Meeting a girl-soldier and her son!

I've only just come back from a fascinating meeting at the local social club. George Szlachetko, local resident of Acton, gave a talk on his book about his mother's life 'Wiera of Warsaw'! During WW2, as a young teenager, she fought in the heroic but doomed Warsaw Uprising of 1944, captured by the Nazi was sent to a POW camp in Germany and finally found herself in England. Going back to the Soviet controlled Poland was not an option like for thousands of other Poles. And recovering from the war Britain couldn't offer them much, but at least they were safe.

Meeting Grzegorz Szlachetko, author of 'Wira of Warsaw'

A few weeks later I met Mrs Danuta Szlachetko's wartime friend: Mrs Marzena Schejbal. She was a guest of honour at an event celebrating The Polish Unseen held at The Polish Hearth in South Kensington.