Some Individuals at Camp Kościuszko

LePan was born in Owen Sound, Ontario to an affluent family.  He graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Engineering and upon graduation, he accepted a position as Assistant Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds at the University. His military career began in the 31st Regiment, and at the outbreak of war, he oversaw the Canadian Officer Training Corps (COTC) program, which produced several thousand Canadian Army officers for the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He was also the Officer Commanding of the School of Infantry, where he supervised three Polish officers’ training camps. On September 24, 1917, LePan was notified that he was to be the Commandant of the Polish Army Camp.  He was admired by many of the Polish recruits. He showed great empathy for the struggle for Poland’s independence and made sure that all Canadian staff treated every volunteer with respect and admiration for their patriotism.   His efforts dedicated towards the Polish cause were not forgotten; he was recognized by the French and the new Polish Government. The former awarded him the Croix de Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and the latter the insignia of Commander of the Order of Polonia Restituta.  

Chwałkowski, born in occupied Poland on December 6, 1894, emigrated to New York with his parents at age 11. He became involved with the Polish Falcon organization, where he took part in field training exercises which allowed him to advance to a position of leadership.

Paderewski was born in 1860 in the Russian-occupied part of Poland. At a young age, his father was imprisoned for his role in the January 1863 Uprising. He grew up to become an internationally-acclaimed virtuoso concert pianist and composer with an unwavering love for Poland and its culture. Paderewski was sent to America in early 1915 by the Polish National Committee in Paris as a political activist. His mission was to inform the Americans of Poland’s rich heritage and culture and to convince the government to sanction the training of a Polish Army on American soil for service in the War. Ignacy visited towns and cities where he would ask for funds and volunteers for the proposed Polish Army. The reaction to his pleas for recruits was especially enthusiastic among the members of the numerous Falcons organizations. He forged many friendships with high-ranking members of the American President’s staff, who in turn became sympathetic to his cause.  

 Wiącek was born to a peasant family in the Austrian-controlled part of Poland. In 1912, he emigrated to the United States, where he settled in New York and became a member of the Polish Falcons. He completed the Falcons’ instructor course in Philadelphia and Wiącek was part of the inaugural Polish Officers’ School of Infantry class at the University of Toronto. In the summer of 1918, he joined the First Rifle Regiment and in the spring of 1919, Wiącek was transferred to Poland to take part in the Polish-Soviet War, where he was put in command of his own company. In May of 1920, Antoni was shot in battle near Lipowca-Napodowski. Even though he was injured he carried on leading his company. His actions were regarded with the highest honour.  He would go on to repeat these actions again in battle near Rowne, where he was seriously wounded.

After being discharged from the army, he was awarded the Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari, Croix de Guerre and the Cross of Valour (three times). After the war, Wiącek stayed in Poland to help his country regain its independence. Antoni, like many Polish Army officers, was executed in what has become known as the Katyn Forest Crime, where 15,000 Polish Army officers were executed by the Soviet Army during World War II.

Jack was one of at least 28 men from the predominately Kashub community of Wilno/Barry’s Bay, Ontario, who enlisted in the Polish Army. Even though these men were Canadian, and had no military training, they volunteered to fight for the repatriation of Poland, the homeland of their grandparents.

Jack enlisted 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. 

Rydlewski was born in occupied Poland in 1868. He emigrated with his parents to Pittsburgh, where he joined the Holy Ghost Congregations as a postulant at the age of 17. After graduating from secondary school, he went to France, where he studied theology. At the time of his enlistment in the Polish Army, Rydlewski was a pastor at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church in Pittsburgh. He was a zealous proponent of the Polish cause and it was no surprise that he was one of the first chaplains to enlist in the Polish Army. In early 1918, he arrived at the camp to serve as senior chaplain, where he comforted the recruits who were dealing with the thoughts of being sent off to war; he performed regular masses both outdoors and in the Canadian YMCA tent. On August 8, 1918, Rydlewski left with a depot of recruits for France, where he later served as chaplain in Haller’s Army.  After the war he was discharged from the army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Rydlewski remained in Poland after the war, where he opened and ran an orphanage. When Poland was invaded in September 1939, Rydlewski was imprisoned in a Nazi internment camp in Lubin. He died at the camp in 1941.

Skarzyński (pictured on the right) was born in 1887 in the Russian-controlled part of Poland. During a Revolution in 1905, he was arrested and deported to Serbia by tsarist authorities; but he managed to escape. Wincenty emigrated to America in 1908 and enlisted as a volunteer in the United States Army. He was eventually persuaded to leave the army to join the Polish Falcons movement.

In September 1916, Skarzyński travelled to Ottawa with Andrzej Małkowski, where they met with Sir Sam Hughes, Minister of War, and Major-General Willoughby Gwatkin, to propose the formation of a Polish Army in Canada.

Skarzyński was the first to graduate from the Polish Officers’ training at the School of Infantry on February 24, 1917 and was given the rank of Lieutenant.

When Camp Kościuszko opened, he served as the Polish adjutant. During his brief stay in Niagara-on-the-Lake, he married his wife, Wanda, on November 12, 1917, and he departed for France a few weeks later on November 26, 1917. When Skarzyński was discharged in 1921 following the Polish–Soviet War, he was honoured with the Croix de Guerre and the Polish Cross of Valour.

Wincenty Skarzyński perished during the Second World War in the Soviet Starobielsk Prisoner of War camp on April 22, 1940.