The guest of honor at the battalion celebration was retired Lieutenant Alojzy Jedamski, one of the last soldiers of the 10th Dragon Regiment, who took part in combat in France and Belgium in 1944. The ceremony was also attended by the deputy commander of the 10BKPanc, Colonel Dariusz Nawrocki, former commander of the mechanized battalion Lieutenant Colonel Grzegorz Kostrzewski, as well as commanders of the Brigade’s subunits, including Lieutenant Colonel Paweł Michalski, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Wiese, Lieutenant Colonel Piotr Jaraczewski, and Major Renart Skrzypczak. Former battalion soldiers were also among the guests, including those serving in Świętoszów, those serving in other units, and those who had completed their military service.
The day began with a history lesson for the soldiers and guests, conducted by members of the “Odwach” Historical Reconstruction Association, which actively cooperates with the Brigade. All participants in the celebration then took part in laying flowers at the 10BKPanc monument.
At 11:30 a.m., a ceremonial assembly of all battalion personnel was held at the parade ground. After the report was submitted by Major Wojciech Strzelecki, the battalion’s deputy commander, to Lieutenant Colonel Michał Rohdem, commander of the mechanized battalion, the two officers reviewed the troops.
The next item on the ceremony’s program was the presentation of battalion badges to forty-seven soldiers. The badges were presented by Lieutenant Colonel Michał Rohde together with his deputy and Lieutenant Jedamski. The battalion commander then addressed the soldiers assembled on the parade ground with deeply moving words:
Today’s assembly to mark the anniversary of the 10th Dragon Mechanized Battalion is above all an opportunity to honor the memory of the heroic deeds of the soldiers, first of the Dragon Squadron and later of the Dragon Reconnaissance Regiment. They were a light dispersing the darkness of the wartime reality. They were the ones who forced open the closed doors leading to a free and independent Poland. They liberated Breda, Chambois and St. Omer.
The Dragons understood the meaning of brotherhood in arms, dedication and sacrifice, fidelity and loyalty, and sacrificing the good of the individual for the good of the majority. It fills us with pride that we are the heirs to these traditions. Time and again, in snow and mud, despite fatigue and exhaustion, you proved your belonging to the tough Dragon community.
Today, on this special day, I wanted to thank you for these four years we spent together. They were four difficult years during which we took part in battalion exercises twice and, like the Dragons of old, at the front and on an independent axis, engaging the enemy, imposed our will to fight on them, eventually putting the exhausted enemy, whose capabilities had been reduced, under the barrels of the tanks.
The mission in Afghanistan was another challenge that you faced, returning victorious and without our own losses. These successes would not have been possible without wonderful commanders, excellent non-commissioned officers and truly outstanding privates. Today I want to thank you for every day in which I was able to command you. For every training area, exercise and class. For every moment of glory and doubt. These were the best years of my military life. Thank you.
“You inherit beautiful combat traditions, confirmed through the performance of missions in September 1939 and especially in 1944, when Maczek’s division, together with the Dragons, arrived in France,” Colonel Nawrocki told the mechanized battalion’s soldiers. “This is when the Dragons showed on the fields of France, Belgium and Holland how a soldier fights for Poland. Today is a day of challenges. After returning from the mission, you restored your combat capability. You are currently preparing for a new task that will be a great challenge. I know, I am certain and convinced, that you will rise to every challenge. I wish all the best to your families as well; you could not have achieved all this without the support of your loved ones.
Finally, Lieutenant Jedamski spoke: “I greet all the Dragons and offer you my very best wishes. Thank you for inviting me to this ceremony. I am grateful that the command and the soldiers still remember me and the other Dragons.
The ceremony at the parade ground concluded with the playing of the march of the 10th Dragon Regiment.
The final event of the 10th Dragon Mechanized Battalion celebration was a family picnic. Many attractions were organized for the soldiers, their families and, above all, the youngest participants. There was paintball, quad-bike rides, an extremely difficult obstacle course and the opportunity to find a mine with a detector. There were also inflatable castles, face painting and art competitions. All of it was accompanied by good humor.
Katarzyna Przepióra