Today, Mjr Aleksander Tarnawski “Upłaz”, the last “Cichociemny” left us for eternal guardianship.
He was 101 years old.
Maj. Aleksander Tarnawski, ps. “Upłaz” was the last living paratrooper of the “Armia Krajowa” – Polish Home Army. He was one of the 316 who jumped into the occupied country during World War II. He belonged to the commandos of the Polish underground, he was an officer of the Home Army, he carried out difficult conspiratorial missions, and also dealt with, inter alia, training of Home Army soldiers.
The major died on March 4, 2022, less than two months after his 101st birthday.
Aleksander Tarnawski pseud. “Upłaz” was dropped on the territory of Poland on the night of April 16-17, 1944 as part of the operation “Weller” together with 11 other soldiers of the special group “Cichociemni”. They took off from the Main Transfer Base in Brindisi, Italy.
The landing operation was in receiving facility “Kanapa” located near the village of Baniocha, near Góra Kalwaria.
The plane with the first group of Cichociemni took off on February 15, 1941, from Great Britain. The commandos were thrown into occupied Poland. In total, 316 Polish soldiers were sent to the country by air by December 1944. While serving in the ZWZ-AK, Cichociemni became the elite of the Polish Underground State.
On September 7, 2014, Mr. Major, aged 93, made a parachute jump with the soldiers of the GROM special forces. He was an honorary combatant of the GROM Military Unit, which inherits the traditions and customs of the Cichociemni.
Angelika Jarosławska Sapieha had the highest honor to meet several times with Mjr Aleksander Tarnawski “Upłaz” and to listen from him about the brutality of war and the greatest value of peace.
#nomorewar #glorytotheheroes
