In 2015, I was very moved when I received the news that this monument in memory of my father, Maj. Roman Proszek and his school friend, Captain. Marian Jurecki, will be placed in Stróże. There is a connection between the Father and the Home Army. My mother, late Senior Sergeant Zofia-Hanka Proszek, née Siemaszko, was a Home Army soldier and took part in the Warsaw Uprising, after which she was in the Oberlangen and Wilhelmshafen camps. The 1st Armored Division liberated Wilhelmshafen, but the parents met only in 1950 in Canada.
And now some of my memories about my father – Major Roman Józef Aleksander Proszek. Memories that are very connected with the 1st Armored Division. In 1972, when I lived in France, I had the opportunity to visit Normandy and ride the route of the 1st Armored Division from Arromanches to the border of Belgium. But this was not the first time I visited these battlefields and the cemetery in Urville-Langannerie.
As a little girl on a farm in Canada, I had many opportunities to eavesdrop on my father, the late. Major Roman Proszek, when he and his friends discussed the war and pre-war years, and their fate in the West.
For me, it was lesson outside of history classes at a Canadian school. Year after year, cordial and touching meetings, friendly meetings, dinners and reunions were organized by the Association of Soldiers of the First Armored Division. Reaching back, I can confidently say that for me these were history lessons about World War II. When I was a student at university, I myself took part in these discussions about the Battle of Falaise, military training in Scotland, how many tanks were lost at Maczuga, etc. I can also write volumes about the history of the Association, which was founded in England. The group in Canada was organized in the 1950s. My father was the president of the Association from 1969 until his death in 1985.
I want to share with you some fragments of my memories, because they are my favorite memories about my Father:
- First visit of the late General Maczek in Toronto. I was maybe five years old. For weeks I heard – The General was coming from Scotland. The father was very proud and excited. The uniform was ready, the medals were shiny. Father and his friends welcomed the General at the airport with flowers; it was their first meeting with the General after the war. Father treated his soldiers from the war as colleagues, and they continued to address Father with respect – He was Mr. Major until the end of his life.
- During my school years, during summer holidays, our family traveled throughout Canada and the United States – from Dad’s friend to friend from the 1st Armored Division! Sometimes it was the first meeting after the war. Joy in the eyes and memories were the knots that tied continuity and strengthened friendly contacts. personal camaraderie.
- My stay in France in 1972 made an amazing impression on me. In northern France – in Caen, Falaise – the inhabitants remembered “la division blindée polonaise”. Over coffee with a small cognac, they talked about their experiences during the war years. With pride and tears in their eyes, they told how soldiers of the First Armored Division rode through fields, forests and villages to fight for their freedom.
- Warsaw – August 1974. Official ceremony of burial of the ashes of the late. General Tadeusz Majewski, who died in 1969 in Canada. Looking at the faces – young and old – I saw respect for soldiers intertwined with longing for freedom, which was not yet a reality in Poland in those years.
- My thoughts went back two years earlier to another cemetery: Urville-Langannerie, where white crosses stand guard for those who fought for freedom. Come with me back to those years.
I would like to share a poem I wrote when I was living in France in 1972 and had the honour of being given a tour of the route taken my father from Caen through to the borders with Belgium.
Jeszcze jeden raz …
Jeszcze jeden raz przejdę się drogą moich wspomnień.
Chodź ze mną …
One More Time …
One more time I will walk the road of my memories,
Come with me …
Jeszcze jeden raz pójdę do lasu, gdzie ptaki dziś śpiewają,
a wczoraj czołgi do bitwy dążyły.
Jeszcze jeden raz przejdę się przez polany, gdzie mnóstwo maków kwitnie,
dzięki rozlanej krwi żołnierzy, gdy walczyli o wolność – własną i innych.
One more time I’ll stroll through woods where today birds sing,
and yesterday tanks rumbled to battle.
One more time I’ll stroll in fields where poppies flourish aplenty
thanks to spilled blood of soldiers as they fought for freedom – theirs and others.
Jeszcze jeden raz chcę iść tą drogą, która prowadzi od plaży Juno do Arromanches
przez Falaise, Chambois, Mont Ormel, Breda.
Przez doliny i wzgórza, pola i wsie
Do bramy Oberlangen, do Wilhelmshafen,
One more time I will walk the roads from Juno Beach to Arromanches,
through Falaise, Chambois, Mont Ormel, Breda.
Down through valleys and forests, fields and villages
to the gates of Oberlangen, to Wilhelmshaven.
Jeszcze jeden raz niech zimne wiatry ochłoną gorące iskry uczuć
gdy staniemy przed białymi krzyżami,
ostatnie miejsce wiecznego spoczynku wielu dobrych dusz.
Dziś łączą nas wspomnienia tych lat –
już tak dalekich, jednak bliskich serc naszych.
One more time let cold winds soothe hot sparks of emotions
as we gaze upon rows of white crosses,
the final resting place of many brave souls.
Today we are linked through past memories
so far away yet dear to our hearts.
Proszę, chodź ze mną …
Przejdziemy się ścieżkami naszych wspomnień,
aby z szacunkiem podziękować tych, którzy są z nami,
i pożegnać tych którzy, śpią wiecznym snem.
Chodź ze mną …
jeszcze jeden raz….
Please come with me …
We’ll stroll down memory lane
to respectfully thank those who are still with us
as we bid farewell to those in eternal rest.
Come with me …
one more time …
author: Iwona Proszek-Mooney
source of information: Personal documents held by Iwona Proszek-Mooney augmented with information obtained through online sites