Born: January 23, 1911 in Stróże Wyżne (today Stróże) near Nowy Sącz, Poland
Died: November 27, 1985 in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Buried: Parklawn Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Family: parents – Józef (railway driver, died 1944), mother – Zofia (nee Bisztyga) died ca. 1919, had two step-mothers; wife – Zofia – Hanka (nee Siemaszko) (1914-2010); daughter: Iwona Jolanta Mooney, Canada; sibling: Jasia – from second step-mother; resides in Stróże, Poland
Medals: Polish: Virtuti Militari – Silver Class, Cross of Valour – 4 times, Cross of Merit with Swords – 2 times, Army Medal, Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta; French: Croix de Guerre – 1940, Great War Commemorative Medal, Medaille Commemorative Francaise de la Guerre 1939-45 avec Barrette “France”; British: British War Star 1939-45, British Defence Medal 1939-45; Belgian: Croix de Guerre avec Palme
Fates before World War II:
Roman’s Proszek mother died circa 1919 from complications compounded by the Spanish Flu. Roman went to live with an elderly aunt in Poznań for a few years until his father remarried when the family was reunited. His siblings also were looked after by relatives. Graduated from Humanities Junior High School in Grybów. Studied at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, 1929-30.
In October 1930 was accepted into the Unitary Course at the Infantry Cadet School in Różan, effectively beginning his professional military career. In 1931 he entered the Artillery Cadet School in Toruń. On August 5, 1933 was appointed by the President of the Republic of Poland as 2nd lieutenant with seniority as of August 15, 1933. He was posted to the Artillery Officer Corps, into the 22nd Light Artillery Regiment in Przemyśl followed by a promotion on December 22, 1935 to Lieutenant (with seniority eff. January 1, 1936). Attended a course for Armoured Weapons Officers from November 17, 1936 to October 12, 1937 from which he was transferred to the Armoured Weapons Officer Corps, serving in the 5th Armoured Battalion stationed in Kraków.
During the war:
When WW II broke out in September 1939, he was in the 51st Armoured Division. He, along with many others, escaped from Poland through the southern borders into Hungary where he was interned in the Zebegeny camp from September 20, to October 26, 1939. Through the diplomatic intervention he made his way to France joining the Armoured Group under General Stanisław Maczek in Coëtquidan, France. During this French campaign he was posted with the 1st Tank regiment, 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade.
After a harrowing escape from France in June 1940, Roman made his way to Great Britain where in July he joined the 1st Tank Battalion and the 65th Tank Battalion. Finally in 1942, the armoured units were organized into the 1st Polish Armoured Division under the command of General Maczek in Scotland. Roman was posted with the 1st Armoured Regiment where on January 1, 1943 he received a promotion to the rank of Armoured Captain.
Operation Overlord was launched on June 6, 1944 – the beginning of the end of WW II. In August 1944, the 1st Polish Armoured Division landed in Caen, France to begin its combat operations as it made its way eastward through Normandy, Falaise, Chambois, Mont Ormel, Breda, Arnhem into northern Germany. From November 1944 to June 1947 Roman served as the 1st Deputy Commander of the Regiment with a promotion to the rank of Major on February 1, 1945. Until his death, Roman declined any further military promotions. The 1st Polish Armoured Division served as an occupier force in Germany from 1945 to May 1947 at which time it returned to England.
Roman continued with his professional military career for another year initially joining the Polish Training and Deployment Corps. When the regiment was disbanded in June 1947 he became the commander of the squadron of the 1st Armoured Regiment of the 510th PKPR Division to be followed by taking the command of a unit “Squadron 1 and 2 Armoured Regiments, a merger of the remaining units of the 1st and 2nd Armoured Regiments.
Postwar fates:
In 1948 he ended his professional military career when he immigrated to Canada to begin a new life. He first worked on a farm with several fellow officers and then in 1950 he purchased a small farm in Sheffield, Ontario. Through mutual friends Roman met his future wife, Zofia-Hanka, who was looking to leave England. After a year of corresponding, Zofia immigrated to Canada in October 1950 and they married on October 28 in St. Patrick’s Church in Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario. Their only child, a daughter Iwona Jolanta was born on October 1951 in Galt.
Roman was a full-time farmer for a few years and then undertook employment at Joy Manufacturing in Galt where he assembled heavy mining drills and compressors. Once these were moved to mining locations in northern Ontario, Roman would spent several months to make them operational onsite. The family moved from the farm to Galt in 1960 where Roman lived until his death in 1985.
Roman was a founding member of the 1st Polish Armoured Division Association in Canada, serving as President for many years until his death in 1985. He acted as liaison with the Canadian Veterans’ Ministry on behalf of its members, “his men” as he called them, on matters dealing with benefits and services to veterans.
In 2015 a monument was erected in his home village, Stróże, honouring his achievements and that of his childhood friend, Captain Marian Jurecki, also born in 1911, who was the first Polish resistance fighter parachuted into Poland from England. Unfortunately he was captured by the Germans after handing over information and executed. Both men were the recipients of Poland’s highest military medal, the Virtuti Militari. On October 7, 2023 a large mural of Major Roman Proszek and Capt. Jurecki depicting them in their respective military roles was unveiled on the side of the apartment building where they were both born. Both the monument and the mural were done under the auspices of Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance.
In 2023 through the office of the Polish Defence Attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, Major Proszek’s remaining military memorabilia and his medals were officially donated to the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. A number of his military artifacts, officer’s uniform and original documents, Roman donated to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, Ontario in the early 1970s. His wishes were that nothing go to Poland until such time as it became “free” once again. He never lived to see that day, but his wishes were honoured, finally.
author: Iwona Jolanta Mooney, Canada
