Diary of the School's Senior" by Zdzisław Łukasiewicz

The diary, written by my grandfather, was published in the Polish 2nd Armoured Brigade's (later Division) newspaper 'Taran.' The original is available online. My grandfather, who was attached to headquarters and worked in the Press and Culture unit, was an editor of this newspaper. He was also trained in armoured warfare and saw action at Monte Cassino, Ancona, and Bologna with the rest of the Polish II Corps.

The diary covers his time towards the end of captivity in the Soviet Union and subsequent deployment to the Middle East for recovery and training. Born in 1909, prior to the war, he was a graduate of Lwów University and a grammar school teacher of Polish language and literature.

During the Italian campaign, he was attached to HQ 2nd "Warsaw" Armoured Brigade (later upgraded to Division). He specialised in propaganda, running public information displays at the end of the war warning the Italians about communism and raising awareness of the plight of the Poles.

He eventually left Italy and arrived in England with the Division as part of the Polish Resettlement Act. He trained as a commercial artist and worked for Waddingtons Games of Leeds. He lived in Wakefield until his death in 1974.