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WW2 Polish Silver Virtuti Militari Cross 5th Class (10052) – Battle of Monte Cassino (Phantom Ridge) – Ryszard Kopyść, 13th Rifle Battalion “Rysie”
£4,499.99
Polish Issued Silver Cross of the War Order of Virtuti Militari (5th class), number 10052 awarded posthumously to Second Lieutenant Ryszard Kopyść of the 13th Wilenski Rifle Battalion “Rysie”, 5th Kresowa Infantry Division – platoon commander of the 4th company. Awarded for his participation in the Battle of Monte Cassino, during which he died on May 12, 1944, while assaulting the famous Phantom Ridge.
In stock
War Order of Virtuti Militari, 5th Class, Type 17b, according to the catalog Polish Medals 1918–1945: A Collector’s Companion by Tony Leszczuk and Krzysztof Barbarski.
This type of cross is officially numbered and engraved. The cross is made of silver, 38 mm × 38 mm.
The official production history of these crosses is unknown, but it is presumed that they were manufactured in Poland before the war and transported via France to the UK in 1940.
The total number of these crosses is estimated between 130 and 180, making it the last series of numbered decorations.
Condition as shown in the photos.
Ryszard Kopyść was born on April 29, 1918, in Smolensk, Russia.
On July 6, 1940, for his affiliation with the Union of Armed Struggle (later Home Army), he was arrested and deported to Bureinsky Railway NKVD Camp (Amur Oblast).
Released on December 24, 1941, he traveled from the Far East to Semipalatinsk in central Kazakhstan.
From there, Polish Army delegate Lt. Regim directed him to Tatiszczewo, but he never arrived as the army had moved south in the meantime.
He joined a military transport in Emli, reaching Dzalalabad, where on January 28, 1942, he enlisted in the Polish Army.
Fighting in the 2nd Polish Corps, he was killed in action on May 12, 1944, during the Battle of Monte Cassino, and was buried on May 12, 1944, at the Monte Cassino Polish War Cemetery , Italy.
He was described by Melchior Wańkowicz in Volume I of The Battle of Monte Cassino, pp. 333–335, 337–338.
Description of Second Lieutenant Kopyść’s final moments:
“Kill those b…ds!” – shouted 2nd Lt. Kopyść, rushing forward, looking at his commander like a god. A small group was mowed down within the first few meters…
Kopyść fell, along with several others.
Kopyść, a talented graphic artist, lay draped over a boulder.
In his battalion’s newsletter, he had published three beautiful woodcuts:
‘Yesterday’ – a dying youth by a wheelbarrow in Soviet captivity
‘Today’ – a knight fighting a beast
‘Tomorrow’ – a worker gripping the handle of a crane.
The sun rises over the Polish Sappers’ Road, casting its sharp light over the body – once bent over an Amur wheelbarrow, now fallen in the fight against the beast – for tomorrow.”
His valor and conduct were proudly described in the Virtuti Militari nomination submitted by his commander:
“An officer of great courage, who led by example and inspired his men. He deserves to be decorated.”
“On May 12, 1944, at ‘Phantom Ridge,’ as commander of an assault group, he led an attack and destroyed an enemy bunker, eliminating the crew.”
A unique decoration belonging to one of the heroes of Monte Cassino.
http://rysie.montecassino.eu/lista-zolnierzy/10-kopysc-ryszard-stefan
https://chroniclesofterror.pl/dlibra/publication/2422/edition/2403/content?&navref;=MXZhOzF1ciA1NDk7NTNiIDNibjszYXk
Copy of the Virtuti Militari nomination from the archives of the Polish Institute and General Sikorski Museum in London.
