Wednesday 2 July 2008

SERGEANT FERDYNAND MICEL

This is a photograph of Sergeant Ferdynand Micel who was the subject of my last post. It is a detail cropped from the 1942 fliers photograph and gives a clearer picture of the man himself. My own father, though not a Pole, was also a refugee who enlisted and fought for Britain. It seems to me that there are striking similarities between my dad and Patrick's. No, they don't look alike but they were both clean cut young men who suffered the loss of their home land (although I have to say Patrick's father suffered greater hardships). In the wake of all this, they were both ordinary men who were sent out to do extraordinary things; dreadful things that decent men should never have to do. In spite of personal danger, fear and every other human emotion, they just got on and did it. They deserve every free man's respect and that is why people like me and Patrick will always try to honour and preserve their memory.