Reference
Z1500
Title
Papers of Polish immigrant and World War Two veteran Jan Ciesielski.
Date free text
c.1910s-1990s
Production date
From: 1910 To: 1992
Admin/biog history
Jan Ciesielski was a Polish immigrant born 14 December 1919 in Nowosielce Poland. He married his wife, Marianna Marzeda, in 1941. In 1942 he was in Mosul, Iraq and had joined the Polish Armed Forces, led by the British. He was likely part of the Polish migration movement to Iran, with tens of thousands of Polish soldiers moving on to Iraq and Palestine. He fought in the Italian campaign as a private in the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division of the Polish Armed Forces. In 1944 he was involved in the Battle of Monte Cassino. By 1947 Ciesielski was living in Bedford as a reserve of the Polish Army, and working as a brick maker. He had been placed in Bedford by the British government as part of their effort to relocate Polish soldiers. It is likely that in 1969 he returned to Italy, as a tourist to visit where he had fought. He died in January of 1997.
Archival history
Jan Ciesielski had no known relatives thus the papers were in the possession of Father Edward Grudniuski, the Polish priest at the church of Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Cuthbert. After his death they came to Mrs. Ewa Allan, who donated them to the Bedford Borough Archives.
Loan status
TOCATawaiting cataloguing
Level of description
fonds
Persons/institution keyword
Keywords