In 1945, after my friend Mikołajczyk left for Poland, there was very little left for me to do in our London office. When my major asked me about my long-term plans I told him that I would like to go back to Scotland to a much quieter life. Although I had found the work in the liaison office interesting, I was tired of the London way of life and I had never felt truly happy living there. I knew I was not a city person, and I missed the peace of the countryside. In addition, the rise of anti-Polish sentiment was affecting the way I saw England. The constant haranguing by the press and the abuse on the street had become upsetting. We Poles felt that we had gone from ally to enemy overnight. We were not wanted, and the Soviets must have been rubbing their hands in glee. They had got their way because no one had the courage to stand up to Stalin.

 

Our offices were to be shut down, and our buildings were to be handed over to the British Government. So, after clearing out all the papers and closing the office, I was ready to leave London for Scotland and so I did on the 15 August 1945.

 

I rejoined my old unit as Adjutant. By this time, it was based at the Centre for Infantry Training in Crieff, Perthshire. The unit was occupying the Crieff Hydro Hotel, which dominated the town, with a very impressive view. The town of Crieff, which was noted for its spa atmosphere in the past, is beautifully situated at the foot of the Highlands. Its surroundings are very picturesque and has the character of a Highland town. There is even a lot of hilly walking in the town.

 

I was very glad to see most of my old friends again and they helped to settle me into the new place. I was able to get lodgings in the town quite easily thanks to my friends and I was quickly introduced to the social life in Crieff. I had the feeling that I had come home. It was a relief not to have to be on my guard about what I said, who I spoke to, whom I met and where I went. I was myself again and could go wherever I wanted and relax among the surroundings and the company in which I lived. In addition, it was summer, and the weather was good and that contributed a lot to enjoyment of my spare time.

 

The army was now at the stage of discharging men and there was not much to do. Generally, there was a despondent atmosphere among the Poles. The Press was still encouraging us all to go back to Poland. On the other hand, the news which was coming out of Poland was not just discouraging, but frightening. The Polish Provisional Government spread very unfriendly news in Great Britain accusing the Officer Corps of the Polish Army in Great Britain of fascism and warmongering. It was clearly an indication that every officer who returned to Poland was going to have to pass through thorough investigation. This alarmed us and not without cause. Threats of heavy consequences were mentioned.  Only soldiers without rank and non-commissioned officers were free from any criticism.

 

In Britain, ‘Matters came to a head in March 1946, when the British Government decided unilaterally that the Polish Armed Forces had to be disbanded. … The Foreign Secretary announced that he was to issue a statement, and that the Polish servicemen would be urged to return to Poland.’[i]

 

However, although we wanted nothing more than to return home, because of the rumours that were coming out of Poland we were reluctant to volunteer. Some managed to get messages to their families or friends, but more often than not, they waited in vain for a reply.

 

So it was that ‘Even before the war had ended, most of the Polish armed forces in the west knew they could never return home.   …’Guys [Polish soldiers] from the west that came in from Polish Army, they never heard from [them]’.[ii] In fact, ‘Those who had served in Polish forces abroad and returned to offer their services to the new state were mostly shot’.[iii]

 

By 1946, it had become apparent that Poland had exchanged one tyrant for another. “‘The former German concentration camp at Oswięcim, whose name to any Pole is synonymous with horror, is operating again under Polish auspices, and its wire fences have been charged with electricity.’ Small wonder, therefore, if the majority of the Polish troops outside Poland prefer to stay in exile away from their land of heart’s desire, rather than return to it at present, in its sorry state of tragedy and ruthless oppression!’[iv]

 

 

It is a big task to organise mobilisation of the army in the case of an outbreak of war. It is an even bigger task and much more complicated to discharge the army back into civilian life. The majority who had been called up to serve in the army were young men who had no professions. Efforts had to be made to retrain them so that they could re-enter civilian life. It was done in the British Army and the same efforts were encouraged by the British Government to do the same in the Polish Army. Therefore, various courses were planned and organised for this purpose.

 

In my unit an agricultural course was to be planned and its initial organisation was put into action a few months before my arrival in Crieff. There was quite a large number of private soldiers who had come from farming communities in Poland and it was expected that they would go back to their own profession in one or other form after they were discharged from the army. So unsurprisingly, it made sense to offer them something that was relevant.

 

I heard about this planned agriculture course one day from my friends and expressed my interest in it. I told them that I had worked in Poland in the educational department of agriculture and so obviously I had some experience in it. I did not go any further in these comments and in fact I forgot all about them. However, a few days later I was called to my new commanding officer for further questioning on the matter. After discussing the plans, I was asked if I would be willing to offer my help in the project. Since I was still wondering what I myself would do, this sounded like something I could help with so I said yes. I had it in my mind that I would assist the man in charge, an officer who, like me, was educated with a university degree and who was responsible for organising the course.  A few days later I was called again and asked to take over all the preparations of the course because the officer responsible for its organisation had asked to be relieved of his duties.  He had admitted that he had no experience in agricultural education and he had no idea how to run the course. So, I took over his duty. My colonel asked me how much time I would need to be ready to start and without thinking, I rashly said a fortnight. I did not think that he believed me, and I was not sure myself either, so I added that this was provided that I had help in preparing rooms ready for classes and teachers able to take over their subjects.

