The extremely rare and significant Second World War Free Polish Navy Destroyer Commanding Officer’s Sicily Landings, Dodecanese and Normandy Landings Virtuti Militari and Distinguished Service Cross, double Polish Cross of Valour and quadruple Navy Medal for War group awarded to Lieutenant Commander (Komandor Podporucznik) Wszechwlad Maracewicz, Free Polish Navy. Originally from Riga in Latvia when a part of the Imperial Russian Empire, owing to the Bolshevik Revolution, he and his family travelled via Saint Petersburg, Irkutsk, Odessa and Kiev, and eventually reaching Poland in 1921. He was commissioned into the Polish Navy in 1931, and by 1939 was working with Division II of the General Staff, being a qualified Signal Officer. On the eve of the German invasion, on 30 August 1939, as intelligence was received that the invasion was imminent, Maracewicz found himself given the surprise position of commander of the destroyer squadron and as such was aboard the destroyer ORP “Błyskawica” (now a museum-ship at Gdynia) when she together with two other destroyers enacted the Peking Plan. As the prospect of conflict increased, the British government pressed Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz to evacuate the most modern elements of the Polish Navy from the Baltic Sea, and these three destroyers were it. Four days after the signing of the Polish-British Common Defence Pact, and just prior to the German invasion of Poland, they sailed through the Baltic and made it to Great Britain, becoming the fledgling vessels of the Free Polish Navy. Maracewicz spent the first few years of the war in the North Atlantic escorting convoys when aboard the destroyers ORP “Piorun” (Thunderbolt) during 1940-1941, ORP “Burza” (Storm) during 1941-1942, when involved in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was deputy commander of ORP Ślązak (Silesian) when she partook in Operation Jubilee, the Dieppe Raid, on 19 August 1942. At Dieppe she saved 85 soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Canada, trapped at the beach after landing. Maracewicz was next the deputy commander of ORP “Garland”, which was assigned to the Mid-Ocean Escort Group. He however came to prominence as the commanding officer of the destroyer ORP “Krakowiak” (L 115), and as such was with her in the Mediterranean when she provided fire support during Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily during July to August 1943, and later in the Dodecanese, when she bombarded Kalymnos in November 1943. Still her commander, he then took part in the Normandy landings, and on 6 June, e commanded her as she fired in support of American forces landing on Omaha Beach, and then on the 7-8 June, 1944, when she supported the Commando assault on the port of Port-en-Bessin, codenamed Operation Aubery, and supporting the troops of No. 47 (Royal Marine) Commando and the 4th Special Service Brigade. On this occasion, a motor boat one each from HMS Ursa and ORP “Krakowiak”, conceived a stroke reminiscent of naval “cutting-out” parties of the past. They entered the darkening harbour, and each attached a German flak ship, firing Lewis machine guns, rifles, and Lanchester submachine guns, both enemy vessels being boarded and taken, with the enemy crews fleeing in the face of the onslaught. As the commanding officer of ORP “Krakowiak” during the operations off Sicily, in the Dodecanese and Aegean, and off Normandy, Maracewicz was awarded both the British Distinguished Service Cross, this award being personally presented to him, and one of only 25 such given to the Free Polish Navy, and he was awarded Poland’s highest award, the Virtuti Militari in the 5th Class. He was also twice the recipient of the Cross of Valour, and four times the recipient of the Navy Medal, and latter had command of ORP “Piorun” as part of Operation Deadlight during November 1945 to February 1946, when the surrendered German U-Boats were sunk of Ireland. Post war, and after a number of failed attempts he made it to the West, and emigrated with his family to Argentina, where he settled in Buenos Aires, and worked as an officer on merchant ships.
Group of 8: Poland: Virtuti Militari, 5th Class, unnumbered 1st type version produced for the Polish Government in Exile by Spink and Son of London, silver, gilt and enamels, with its Spink & Son fitted presentation case, this bearing the letters ‘V.M.’ on the outer lid; Great Britain: Distinguished Service Cross, hallmarks for London with date letter ‘H’ for 1943, and jewellers mark ‘SG’ for Garrard, reverse engraved in an official form as seen for recipients of the Polish Navy: ‘Commander W. Maracewicz. Polish Navy.’ and date ’1944’, complete with wearing pin, and Garrard & Co fitted presentation case; Poland: Cross of Valour with crimped Second Award Bar, the cross being the unnumbered bronze version produced in Great Britain for the Polish Government in Exile by an unknown maker, the so called ‘corrected type’ with its reddish-gild / lacquered finish, complete with its original chromed safety pin, and its unmarked presentation case; Navy Medal for the War of 1939-1945 with three crimped bars representing four awards, together with its original plastic box of issue; Great Britain: 1939-1945 Star; Atlantic Star; Italy Star; War Medal.
