Born: April 6, 1909, Gołonóg near Będzin, Poland
Died: 1982, Poland
Medals: Polish – Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari War Medal (no. 11207), Cross of Valor
Fates before World War II:
Stanisław Wartak passed the secondary school maturity exam in Będzin in 1928. In July 1930, he was drafted into the army – to the Infantry Reserve Cadet School No. 5 in Łobzów (Cracow). A month later, he passed the exam for the Infantry Cadet School in Ostrów-Komorów. He completed military training before entering a military school in the 4th Legions Infantry Regiment. In 1933, he graduated from the Cadet School and on August 1, he obtained the rank of second lieutenant. While serving in the military in subsequent units, in 1936 he was called up to the 8th Armored Weapons Officers’ Course in Modlin. From January 1 this year, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In the period October 1937 – August 1939, commander of an armored platoon and educational officer of the 12th Armored Battalion in Lutsk. In August 1939, he was mobilized to the 21st Armored Division as the commander of the command company and quartermaster of the Division.
Fates during the war:
Together with the 21st Armored Division of the Volhynian Cavalry Brigade, he fought in the September Campaign of 1939 in Poland – the battles of Mokra, Rzęsawa and Brzeziny near Łódź. On September 21, 1939, he crossed the Polish border with Hungary and was interned in the camp in Esztergom. He escaped from captivity and on October 24, 1939, he reported to the Polish mobilization center in Paris. From November 1939 to June 1940, he served as deputy company commander in the 1st Tank Battalion. After the fall of France, on June 21, 1940 he came to Great Britain. Initially, he served in the 1st Tank Battalion, and after subsequent transformations of Polish armored units in Scotland – in the 1st Armored Regiment. On September 1, 1942, assigned to the 2nd Armored Regiment of the 1st Polish Armored Division as commander of the 3rd armored squadron. A graduate and instructor of a number of Polish military training courses in Great Britain. On January 1, 1943, he was promoted to the rank of captain. As a result of a car accident in July-August 1944, he was hospitalized in Beverley (Yorkshire). He joined the units of the 1st Division already fighting on the European continent in October 1944 and took part in the battles of his Regiment as a commander of a tank squadron in the liberation of Belgium and the Netherlands and in Germany. From July 1945 to April 1947, deputy commander of the 2nd Armored Regiment. After the end of the occupation of Germany by the troops of the 1st Armored Division and the departure of Polish soldiers to Great Britain, captain Wartak In the period April – July 1947 served as deputy commander of Reserve Center No. 3 in Herzlake (Germany).
Post-war fate:
Demobilized for departure to Poland from the Polish Armed Forces in the West on August 5, 1947, he left from Quakenbrueck (Germany) five days later to Szczecin. He arrived on Polish territory on August 14, 1947, and on August 19, 1947, returned to his hometown near Sosnowiec. After his return, he was repressed by the communist authorities of post-war Poland. He died in 1982.
author: Aneta Hoffmann