Marian Slowinski

Marian was born on 8 May 1919, in Inowrocław as the oldest of 5 children. His father, Antoni, worked in the salt mine in Inowrocław, he was also the conductor of the mining brass orchestra. His mother, Waleria (nee Borowiak) was a history teacher and an educator at the Inowrocław school.

Marian spent his childhood in Inowrocław, where he graduated from Grade School and Middle School. From 1934 to 1937 he attended the Military Cadet School no 1 in Konin. Until the first days of September 1939, he served in the 8th Company of the 67th Infantry Regiment in Brodnica,

When the war broke out, he fought on the border of East Prussia. During the fighting, in mid-September 1939, he was appointed to the position of instructor in the 167th Reserve Infantry Regiment in Rzeszów. He evacuated to Hungary with this regiment. Until April 1940 he was in a Hungarian internment camp in Érsekújvár.

He escaped to France, where he was assigned to the Polish army and underwent anti-tank training. His unit, under French command, was deployed to the battles at Verdun.

After losing the French 1940 Campaign, Marian evacuated to Great Britain on a Polish warship. Until 1944 he was stationed at Liverpool, Crawford and Dundee, serving in the 65th Tank Battalion, later incorporated into the 1st Armoured Regiment of the 1st Polish Armoured Division under General Maczek.

He took part in the Normandy landing, in the fighting on the Chambois-Falaise line, at Mont Ormel in August 1944, in the liberation of Belgium and the Netherlands. First, he was a tank commander, then he became a tank crew member of the commander of the 1st Armoured Regiment. The battle trail with the Division ended near Wilhelmshaven in Germany. After the war, he was stationed in Hanover as part of the occupation forces until 1947.

In 1947 he returned to Inowrocław in Poland, and in 1949 he moved to Warsaw in search of a job. From 1959 he worked at the Canadian Embassy, first as a driver, then as the head of the administrative department. He retired in 1984.

He actively worked in many veteran associations, gathering former soldiers of the 1st Polish Armored Division of General Maczek. He lived in Warsaw with his wife Józefa, whom he married in 1971.

He died on 2 June 2020 at the age of 101.

He was awarded the following medals:

The 1939 Defence Medal
The 1939-1945 War Medal
The France-Germany Star
The Pro Patria Medal
The Combat Memorial Cross