Farewell to Bolek Ostrowski, last Polish soldier of Operation Market Garden
This week, another chapter in the heroic history of the Polish Army during World War II has closed.
Bolek Ostrowski died this week. He was the last surviving Polish soldier of the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade, under the command of General Stanisław Sosabowski, who fought in Operation Market Garden during World War II. Ostrowski was born on July 4, 1919. According to driel-polen.nl, he was born in the eastern part of Poland, in the strip that was annexed by the USSR in 1939, in an area that is now part of Ukraine. Like many other Poles, he was deported by the Soviets to Siberia until the German invasion of the USSR in 1941. He then began a journey through Kazakhstan, Persia, and South Africa, among other places, until joining the First Polish Army Corps in Scotland in 1942.
On September 21, 1944, he jumped into the Netherlands with other members of his Brigade, fighting in the Battle of Arnhem. After the war, like many other Polish soldiers who had fought alongside the Western Allies and were stripped of their nationality by Stalin's communist dictatorship in Poland, Ostrowski remained in exile.
On 22 January 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden and as the last surviving member of his Brigade, Bolek received an official commendation from the British government, expressing "its gratitude, appreciation and recognition of the courage and commitment shown by Polish forces in and around Driel and Oosterbeek in September 1944. This includes helping many British airborne forces withdraw across the river when it was clear that the Allies would be unable to take the Bridge at Arnhem."
Bolek Ostrowski passed away on Thursday, March 13, at the age of 105. Rest in peace.
Honor to his memory!
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Photos: Remember The Heroes / British Poles.
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