A complete set of 7727 images from Le Marche region held by Sikorski Museum

Discussion in 'Poland' started by sol, Jun 13, 2010.

  1. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

  2. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

  3. sol

    sol Very Senior Member

    Well if that thing in forefront is shell that it was one hell of a gun. It will be interesting to know what type it was. So far I only managed to pass only one fourth of gallery but found some really good pictures.
     
  4. m kenny

    m kenny Senior Member

    Made me look up the 'Sikorski Museum, London'.
    I had no idea such a place existed:
    PISM Home - The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum
    Archive Documents

    It is right next to the Iranian Embasy made famous by the SAS in the 80's.
    I have been there and they have a room full of photo albums. You make an appointment over the phone and turn up to be left alone in a room crammed with the original pics.
    I find it a bit haphazard in that it seems to be staffed by Polish WW2 veterans. Some know what they are doing and some don't!
    I met a rather nice old lady who told me that though she hated the German and the Soviets equaly at least she survived a Soviet camp (and earned money there) whilst very few of her friends from German camps made it home.
     
  5. tedfromscrubs

    tedfromscrubs Junior Member

    Wow. This is a treasure. I've found one photo with a road sign in it and will keep looking. Apologies for my ignorance, but the Poles seem to have been very active on the Adriatic side of Italy - didn't they liberate Ancona?

    And they seem to have set up a school in Amandola - an area I know well. See attached
    The first slide (loosely) translates as
    "Dear Amandola friends. This is the 65th anniversary of the arrival in Amandola of the school of the 3rd Division of the second Polish Expeditionary Corp. The extraordinary school remained open through the war together with the Division and functioned whenthe detachment was not engaged in fighting at the front
    After the war, the school flourished with 1,000 soldier students. Your beautiful city, for a year, became the centre of operations for 600 soldier students who, with the help of their dedicated professors, worked to improve their education.
    This was made easier by the wonderful atmosphere of friendship that reigned in teh city. I was one of those soldiers, and wanted to share with all gratitude my memories and photos of this most happy period in my life, in which Amandola was a very important part of me"

    It's just possible I got this off this site in the first place, in which case just ignore me!
     

    Attached Files:

  6. Tom Canning

    Tom Canning WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Ted from Scrubs -
    You are right in that the Polish division liberated Ancona on the Adriatic side of Italy in early August of '44 - with some assistance from a regiment from the British 9th Armoured bde - they did an old type Cavalry charge with about 200 Tanks in open order on the plain before Ancona - had the effect of scaring the hell out of Kesselring thinking this was a new tactic- he didn't realise that it was the opening of the Gothic Line battles- when he was in the middle of changing his units
    over to reserve - the Canadians and 46th Div moved over the Metuaro River on 25th August and caught them with their pants down- we then squeezed the Polish Div into reserve before we reached Cattolica- then the fight really started !
    Cheers
     
  7. Noel Burgess

    Noel Burgess Senior Member

    I have been aware of this site for a few years now. I attach a word doc which lists some categories/photos which were of interest to me (hope the photo numbers are unchanged). I think the best thing is to work your way through because the subjects are so varied; they certainly had a mixturre of vehicles.
    Also here are two pictures which intrigued me - Mounted Band and Altar on the back of a truck.
    Noel
     

    Attached Files:

  8. tedfromscrubs

    tedfromscrubs Junior Member

    Ted from Scrubs -
    You are right in that the Polish division liberated Ancona on the Adriatic side of Italy in early August of '44 - with some assistance from a regiment from the British 9th Armoured bde - they did an old type Cavalry charge with about 200 Tanks in open order on the plain before Ancona - had the effect of scaring the hell out of Kesselring thinking this was a new tactic- he didn't realise that it was the opening of the Gothic Line battles- when he was in the middle of changing his units
    over to reserve - the Canadians and 46th Div moved over the Metuaro River on 25th August and caught them with their pants down- we then squeezed the Polish Div into reserve before we reached Cattolica- then the fight really started !
    Cheers

    Many thanks for the info Tom
    Anne
     
  9. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    I came across this photo album recently because someone posted a link on a modelling forum.

    I find it a really fascinating collection because there are lots and lots of photos of rear echelon folks doing all kinds of tasks - from medics to mechanics (fitters, if you prefer!) to bakers.
     
  10. Roy Martin

    Roy Martin Senior Member

    If anyone is going to the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, could they please see if there is information about the sailing of the little Polish cargo ship Chorzow, from Bordeaux in mid June 1940 and post it here? She carried the Polish National Treasure, yet there is very little recorded about this part of its rescue. The treasure was landed at Falmouth, sent to the Embassy in London and then shipped out to Canada on the Batory. It is, for me, a fascinating story of a civilian crew, taking action that saved priceless objects. There are details on a Wikipedia page.
     

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