Page 119 - Light Dragoons 2022 CREST

The story of one of 20 Polish Army servicemen who joined the 15/19th the Kings Royal Hussars in Palestine in 1947 can be revealed through the remark- able journey of one individual: Edward Alexander Topor-Gorski and might be appreciated by the Regiment that was his family for so many years. In the Polish community it is known as the ‘Forgotten Odyssey’.
Edward (Ted) was born on 15th November 1927 in Dubno, Poland to Marian Hipolit and Olga (nee Zuzanda). At the age of eleven his mother died and his father remarried Maria in 1938. Ted, in his younger life lived on a farm close to Dubno. Dubno is now in the Ukraine. The background to his father is shrouded in mystery, research seeming to indicate that he was an officer in the Polish artil- lery, after which he served in a somewhat illusive intelligence organisation for the Polish Army.
The farm was remote, and Ted was left to his own devices. Winters were harsh. He tells the story of collecting milk in the middle of winter and fending the wolves off with the bottles. Needless to say, he was punished by his father for not coming home with the milk!
Fast forward to the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939, Russia invaded Poland from the east, sixteen days after Germany invaded Poland from the west. Operations lasted for the 20 days ending on 6 October 1939 with the two- way division and annexation of the Second Polish Republic by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. A Soviet campaign of repression followed, targeting figures of
Sketch Drawn by Unknown Polish Prisoner
authority such as military officers, police and priests. It began with a wave of arrests and summary executions resulting in the deaths of 1.2 million Poles. Ted’s father, Marian Hipolit was one of these, killed in the Katyn Massacre by the NKVD. A short time after the arrest of Ted’s father, Maria, Ted and his sister (Helen) were arrested and deported to Siberia in March 1940 via Kartaly (Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia), Karkandavia (Kazakhstan) and Uzbekistan. They joined thousands of Polish families who refused to become Russian citizens.
This rail journey was a three-week horror in a goods wagon with bread and water only. Sixty to seventy people occupied each wagon. There were toilets just a hole in the floor. Snow was melted to provide water. Families rotated themselves in the wagons to keep warm and when people died, they were simply thrown out. On the way they saw women clearing the railway lines of these unfortunate individuals. Ted and family were amongst 1.7million Poles deported by the Russians.
Winters were dreadful with virtually no food, many died, summers were welcomed for the warmth but no respite from the lack of food. On occasions Ted did manage to get out of the camp and join the local com- munities where he rode horses bare backed and joined the children. The adults were put to work on farms, roads/railways and factories. The children were left to fend for themselves.
In 1942, the Germans invaded Russia the result of which was Stalin, on the advice of Churchill, signed a treaty with General Sikorsky which recognised the need to fight against a common enemy and gave the Poles a pardon. This allowed the family to join an exodus of exiled Poles although Russia resisted this at first because they needed the Poles as a labour force. Once again this involved a journey in cattle trucks in similar conditions as in 1940. In temperatures of -40 degrees. Many thou- sands died from typhus, dysentery and
Accommodation in Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan
malaria on a journey that lasted months. The dead were simply buried on the track or roadside. It was on the way in Kermine, Turkmenistan that Ted joined the Officer Cadet Force of the 2nd PAC Polish Army aged 15 years. As part of this organisation Cadets and families continued their jour- ney via Krasnovodsk, Pahlevy (now Iran) Habaniya (Now Iraq), Palestine and then to Egypt.
On arriving in Iran (then Persia) Ted and his family joined a community of Poles under the command of General Anders commanding the Polish 2nd Corps. This meant survival for Polish families, in particular food and education. This was a period of stability where families and soldiers recovered. Ted achieved his matriculation. He was sent to Casino with the Polish 2nd Corps but thankfully, he was hospitalised due to appendicitis and did not take part in the assault on the monastery.
After the war Ted was offered the choice of becoming a soldier or a coal miner – not a difficult choice. He was sent as a BCR to the 17/21st lancers where he was hospitalised after an attack by the Israelis. Ironically, he was part of the guard when Israel was formed. In 1947 he was sent to Bovington for training, then to Egypt before joining 15/19th KRH in Palestine, and the Sudan. He was part of an action with Eritrean rebels in 1949 and helped with evacuating families. He rode in front of the train to spot mines/explosives. Interesting job!!
The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Thousands of miles to Freedom – A man of two nations
Ted aged 8 with Father (Marian), Mother (Olga) and Sister (Helen)
Polish Captives in Uzbekistan (Ted Second from left sitting children)
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