User:NomenNescio14/Zbigniew Mieczkowski

Zbigniew Mieczkowski (born June 22 in Dzierżanów, died December 19, 2022 in London) - soldier of General Maczek's 1st Division, Polish activist on exile.

Zbigniew Mieczkowski was born on June 22, 1922 in Dzierżanow, a village near Plock. He came from a landowning family. He was the son of Stefan Mieczkowski and Helena (maiden name: Chamska). Initially he attended the Jan Zamoyski Gymnasium in Warsaw, and then the Jan Długosz Gymnasium in Włocławek.

World War II
After the outbreak of World War II, he joined the Polish Army as a driver. After the fall of Poland in the September Campaign, he travelled to France through Romania, where he joined the Polish Army in November 1939 and was assigned to the Armored Weapons Officer Cadet School. After the German attack on France, Zbigniew Mieczkowski moved to the United Kingdom. In Scotland, he graduated from the Armored Weapons Officer Cadet School and J. Slowacki High School in Glasgow, where he matriculated. He joined General Maczek's 1st Armored Division and took part in the invasion of Normandy in August 1944, fighting in, among other, the Battle of Falaise. Together with the 2nd Armored Regiment, he walked the entire route of the 1st Division through northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands until the capture of the Wilhelmshaven base in May 1945. He was promoted to second lieutenant in December 1944. He served as a tank platoon leader and adjutant to the commander of the 2nd Armored Regiment. After the end of hostilities, he was stationed in Germany for two more years.

Life on exile
In March 1947, he returned to Britain, where he worked as a salesman. He married an Englishwoman named Caroline Grenfell, with whom he had two children, Stefan and Helena. The couple never accepted the fact that the Communists had occupied Poland. They believed that the Soviets were no less determined than the Germans to wipe out Polish culture and heritage. His family's pre-war property was seized by the communist authorities. Mieczkowski was an active activist centered around many Polish émigré institutions, including: a member of the Council of the Polish Institute and the General Sikorski Museum, where he was involved in the affairs of the Polish Library in London and the Polish Outpost. Despite his emigration remoteness, he remained connected to Polish affairs, often visiting the homeland and his native land. In Poland, he established a foundation commemorating the 1st Armored Division. He also chaired committees that built monuments in Duns, Scotland (to the Armored Regiments) and in Warsaw (to the 1st Armored Division). He participated in many domestic and émigré ventures aimed at preserving the memory of Polish formations fighting in the West. He wrote and supported publications on Polish gentry. He also published an autobiographical book, "Horizons of Memories".

He died on December 19, 2022, and his funeral was held at Sacred Heart Church in Henley on Thames on January 9, 2023.

Orders
Cross of Valor and wartime Allied decorations, Commanderie Polonia Restituta, Belgian Order of Leopold, French Legion of Honor.