Department of Veterans' Affairs
I was doing national service when the war broke out in Poland in '39 and from Poland, after Poland was conquered by the Russians and Germans together. The war broke out on the 1st of September when the Germans invaded.
On the 17th of September the Russians invaded as well so the war was finished by the 1st October and I went to Hungary from Poland and from Hungary I went to France. There was a Polish unit, a motorised unit established in France in Coëtquidan.
Bloody French capitulated themselves and there I was, I came on there, and there I was so they wanted to intern us but one way or another we had no business, we were not going to surrender so I went from France to Algiers and from Algiers to Egypt where the Polish Carpathian Brigade was formed. Well, really it was formed in Syria but when the Syrians were come and supporting the Vichy government the Poles left it and came to Palestine to Latrun.
When they decided that the Australians government wanted the Aussies back to Australia, well he said, "Who else are we going to send in there, we've got nobody to spare. Let’s send the Poles." So that's how we went.
