Conduit

Julian, I'm just finishing up this process and I can describe to you everything I went through, however, I'm visiting Poland right now and can only do that once I return home. Can you wait 3 weeks?

Gentlemen, I'm glad to see you are as excited by this project as I am. My grandmother and mother have collaborated to find some of my grandfather's old documents, which until now we had believed all lost. Addendum and corrections to my previous post: 8th Army2nd Corps3rd Carpathian Rifle Division1st Rifle Brigade3rd Batallion (Signaller)4th Infantry Company3rd PlatoonCommander (corporal)medals/badges/insignia confirmed(all of these I have documents and orders for) the insignia you listed, Greg, plus the ubiquitous Polish eagle on his head-gear (I remember him having a beret)1st Rifle Brigade badge3 DSK (doc#16644)Monte Cassino Cross (doc#4349 ... it implies this is also the cross#)British War MedalBritish Defense MedalPolish Army Medal2nd Corps Badge (scrawled note on doc implies #80310)Italy Star (doc#220)Cross of ValourSignaller Badge (doc#6983)Wounded Silver Star (doc#788)unconfirmed(these are known within the family, but I won't confirm until I get response from DoD) second Cross of Valour (bar)Cross of MeritCombat Badge (szturmowa)1st Rifle Brigade badgewe've also found his diploma for an officer's course in signaling where he received very high standing and was designated "radiotelegrafista".his military driver's license, authorizing the driving of military trucks (though we also know he rode a motorcycle)I believe I know enough now to begin building a replacement set. As I mentioned before, I'm willing to make the effort to acquire original pieces but I'm concerned about authentication. My adventures on the internet imply Professor Zdzislaw Wesolowski in the US is a good resource (and relatively nearby, for me), but perhaps you can suggest other reliable means of identifying and acquiring pieces from trusted sources? Greg, you mentioned you had access to some of these?

Wow! Thanks, Greg! I'll have to dig further to get medal numbers and whatnot, but at least I now understand what I'm even looking for. Once I get more details from the archives I'll start hunting around. Perhaps you can direct me to resources for actually acquiring some of these pieces? It couldn't be as simple as EBay, could it? We're on our way with the family project!

Thanks, Greg. I'll try the local SPK first, then the Sikorski Institute. These examples of yours look fantastic; I'll see what my mother can find in the way of old pictures of my grandfather's medals and other insignia so I have a solid lead. Thanks for all your help, everybody. I'll let you know how it goes. EDIT: My mother found an old accounting! 8th Army2nd Corps3rd Carpathian Rifle Division1st Brigade3rd Batallion4th Infantry Company3rd Platoon (commander)The limited info shows action in Ancona, Monte Cassino and Bologna(?). Medals: 3 DSK breast badge2 Crosses of ValourMonte Cassino CrossBritish War MedalBritish Defense MedalService Cross ("Krzyz Zaslugi"?)Stormtrooper ("Odznaka Szturmowa"?)2nd Corps MedallionStar of Italy"Znak Lacznosci"?Some of these are from the Polish so it's difficult for me to translate. I'd be grateful for any remaining pictures of these pieces so I can get an idea of what I'm up against in terms of finding replacements (or even originals). Which of these would have been numbered?

Thanks for these suggestions, Gentlemen I believe my mother may have some of his badges somewhere, but I haven't seen anything like that in decades. More importantly, I'm looking for a resource that could tell me which medals he received and how to identify them. The family's belief is that his medals were destroyed, but if I had an extremely detailed record perhaps I could rebuild a collection to replace them ... or, in my wildest dreams, find some of his that escaped their supposed fate intact. I suspect that the British have the records of which medals he was accorded and I'm hoping the medals were numbered. Which archives should I be chasing? Who should I be dogging for service records, etc? Thanks again!

Thanks to Leigh Kitchen for redirecting me to this forum. I'm a first generation Canadian of Polish descent searching for information and in need of some direction. My maternal grandfather was a member of the 2nd Polish Corps, 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division during the Italian Campaign, specifically the action at Monte Cassino. I am searching for information on his service record and the military awards he may have received but I am unsure as to where to begin searching for such information. He spoke rarely of details of his experiences and his medals were lost during long and arduous emigration so any help in tracking down those details would be much appreciated.

I'm a first generation Canadian of Polish descent searching for information and in need of some direction. My maternal grandfather was a member of the 2nd Polish Corps, 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division during the Italian Campaign, specifically the action at Monte Cassino. I am searching for information on his service record and the military awards he may have received but I am unsure as to where to begin searching for such information. He spoke rarely of details of his experiences and his medals were lost during long and arduous emigration so any help in tracking down those details would be much appreciated.