Description

Captain Bączkowski's extraordinary memoirs, those of a young Polish cavalry officer, covers his life story from childhood to his great wish of becoming a cavalry officer being fulfilled a few years before the outbreak of World War 2. His idyllic life was shattered by the German invasion on 1st September 1939. The crux of the memoirs are his wartime experiences during the Polish 1939 Campaign when he commanded a bicycle platoon in the 19th Lancers Regiment, taking part in the well-known Battle of Mokra when the Volhynian Cavalry Brigade held up a German Panzer Division. Following the fall of Poland, he escaped across the mountains into Hungary from whence to France to join the reforming Polish Army. After the collapse of France, he was evacuated with the remnants of the Polish Army to Britain to continue the fight against Nazi Germany. He saw service in Scotland and then joined the British Army in West Africa as part of a scheme where 400 Polish officers received short time commissions in the British Army. On his return to the Polish Army he was posted to the 1st Armoured Division and took part in the North West Europe Campaign. His story ends with his decision to remain in exile after the Soviet takeover of Poland in 1945, service with the Polish Resettlement Corps and first tentative steps in creating a new life in London. His love of horses forms a continuous theme throughout his life.