Józef Gałka - losy żołnierza

Autor w artykule przedstawia postać Józefa Gałki, żołnierza walczącego w I i II wojnie światowej, powstańca wielkopolskiego oraz uczestnika wojny polsko – rosyjskiej w 1920 roku. Chronologicznie uporządkowana biografia stała się zarazem charakterystyką 80 – letniego okresu historii Polski, przedstawionej losami polskiego żołnierza.

Józef Gałka was born on March 13th, 1900 in Jerka, not far from Kościan. In March 1918, he was called up to military service in the German Army and he fought at the western front. After returning to Poland in November 1918, he voluntarily joined the ranks of Wielkopolska insurgents. He took part in seizing the Ławica airfield, near Poznań. From March to June 1919, he fought near Lviv. From October 1919, he struggled in Polish-Russian War. He participated in Warsaw and Niemen battles. In the period between the two world wars, he was promoted to the rank of a career noncommissioned officer and performed duties as an instructor of machine guns in the Officers’ School for Non-commissioned Officers in Bydgoszcz. After disbanding the school, he served in the 2nd Department of the General Staff of the Polish Army in Bydgoszcz. When the war broke out, on the night of September 18th-19th, he crossed the Polish-Romanian border, where he was interned. He escaped from the camp and via Romania and then Yugoslavia he reached Greece. From there, by sea, he got to France, where he performed a function of a personnel noncommissioned officer. On June 5th, he was evacuated and 20 days later he arrived in Great Britain. From June 1940 to April 1947 he worked in England as an non-commissioned officer clerk. In April 1947, he returned to Poland. Discharged from active duty he took up a job in the District Liquidation Office, and then in the Municipal National Council. He died on June 28th, 1981.