Jan Stepek

Polish Navy

Growing up in Maczkowce in Poland’s Eastern Borderlands Janek and his sister Danka were very close as children. Danka later recalled two incidents which are inexplicable: In the winter of late 1938 Jan was 16 years old and boarding at an agricultural college in Bojanowo, in the far west of Poland. He received a letter from his mother Janina saying that his father was seriously ill and would have to spend Christmas in hospital. Christmas would be a downbeat and worried time for the family at home, so Janina told Janek to stay at Bojanowo through the holiday period and enjoy Christmas with his friends from that area. In the few days leading up to Christmas Danka fell ill too and was quite feverish on and off.

Christmas Eve was a gloomy affair at the Stępek home. Their father is in hospital, Jan is far away in Bojanowo, Danka is in bed with a fever. Then Danka started to say something, so Janina went to her. Danka said “Jan is at the train station. He’s waiting for one of the farmhands to give him a lift with his luggage.” Janina soothed Danka flushed fevered face and reminded her “Janek is at college Danka. He’s not coming home this winter.” Still Danka persisted. Then someone came in the door. It was one of the neighbouring farmers. He said, “Your boy Jan is at the station looking for help to get home.” Jan had decided in his youthful wisdom that with his father seriously ill, and knowing war was brewing in Europe, his place was at home. Later that evening, with Jan settled back at home the front door opened again. There stood their father Władysław, pale and ill-looking. “I’ve discharged myself and got a lift home. If I’m going to die I want us all to be together at Christmas.”

As it turned out this was the last Christmas they spent together as a whole family. Following the Soviet invasion of Eastern Poland on 17th September 1939, Jan and his family were deported to Siberia. Following the “amnesty”, he escaped with the Polish Army under General Anders and then enlisted in the Polish Navy….

On the night of 5th June 1944 Danka woke up from her sleep in her Polish dormitory in Rehovets, Palestine (where she was a refugee also having escaped from exile in the USSR) with a panic and fear. She thought “Janek is in trouble. He’s facing grave danger.” She couldn’t explain her feeling nor had she had such a strong inexplicable feeling since the incident of Christmas Eve. This was the night that the Polish Navy set sail with their Allied colleagues from England to Normandy for the D Day landings.

Everyone knew an invasion of western Europe was imminent, but no one knew the date as it, and the invasion place, were of such strategic importance to the outcome of the war that it was totally secret.

From January to March 1944, ORP Krakowiak, on which Able-bodied Seaman Janek Stepek was serving, and ORP Śłazak, were deployed in the central Mediterranean on convoy defence and patrol, based in Malta.

From the end of December 1943 these two Polish destroyers took part in the escort of the troopships carrying the Polish 2nd Corps from North Africa & Egypt to Italy. These 60,000 strong corps, consisting of two infantry divisions and an armoured brigade, comprised some of the over one hundred thousand Poles released by the Soviets in 1941 from their Gulags. Elements of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division began landing at Taranto on 21st December 1943. Some of the troops sailed on board the Polish M/S Batory, escorted by the Polish destroyers and also submarines. The transfer of all Polish units from Egypt and the Middle East continued until the middle of April 1944. These troops landed at the Italian ports of Taranto, Bari and Naples which had been captured by the Allies.

Janek Stepek recalled that in Bari the food was lovely. One night in Bari the air raid sirens sounded; a German air force attack which destroyed the whole port. Janek was shaking on deck. He said it was cold but a fellow Polish sailor said it wasn’t cold – it was fear. ORP Krakowiak left port as quickly as possible, as the port was already burning. Janek also recalled that the ship’s crew were only Poles, but they never discussed what had happened to them in Poland. However, emotions showed every time the national anthem was played. This broke through the barriers to emotion.

“From the middle of December 1943, until May 1944, Polish soldiers were sent by truck to ports in Alexandria, Port Said and Suez, where they boarded transport ships bound for the Southern Italian ports of Taranto, Bari, Brindisi and Naples.

The privilege of being the first unit to reach Italian soil was given to the 3rd Carpathian Division of Carpathian Rifles, which included many veterans of the Independent Carpathian Brigade, who fought at Tobruk. The Division landed at Taranto on December 21st, preceded only by a detachment of Polish Commandos. It was followed by the Corps Headquarters, the 5th Infantry Division and the newly formed 2nd Armoured Brigade, which arrived successively between January and May. General Anders arrived on February 6th, with the first detachment of the 5th Infantry Division. The sea journey from Egypt to Italy was uneventful as the Allied navy and air forces had full control over the Eastern Mediterranean and the risk of a submarine or air attack was almost non-existent. The soldiers celebrated Christmas, even though many found it strange to do so aboard a ship. For those who were religious it was symbolic that they had arrived in Iran at Eastern and left Palestine for Egypt and Italy at Christmas time.

Those soldiers who had come from the USSR could not help comparing their trip across the Mediterranean with their crossing of the Caspian Sea, in 1942. They were now moving as an army and not as a group of refugees and there were no women and children aboard (apart from the nurses and ATS). All non-combatants had been left behind, in schools, hospitals and shelters in Palestine and Egypt. Leaving loved ones behind in Palestine was a lot different than leaving them in the Soviet Union…

Veterans who had served in the Carpathian Brigade and had not been in Russia had a different experience in their earlier sea travel. The last time they boarded transport ships in Egypt their destination was Greece, but at sea the ships changed course and headed for Libya, as Greece had fallen to the Nazis.”

Naval support for D-Day invasion of France, 6th June

In March 1944 Jan was transferred from ORP Krakowiak to ORP Śłazak because of a shortage of radar operators, and the crew prepared for the invasion for a few weeks in Portsmouth. Radar was useful to spot airplanes but nearer the shore it became ineffective.

Operation Neptune was the name for allied naval support for Operation Overlord, the invasion of France. Both Jan’s previous ship, the Krakowiak, and the Śłazak took part. During Operation Neptune OPR Śłazak attacked the enemy shore batteries, fighting with MTB’s, aircraft, and supporting landing crafts by gunfire.

The ship left over night to Normandy, first in line, leading the ships with the landing crafts. About 6am on 6th June the Śłazak, Commanding Officer, R. Tymiński, in the sector S/Sword, which was with landing crafts, opened fire against the first lines of German shore defences together with British destroyers. Ahead of the landing crafts were motor barges with 127 mm rockets shelling the beaches from short distances.

Thanks to the artillery support of Śłazak in this sector the Germans were forced to withdraw and the C.O. of the Canadian Marines ashore sent a signal to the Polish ship: ‘I think you saved our bacon. Thank You. Stand by to do it again.’

That afternoon Śłazak received another message of appreciation for effective fire against the German defenders: ‘Śłazak – fine work!’ For the next two days Śłazak and Krakowiak supported with artillery fire the Allied troops ashore instructed by air and land observers who were correcting shell accuracy by radio signals.