Condition: Good Very Fine.
Wszechwlad Maracewicz was born on 26 October 1907 in the Baltic States at Riga in Latvia, then a part of the Imperial Russian Empire. After the collapse of the Empire and the onset of the Bolshevik Revolution and the formation of the Soviet Union, he wandered along with his parents, travelling in no particular order via Saint Petersburg, Irkutsk, Odessa and Kiev, and eventually reaching Poland in 1921. Settling in Warsaw, he opted on a career in the Polish Navy, and in 1931 graduated from the Naval Cadet School at Torun, being commissioned as an officer in the rank of Navy lieutenant (RN Sub Lieutenant). In 1935 he graduated through the Signal Officers Course.
At the time of his undertaking the Signal Officers Course, when in the rank of a Navy Lieutenant (RN Lieutenant), he was an officer of the watch and the deputy commander of the ship training school aboard the schooner ORP “Iskra”. On his passed out of the course, Maracewicz was then posted to the headquarters of the Polish Navy destroyer squadron as a signals officer and flag officer, and from 1936 performed this duty directly to the destroyer squadron commander. As of 1938 he was serving with the newly launched signal minelayer ORP “Neck”, he being a part of her first crew for her first commission. Later that same year he was appointed the navigation officer to the destroyer ORP “Iskra”, after which he returned to his duty as the squadron commander’s flag officer with the destroyer squadron.
On the eve of the German invasion, on 30 August 1939, as intelligence was received that the invasion was imminent, Maracewicz, by then a Navy Captain, found himself given the surprise position of commander of the destroyer squadron and as such was aboard the destroyer ORP “Błyskawica” which translates as “Lightning”, when together with two other destroyers, they executed the Peking Plan. The other two destroyers were, ORPs “Grom” (Thunderbolt) and “Burza” (Storm). Maracewicz had found himself catapulted into this position of responsibility, owing the urgent need to enact the plan, and some officers were not able to get back to their ships in time. He was in fact working with Division II of the General Staff when the order came through to go ahead with the Peking Plan.
As the prospect of conflict increased, the British government pressed Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz to evacuate the most modern elements of the Polish Navy from the Baltic Sea. In the event of war, the Polish military leaders realised that the ships that remained in the Baltic were likely to be quickly sunk by the Germans. Furthermore, since the Danish straits were well within operating range of the German Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe, there was little chance of an evacuation plan succeeding if it were implemented after hostilities began. Four days after the signing of the Polish-British Common Defence Pact, three destroyers of the Polish Navy executed the Peking Plan and so evacuated to Great Britain, when then sailed to the British naval base at Leith in Scotland. These three destroyers then operated in combination with British Royal Navy vessels against Germany. Also two submarines managed to flee from the Baltic Sea through the Danish straits to Great Britain during the Polish September Campaign. For the rest of the Polish Navy, three submarines were interned in Sweden, while all remaining surface vessels were sunk by German aircraft. Maracewicz in his role of commander of the three Polish Naval destroyers that executed the Peking Plan, was therefore responsible for bringing all that was possible of the Polish surface fleet to safety. His successful role was of great significance to the eventual formation of the Free Polish Navy. Of further note, the destroyer ORP “Błyskawica” on which he sailed, is still in existence to this day, being a museum-ship located at Gdynia.
Maracewicz’s was appointed in 1940 to reign the officer of the exchange rate in the Naval Cadet School known as ORP “Gdynia”, which oversaw the training of new Free Polish naval officers in Great Britain. Then he found himself appointed as the signal officer to the destroyer ORP “Piorun” (Thunderbolt) which in October 1940 was loaned from the Royal Navy to the Polish Navy, she having formerly been intended to be known as H.M.S Nerissa, a N-Class destroyer. A the time of her being loaned, she was still under construction, and he was her first signal officer. It appears that he had taken a demotion that fitted in with the Polish Navy being incorporated into service with the Royal Navy, and he was now serving as a Lieutenant. It is unclear whether or not he then fought aboard ORP “Piorun” during her famous action with the German battleship Bismarck on 22 May 1941. In this engagement, the tiny destroyer famously charged at Bismarck by herself. Piorun exchanged fire with Bismarck for an hour, with neither side scoring any hits—although after the third salvo, Bismarck missed by only 20 yards (18m), causing he commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Pławski, to pull away. According to one report, Pławski transmitted the message "I am a Pole" before commencing fire on Bismarck; other sources say the signal to commence fire was "Trzy salwy na cześć Polski" ("Three salvoes in honour of Poland”). This manoeuvre and the subsequent withdrawal caused Piorun to lose contact with Bismarck. Another often repeated story, possibly an embellishment, mentions that the Piorun constantly signaled "I am a Pole" using her signal lights for the entirety of the engagement. It does remain possible, perhaps even likely, due to the fact that the signalman would be posted at the light during Battle Stations.
