Born: November 19, 1916, Cracow, Poland
Died: January 3, 2009, London, Great Britain
Buried: Bielsko-Biała, Poland – Roman-Catholic cemetery at Grunwaldzka St. – section A3, grave no. 344
Prewar fates:
Witold Deimel passed the secondary school matriculation exam in 1933 at the State Junior High School in Bielsko (Silesia region, Poland). In this city, in the 1930s, he led the 3rd Pułaski Scout Troop. In 1938, he graduated from the Diplomatic Faculty of the School of Political Sciences in Warsaw.
Fates during the war:
After the September Campaign of 1939 in Poland, he got through Hungary to France, where he graduated from the Polish Non-Commissioned Officer School at the Infantry Training Center in Coetquidan. After the defeat of France, he got to Great Britain. In 1942, he graduated from the Motor Cavalry Cadet School in Dundee, Scotland, obtaining first place, and in 1944 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. Witold Deimel served in the 10th Dragoon Regiment of the 1st Polish Armored Division and, together with the regiment, he passed through the entire combat campaign of the Division in Normandy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. After the end of the war, he continued his studies at the Polish Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford. In 1946 he obtained a master’s degree in law.
Post-war fate:
After demobilization from the Polish Armed Forces, he remained in exile in Great Britain. He worked as a radio journalist at the BBC. A long-time secretary and then president (until his death) of the World Association of Circles of the 1st Armored Division in London. Participant in many ceremonies dedicated to the 1st Armored Division in Europe and Poland. He died in 2006 and, in accordance with his wishes, on September 23, 2011, the ashes of Captain Deimel were buried in the family grave at the cemetery in Bielsko-Biała.
author: Aneta Hoffmann
photo from cmentarzgrunwaldzka.pl