The ceremonies held on 18 May provided an opportunity to recall the valor and courage of the soldiers who took part in one of the fiercest land battles of the Second World War and to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers whose bodies rest among the hills surrounding Monte Cassino Abbey.
During the ceremony, the course of the battle was recalled. Among the Polish subunits taking part were the commandos of the 1st Independent Commando Company, who were closely linked to the soldiers of Bolesławiec, and the artillerymen of the 10th Heavy Artillery Regiment of the Polish II Corps in the West. Since 2003, the traditions of the regiment that fought in the Italian campaign have been inherited by the 1st Self-Propelled Artillery Squadron of the 23rd Artillery Regiment, while the 62nd Special Company took over the heritage of the 1st Independent Commando Company in 1993.
After the fallen soldiers were commemorated with a minute of silence, delegations of soldiers and students from uniformed classes in Rakowice Wielkie lit candles and laid wreaths beneath the monument symbolizing the commandos of the 1st Independent Commando Company and the 2nd Commando Battalion who fell in the Italian campaign, as well as the deceased soldiers of the 62nd Special Company.
After the roll call, the ceremony participants went to the Bolesławiec Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where a Mass was held. It was celebrated for the soldiers who fell in the Battle of Monte Cassino by the Reverend Monsignor Dr. Andrzej Jarosiewicz.
Capt. Remigiusz Kwieciński/ii