Edward Moczulski

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Edward “Ed” Moczulski was born on 26 July 1925 in Brześć, Poland, now Brest in Belarus. He was the third child of Wincenty and Kazimira Moczulski. Following the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland in September 1939, his family came under Soviet occupation. In 1940, soldiers arrested the family and deported them into the Soviet Union. Given less than an hour to pack, they were transported in overcrowded cattle wagons and endured hunger, harsh weather and forced labor in exile.

Released following the 1941 “amnesty” for Polish citizens, Edward joined the Polish forces forming under General Władysław Anders. His journey took him through Central Asia and across the Caspian Sea to Iran, followed by Iraq, Palestine and Egypt. Still a teenager, he trained for military service before joining the Allied campaign in Italy.

Edward served as a signalman in the communications platoon of the headquarters company, 7th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, Polish II Corps. During the Battle of Monte Cassino in May 1944, his platoon maintained communications between the regiment and the officer directing smoke-screen operations. These screens concealed Polish troop movements as soldiers prepared for further attacks against German positions. His task was to keep those vital communications working during the fighting.

His subsequent service included the fighting for Ancona and Bologna, as Polish II Corps advanced through Italy. After the war, he moved to England, then immigrated to Canada in 1949, settling in Kitchener, Ontario. There he married, raised a family and worked as an electrician and electrical fitter.

Edward remained involved with the Polish veterans’ community through the Polish Combatants’ Association and Royal Canadian Legion Polish Veterans Branch 412. In July 2025, his community celebrated his hundredth birthday, honoring a life that had taken him from Soviet deportation to service in the liberation of Italy.