For the second time, the armored brigade served as the starting point for patriotic motorcyclists. The rally’s aim is to commemorate the achievements of General Maczek and his subordinates. The participants decided to ride their motorcycles to places historically connected with the battles fought by the First Polish Armoured Division. “We wanted in this way to pay tribute to and honor the armed effort of the Poles and the blood they shed,” they said. “And to mark, even if only a little, our love for Poland.”
Members of the association have already traveled the Polish division’s battle route several times, from Arromanches-les-Bains in Normandy, where the Allies landed 70 years ago, to Wilhelmshaven, where on May 6, 1945, General Maczek accepted the German surrender.
“Along the way, we passed many towns that were liberated by the tanks of the 1st Armoured Division,” they reported. “We did not expect to encounter so many living traces of appreciation for the Polish blood that was shed. We met people connected with veterans’ circles. We saw the final resting places of those of our soldiers who were not destined to return to their homeland. We sang patriotic songs on battlefields, just a few steps from the places where our men fought with bayonets. The only painful reflection was that so many of Maczek’s soldiers had to remain abroad as a result of the betrayal of the Allies and the Communist enslavement of the Republic of Poland. The commander himself, instead of being carried on people’s hands, was stripped of his citizenship in the liberated homeland.
In 2011, the third rally began in Świętoszów. The starting signal was given by the then commander of 10BKPanc, Brigadier General Cezary Podlasiński, who emphasized that such initiatives keep the memory of the heroes alive.
This year, the members of the “Patria” association met with Colonel Maciej Jabłoński, the current commander of 10BKPanc, who wished the motorcyclists a safe journey and that they reach all the planned destinations. At the symbolic starting line, which ran right beside the 10BKPanc commemorative plaque, the commander presented the guests with a commemorative brigade gorget and then signed the association’s commemorative book. The members of “Patria,” in turn, prepared a symbolic identification tag for Colonel Jabłoński commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Falaise.
The day before, the motorcyclists visited the 10BKPanc Tradition Hall. They were accompanied by Lieutenant Maria Wołk, an officer in the brigade’s education section, and Corporal Marcin Bochenek, who this year is a finalist in a history competition about the 1st Armoured Division. The visitors showed enormous interest in the memorabilia gathered in the hall. Their knowledge of the route traveled by the soldiers of 1DPanc proved even greater. Clearly, they do not set out unprepared. They not only know everything about General Maczek, his soldiers, the battles he fought and the victories he achieved, but also brought additional materials, which they handed over to the brigade.
“Polish motorcyclists will certainly not be absent from the Falaise pocket on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Normandy,” they assured us as they set off. “Once again, we will testify to our attachment to the highest values, which have sounded the same since time immemorial: God, Honor, Fatherland!”
The sentence used in the title, “…for freedom is measured by crosses,” is the motto of this year’s rally. It was taken from the song “The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino” by Feliks Konarski.
(Katarzyna Przepióra/ii)