Stanislaw was born to Jan and Rozalia on April 18, 1915, in Warsaw, Poland.  When WW2 broke out, he was on active duty as part of in the 1st Regiment of Air-Defence Heavy Artillery, stationed in Warsaw.

​

After the Russians invaded, he joined the rest of the army in evacuating through Hungary in the hopes of continuing the fight from outside Poland’s borders. He reached France, where he remained for about five months, until June 1940. The Germans were on the offensive, and bombs were exploding in the harbour as they were boarding a coal ship bound for Southampton.

​

From England they were transferred to the Middle East, arriving in Chabbaniya on May 8, 1942, just as others were arriving from Siberia. After training in the Middle East, he went through the entire Italian campaign as part of the Anti-aircraft Artillery and stayed in Italy until 1946, when they were transferred to Britain.

​

In 1947, Stanislaw emigrated to Canada on a 2-year work contract, and he worked on farms in Manitoba before settling in Winnipeg and working for the Canadian Pacific Railway. He joined the Sokół choir and at one of the rehearsals, in the fall of 1949, he met his future wife, Stefania. They were married in 1950 and raised two children.

​

Stanislaw passed away in Winnipeg on December 23, 2001, at the age of 86 years.

​

​

Copyright: Kociolek family

​