Whilst it remains unconfirmed if Lieutenant Maracewicz was with ORP “Piorun” as her Signal Officer during this famous engagement, it is known that he was then appointed Signal Officer aboard the ORP “Burza” (Storm) during 1941-1942, she being one of the original destroyers from the Peking Plan. He was aboard her during the period that she escorted the convoys to Iceland when with Escort Group B6 and engaged in the Battle of the Atlantic. This escort group, one of seven British escort groups which served with the Mid-Ocean Escort Force, was formed in January 1942. Later in 1942, Maracewicz was appointed deputy commander of the destroyer ORP Ślązak (Silesian). During the course of the war this vessel took part in 32 patrols and escorted 104 convoys, but he was most significantly aboard her when she formed one of eight Hunt-class ships that took part in the Dieppe Raid, known as Operation Jubilee, on 19 August 1942. At Dieppe she saved 85 soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Canada, trapped at the beach after landing. Maracewicz was next appointed the deputy commander of ORP “Garland”, which was assigned to the Mid-Ocean Escort Force in the North Atlantic until December 1943, when she transferred to Freetown, Sierra Leone, to escort convoys off West Africa. Whilst aboard her, Maracewicz had conducted patrols off the Azores.
It was however from mid 1943 that Maracewicz was given command of ORP “Krakowiak” (L 115), a former Royal Navy Hunt Class destroyer, which had been with the Free Polish Navy since December 1940. She was named after a former Polish Navy destroyer of the same name that had a long history in the Polish Navy, but had been withdrawn from service prior to the onset of hostilities, and up until around the period that he assumed command, had been conducting convoy escort duties in the North Atlantic. Krakowiak is a name with referenced to either a Polish folk dance, or is a name for residents of the city of Krakow.
Under Maracewicz, ORP “Krakowiak” was sent to the Mediterranean where she provided fire support during Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily on 9 July to 17 August 1943. Following the Armistice of Cassibile on 3 September 1943 when Italy switched sides and joined the Allies, ORP “Krakowiak” was sent to the Dodecanese. Beginning in early September 1943, invading German troops defeated both the Italian garrison in the Dodecanese and British forces sent to support them, aided by the fact that Allied units were operating without sufficient air cover. Most of the Dodecanese islands fell to German forces within two months, resulting in one of Germany's last major victories during the conflict. These operations lasted from 8 September to 22 November 1943. On the night of 10/11 November, destroyers HMS Petard, HMS Rockwood, and ORP “Krakowiak” bombarded Kalymnos whilst HMS Faulknor bombarded Kos, where German forces were assembling for the attack on Leros. Despite this the German convoy reached Leros on 12 November, and during the subsequent nights, the Allied destroyers failed to find and destroy the German vessels, limiting themselves to bombarding the German positions on Leros. Altogether, during the Second World War, ORP “Krakowiak” covered over 146,000 nautical miles escorting 206 different convoys, including nine in the North Atlantic. She shot down three enemy planes, but the number of enemy vessels sunk is unclear.
