Fürstenau
Some of the trained soldiers were later dropped on the Polish territory as Cichociemni (the "Silent Unseen"). The 2nd Brigade was enforced by the 2nd Rifle Battalion and at the request of Sosabowski, the Commander-in-Chief, General Sikorski, by order of the 9th of October 1941, established the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade stationed in Fife County, Scotland. The Brigade was subordinate only to the Commander-in-Chief, and its future involvement in battle was closely connected with activities in occupied Poland. In 1942 the Brigade was significantly reinforced by soldiers evacuated from Soviet Russia. When it turned out that the physical condition of the no-longer-young soldiers, ruined by the Soviet gulags, was poor, a centre was established at the Brigade stationed in Largo House, where a special physical development programme was implemented. The centre was called the Monkey Grove. It was not until 1943 that the English approved the Parachute Brigade and from that moment on, they started to strive for it to pass under British command, though the Polish government and Sosabowski himself were rather reluctant about it. It was only after a clear ultimatum of the British side on the 6th of June 1944 that the Brigade became part of the 1st British Airborne Corps. From that moment on, the latest gear and equipment started to arrive to the unit, and parachute training with battalion jumps and the whole brigade started. In August 1944 the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade reached combat readiness.
On the 12th of September 1944 at a briefing in the command of the 1st British Airborne Division, guidelines and orders concerning Operation "Market-Garden" were given. Both military groups were to occupy and maintain the bridges in Arnhem. The beginning of the operation was set for the 17th of September 1944. The soldiers were to land in three drops. On the 18th and 19th of September it was only possible to send glider drops. The main part did not jump before the 21st of September. The situation around Arnhem forced the Allies to change the drop area and eventually the Polish paratroopers landed near the town of Driel. After the fighting, the Brigade was withdrawn to the Ravenstein-Herpen-Neerloon area to protect airports and bridges. It returned to England in early October. The losses during the battle of Arnhem amounted to 93 killed, 249 wounded and nearly 80 taken prisoner. After they returned under pressure from the British, especially from General Browning (the commander of the 1st Airborne Corps), Sosabowski was dismissed. The new commander was Colonel Władysław Rawicz-Szczerbo. In May 1945, the unit was to replace the Czechoslovakian Armoured Brigade in the siege of Dunkirk, but the end of the war in Europe caused it to be sent to the occupation service in Germany, served alongside the 1st Polish Armoured Division. In 1947, the 2nd Brigade was brought to Great Britain, where it was dissolved on the 18th of July 1947.
At the cemetery in Fürstenau in Parkstraße there is a war plot where the soldiers of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade who died in 1945-1947 are buried.
The plots with 40 graves is marked with a stone plate with an inscription in German:
A WAR PLOT OF POLES WHO DIED IN 1939-1945
[translated from Polish]
Between the graves, there is a stone with a carved cross and a text in German:
TO THOSE WHO ARE BURIED HERE
ADAMCZYK JAN Rifleman, Supplies Company
* 2.2.1925 Dębieńsko Wielkie/Rybnik
† 28.1.1946 Schwagstorf
R-C Service Number: 1925/163/I-35313
BADURA JAN Rifleman, Sanitation Company
* 8.5.1923 Simoradz
† 1.7.1945 Kattenkamm
R-C Service Number: 1923/260/I-55088
BALCER ZBIGNIEW Second-Lieutenant
* 25.3.1911 Krakow
† 7.1.1946 Bippen
BARTOSIK ANTONI Company Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion
* 1906 Furmanów
† 21.3.1947 Münster British hospital
R-C Service Number: 1923/260/I-55088.1906/27/I-12350
BIELECKI JAN Lieutenant, 2nd Battalion
* 28.12.1918 Vienna
† 7.9.1945 Schwagstorf
R-C Service Number: 1918/40/I-12350
BRAMSKI ROMAN Rifleman, 2nd Battalion
* 15.12.1926 Storlus
† 25.4.1946 Schwagtorf
R-C Service Number: 1926/131/I-54326
CHŁOPIŃSKI KAZIMIERZ Cpl, 1st Battalion
* 10.7.1919 Dobra
† 29.9.1945 Schwagtorf
R-C Service Number: 1919/31/I-23971
