had to be done. |
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To supplement their normal food
supply at a time of national food rationing, which was phased out in
1953, most people in the camp had an allotment were they grew
vegetables and kept chickens and ducks.
My mother had her own piece of land converted just for this use,
however her thirty odd chickens and three geese would range freely and would be seen near our house. Surprisingly over all the years in
the camp (10 ) we did not lose one chicken either to theft or fox. The
chickens would all uniformly march back to their own accommodation for
a rest and egg laying without too much fuss. The goose down was used
to make our very warm bed covers (pierzyna). |
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1954. Mrs.
Klaptocz
looking after her chickens. |
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Mr. Klaptocz with his
young son Franek checking out their smallholding |
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The camp was only about a mile from the small village of Thursley which
had a Post Office, Grocers, Butchers and the Three Horshoes Pub. It was a
difficult, steep and winding road to the village and few dared to walk it.
However, a well trodden path had been established from behind the parade
ground which took you over a stream, through a steep copse and alongside
the cricket ground. We enjoyed the walk to the village and had to use this
route if we wanted to go to the bigger town of Godalming or Guildford or
catch a train to London. Many a time we would have a day out to
Guildford using the No24 bus which we caught on the old A3 road and
then walk some 2 miles back to the Camp as described |
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Mr Karn , the local Grocer/Butcher in Thursley, had a mobile van and
visited the camp regularly with the necessary provisions including
paraffin, cigarettes, butter, bread, milk etc. My mother would barter for
any of the above by offering him her still warm chicken eggs. Mr Karn and
his family were very generous to us and we cannot praise them enough in
their help and understanding at this difficult time. Hardships were not
only felt by us in the Camp but by the whole country as food rationing was
still on and morale was fragile after a devastating period of war and
deprivation. |
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There was a pre school nursery run by experienced teachers and helped by
mothers. Pictures show us sitting in a group enjoying the sunny weather
with two helpers (1950). This was a magical time before we were
transported out to our Primary Schools by bus which picked us up and dropped us
off just inside the Camp. I went to Elstead C of E with my sister, others
to Churt and some closer still to Thursley. Arriving at school on the
first day was a major shock not only to us children but our parents and
teachers also. We were unable to speak or understand English. Without any
preferential treatment or special teaching we managed to progress with our
studies and make steady progress in our education. We mixed well with all
the children and soon made friends with local families. |
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The picture represents the end
of the school year on the 29th August 1954. |
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A get together of the pre
school group about 1950. I am in front of the lady on the left. |
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On Saturday mornings we attended school in the camp where we continued our
education but this time in the Polish Language. This continued to give us
sound grounding in our first language and I certainly enjoyed the extra
challenge. Photographs show us in a group pose with Father Bystry and the
Teachers (1954 end of term photo.) |
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Summer weekends included walking to Thursley and watching the local
cricket team playing a game which was spell binding and produced local
heroes like the village policeman, Dick Green. He was a superb batsman and
became a legend in his own lifetime. Ironically, years later, I played for Thursley at a time when they had huge success which has not been repeated
to date. In the years 1970/71/72 the club won the local I Anson League
(previously won in 1924) and it was then that I moved away to further my
cricketing career. A further coincidence was my continued friendship with
Dick Green and his family. I joined the Surrey Police in 1965 and by then
Dick Green had moved and was stationed in Guildford with the C.I.D.
department. We remain in contact with the Greens to this day. |
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September 1951. My Mum and Dad
with the twins, me and my sister Maria |
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My father with me and my sister
Maria |
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One could argue that this chapter describes a hard and basic lifestyle.
This indeed may be true but the sense of solidarity and social cohesion
that existed in the camp made our childhood idyllic and trouble free.
As youngsters we had the freedom of the surrounding spectacular War
Department (WD) land. We would sneak over to the Dropping Zone and watch
parachute training from a giant balloon and then the real thing as planes
flew above us and deposited scores of parachute jumpers into the vast
valley below. It was like watching an epic war film and very exciting as
we had to stay low and hidden so as not to be caught by the authorities.
Just walking across the road from the main entrance to the camp would find
us in deep bracken and pine forest. On one occasion a whole regiment of
camouflaged faces appeared around us. We were frozen scared but luckily
they ignored us and continued with their manoeuvres |
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JUST A FEW OF MY CHILDHOOD FRIENDS |
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My sister Maria on the right. Boy
in the middle is a young Zaręba
playing with water from one of the outside taps. |
1952. L/R Urszula and Alex Czepil,
,? Poremba and
Władysław Wilowski |
1952 me on the right with Jurek
Jopek and Leszek Chruszczec |
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The same woods would provide us with the well known "polish mushrooms" and
every camp family had their special place which would guarantee a bumper
harvest. It all boiled down to the earliest riser would get the best
chance of filling their basket to the brim and leaving the later foragers
disappointed. September was the start of the mushroom season but very much
depended on the weather |
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In the Mid 50s the Camp began to empty as families left for overseas
adventures, some moved to London and others to local towns. We had
tickets and were ready to sail from Southampton to America when at the
last moment my parents decided not to go. The Camp became a soulless place
but we children found more areas of interest to play and hide. The Camp
was falling into dereliction and we were one of the last families to leave
in Nov 1957. |
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My heart remains in the Thursley area and I visit the Camp regularly.
Driving past the Camp the water tower still stands out as a landmark to my
early years spent innocently wrapped up in a magical world.
In November 1957 we received a
council house in the village of Elstead, approx
3 miles from the Camp, where my mother lived until she passed away on the 18th April 2011. |
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Thank you to Piotr for supplying the
information and photos. View more of his photos on.
http://www.tweedsmuirpolishcamp.co.uk |
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