Maracewicz’s most important period when in command of ORP “Krakowiak” was when she participated in the Normandy invasion during June 1944. On 6 June she supported the American landings at Omaha Beach, but then on 7-8 June 1944, his vessel under his command, in conjunction with the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Ursa, took part in the Battle of Port-en-Bessin, also known as Operation Aubery. Port-en-Bessin was a small fishing harbour west of Arromanches, and lay between Omaha Beach to the west, in the U.S. V Corps sector, and Gold Beach to the east in the British XXX Corps sector. As an objective during Operation Overlord, it was detailed for assault and capture by members of No. 47 (Royal Marine) Commando and the 4th Special Service Brigade. The post lay close to Blay, the site of a prospective command post for General B.L. Montgomery, the Allied Ground Forces Commander. British petrol and oil storage depots were also to be established near the port and for American forces at St. Honorine 2 miles west, under the code-name Tombola, to be filled from tankers offshore, using buoyed pipelines. The first pipeline into Port-en-Bessin eventually opened on 25 June 1944, and were crucial for the successful advance through Normandy and the Allied breakout into France. During the assault on Port-en-Bessin, both HMS Ursa and ORP “Krakowiak” were situated some 800 yards off the port’s breakwater from 1650 onwards on 7th June. Unable to provide supporting fire because of uncertainty as to the Commando’s positions. At high tide at 2100, both ships came under rifle and machine-gun fire from the bridge of one of the Artilleriefährprahmen lying inside the harbor, the bridge protruding above the breakwater. They returned fire, with unknown results, and also conceived a stroke reminiscent of naval “cutting-out” parties of the past. By 2230, two armed motorboats, one from each destroyer, entered the darkening harbor. Seemingly undismayed to discover two vessels where they had thought there was only one, and paying no regard to poorly directed small-arms and mortar fire from the western feature, the little boats each attacked a flak ship, firing Lewis machine guns, rifles, and Lanchester machine carbines (submachine guns). No return fire came from the flak ships and both were boarded. The quayside Artilleriefährprahm was half-sunk, and the crews of both vessels had fled, leaving behind three dead Germans and a dog. The black mongrel was rescued by a party from the Ursa and adopted under the name of Sappho. Attempts by the sailors to contact the Royal Marines by loud-hailer (bullhorn) were unsuccessful. The marines deduced that the Royal Navy was in action from the sounds of shooting and swearing in English drifting over the water.
As the commanding officer of ORP “Krakowiak” during the operations off Sicily, in the Dodecanese and Aegean, and off Normandy, Lieutenant Commander Wszechwlad Maracewicz was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, this award being personally presented to him. In keeping with the other British awards to members of the Free Polish Forces, this award was never officially published in the London Gazette, however in keeping with the other known Polish awards of the Distinguished Service Cross, this was officially engraved to the recipient on its being presented to him. Only 25 Free Polish Navy officers were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during the Second World War. Maracewicz’s award of the Distinguished Service Cross is one of four such earned aboard ORP “Krakowiak”.
In addition for his services aboard ORP “Krakowiak”, Maracewicz was awarded Poland’s highest award, the Virtuti Militari in the 5th Class, award no.10470, which as such resulted in him being awarded a unnumbered decoration, and he is also confirmed as having been twice the recipient of the Cross of Valour, and four times the recipient of the Navy Medal.
Maracewicz was promoted to Lieutenant Commander (Komandor Podporucznik) during 1944, and was appointed to duty as head of the Personnel Department in the headquarters of the Free Polish Navy. But with the end of the war in sight, during early 1945 he was appointed to duty aboard the cruiser ORP “Conrad”, and with hostilities over, assumed command of his old vessel, the destroyer ORP “Piorun” (Thunderbolt), performing one final mission with her, namely Operation Deadlight during November 1945 to February 1946. Operation Deadlight was the code name for the Royal Navy operation to scuttle German U-boats surrendered to the Allies after the defeat of Germany. Of the 156 U-boats surrendered to the Allies by Germany, 116 were scuttled as part of Operation Deadlight. The plan was to tow the submarines to three areas about 100 miles northwest of Ireland and sink them. The areas were codenamed XX, YY, and ZZ. They intended to use XX as the main scuttling area, while towing 36 boats to ZZ to use as practice targets for aerial attack. YY was to be a reserve position where, if the weather was good enough, they could divert submarines from XX to sink with naval forces. Submarines that were not used for target practice were to be sunk with explosive charges, with naval gunfire as a fallback option if that failed. When Operation Deadlight began, the navy found that many of the U-boats were in poor condition from being moored in exposed harbours while awaiting disposal. These issues, combined with poor weather, sank 56 of the boats before they reached the scuttling areas, and those that did reach the area were generally sunk by gunfire rather than explosive charges. The first sinking took place on 17 November 1945 and the last on 11 February 1946. During this operation, ORP “Piorun” is recorded as having sunk six of the German Type XXIII submarines, U-2329, U-2334, U-2335, U-2337, U-2350, and U-2363.
Lieutenant Commander Maracewicz was the last commander of ORP “Piorun”, and in 1946 handed her back to the Royal Navy, when she was recommissioned as H.M.S Noble, and eventually scrapped in 1955. She remains in many ways, the most famous of the wartime vessels of the Free Polish Navy. Maracewicz chose to return to Poland, by then a part of the Soviet Union, where his family, his wife and son, were still located. In 1948, after several failed attempts, he successfully broke out to the West, and emigrated to Argentina, where he settled in Buenos Aires, and worked as an officer on merchant ships. He died in Buenos Aires on 18 August 1987.