 

In order to run in this course, Jan first had to resign his Polish Army commission, which he did on September 10, 1946. He then immediately enlisted in the Polish Resettlement Corps on September 11, 1946.[v] At this point, having been given the King’s Commission, he was nominally in the British Army. His rank dropped from Lieutenant to 2nd Lieutenant, which was in common with other Polish servicemen and women in the same position. However, according to the Supplement to the Quarterly Army List specific to the Polish Resettlement Corps, published in August 1947, although Jan was a 2/Lt. he held the rank of local Lieutenant equivalent to his former Polish rank. He held this rank from 11 September 1946,[vi] and received British Army pay accordingly.

 

I took responsibility for the preparation of programme skeletons to be finished by the teachers according to the discussions on each subject. I was then shifted to Auchterarder where the school or course was to be run. This happened on 15 October 1945. Sadly, my holiday in Crieff had not lasted long. Hard work awaited me but I was surprised how easy it was for me to recollect all the programmes of the school in which I had taught for four years in Poland. I have to admit that thanks had to go to my commanding officer, Colonel Rziedzicki, who very energetically prepared all the conditions needed for the school and his speed in getting teachers so that I could concentrate on preparing the programme itself.

 

When the teachers arrived, I was ready to discuss all the details with them, give them their instructions, and push them to further preparation of material. To everyone’s surprise, probably mine most of all, the school started up on the date I had promised. Our farming programme served not only our school, but it was also accepted by the other schools of the same type and was used as a guide to adjust forest and gardening courses in the same way. It was adjusted to the fundamental knowledge of farming. It was timed to last for one year and included both theory and practice.

 

Enthusiasm among the teachers was huge and the atmosphere among the personnel and their teachers was very amicable. It was very relaxing to work with this course, to return to teach our own profession. We were doing something we loved in a place that was beautiful and we felt that at last something was going right. There were two classes of soldiers who also showed a keen interest in learning. The course lasted the year and it was a big success. The attendees at the course were subjected to exams at the end of the year and those who did pass received certificates showing they had completed and passed the course. My official position was as Head of the Polish College of Agriculture.

 

On April 1, 1947, there were General Farming Courses being run at Auchterarder, Strathallan in Perthshire. These ran from January 27, 1947, to 26 July and 26 September 1947. In total there were 55 pupils, with eight officers and four other ranks teaching.[vii]

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Meantime the events after the end of the war were developing quickly. The discharging of the army personnel continued, and the majority of soldiers both privates and noncommissioned officers declared their willingness to return home to Poland. It was a different story among the officers. With the threats coming out of Poland they were most reluctant to undertake a favourable decision. As far as I could judge, originally every one of us had believed in, and been determined to return to our home country, a free country.  Unfortunately, it did not happen.  The Yalta agreement had killed all those hopes and brought Great Britain the big task of solving the location problem of all those Poles who now decided not to go back to Poland.

 

I have to admit also that there was not a sign of pressure made on anyone to return. The choice was openly and freely left to each individual man to make.  My decision in that matter had been taken in London before I left for Scotland. I was strongly advised by my superiors against returning to Poland in the case of the deteriorating political situation there. Also, I was the junior officer of the staff working in the office in London. The office itself had been graded as high security and was located opposite the Russian Embassy, so every one of us was assumed to be well known and easily recognisable. We were told that the Soviets had been photographing anyone and everyone coming and going from the building and that our photographs were in the Soviet files. This was enough to persuade us that we could not return home.

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Earlier in March, Churchill had assured the House that there would be no pressure put on the Poles. ‘…I know from personal inquiries that there are a certain number of Poles who will be very unhappy and will not adapt themselves to the new conditions which may be established. In that event, this must be regarded as their final security. If everything else fails, here are open the portals of the British Empire.’[viii]

 

Later, in 1946 -1947, the situation in Poland had deteriorated to the extent that Mikołajczyk had to flee for his own safety. In these circumstances my decision was clearly made. To return to Poland probably meant death. To stay in Great Britain meant Scotland where I decided in my heart to stay. And so I did.

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By 1948, when my father left the army Stalinism had become the new norm and ‘…all contact between Poles at home and those abroad became very difficult to sustain. Indeed, during the Stalinist period, merely to have relatives living abroad (especially in England) became, per se, a highly suspect attribute in the eyes of the Communist authorities.’[ix]

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Because my father settled in the UK, my cousin Andrzej, who was in fact Jan’s godson, was told by his parents that he could never talk about his uncle in Scotland.  If he had, the Polish secret police could have arrested the family.  Jan told them on his 1984 visit that he had been strongly advised by the Polish Security Services not to return. He had been photographed coming and going to the Polish Embassy and his name was on a file.  He was told that if he returned he would be shot as a traitor to the cause – the cause of course being the Communist cause. [x]

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[i] Ciechanowski in Sword et.al. 1989, p.201

 

[ii] Koskodan 2009, p.244-245

 

[iii] Zamoyski, 1988, p.371

 

[iv] Murray 1946, p.186

 

[v] MOD CS(R) 2c. military service record of P/1922 Lieutenant (Infantry) Jan Walenty Walis

The PRC was formed in 1946 (Army Order 96 of 1946) and was disbanded after fulfilling its purpose in 1949 (Army Order 2 of 1950) TNA http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14519

 

[vi] TNA WO 315/28 p.29

 

[vii] Thanks to Robert Ostrycharz for this information.

 

[viii] HC Deb 14 March 1945 vol 409 cc224-5

 

[ix] Ciechanowski in Sword et.al. 1989, p.205

 

[x] Personal correspondence between Christine Bell and Andrzej Wallis, and from conversations between the late Jan Walis and Christine Bell (Walis).​​

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