A Polish Voice

and my father, the man who always listened

Sandy Weatherburn

• Publisher: Brown Dog Books
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781839526169
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: History

A young teenager enlisted into the Polish Army in 1938. Deported to the Soviet Union and

imprisoned in a Siberian prison camp, this audacious soldier became reunited with his compatriots in Scotland where he trained as a paratrooper and took part in the fated WW2 Operation Market Garden, Arnhem in 1944.

Fifty years later, then a patient in hospital, the soldier recounted his life's experience to my father in the next bed, who had the forethought to record their conversation onto a Dictaphone machine. My father's empathetic nature and harrowing childhood experiences of seeing HMS Foylebank destroyed by German bomber planes on his way to school in 1940 led to a unique and unlikely friendship.

The discovery of these recordings in 2020 inspired The Polish Voice, a fully researched historical record of both men's lives, a tribute to them, reminding us of the importance to listen to one another and the legacy of a recorded voice.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Epigraph
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 – Early years in Poland
• Chapter 2 – Prisoner of War and escape into the Ural Mountains
• Chapter 3 – Meeting the British Army
• Chapter 4 – Evacuation
• Chapter 5 – Civilian life
• Chapter 6 – Friendship in hospital
• Memorials
• Conclusion
• References
• Bibliography