An old soldier’s war diary is set to journey across the Channel to form part of a memorial commemorating the role played by Polish soldiers in the liberation of France.
Elisabeth Todd, from Kinnaird in Perthshire, will set off later this week to present the Montormel Museum in Normandy with documents and artefacts relating to the military service of her late father, Ladyslaw Elertowicz.
It was only on his death last year, at the age of 95, that Mrs Todd and her husband Richard discovered that Mr Elertowicz had kept a day-to-day record of his time in France.
Together with his uniform, service record and treasured religious icons, the diary will now be entrusted to the safekeeping of the museum, which has a particular interest in the Polish military contribution during the second world war.
It opened in 1994 the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Normandy on the site of the Coudehard memorial and commemorates the sacrifice of the Polish soldiers who took part.
Now, the museum’s curator is thinking of making a permanent memorial to Mr Elertowicz, such is the quality of the items found by the family.
“He didn’t really tell stories of his time at war,” Mrs Todd said.
“It was only after my mother died and I began to spend more and more time with him that he began to speak of what he had experienced. Even then I had no idea about his diaries.”
In the small notebooks issued to all Polish troops, Mr Elertowicz made entries each and every day in a tiny script.
They tell a fascinating story, detailing his role in the conflict and that of his compatriots. They also contain touching references to his family, though never intended for their eyes.
Throughout he wrote in English, so that they would remain private, and would not have been read by his countrymen if he fell in the conflict.
Now they have been translated into French by his daughter and will be treasured at the Montormel Museum.Delighted”The museum was delighted to hear about the diary and the other items because they currently have nothing of that sort,” Mrs Todd said.
Mr Elertowicz began the war on the Warsaw batteries, only to be captured along with thousands of fellow Polish soldiers when the city surrendered to the German army in 1939.
He was transported to Hungary, where he could have spent years as a prisoner of war, only to escape and make his way to France using doctored civilian papers.
Having first tried to cross the Channel from Dunkirk, he eventually made it to Britain from the port of St Nazaire.
He came to Scotland in 1940 and, along with more than 30 other soldiers, was billeted in Burrelton and Woodside, thanks to the generosity of villagers willing to share their homes.
There, at a concert to welcome the soldiers, Mr Elertowicz had his first sight of Betty Blake who was singing at the concert. They married in July 1942.
Two years later he returned to France along with many countrymen to play a full role in the country’s liberation and was part of the Polish forces that trapped the German 7th army in the Falaise Pocket, where the museum sits.
During his service, he gained a rank equivalent to that of regimental sergeant major.
Having survived Normandy, he returned to Betty and Woodside and, with his passion being football, became manager of Burrelton Rovers FC, beginning a 50-year relationship with the club.
In 2008 he was among a number of Perthshire war veterans recognised for their service and achievements with armed forces and merchant seaman veterans badges.
For more information on the Montormel Museum, visit www.memorial-montormel.org/?id=60