John “Jack” Luckasavitch

John “Jack” Luckasavitch was one of at least 28 men from the predominately Kashub community of Wilno/Barry’s Bay, 180 kilometres west of Ottawa, Ontario, who registered for training at Camp Kościuszko. Although all these men had been born in Canada, and had no military training, they volunteered to fight for the repatriation of Poland, the homeland of their grandparents. Jack enlisted in the Polish Army in 1918, at the age of 21, and headed to Camp Kościuszko. After just nine days of “training”, Jack departed on a train bound for New York with a depot of recruits, and then boarded a steamship to Bordeaux, France. On board were his brother, Eddie, and several other Barry’s Bay men, including Alex Chapeskie, Paul Coulas, John Galka, and John and Antoine Trebinskie. After arriving in France, Jack attended an Officers’ school for a month, was outfitted in a French uniform and then sent to the Western front, where he was promptly promoted to Corporal. When the war ended, Jack stayed behind to fight in the Polish-Soviet War. Jack returned to Canada in 1920, only to find that the promise of equal pay to the French Army was not being kept. In the end, Jack did not receive any payment for his services.

Image courtesy of the Polish Kashub Heritage Museum.