Antoni was born in Poland and served in the Polish Army before WW2. He fought in the September Campaign, then evacuated to Hungary. Antoni made his way to join the Polish Carpathian Brigade in Syria. From there he participated in the Battle of Tobruk.

 

In 1942 the Polish Carpathian Brigade joined the Polish 2nd Corps in Iraq. Antoni served in Iraq, Palestine, and Egypt, before sailing to Italy in December 1943. There he fought in all the battles of the Italian Campaign, including Monte Cassino.

 

When the war ended, Poland had been taken over by the Communists, so Antoni had no country to return to. He emigrated to Canada on a two-year work contract. In November 1946, he boarded the SS Sea Snipe in Naples with 1200 Polish soldiers. They arrived at Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia on 24 November 1946, where they boarded a train bound for Lethbridge, Alberta.

 

From Lethbridge, the soldiers were sent to work on different farms in Alberta. Each had to sign a contract with a farmer, clearly stating that the veteran was to be treated as the farmer’s family member, receive no less than $45 a month, and be allowed every other Sunday free of work.

 

There were farmers who exploited the veterans and took advantage of their very limited knowledge of English. Antoni signed on with Mr. Perry who had a farm 6 miles from Lethbridge. He accommodated Antoni far from his house in a shack which had one small window, many slits filled with rags, and was infested by mice. There was one small stove to heat the shack and a bucket of water that froze every night.

 

This was a 14-cow dairy farm. Antoni had to clean the manure from the stable every morning at 5:00 a.m., then milk the cows by hand, feed the cows, and then come for breakfast. He then had to water the cattle in a nearby stream, catch the 2 horses which were set loose in the fields, and take the manure out to the field. After lunch he had to brush the cattle and prepare feed for the next day.  Then he had to milk the cows again, and have his supper at 8:00 p.m. The meals were very modest and Antoni was frequently hungry.

 

Returning to the shack, Antoni would light the stove and then went to bed. Winter temperatures would drop as low as -40 degrees, so the shack was always cold. Contrary to the contract, Mr. Perry did not give Antoni every 2nd Sunday off.

 

In March of 1947, Antoni was chopping ice on the stream to feed the cattle and fell through the hole into the water. By the time he returned to his shack, he was covered in solid ice. Mr. Perry saw this but did not react. Antoni ended up with a high fever, could not work, and was barely able to light the stove in his shack. He stayed in bed. Mr. Perry came to see what happened to him but did not even bring him any food.

 

Antoni realized that he couldn’t work like this for a year and he told Mr. Perry that he wanted to see an official in charge of Veterans’ Affairs. Several days later two men arrived: one was an official and another was a Ukrainian interpreter. Antoni told them he wanted to change employers. The official told him to wait a few days and left.

 

After 2 days Mr. Perry took Antoni back to Lethbridge with all his meagre belongings.

In Lethbridge the manager of the employment office was very kind to Antoni and told him to rest for a couple of days and they would find him a good job.

​

In Lethbridge, Antoni met the secretary of the newly-created Polish Combatants Society, branch number 19. A society of Polish Veterans (SPK) was being formed in various cities across Canada.  Antoni joined and became active in the SPK for many years.

 

Antoni got a job working in a coal mine, where he made $80 biweekly. He worked from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm and soon found a second job in a vegetable processing plant where he worked from 6:00 pm until midnight. It was exhausting but he wanted to save some money to buy a farm.

 

In late 1950, when he had saved $700, he bought a 640-acre arm from the Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs near Colinton, Alberta, 16 miles from Athabasca. They allowed Polish veterans to buy or rent farms and start out on their own. The farm cost $5,500 and was mortgaged for 20 years. It had 100 acres of cultivated land, and the rest was forest and meadows. The buildings were in good condition but had no electricity. The farm was four miles from any shops or post office, and neighbors were a mile away.

 

The land was unsuitable for growing wheat but good for cattle. Antoni worked alone with 40 head of cattle.  A year later he bought an adjacent 320 acres of land from the provincial government. He bought some used machinery but initially had trouble operating it. In 1962 he rented a bulldozer and cleared another 60 acres to grow wheat. He hunted partridges and picked buckets of berries and kept busy with his cows, calves, 2 horses, 2 dogs, bees, and pigeons.

 

Polish families who had arrived here in earlier years lived 16 miles away lived. Antoni joined the local Roman Catholic Church where he played the organ. The church was English, but Antoni played and sang Polish music.

 

In 1964, he sold his farm and moved to Redwater, an hour from Edmonton. He had a good job in the city but continued to be drawn to farming. He bought another farm near Opal from a Polish pioneer named Jan Taras.

 

Antoni eventually married, had children, and retired. In 1980 he received recognition from the province of Alberta. The Diploma read …“Nurtured by the initiative and hard work of early pioneers, Alberta was molded into the great province that it is today. As Albertans, we are deeply indebted and appreciative of the courage and achievements displayed by our forefathers. We take this occasion to express our gratitude to Antoni Turbiarz in recognition of your contribution to Alberta’s heritage of pride “

 

 

​

Source: Canadian Polish Historical Society of Edmonton, Alberta website https://www.cphsalberta.com and is repeated here with their permission. 

​

​

Copyright: Turbiarz family

​

​