CIEGOWSKI STANISŁAW Rifleman, 2nd Battalion
* 25.10.1921 Krygliszki-Myszagóra
† 14.11.1946 Münster British hospital
R-C Service Number: 1921/88/I-52033
CZUPICH JÓZEF Sergeant, 1st Sanitation Company
* 28.7.1919 Grodzisko Dolne
† 28.8.1946 Nortrup
R-C Service Number: 1919/30/I-23810
DENOCH ZBIGNIEW Cpl, Supplies Company
* 17.5.1922 Ostrołęka
† 1.5.1947 Münster British hospital
R-C Service Number: 1922/20I-28360
FABER HENRYK Gunner
* 30.9.1925 Marchowice
† 1.7. Nortrup
R-C Service Number: 1925/121/I-46139
FOJT JAN Rifleman, Supplies Company
* 24.5.1923 Borowa Wieś
† 14.4.1945 Fürstenau
R-C Service Number: 1923/117/I-36277
GACEK MATEUSZ Anti-Tank Division
* 23.12.1918 Tarnowica Polna
† 4.9.1945 Bippen
R-C Service Number: 1918/32/I-25842
GROSFELD WITOLD Sergeant, Supplies Company
* 15.5.1914 Łomża
† 18.7.1945 Fürstenau
R-C Service Number:1914/62/I-28426
GULBIŃSKI JÓZEF Second-Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion
* 4.7.1918 Nowa Wlejka
† 29.1.1946 Bersenbrück
R-C Service Number: Ofizera No. 147B
JAKUBIEL CZSŁAW Cpl, Supplies Company
* 23.1.1917 Bipuciszki
† 28.10.1946 Bramsche
R-C Service Number:1917/40/I-28586
JANKOWIAK JÓZEF Sergeant, Supplies Company
† 1.12.1945 Fürstenau
JÓZFOWICZ KAZIMIERZ Cpl, Supplies Company
* 21.5.1921 Biłystok
† 31.8.1945 Nortrup
R-C Service Number:1921/32/I-29102
KOMALA STANISŁAW Sergeant Major, 2nd Battalion
* 5.2.1917 Deblin
† 13.1.1947 Schwagstorf
R-C Service Number:1917/41/I-5006
KOPROWSKI WACŁAW Marian, Sergeant, Sapper Company
* 16.9.1911 Warsaw
† 9.8.1945 Vörden
R-C Service Number:1911/147/I-30237
KOWALSKI JERZY Lance Corporal Rifles, HQ
* 19.10.1921 Warsaw
† 13.12.1945 Bersenbrück
R-C Service Number:1921/62/7I-85787
KRUSZYŃSLI EDWARD Lance Corporal Rifles, 3rd Battalion
* 11.3.1919 Złodkowice
† 11.5.1946 Holdorf
R-C Service Number:1919/150/I-25859
LESZCZYŃSKI JULIAN Lance Corporal Rifles, 1st Battalion
* 10.12.1919 Germakówka
† 3.3.1947
R-C Service Number:1919/38/I-30650
LITWIN MIECZYSŁAW Capt., Supplies Company
* 14.8.1909 Przeworsk
† 04.11.1945 Haselünne
R-C Service Number: Officers Service No. 4478
MACHAJ PIOTR Cpl, Supplies Company
* 3.7.1920 Wyżyce
† 4.11.1945 Vörden
R-C Service Number:1920/65/I-25651
MALIŃSKI JÓZEF Lance Corporal Rifles, 3rd Battalion
* 1.12.1923 Gostyczyn
† 7.1946 Neuenkirchen
R-C Service Number:1919/150/I-25859
MICHALAK WACŁAW Rifleman, 1st Battalion
* 13.9.1913 Dziwie
† 17.9.1946 Bramsche
R-C Service Number:1913/80/I-30321
MORAWSKI ANTONI Sergeant
* 6.10.1908
† 03.09.1945 not recorded
PALUL BOLESŁAW Sergeant Major, 1st Battalion
* 8.9.1908 Vilnius
† 31.1.1946 Bramsche
R-C Service Number:1908/37/I-23120
PERUCKI JAN Cpl, 1st Battalion
* 4.12.1917 Chałupki
† 6.7.1945 Bramsche R-C Service Number:1917/79/I-30203
PYRGIŻ STEFAN Lance Corporal Rifles
* 1.11.1925 Gilowice
† 29.6.1945
R-C Service Number:1925/114/I-36277
ROJ MARIAN Gunner, Anti-Tank
* 5.4.1921 Łódź
† 5.11.1946 Bersenbrück
R-C Service Number:1921/185/I-42750
RZEPKA ANTONI Lance Cpl Sappers
* 2.1.1924 Lasowice
R-C Service Number:1924/263/I-36549
STACHOWSKI ANTONI Lance Corporal Artillery, Light Artillery Division
* 16.3.1912 Jakubówka
† 17.10.1946 near Bramsche
R-C Service Number:1912/100/I-23246
SULISŁAWSKI LEON Second-Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion
* 14.6.1921 Chyrów
† 15.6.1946 Marcen
R-C Service Number:1921/131/I-30089. Off. No. 01743
SZAREJKO JAN Rifleman, Communications Unit
* 12.7.1925 Vilnius
† 28.2.1947 Gehrde
R-C Service Number:1925/1012I-42838
SOŁTYSEK PAWEŁ Cpl, 2nd Battalion
* 28.6.1923 Stara Kuźnia
† 23.2.1947 Fürstenau
R-C Service Number:1923/141/I-37136
TANDECKI BERNARD Rifleman
* 17.1.1926 Łakie
† 24.4.1947 Vörden
R-C Service Number:1926/17/I-51497
TOMALKA BERNARD Cpl, Sapper Company
* 19.5.1921 Dąbrówka Wielka
† 9.8.1945 Vörden
R-C Service Number:1921/33/I-31065
TYBURSKI JÓZEF Cpl, 3rd Battalion
* 27.8.1920 Szaba
† 17.7.1945 Russel
R-C Service Number:1920/102/I-64452
ZAIK BRONISŁAW Cpl, 3rd Battalion
* 11.5.1923 Ksążenica
† 29.3.1946 Rhede
R-C Service Number:1923/200/I-48243
ZAPAŁOWSKI ZDZISŁAW Szczepan, Second-Lieutenant, Sapper Company
* 24.12.1917 Warsaw
† 31.8.1945 Nortrup
R-C Service Number:1917/15/I-241. Off. No. 9494
ŻUKOWSKI WACŁAW Cpl, Light Artillery Division
* 23.6.1912 Wielkowice
† 22.10.1945 Haselünne
R-C Service Number:1912/45/I-30388
