Tadeusz Casimir Siomkajlo was born on 30 January 1918 in the Pawlikowka settlement near Kalusz, in Stanislawow province. The family eventually moved from Boryslaw to Sielec, near Jezupol.

 

When the Russians invaded Poland in 1939, Tadeusz and his sister Eugenia escaped Poland in order to avoid being forcibly conscripted into the Russian army. They made their way on foot to Hungary, where they were interned in separate camps. Tadeusz later escaped and, along with a number of fellow Poles, he made his way to France to join the Polish Army that was being reconstituted there.

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When France capitulated, Tadeusz made his way to the coast and was evacuated to the UK as part of the Dunkirk evacuation. He then joined the 1st Polish Armoured Division, and trained with them in Scotland. In 1944, the Division crossed to France and joined the fight against the Germans. Tadeusz served with the Division throughout the European Campaign, then served 2 years in Meppen, Germany as part of the occupying forces, before returning to the UK, where he eventually settled.