Danny Krasowski was born on the 10th November, 1921. He was the son of a farmer and had two sisters and a brother. He travelled to school by bicycle or sometimes his father took him by pony and trap. As a teenager, he travelled to Germany with his father to the 1936 Olympic Games. When his eldest sister married, she was given an acre of land by her parents. Danny would have also received the same had it not been for the war. Danny was seventeen years old at the outbreak of the Second World War and along with other local boys, was rounded up by Soviet Troops and imprisoned in the city of Lvov. Someone stole his high boots overnight, so he had to steal a pair from someone else. They were then driven by truck to Siberia to work in the slave camp. He helped build the Murmansk Airport and at the same time learned to speak Russian and Ukraine, as his captors had no intention of learning Polish. The place was very rough and cold, the food was awful and the work was hard. Meanwhile, the Polish General Sikorski (who was in exile in England), the head of the Polish Army, made a pact with Stalin, the Soviet leader, to release all the Poles who were in slave camps, but forbade them to leave the country. Danny was one of the many who went roving around.

[photo] Danny Krasowski (left) and friends, en-route to England to be demobbed, 1947. Photo submitted by Mrs M. Crawford

General Sikorski decided to have a Free Polish Army Second Division, so Danny, along with many more Poles, went to Saratov in Russia to join the Free Polish Army. He went via North Africa where he fought alongside the Eighth Army in the Africa campaign. He then went to Italy where he fought in the famous Battle of Monte Casino, receiving a medal for his part, where the Poles played a major role; in fact it was the Polish flag that was displayed on the top of the casino. Danny was a Private in the firing line and he sometimes drove an ambulance. During the war he wrote many letters home but received no replies. He didn't know whether any of his family were still alive or whether the family farm had been destroyed. In 1947 the second Division Polish Corps came to England to be demobbed. They were stationed in Winchester. They were given the choice of either going back home, staying in England or going to America, Canada or Australia. Danny chose to stay in England as it was closer to Poland, so that when he found his family he could return home.

He then came to Yorkshire to work in the mines. He had no idea what the work would be like but he had to earn some money. He trained at Askern Colliery, going on to work at Fryston until 1954, returning to Askern coal face until he took early retirement at the age of sixty in 1981. When he first came to Yorkshire he stayed at the miner's hostel on Knottingley Road by which time he could speak Polish, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian and some English. He was very good with languages and I was very proud of him. It was while he was at the hostel that he met me, Mary Wood, his future wife. I was eighteen years old and a live-in canteen assistant there. My job was to serve food and help to stack the dishes for washing, along with my colleagues, Ann and Nora. Our manageress was Miss Sawyer and one of our duties was to serve the Polish ex-servicemen with their meals. One morning, one of Danny's friends came to me and said that his friend Danny was going to marry me. I had no idea who Danny was but during the course of the day, Danny came to me and introduced himself. I agreed to go out with him that evening but as the day went on I started to have second thoughts, so I didn't turn up. The next day he wanted to know why so I lied and told him that I had to go and see my mother. He then asked me to go out with him that evening but this time I really was going to my mother's. I told him that I would be back at 10pm for the 11pm curfew (if you wanted to be out after 11pm, you had to have permission). When I got off the bus Danny was waiting for me. We sat on the bench outside the hostel. He offered me a cigarette and we started talking. I realised that I really liked him so we made a date for the following evening. He told me later that as soon as he saw me, he knew he wanted to be with me for the rest of his life.

[Family portrait} Taken in the 1960s. Danny, Roman, and Barbara standing, and myself seated. Photo submitted by Mrs M. Crawford

My mother was against the marriage at first so I threatened that we would live together if marriage was not possible. It was unheard of in those days so mum signed the paper in order for us to be married. We had very little money so we went to the Registry Office by bus, having just enough to return by taxi. Danny kissed me and said, "Don't worry, I will always look after you". We lived at my mother's to start with, eventually moving into a flat before buying a house. As we were the first Polish couple in Knottingley, some people accepted us and some didn't. Danny was naturalised in 1953. When our only daughter Barbara started school, she couldn't understand why the teachers always asked how to spell her name (which made her withdrawn), which is why we changed our name from Krasowski to Crawford. In later years she wished that we hadn't changed our name. Danny was a Roman Catholic and I was Church of England but he didn't mind whether we sent Barbara to Catholic or Anglican Church, so she went to Church School. For many years Danny had been writing to his family without success. Finally, in the late 1950's Danny and I wrote to the Swiss Red Cross - it worked. We received a telegram saying, "Mother, brother, sister alive. Father, sister dead. Thought you were dead. Write to this address." Danny was over the moon - at last he had found some of his family.

[photo] Mr. and Mrs Crawford on a visit to Poland in 1971. Photo submitted by Mrs M. Crawford.

In the 1960's, Danny's brother, Roman, was given permission to visit England. What a reunion that was as Danny hadn't seen his brother since he was eleven years old. We drank lots of vodka and did lots of talking. We introduced him to lots of our friends and had a great time. We bought a small tape recorder for Roman to take back with lots of recorded messages for all the family. It was a very emotional time for Danny, sending his mother a message. He never saw her again. His father had died of natural causes and his sister had been shot by the Germans. In 1971, Danny and I went to Poland to the mountain resort of Sakopane. Danny said at the time that he was so near home yet so far away. He'd always wanted to take me to see his place of birth. We applied twice to go to Danny's home but were refused as that part of Poland was now in the Soviet Union. We went to the Embassy in London and were informed that we could go on an organised tour but must not break away from it to make any personal visits. Danny felt that was not satisfactory. When we applied again, Gorbachov was Prime Minister and he permitted the visit, so in 1991 Danny and I finally went to Dorobuz. It was a long and tiring journey by plane and taxi, but it was well worth it as Danny had not seen his place of birth for fifty two years. At last we were reunited with his family. They all made us so welcome and tears flowed freely. Everyone we met gave me flowers. His eldest sister sometimes remembered him and sometimes she didn't. Sadly, she passed away in 1992.

A nephew took us round in the car to where the farm used to be, but it had been burned down during the war, leaving just a ploughed field. They took us to where Danny's sister was shot by the Germans and to where his parents were buried. They also took us to where Danny used to go fishing and lots of other places where he spent his childhood, swimming and riding bikes with his mates. Unfortunately, while we were there, there was a coup and Gorbachov was thrown off. Danny was advised to leave in case there was any trouble, but getting out was a worrying experience. He didn't tell me about the troubles until later when we arrived in Warsaw. Sadly Danny passed away on 23rd December 2002 aged eighty one, and as he promised all those years ago, he did 'look after me'. When we were first married, some people said it wouldn't last, but we had fifty four years of a loving marriage. Sadly our dear daughter Barbara also passed away on 2nd March 2005 aged fifty six.

Mrs M. Crawford.