Czeslaw Pukacz

Czeslaw was born to Stanislaw and Katarzyna (née Rzonca) on 11 July 1924 in the military settlement of Osada Krechowiecka, Równe District, in Wolyn. There were eight children in the family: Czeslaw, Stanislawa, Wladyslawa, Apolonia, Ryszard, Leon, Leokadia and Helena. The two youngest children died in infancy.

The first school years were in the private home of the Bieniów family. Once the Community Centre was built, the school was set up, as well as a library, a shop, a dairy, a post room with a telephone, a bank, a co-op store, and a grain store. A big success on the settlement was the building through the Red Cross of a health centre, which housed a medical consulting room with a dental surgery, and a clinic for mothers and children. The crowning achievement was the building of a church in 1937 in Karlowszczyzna together with neighbouring settlements of Hallerowo, Jazłowiecka and Bajonówka. Czeslaw became an altar-boy and also belonged to the scouts.

The Germans invaded Poland from the west on 1 September 1939, and the Russians invaded from the east on 17 September 1939. They divided Poland between them. In the Russian-controlled area, the plan to ethnically-cleanse the area soon took effect with the first of four mass deportations to Siberia that were carried out in 1940 and 1941.

The Pukacz family was deported in freight wagons in on 10 February 1940 to the forced labour camp at Monastyriok in the forests of Archangelsk, Siberia. There, together with his father, Czeslaw felled trees.

In June 1941, Germany turned on its ally, Russia. Stalin then quickly changed tactics and allied himself with the west so that the allies could help him defeat the Germans. This led to the signing of the Sikorski-Majewski agreement that called for the freeing of Poles imprisoned in POW camps and labour camps in the USSR, and the formation of a Polish Army in the southern USSR.

The news of this ‘amnesty’ did not reach every camp, but where it did become known, the men and boys soon made plans to make their way south to join the army. For most, this meant walking thousands of kilometers and only occasionally getting on a train for part of the journey. Many did not make it, and those who did were emaciated skeletons by the time they got there.

The family made their way south to Uzbekistan. Ryszard died of starvation and weakness on the way. Czeslaw’s father died in 1942 in the Fergana Kirgizka collective farm.

In February 1942 Czeslaw enlisted with the Polish Army which was being formed by General Anders, and evacuated to Persia, then trained in Iraq and Palestine, before being transferred to Scotland where he joined General Maczek’s 1st Polish Armoured Division. With the Division, he took part in the European Campaign through France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He then spent 2 years with the occupation forces in Germany.

In 1947, Czeslaw returned to the UK and met Wanda Ginter in the Codford Camp near Worminster. They married on 14 February 1948. Following demobilization on 9 August 1948 they settled in Huddersfield where he reunited with his mother and siblings whom he had not seen since their separation in the USSR in 1942. At the same time as working in the textile industry, he studied at college in the evenings. Once he finished his studies, he was employed in the Pottery industry as a credit controller. He worked there until his retirement in 1987. Wanda died an untimely death in 1995.

Czeslaw was a member of the Polish Institute of Catholic Action, a member of the Polish Combatants Association, a member of the Association of the 1st Armoured Division, president of the Union of Pensioners, as well as many times the President, Vice-President and Treasurer of OROK (the Association of Military Settlers of Kresy) and a delegate of the Polish Government-in-Exile in London.

The seeds of his love of the scouts and scouting were sown in his young years and they re-emerged in 1970. He became secretary of the Wilno troop, followed by Commander of the scout troop, and then the official in charge of training the senior scouts. Czeslaw dedicated much effort and work to the purchase and repair of the Fenton Scout Camp and managed it for many years.

Czeslaw was awarded:

Polish military medals:

the Cross of Valour
the 1st Armoured Division Cross
the Military Cross of the Polish armed forces in the West
the Polish Army medal 1939-1945

British military medals:
- the Star of France & Germany
- the 1939-1945 Defense medal

Other Polish medals:

the Officer’s Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland
the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland
the Silver and Gold Order of Merit
the Cross of the Polish Combatants’ Association
the Siberian Survivor’s Cross
the Eastern Borderlands’ Heritage Medal
the Order of Merit of the Polish Catholic Mission

Czeslaw passed away on 7 October 2015 at the age of 91 years.