Jerzy Pajaczkowski-Dydynski

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Jerzy Casimir Pajaczkowski-Dydynski (July 19, 1894 in Lemberg, Austro-Hungary - December 6, 2005 in Boarbank Hall, England) who was thought to be the UK's oldest man at the time of his death, died at the age of 111. The Polish army veteran died at a nursing home in Cumbria. In 1915, Jerzy was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army. He later fought for Poland. Pajaczkowski-Dydynski, a former colonel, escaped from the German invasion in 1940 and worked as a gardener in Scotland before moving to Cumbria.

[edit] Biography

Pajaczkowski-Dydynski was born in 1894 in what was at the time known as Lemberg, the capital of what became the Austrian province of Galicia. Although technically part of Austria-Hungary, the Galician Poles enjoyed a "degree of autonomy in local government". [1]. And so, Pajaczkowski-Dydynski was able to begin studies in law at Lemberg University in 1912, transferring to the University of Vienna two years later.

World War I

On the outbreak of World War I in 1914, ethnic Poles were conscripted into the armies belonging to both alliances. There were Polish provinces that formed part of tsarist Russia, as well as those belonging to Austria-Hungary. Thus, many Poles found themselves fighting on opposing sides. Pajaczkowski was called up into the army of Austria-Hungary. His training took place chiefly in Hungary and Bosnia. In 1916, he was sent as a sergeant to the Italian front in Montenegro and Albania.

Italy, fighting with the Allied Powers, had entered the war in May 1915 in order to gain a section of Austrian territory.

In 1918, in northern Italy, Pajaczkowski was taken prisoner during the last hours of the war. When he was freed at Christmas of 1918, he was sent to France. Like many Poles taken prisoner following conscription into the German Army, Jerzy volunteered to join the Polish Army Corps in France. This formation, which also contained Polish-American volunteers, had seen action in 1918 in the Allied campaign in Alsace-Lorraine, fostering an acute sense of Polish identity among the troops.

The Army of the Republic of Poland

When peace came, Pajaczkowski elected to serve in the army of the newly proclaimed Republic of Poland guaranteed by the signatories to the Treaty of Versailles. He became a full lieutenant and staff officer under General Jozef Haller in an infantry division, and took part in the 1920-1921 Polish War against Soviet Russia. This was a dispute over land between the Red Army and Poland. After the Armistice in October, he was moved to the Polish 2nd Army, and after two years he became a captain.

After marrying Maria Lewandowska in 1924, Jerzy was stationed in Przemysl. In 1925, he became a major and in 1930 Jerzy moved to Warsaw with his wife and young son.

World War II

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Pajaczkowski-Dydynski was a lieutenant-colonel. He was at the headquarters of the Polish Army in Warsaw when, on September 1, 1939 1.8 million German troops invaded Poland. His wife and son fled the country to Romania by means of an evacuation train. When surrender seemed inevitable, Jerzy escaped to Bucharest to collect his family. Along with 30 000 other Polish, he was able to make his way to France through still-neutral Italy.

However, when France fell to the Germans, Pajaczkowski-Dydynski left for Britain, arriving in Plymouth on June 28, 1940. After staying at military camps in Lanarkshire and Peebles he was sent to Perth, where he took command of a Polish garrison. In 1943 he moved to Edinburgh, translating and adapting British military regulations and manuals for the use of Polish units.

Later life

When peace was declared in 1945, Pajaczkowski-Dydynski made Edinburgh his home. Following the death of his wife Maria in the very same year, he married Dorothy Caterall, and had a daughter.

Pajaczkowski-Dydynski was never able to continue his legal studies in his new residence. Instead he worked as a gardener. He was, however, fluent in Polish, French, German and English. He also had a passion for music and was a skilled viola player.

In 1964 he was promoted to full colonel.

Pajaczkowski-Dydynski did not return to Poland until 1989, at which stage he was already 95.

When he died he left behind 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Decorations and medals