Jan Nowakowski

Flag of Poland (1919-present)

8th Infantry Battalion (1942-1947)

1st Armoured Division (1942-1947)

- France 1940

- Normandy 1944

- Belgium and Netherlands 1944-1945

- Germany 1945

Silver Cross of Merit with Swords

**Jan Stanisław Nowakowski** (August 27, 1919 - September 18, 1997) was a Polish soldier and political activist who served in the Polish national and Polish exiled armies during World War II and after.

## Early life and family

Nowakowski was born on August 27, 1919 in city of Kalisz in Poland. His family was middle-class. His father, Konstantyn Dobrosław, owned a cafe which he had opened after serving with the Polish Legions in World War I and the Polish-Soviet War. His mother, Liliana Natasza, was a private music teacher.

After graduating upper secondary school, Nowakowski applied to the University of Kraków but was declined. In 1938, he enlisted in the reserves of the Polish Army.

## Military service

### World War II

Nowakowski underwent reserve officer training throughout 1938 and was made a sub-lieutenant in early 1939. In August, the Polish Army was fully mobilized in response to the growing crisis in Europe, and Lieutenant Nowakowski was called to active duty. He was given command of an infantry platoon in the 1st Battalion of the 59th Infantry Regiment, 15th Infantry Division, and was posted to the a section of the western border between Bydgoszcz and Naklo.

On September 1, 1939, the army of Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Lieutenant Nowakowski and the 15th Division were immediately engaged by superior German forces in the Battle of Tuchola Forest. The Poles repulsed the German attack for three days before they were forced to retreat towards Toruń. There, the Polish Army regrouped and prepared to counterattack the Germans. In the Battle of the Bzura, Nowakowski and his men crossed the river and threw the Germans back, retaking significant amounts of territory. However, the offensive was called off due to lack of support and the division pulled back, where it was promptly encircled by the Germans. Nowakowski led a breakout, and the remnants ot the division were able to regroup and retreat. Fighting a running battle, they made their way to the capital city, already under attack in the Siege of Warsaw. Lieutenant Nowakowski and the ad-hoc force outside the city struggled to hold it against relentless German assaults for weeks, before Warsaw officially surrendered by the end of the month. Poland surrendered not long after, and Nowakowski gave himself up to the Germans.

Held in a German POW camp, he immediately began trying to escape. After several failed attempts, he finally succeeded in December, and smuggled himself through Romania into France on a cargo ship, where he joined a group of Polish expats and refugees. In January 1940, he joined the exiled 1st Grenadier Division, where he was appointed as a platoon commander in the 1st Battalion, 1st Warsaw Grenadier Regiment. The division was moved to Lorraine, France, in April, and was armed and trained by the French Army. Lieutenant Nowakowski's unit was placed on the Maginot Line shortly after.

The Battle of France began in May 1940, with a German invasion of France and the Low Contries. The 1st Division was kept in reserve during the early part of the fighting, and had limited contact with the Germans. In June, however, it was attacked, and Nowakowski fought in the Battle of Lagarde, in which the Poles and their French allies held back the Germans before being forced to retreat. With the capitulation of France, the division was dissolved, and its members attempted to escape capture. Nowakowski made his way south, out of Vichy France and into Spain and later Portugal. From Lisbon, he sailed to Portsmouth in Britain, where he yet again joined a group of exiled Poles.

Nowakowski joined the Polish Army in exile, was promoted to captain, and for the next few years prepared to meet the planned German invasion of Great Britain. In February 1942, the Polish 1st Armoured Division was formed in Scotland with British patronage and equipment. Nowakowski took command of a company in the 8th Infantry Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, and the Polish soldiers began to train for their new mission with the other Commonwealth troops.

In June 1944, the Western Allies launched their invasion of Nazi-held Europe at Normandy, France. The 1st Armoured Division did not participate in the landings, but were moved into the area as reserves in July. The Poles were moved to the front in August, and prepared for Operation Totalize, an attack on German positions south of the city of Caen. Captain Nowakowski led his men on the offensive down the Caen-Falaise Road supported by Canadian troops. German resistance stopped the allied force, and the Poles retired to a defensive position. Later in the month, the division took part in Operation Tractable, and followed up a Canadian advance by outflanking the Germans and attacking the town of Trun. Attacking towards Chambois, Captain Nowakowski and his men drove the Germans from their positions on Hill 262 and securing the summit. With a sizeable German force threatened with encirclement, they launched a massive attack towards the hill. For three days, Nowakowski's men held their positions despite being heavily outnumbered. They suffered heavy losses and ran out of ammunition, but blunted the German attack at every turn. In a counterattack, the Poles succeeded in closing off the Falaise Pocket, trapping multiple German units and forcing them to surrender.

Once the allies had broken out of Normandy, the 1st Division was sent into Belgium to drive along the coast of the English Channel. The Poles took Ypres in early September and the Ghent-Bruges Canal shortly after. Pushing into the Netherlands in October, Captain Nowakowski took part in the Battle of the Scheldt, taking Breda and liberating many other cities and towns throughout November. During the winter, the division adopted a defensive posture around Moerdijk on the Rhine. In 1945, the Poles advanced again, moving into Overijssel province and pushing onwards to the provinces of Drenthe and Groningen. With the Netherlands fully liberated, the division attacked into Germany in April 1945. They took Emsland soon after and ended the war having captured the important naval base at Wilhelmshaven. On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the allies.

### Occupation of Germany and the end of service

The 1st Armoured Division's zone of occupation lay in the British sector of occupied Germany, in the district of Emsland as well as Oldenburg and Leer. Captain Nowakowski's post was in the town of Haren. The Poles carried out occupation duties in Germany for two years until 1947, when the Polish 1st Armoured Division was disbanded. Thus, Jan Stanisław Nowakowski ended his time in service.

## Later life

Nowakowski, now a civilian, continued to live in Haren until 1955, when he moved to Hackney in London. There, he met his wife, Magdalena Ludmila Minkowska, and they were married in 1958. They did not have children. In 1989, with Poland free from Communist rule, the couple moved to Warsaw, where they settled in Rembertów and lived together for the rest of their lives.

On September 18, 1997, Jan Stanisław Nowakowski died. He was buried at Powązki Military Cemetery.

### Views

Nowakowski held very strong views regarding postwar Poland. He refused to return to the country as it had been, in his view, reduced to a Soviet puppet state. He remained loyal to the Polish government in exile and did not recognize the new Soviet-aligned state, although he remained in contact with relatives still living in the country.

He continually pushed for investigation into the Katyn massacre, as it was there that he had lost many friends from the pre-war army.

Nowakowski remained a devout Roman Catholic for the rest of his life.

## Equipment

During the fighting in Poland in September 1939, Nowakowski used the Karabinek wz. 1929 bolt-action rifle, standard issue for the Polish Army, along with the wz.29 knife bayonet. His sidearm was a wz. 35 semi-automatic pistol, and he carried the wz. 33 fragmentation grenade and wz. S smoke grenade.

Briefly in 1940, he used the French MAS-36 rifle and its spike bayonet. When his unit was equipped by the British, he acquired a Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.I rifle and No.4 Mk.II knife bayonet, which he used until the end of the war. He also carried the Mills No. 36M Mk.I fragmentation grenade during this period.