Franciszek Edward Pfeiffer, nom-de-guerre ''Radwan'' (January 21, 1895 in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

– June 13, 1964 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

military commander,

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

, commander of the Region I Śródmieście of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...

during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

, cavalier of the

Order of Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King St ...

Edward Pfeiffer was born in 1895 in a middle-class family in Łódź. He also attended high school there and between 1910 and 1912 he helped to found the

Polish Scouting Association , type = organization , headquarters = ZHP Headquarters Warsaw , location = Warszawa, Konopnickiej 6 , country = Poland , f-date = 1 November 1918 , founder = Andrzej Małkowski, Olga Małkowska , members = 138,112 , chiefscouttitle = N ...

and a secret school organization "Collegial Self-Help" whose purpose was education in the

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

(partly banned or restricted in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

) and the study of

Polish history The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, ...

. The group also distributed books which had been banned by the Tsarist censors.

Honours and awards

* Gold Cross of the

, previously awarded the Silver Cross *

Cross of Independence Cross of Independence ( pl, Krzyż Niepodległości) was second highest Polish military decorations between World Wars I and II. It was awarded to individuals who had fought actively for the independence of Poland, and was released in three cl ...

* Cross of Valour - four times * Gold Cross of Merit with Swords *

Order of Lāčplēsis The Order of Lāčplēsis (also Lāčplēsis Military Order, lv, Lāčplēša Kara ordenis), the first and the highest Latvian military award, was established in 1919 on the initiative of Jānis Balodis, the Commander of the Latvian Army during ...

, 3rd class (Latvia)

References

1895 births 1964 deaths Home Army members Polish military personnel of World War II Warsaw Uprising insurgents Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari Recipients of the Cross of Independence Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Recipients of the Cross of Merit with Swords (Poland) Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 3rd class Military personnel from Łódź Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom {{Poland-mil-bio-stub