Memorial Piotr Loza - Sint-Gillis-Waas

On the footpath in Reepstraat there is a memorial for a fallen Polish soldier:
"Grateful tribute to the Polish corporal
PIOTR LOZA
of the first armored division.
Died here on 13-IX-'44 during our liberation"

Piotr LOZA was born on June 9, 1916 in Hyźne p. Rzeszow
He was a corporal in the 1st Polska Dywizja Pancerna.-10 Pułk Dragonów (1st Polish Armored Division 10th Reg. Dragoons - motorized infantry).
He died on September 13, 1944 in Sint-Gilles-Waas at the age of 28.

This Allied armored division was founded in Scotland in February 1942. The division consisted of Polish soldiers who had fled to France after the fall of Poland in 1939. There they fought against the Germans for the second time in 1940, after which they emigrated to England. Under a British-Polish agreement, an army, air force and navy were established. The Polish units were largely under British high command, with British equipment and uniforms (with Polish rank insignia), but with the clause that the Poles would fight in their own military units. The First Polish Army Corps was subsequently established in Scotland, in which the 1st Armored Division and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade reached fully operational status. During During his stay in Scotland from 1942 to 1944, this corps guarded 200 km of the British coast.
At the end of July 1944 the division crossed to Normandy and was attached to the Canadian First Army. In Normandy they achieved some brilliant victories over the Germans during the battles for Mont Ormel, Hill 262 and the town of Falaise.
After the Allied breakout from Normandy, the Polish 1st Armored Division pursued the Germans along the coast of the English Channel. The division entered Belgium near Poperinge and liberated several towns, including Sint-Gillis-Waas, where Piotr was killed.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck