Born: February 28, 1918, Kurjanki (Zdołbunów province, Wolhynia, Poland)
Died: February 12, 1996
Medals: Polish: Polish-Honorary Decoration for Wounds, Army Medal; British: 1939-45 Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal, The War Medal 1939-45
Fates before joining 1st Polish Armored Division:
On February 10, 1940, in the early hours of the morning, the NKVD came knocking on Izdebski’s family door in Eastern part of prewar Poland. They held Bolek at gunpoint against the wall and ordered him not to move. His mother and sisters had to hastily gather their belongings. Subsequently, they were all transported to the railway station and loaded onto railcars. After several weeks of travel, they reached Jol village in Lenski region, Archangielsk oblast. There, Boleslaw and his oldest sister, Maria, were put to work in the forests, cutting down trees. Each person had a quota they needed to meet to earn food, and Maria was in charge of stamping the quotas with numbers.
In accordance with the Sikorski-Mayski (Polish-Soviet) agreement of July 30, 1941, Boleslaw (along with his family) was released with the purpose of joining the Polish Armed Forces, which were being organized on Soviet territory from 1941 to 1942. Boleslaw enlisted in the Polish Army on February 15, 1942, in Alexandrowka, near Kuybyshev. He evacuated with the army units to Iran, coming under British command. Through Iran, Iraq, Palestine, and South Africa, he eventually arrived in the UK on October 16, 1942.
Military service in 1st Armored Division:
Boleslaw was assigned to the 1st Armored Regiment, 1st Polish Armored Division, 1st Polish Corps, and served in the UK from 1942 to 1944. He underwent training in Dunns, Scotland, and was subsequently deployed to the continent, participating in the campaigns in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany from July 27, 1944, to May 8, 1945.
Boleslaw remained in Germany for a year as part of the Allied Occupational Forces of Germany from May 9, 1945, to May 6, 1946. Upon his return to the UK, he enlisted with the Polish Resettlement Corps on May 21, 1947, and received an honorable discharge from Polish Army in the West on May 20, 1949.
After War:
Boleslaw Izdebski married Genowefa in England, and they had a son named Zbigniew. In 1953, they immigrated to Canada and settled in the Toronto area. Boleslaw was a reserved man who rarely discussed his wartime experiences due to the loss of his army comrades and the trauma of war. It was only later that we learned of his bravery and heroism. Boleslaw Izdebski passed away on February 12, 1996.
author : Robert Stanczyk
source : archives of Orliński Museum, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
