Born: June 22, 1922, Dzierżanowo, Poland
Died: December 19, 2022, London, Great Britain
Buried: Henley on Thames, Great Britain
Family: parents – father Stefan, mother Helena; wife Caroline Grenfell, 2 children
Medals: Polish – Cross of Valour, Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta; French – Legion of Honor
Prewar fates:
Zbigniew Mieczkowski came from a landowner family. Initially, he attended Junior High School. Zamoyskiego, and then to the Junior High School. Długosz in Włocławek, Poland.
Fates during the war:
After the September Campaign of 1939, he got through Romania to France, where in December 1939 he joined the Polish Armed Forces. After the defeat of France, he got to Great Britain. Here he graduated from the Polish Armored Weapons Cadet School and the Słowacki Secondary School in Glasgow, where he passed his maturity exams. Assigned to the 1st Armored Division, he fought in its ranks from the invasion of Normandy in August 1944, fighting, among others, at Falaise as a non-commissioned officer of the 2nd Armored Regiment. Wounded at Cavincourt in Normandy. For his bravery, he was awarded the Cross of Valor and in December 1944 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. He went through the entire combat route with the Division, from France to Germany, as a tank platoon commander and adjutant to the commander of the 2nd Armored Regiment. After the end of the war, he was stationed as a soldier of the 1st Division in Germany for two more years, then in March 1947 he returned to England.
Post-war fate:
After demobilization from the Polish Armed Forces, Zbigniew Mieczkowski remained in exile in Great Britain and worked as a trader, and then a valued entrepreneur. He was a very active Polish activist, among others member of the Council of the Polish Institute and the General Sikorski Museum in London. He also did a lot to remember the soldiers of the 1st Armored Division, being active in the Association of Branch Clubs of its veterans and maintaining contact with the authorities of northern European cities liberated by the Division. He was also the chairman of the committees that built the monuments – the Polish armored regiments in Duns (Scotland, 1981) and the 1st Armored Division in Warsaw (1995). He participated in a number of events commemorating the soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces. He wrote articles and memoirs. He died at the age of 100, and his funeral took place on January 9, 2023 at the Sacred Heart Church in Henley of Thames, Great Britain.
author: Aneta Hoffmann
photo – source: www.generalmaczek.pl