Visit of the son of a Polish soldier, Mr John Halucha
Added: 2010-10-21
John Halucha in front of the entrance of the Memorial. On June 11th, the Memorial received the visit of a Canadian of Polish ascent, Mr John Halucha, from South Sault Sainte Marie (Ontario province).
He travelled thousands of miles from Canada to Normandy in order to relive the epic odyssey of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, from Edimburgh up to Wilhelmshaven. He also wants to explore the area of Haren, in the Emsland, which has been handed over as an occupation zone to the Poles of the 1st Armoured Division until 1948. His European journey, which John will perform on a bicycle, started in Edinburgh, Scotland....
John, the son of Polish veteran, had his father serving in the 10th armoured brigade, assigned to the supply and transportation company. Through his bicycle trip, John pays tribute to those who arrived from far away to liberate Normandy in August 1944.
He landed in Ouistreham on June 8th and then rode through Courseulles-sur-Mer (to visit the Canadian Juno Beach Center), Arromanches, Caen, and then Langannerie where he went to pray on the grave of a comrade of his father, killed in St. Martin la Fresnaye. On June 10th he was in Falaise, Potigny (where he took a few pictures of the Polish chapel), then Rouvres, Jort and Morteaux-Couliboeuf. On June 11th he was in Moutiers en Auge, Trun, Chambois and visited the Memorial of Montormel.
A picture of his father taken in Netherlands. The panels displays the
code number of the supply company. Mr Halucha is on the right of
the picture. John carries out this pilgrimage on a bike to carefully pay attention to everything he sees: he takes a lot of pictures, listens to the birdsong and feels the smell that impregnates the countryside... During his daylong cycling, he tries to imagine what his father could feel when discovering the same landscape, 66 years ago
At dusk, he stops in hotels and inns that stake his way to rest from his tiring days. When crossing the Dives valley, he was impressed by the stark contrast between the dreadful photographs of 1944 and the peaceful atmosphere of today.
We will try to provide further details on the military career of his father on the “Highlights” pages as soon as Mr Halucha will send us the documents necessary to write a short biography. We wish him good luck and many interesting and enriching experiences during his journey to the North Sea.
Frédéric Normand
www.evl.pl