Meanwhile, in Gdynia...

While I was in Kazimierz, my wife and parents-in-law were in Gdynia to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Polish Navy. (A bit early, as the actual date was 28 November 1918; however, the year coincides with the Polish Navy's 5th World Congress). Above, right: my father-in-law, Tadeusz Lesisz, on board the ORP Blyskawica. He is the oldest surviving Polish naval officer to have served in WW2. He was Artillery Officer on this destroyer in 1942 when its fierce anti-aircraft barrage fended off a Luftwaffe raid on the docks of the Isle of Wight town of Cowes.

Below: My parents-in-law (front row, centre) during the ceremony in the Błyskawica's officers' mess; my wife sits behind them. Three seats along from my mother-in-law is President Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last Polish president-in-exile, who in 1990 handed the insignia of state of the pre-war Polish republic to the newly-elected President Lech Wałęsa, thus preserving the continuity of Polish statehood across the 45-year period of communism. [Photographs: Marynarka Wojenna]