My Dad - The War Years
My dad was in the Polish brigade of the Red Army during the second world war. He was born in Lvov (AKA Lemberg) in 1923. At that time, Lvov was part of Poland. When war broke out in 1939, the authorities came to take my grandfather to a Russian work camp. He had injured his back, so they took my 16 year-old father instead. My dad had mechanical aptitude, having worked in a bicycle factory. When Russia turned against Germany in 1941, he was conscripted into the Polish Brigade of the Red Army. He was a driver and a mechanic, driving trucks that started airplanes. Later he became a tank driver, driving a T-34 tank and fought in some of the major tank battles. He finished the war as a driver for Colonel Malutin, who was later appointed a General. My dad had many medals, which he said were for surviving. He left them behind in France when he and my mom came to Canada in 1950. I scanned these photos after he died in 2004.
Clicking on a photo will open a large version.
