ARTICLE: A Polish Hero, Normandy 1944

His name was Wojciech Władysław Marian Księżycki, and he was born in Lublin, Poland, on 8th September, 1921. Last week, I had the honour of taking his son, Jacek, on a pilgrimage to Normandy to follow in his footsteps. I’d asked him if I could share with you the story of a young Pole who slogged his way through the Second World War and never gave up, but then we found a way to go one better. On Sunday, we took Jacek to the exact spot in the Falaise Pocket where his father fought in August 1944, and Jacek read a tribute to him. I can’t find words any better than his, and so with his permission, here they are…

“I want to take a moment to reflect on why I’m here, and why this place, this history, and this remembrance matters so much to me.

My father fought in the 1st Polish Armoured Division, 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, in the 24th Lancers Regiment. He landed in Normandy on D+23, attached to the 1st Canadian Army Group, and fought through some of the toughest battles of the war — including the closing of the Falaise Gap.

But his war began long before that…