Born: March 4, 1899, Zwierzyniec, Poland
Died: August 31, 1971, Falkirk, Scotland
Buried: Warsaw, Poland – Bródnowski Cemetery – section 108N, row 6, grave 16
Family: father Józef
medals: Polish – Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari War Order (no. 11150), Cross of Valor, Army Medal, Independence Medal, Silver Cross of Merit, Commemorative Medal for the War of 1918-1921, Medal of the Tenth Anniversary of Regained Independence, Legion Cross; French – Croix de Guerre
Prewar fates:
Jan Dorantt graduated from school and passed the secondary school matriculation exam in Kiev. There he belonged to the Polish Military Organization. In November 1918, he joined the Polish Army and was assigned to the 7th Uhlan Regiment. Graduate of the Infantry Reserve Cadet School in Ostrów Mazowiecka (1919). In March 1920, as adjutant of the 9th Sapper Battalion, he was sent to the front of the Polish-Bolshevik war. In 1921, he served in the command of the 2nd Army. Then, in his parent Kaniowski Rifle Regiment, he served until 1934 as adjutant of the 27th Sapper Battalion, manager of depots and technical workshops, commander of a sapper company, and commander of a school company. In 1935, he became a lecturer at the Sapper Reserve Cadet School. In 1937, he was transferred to the 4th Sapper Battalion in Przemyśl as the commander of a sapper company. After its transformation in January 1939 into the 4th Sapper Regiment, he became the commander of the 1st Battalion (from March 1939 with the rank of sappers major).
Fates during the war:
In 1939, during mobilization, he took command of the 90th Sapper Battalion. He fought at its head in the September Campaign in Poland. Then he got to Western Europe, where he was the commander of the 10th Sapper Company of the Polish Armed Forces.
From August 1943 to June 10, 1947, as a lieutenant colonel, he was the commander of sappers of the 1st Polish Armored Division, with which he passed the entire combat route.
Post-war fate:
Jan Dorantt remained in exile in Great Britain after World War II. In 1954, he became the director of the factory in Falkirk, Scotland, where he died in 1971. On September 15, 1972, he was buried in the family grave at the Bródnowski Cemetery in Warsaw, Poland.
author: Aneta Hoffmann