post-WW2 Polish Legitimation Card to Polish Armed Forces in the West Combat Cross – Tadeusz Złotorowicz Virtuti Militari Recepient

Tadeusz Złotorowicz was born on 3 August 1918 near Lwów. He took part in the September Campaign of 1939 in the ranks of the “TURKA” National Defence Battalion in Turka on the Stryj River. After crossing the Hungarian border he was interned, later reaching France where he joined the 1st Warsaw Grenadier Regiment of the 1st Grenadier Division, serving as a light machine-gunner. He was wounded twice while breaking out of German encirclement during the Battle of DesseIing, for which he was awarded the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari in 1975.

From 1940 he remained in German captivity. In 1942, together with two comrades, he escaped from a POW camp and subsequently travelled through France, Spain, Portugal and Ireland to reach Great Britain, where he enlisted in the 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment of the 1st Armoured Division. He served throughout the division’s entire combat route, from Normandy to Wilhelmshaven. For destroying a German Panther tank at a distance of approximately 50 metres he was awarded the Cross of Valour; he also took part in the capture of General Otto von Elfeldt, commander of the 84th Corps. He served first as a tank radio operator and later as a tank commander.

After the war he completed a course at the Commercial Gymnasium of the 1st Armoured Division, and in 1947 returned to Poland, settling in Sosnowiec, where he remained active in veterans’ organisations.

Overall condition: consistent with the photographs.