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Mural honours Polish WWII intelligence officer who helped save London

13.05.2026 07:00
A mural commemorating a Polish World War II intelligence officer who helped protect London from Nazi Germany's secret "vengeance weapons" has been unveiled on a school wall in southeastern Poland.
A Warsaw monument honouring the Silent Unseen.
A Warsaw monument honouring the Silent Unseen.Photo: PAP/Marcin Obara

The mural in the village of Ruda Różaniecka pays tribute to Władysław Ważny, a member of Poland's elite Silent Unseen special-operations unit. His intelligence reports enabled Allied forces to strike German V-1 and V-2 rocket launch sites, helping shield London from bombardment, officials said.

The unveiling on May 8 coincided with the 60th anniversary of the school being named after Ważny, who used the codename Tygrys (Tiger).

The ceremonies included a Mass at a local parish church attended by officials from Poland's Institute of National Remembrance, which funded the mural, state news agency PAP reported.

Before World War II, Ważny worked as a teacher and school principal in Ruda Różaniecka. After Poland was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, he escaped internment and made his way via France and Spain to Britain, where he underwent special training for covert operatives in Scotland.

He later led an intelligence network tasked with locating German rocket installations in occupied Europe. According to historians, information gathered by Ważny and his team led to Allied air strikes on at least 162 V-1 launch sites.

German counterintelligence mounted extensive efforts to track him down, deploying more than 40 radio direction-finding vehicles.

In addition to rocket launchers, Ważny identified aircraft engine factories and V-3 missile sites near the English Channel, historians say.

He was killed on August 19, 1944 in the French town of Montigny-en-Ostrevent after being shot during an attempted arrest by German forces, just days before the area was liberated.

Ważny was posthumously awarded some of Poland's and France's highest honours, including the Polish Virtuti Militari War Order and the French Legion of Honour.

Around 2,500 volunteers applied to serve in the Silent and Unseen unit, of whom roughly 700 were ultimately accepted.

In total, 316 were parachuted into occupied Poland to join the underground resistance. Of these, 112 were killed: nine during flights or jumps, 84 in combat or murdered by Germany's Gestapo secret police, 10 by suicide after arrest, and nine were executed after the war following show trials in Stalinist courts.

(gs)

Source: PAP, IPN