Karol Czapka was born on 4 October 1915, in Czarna, Poland.

 

When the war broke out in Poland, he was mobilized, and he fought in the September Campaign. Then he evacuated to Romania and made his way to France to join the Polish Army. When France fell, he evacuated to the UK and made his way to Scotland where he joined the 1st Polish Armoured Division. He was a Corporal in the 2nd Motorized Artillery Regiment of the 1st Polish Armoured Division.

 

The artillery was much used to eliminate obstacles on their march across Europe. That happened in the night of 28 to 29 October in Ginneken.

 

An eyewitness reported:

"The severity of the shooting increased. Around 2 am the worst of the fighting happened, and continued to increase, shooting grenades with a sizzling sound over our roof in order to move further down. We hid in the small basement with fifteen people. One shell  hit our home and it seemed like everything fell apart. The light was immediately turned off. We were in complete darkness".

 

This was the work of the 2nd motorized Artillery Regiment. They shot with 24 canons from Bavel towards Ginneken. These heavy shootings might have been the result of the heavy opposition that the 9th Infantry Battalion experienced at their night attack.  Three people were killed in this battle and 17 were injured on the Polish side.

 

Karol settled in Breda after the war and married Engelina Adriana Maria Poppelaars in May 1946. He passed away on 17 July 1995 in Breda.

​

​

​

Source: 1st Polish Armoured Division Facebook post

​

​