Marian Tomaszewski

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Colonel
Marian Bronisław Tomaszewski
Marian Bronisław Tomaszewski Cassino, Italy 2011
Born13 August 1922
Przemyśl, Poland
Died5 June 2020 (aged 97)
Bury, England
AllegianceSecond Polish Republic, Polish government-in-exile
Service/branchArmour
RankColonel (Retd)
Unit
Battles/wars
AwardsCommandrr's Cross of Polonia Restituta Cross of Valour, 2 times Cross of Merit (I Class with Swords) Silver Cross of Merit Cross of Monte Cassino (Poland)

Marian Bronisław Tomaszewski (13 August 1922 – 5 June 2020) was a Polish

Palace of Pławowice
at the turn of the millennium.

Second World War

Marian Bronisław Tomaszewski as a Lieutenant

Tomaszewski lived in the Winna Góra villa district of

Second World War in September 1939, Tomaszewski was only 17 years old and ineligible for active military duty. However, he persuaded the recruiting officer to accept his enlistment and he served in an artillery battery until the end of fighting on 6 October. Due to his leadership role in Scouting, the Gestapo issued a warrant for Tomaszewski's immediate arrest, obliging him to escape into Soviet controlled Przemyśl by crossing the river San
under cover of darkness.

Unknown to him, a similar warrant had been issued by the Soviet secret police, the

Persia, Iraq, Palestine and Egypt. Later, in an ad-hoc multinational regiment, he participated in the disarming of Vichy
troops stationed in Syrian forts as his first assignment.

classicist Pławowice
palace in 2007
Marian Bronisław Tomaszewski (top middle) with tank crew, Italy

In 1941 Tomaszewski was assigned to the 6th Armoured Regiment "Children of Lwów", which at the time was still a Reconnaissance Battalion formed and designated for special duties, as an independent unit.

Second Battle of Tobruk and was evacuated by sea under Stuka
bombardment before its fall. He was one of the few Poles to have been both captive in the Soviet Union and to have seen action in North Africa, for which he received the Africa star. He went on to complete his radio training in Egypt and rejoined his unit, the bulk of which left the Soviet Union in Autumn 1942, now in Iraq. By the end of 1942 the 6th Reconnaissance Battalion was transformed into the 6th Armoured Regiment and Tomaszewski now retrained as a tank commander.

In 1944 he was engaged in the bloody

Italian Campaign
in 1945.

Marian Bronisław Tomaszewski with Sherman "Piedimonte", Italy

Post-war

After the end of the Second World War, Poland fell behind the Soviet

Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh. He founded the Bury Polish Circle and remained an active member of the Polonia community. He died in Bury, England in June 2020 at the age of 97.[3]

Palace of Pławowice

Colonel Marian Bronisław Tomaszewski was the owner of the Palace of Pławowice. In 2004 he and his daughter Maria organised and funded the Third Reunion of Poets [3] in order to revive the literary and scholarly traditions dating back to the Morstin era. Despite the desperate state of the palace and the heinous damage caused to the building by years of communist era neglect, the Tomaszewski family have undertaken costly steps to secure fragile sections of the building and they plan to renovate the whole palace. Tomaszewski was quoted in the Dziennik Polski (a Polish language newspaper published in Britain) of 9 June 2007 as describing the palace's role not only as the family seat but also as an important place of Polish cultural heritage for the general public.[4]

Honours and awards

References

  1. ^ Waldemar Handke, Semper Fidelis. Dzieje Pułku 6 Pancernego "Dzieci Lwowskich", Leszno 2006
  2. ISBN 83-11-07651-0
    .
  3. ^ Zmarł płk Marian Tomaszewski. Walczył pod Monte Cassino
  4. ^ @PLinManchester (2 June 2018). "Consul Rowicki decorated lt.col. Marian Tomaszewski, Polish #WW2 hero, patriot and activist from #Bury with the 2nd…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ Sikorski Institute Archives (London)
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