POLONICA IN SCOTLAND A Register of Polonica of the physical manifestations of the Polish presence in Scotland WORLD WAR TWO	ORMISTON HALL ESTATE, NEAR ORMISTON, EAST LOTHIAN POLISH CAIRN
THIS WEB PAGE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS

Photo © Scott Glyn by kind permission	Photo © Scott Glyn by kind permission
This photo of the monument was taken over eight years ago. The monument in the style of a cairn lies just off the A6093, about 100 metres west of that road’s junction with the B6371. It is hidden from the road and lies behind trees. Walking down the lane (that leads eventually to the ruins of Ormiston Hall) in the early 2000s, concrete - brick foundations for the huts that were erected here during the war could still be made out.	The front of the monument and on the left is a crowned Polish Eagle and on the right the Scottish Lion Rampant. A date is mentioned on the monument – probably ‘15.VIII’ (at the top left) and ‘1942’ (at the top right) and just visible in the above photo. The date 15.VIII.1942 is significant as this is Polish Soldiers’ Day. Strong circumstantial evidence suggests that the cairn, given the date inscribed, and the tragic death of a Polish soldier within the grounds, was built by Polish soldiers of the 10th Supply Company, (formerly 10th Brigade Train) part of the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade and 1st Polish Armoured Division. Other Polish units were later to be based at Ormiston Camp.
Photo of Polish monument in 2003 © Robert Ostrycharz
SCOTTISH-POLISH LINKS	OUTLINE OF THE POLISH ARMY IN ORMISTON AND IMMEDIATE AREA
1943-1946 BIRTHS AND MARRIAGES In Scotland, during the war (and after) there were a large number of registered marriages involving Polish servicemen with Scots women. Between 1939 and 1944, it was reported that there had been nearly 1,600 such marriages.  This was part of a wider trend where women all over Britain were marrying ‘foreigners’ who had come to this country to fight on the British side. Some 1,500 marriages followed in the years 1945-1946. From these Scottish-Polish marriages and other liaisons, a new second generation started to form.  A number of these marriages and the birth of children from these marriages, with links to Ormiston and the surrounding districts are given for illustrative purposes. They are arranged in chronological order by year. In Ormiston District in :- 1945 Tadeusz Multan married Helena Czerniak In Gladsmuir District :- 1943 Stefan Rozmus married Mary Wilson R Buxton 1944 Tadeusz Brylak married Eva Taylor 1944 Jozef Budniak married Elizabeth Graham McDougall 1945 Franciszek Derbis married Alison Bell Hendrie In Tranent District :- 1943 Jerzy Markowicz married Jane Innes 1944 Antoni Bober married Janet Johnston Douglas 1944 Zbigniew Swiecicki married Rosemary Hughes 1945 Kazimierz Mularski married Ann Plimer Bathgate In Prestonpans and Cockenzie District :- 1943 Janowi Stryjski married Margaret MacFarlane 1943 Tadeusz Szyszko married Margaret Coull Little 1944 Marian Gajewski married Margaret Stewart MacPherson 1944 Henryk Trenzinger married Violet Anderson 1945 Stanislaw Staniul married Margaret McLeod Lindsay 1945 Waclaw Witkowski married Margaret White 1946 Antoni Wachowiak married ElizabethWynne Haddington, Gifford and other districts in East Lothian will be covered elsewhere.	1942 In April 1942, troops of the 1st Polish Armoured Division (in the process of forming up) moved from the east coast of Scotland (and Perthshire) to new locations south of the Forth. As a result, a number of Polish units were stationed in East Lothian, including the 10th Supply Company in the grounds of Ormiston Hall, near Ormiston. The property belonged to the Marquess of Linlithgow and had been untenanted for more than 30 years. The 10th Supply Company was a relatively small unit at this time. In January 1942 its strength amounted to 14 Officers  and 179 ORs. The Company later relocated to Galashiels. On 1st September 1942, the supply units of the Armoured Division were organised into a HQ CRASC (Commander RASC) under the command of Colonel Wiktor Bielski. Later, on 12th September, the I Armd Mech Corps issued an order renaming one of its Corps Service units, the 11th Supply Company, to the Supply Company of the Support Group. A few days later, the unit transferred to Ormiston. (It is probably around then that the 10th Company moved to Galashiels). Four companies of which the 10th, a Divisional Supply Company, the 16th Supply Company and the Supply Company for the Support Group made up the supply troops of the Division. 1943 During the week ending 18th January 1943, the Support Group Supply Company of the Armoured Division moved from Ormiston to Haddington. In January 1943, the Divisional Supply Company was now stationed at Ormiston. In early April 1943, supply companies of the Armoured Division were located at Kelso, Galashiels, Ormiston and Haddington. These probably were the 16th, 10th, Div Sply Coy and Spt Gp Coy respectively. In September 1943, in a new organization, the 10th Company was allocated to 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade. The existing Divisional Supply Company was liquidated and the Support Group Supply Company redesignated the Divisional Supply Company. The latter was organised as the Armoured Division Troops Company. In late November the Divisional Troops Supply Company left Haddington but parts of the unit remained in Ormiston. 1944 On 23rd April, despite all the efforts of the National Fire Service and their timeliness in arriving at Ormiston Hall to bring a fire under control, the main building of the house and the contents were burned out. In May 1944, units of the Division left Scotland and moved to North Yorkshire. For the time being Polish Army connections with Ormiston were likely ended. Between the end of July and 2nd August, supply units of the Division landed in Normandy. On 9th August they went into action. 1945 Identified in April 1945 at ‘Ormiston Camp’ was a unit of the Artillery Training Centre, described by the British, as the ‘Depot Wing’. Later in the year (date unknown) the Depot unit moved to Galashiels.  So far as can be traced, the departure of this unit marked the end of the Polish military connection with Ormiston.
POLES WHO SETTLED IN POST-WAR ORMISTON AND AREA For example, in the late 40s Randak, Szczepan; Joiner of Hall's Buildings, Ormiston Road, Tranent In the 1950s - In the 1960s Kozok, Emil; Engineer; Peaston, Ormiston, (1962)	MEMORIES IF ANYONE HAS MEMORIES, DOCUMENTS, PHOTOS OF THE POLISH FORCES IN CARNOUSTIE AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THESE, THEN PLEASE CONTACT ME AT THIS EMAIL ADDRESS : robert@ostrycharz.free-online.co.uk
UPDATES 11 Sep 2014 Movement of Div Tps Spl Coy November 1943 17 Sep 2014 Transfer of  Supply Coy of the Support Group to Ormiston September 1942.
	SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PRINTED SOURCES Books Kronika Oddziałów Zaopatrywania 1 Dywizji Pancernej, Zeszyt 11, April 1995, Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London. Periodicals Haddingtonshire Courier: 28 April 1944 Edinburgh Gazette (various dates) Archives Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum [external link] The National Archives Kew. various War Office files relating to Scottish Command INDIVIDUALS Scott Glyn, Craig Statham

Updated  last on 17 Sep 2014	Created 23 Aug 2014
PolonicaOrmiston.htm	© Copyright R M Ostrycharz 2014