Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Władysław Grydziuszko (1910–1946) was a soldier in 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 ...

during World War II. He was born on September 6, 1910 in the small rural village of Mikulicze, Poland.Grydziuszko, Władysław: Paragraph 1 (page 1)
"

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. June 2007. Prior to

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

, Władysław worked as a master tailor until he was enlisted with the Polish Forces in 1939. On August 28, 1939 he was called from

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

and together with the Polish Police unit participated in the 1939

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

campaign. Grydziuszko was taken

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

by the former

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and was held in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Following his ordeal on the basis of the Sikorski–Mayski agreement of July 30, 1941, Władysław Grydziuszko was released for the purpose of joining the Polish Armed Forces in USSR. From 1942 to 1944 Władysław received military training by the British Army in the Middle East. Then in 1944 to 1946 he embarked on the Italian campaign.Grydziuszko, Władysław: Theater of Operations (page 2)
"

. June 2007.

Battle at Monte Cassino

Grydziuszko was primarily posted to the Fifth Field Artillery Regiment, and was later transferred to the Seventh on January 1, 1942. At

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...

, the Polish Army was advancing against the

Hitler Line The Hitler Line was a German defensive line in central Italy during the Second World War. The strong points of the line were at Piedmonte, Pontecorvo and Aquino. In May 1944, the line was renamed the Senger Line, after General von Senger und E ...

, and on May 23 the Poles finally managed to break through attacking the village of Piedimonte. Władysław, along with many other soldiers in the II Corps used stables and other local buildings to camouflage

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s and attack the advancing enemy from behind. In the following day the

5th Canadian (Armoured) Division Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...

breached the lines and on May, 25 the Poles cleared way for an advance onward to Rome. Władysław Grydziuszko, one of the tank commanders, was awarded the Cross of Valour for showing tremendous courage on the battlefield.Grydziuszko, Władysław: Medal Entitlement (page 2)
"

. June 2007. During the battle, Grydziuszko was lightly wounded on October 17, 1944 and suffered minor

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the spi ...

injuries from

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

fire. However, he quickly recovered and returned to the forces to serve for another two years.

Other war efforts

Death and aftermath

Following the end of World War II, Władysław Grydziuszko was killed in an accident near Treia,

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ri ...

in Italy on January 29, 1946. During a routine 2nd Armoured Brigade (Poland) training period, Władysław was killed when he fell underneath one of his

s breaking his spine at the neck. The military considered his death "Killed in Action " (

KIA Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

) because he was on duty. His death was instantaneous, and soon afterward there was a memorial service held in his honor. Some 400 soldiers attended his funeral. He was buried in the Polish cemetery in Loreto, Italy on January 30, 1946.Grydziuszko, Władysław: 5th Paragraph (Page 2)
"

. June 2007. The two witnesses of his death was a future Polish

Politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

named Zygmunt Ostrowski :pl:Zygmunt Ostrowski and Michał Matusiewicz.

Works cited

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grydziuszko, Wladyslaw Polish military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) 1910 births 1946 deaths Accidental deaths in Poland