Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Medal tells of Polish valour

Post Thumbnail

VISIT ANY high street and a Polish voice will seldom be far distant. With over 900,000 now living in the UK, Poles are Britain’s largest foreign-born community. Additionally, there are countless descendants of the over 200,000 Poles who settled here after the Second World War.

The heroism of Poles during the war is remembered with awe and gratitude. Suffice to say that plaques marking their contribution are often placed at the very heart of our communities, on the walls of our civic chambers. With 381 graves, half of the war burials in Scotland, the beautifully-maintained Polish section of Perth’s Wellshill Cemetery is a timeless reminder of their sacrifice.

Bravery in the face of adversity sums up today’s item. This was a group of three Second World War medals awarded to Sergeant Michael Kuzmicki of the 12th Podolski Lancers, 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division.

The group consisted of the Polish Cross of Valour, Polish Armed Forces service medal and Monte Cassino Cross. Not often seen in salerooms, the medals were complete with ribbons and mounted on black felt display cloth.

Michael Kuzmicki served as a medical orderly with the 12th Podolski Lancers at the famous battle of Monte Cassino. He was awarded the Cross of Valour for his actions in the battle, during which he dressed the wounded under machine gun, mortar and artillery fire. At Piedimonte, he was wounded in the left arm and was evacuated to Scotland. Following the end of the war he settled in Edinburgh, where he became a tailor. He died in December 1976.

The medals sold at C&T Auctions in Royal Tunbridge Wells for a modest £170 – but they are, in a sense, beyond value.