Resting with the heroes

Colonel Ździslaw Picheta died on 23 August in London at the age of 96; his funeral and cremation took place on 5 September - my father attended. The ashes were brought to Warsaw for interment in Powązki wojskowe cemetery today, preceded by Mass at the Field Cathedral of the Polish Army.

Col. Picheta was born on 17 October 1922 in Siedlce into a military family originally from Lwów; called up ahead of the invasion of Poland in 1939, his infantry unit withdrew across the Romanian border. There he was interned, but he escaped twice and made his way to join the Free Polish forces in the Middle East, first under French and then under British command.

In August 1941, his unit, the Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade was shipped into the besieged Libyan port of Tobruk, to bolster the mainly Australian force that had been holding out against the Germans since April. Allied forces held Tobruk until the siege was lifted in December 1941. The defenders of Tobruk were the original 'Desert Rats', living in dug-outs, under constant bombardment.

Hospitalised after the Battle of Gazala, in which he served as a motorcycle dispatch rider, he recovered to rejoin the newly-expanded 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division in the Italian Campaign in a training capacity.

Like many soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, he decided not to return to a communist Poland at the end of the war, but stayed in the UK, marrying, raising a family and pursuing a career as an electrical engineer.

Col. Picheta never gave up fighting for a free Poland, however. Within the structures of the Polish Government in Exile, he continued his military duties, maintaining the traditions and keeping the faith when all seemed lost. He was involved in ex-servicemen's associations, in the Polish community in London, in the scouting movement and the Polish Saturday school in Ealing.

I grew up with his sons - I've know Andy since nursery school; Andy went to Gunnersbury Grammar with me for seven years and was in Polish scouts (the 3rd London Polish Scout Troop, Błękitna Trójka, many of whose fathers served in the Carpathian Rifles. Our scout uniforms carried the unit's insignia on a red-and-white background on our breast pockets.

Below: at the army cathedral, with the urn.

Below: at Powązki wojskowe military cemetery. I have been to a few military funerals before, but never with such a large honour guard.

Below: the salvos, from so many guns, were deafening!

Below: Col. Picheta, laid to rest alongside Group Captain Stefan Witorzeńć, fighter ace, leader of 302 and 306 Polish Fighter Squadrons and commander of 133 Wing, RAF.

Below: successive wreathes laid on the grave; here are soldiers on the Podhale Rifles, with their characteristic capes and góralskie hats.

Col. Picheta was laid to rest in the quarter of Powązki wojskowe reserved for members of the Polish armed forces who fought in the West during WW2.

Finally, a photo of Col. Picheta (second from left) at my father-in-law's funeral in 2009.

CZEŚĆ JEGO PAMIĘCI!

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This time six years ago:
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This time seven years ago:
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This time eight years ago:
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This time ten years ago:
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This time 11 years ago:
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