Known as the Cichociemni, or Silent Unseen, they were an elite special-operations paratrooper unit created in Britain.
To mark the anniversary of the first landing, English Heritage – a charity that manages historic monuments – has appealed to relatives of the Silent Unseen to share their stories.
The Guardian daily quoted Andrew Hann of English Heritage as saying that the exploits of the Silent Unseen “played a key part in helping the Allies defeat the Nazis, including gaining key intelligence ahead of the D-Day landings and sourcing information on the launch bases of V1 and V2 rockets.”
Some 2,500 volunteered for special-ops training in Britain, with around 700 finally completing the course. In total, 316 were parachuted into Poland between 1941 and 1943 to join underground resistance units. There was one woman among them – Elżbieta Zawacka.
Of this number, 112 were killed – nine during flights or jumps, and 84 in combat or murdered by the Gestapo. Ten took poison after being arrested and nine were executed after Stalinist court verdicts after the war.
Only one of them is still alive. He is Aleksander Tarnawski, who turned 100 on January 8.
The idea for the name Cichociemni (Silent Unseen) arose after an exercise in Scotland, Polish Army General Stefan Bałuk told public broadcaster Polish Radio in 2010. “Most of the exercises were secret, quiet - and so the first part of the name. The best time for these acts was late at night and that's how the [second part of the name] came into it.”
(mk/pk)