British Soldier’s Service and Pay Book belonging to a Polish soldier after World War II.

This Soldier’s Service and Pay Book belonged to Tadeusz Ceregra. All soldiers serving in the British army were required to keep this book on their person at all times. Based on the information in his service and pay book, Tadeusz Ceregra was born on July 14, 1917. During World War II, he served as a captain in the 9th Flanders Rifle Battalion, which was part of the 1st Armored Division of General Stanislaw Maczek. Thus, he was one of many Poles who escaped from Poland after the German invasion, and eventually served with the British Armed Forces. More specifically, he may have fought in western Europe in 1944-45 alongside the Canadians like the rest of General Maczek’s 1st Armored Division. In 1946, the British government formed the Polish Resettlement Corps as a holding unit for members of the Polish Armed Forces who had served with the British and did not want to return to communist Poland. Captain Ceregra’s service book shows that he joined the PRC on March 7, 1946, and was discharged on November 14, 1947. It’s unclear what happened to Tadeusz Ceregra after that, or how his service book was gifted to the Polish Center of Discovery and Learning.