WW2 Polish Warsaw Uprising – Document Set – “Żaglowiec”
August 15, 2024WW2 Polish Communist Soldier Photo – Cross of Valor 1943 ‘Lenino’
August 22, 2024WW2 Polish Photo FANY Diana Napier (Wołkowicka)
£64.99
1940-45, Great Britain. 21.6cm x 16.8cm
In stock
Press photo of Diana Napier while serving in FANY assigned to Polish Units in Great Britain. Dressed in a British uniform, a 1919 pattern Polish eagle cap badge is visible on her pocket. The reverse of the photo described in English with the stamp of a New York library.
Diana Napier, also known as Diane Tauber, Diane Mulcaster and Diana (Alice Mary) Wołkowicka, born 1905, died 1982, British film star of the 1930s who appeared in numerous films.
In April 1940, she enlisted in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. After completing her basic training, she was assigned to an Ambulance Unit in Scotland, where she looked after Polish soldiers and eventually became an NCO within a Polish unit. Later, she joined the Polish Welfare Unit in London. In early 1945, she traveled to Holland with the Red Cross to assist Polish soldiers fleeing Germany. Following VE Day, she relocated to Meppen in Germany, where she was highly commended by General Klemens Rudnicki for her dedicated service to Polish servicemen.
After the death of her second husband (Richard Tauber) in 1948, she married a Polish artist and officer of the 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment, Stanisław Wołkowicki, whom she met during the war. They married in 1953, and were together until his death in 1965. They were buried together in the Church of St Michael and All Angels in Sunningdale.