OKEHAMPTON commemorated the 60th anniversary of D-Day on Sunday, June 6, with one of the most poignant events in the region. But one man who would have dearly loved to have taken part in the march and commemorations on the day, had he been able to, was Okehampton resident Peter Skrzypczak.

Polish-born Mr Skrzypczak, now aged 83, said his pride prevented him from taking part in the march hunched over by the severe back pain he now suffers. He is a man accustomed to walking tall.

His wartime experiences at sea are just one example of the enormous effort made by Poles to the Allied cause during the Second World War.

Mr Skrzypczak served in the Polish Navy under British command and took part in the cruiser bombardment of the Normandy coastline in preparation for the landing by British troops at Arromanches on June 6, 1944.

One of hundreds of Poles living in France who signed up to aid the Allies in the fight against Nazi Germany, Mr Skrzypczak was just a few days short of his 19th birthday when he made the decision to sign up, in April 1940.

However, he considers himself lucky to have even made it to play a part in the Normandy campaign, earlier in the war. He survived being stranded in chill waters, in pitch black, after the sinking of his ship thousands of miles away from the French coastline.

Mr Skrzypczak was on a destroyer escorting a crew to Malta when, just miles from their destination, the Maltese capital of Valleta, the ship was bombed by the enemy and sunk, forcing the crew to flee overboard.

Mr Skrzypczak found himself alone in the Maltese sea on a cold night just after midnight wondering if anyone would come to rescue him. And just when he felt matters couldn?t get any worse, he was attacked and stung by a Portuguese Man O? War.

?It took them three hours to fish me out. It was a pitch dark night. I was 21 years old, stuck there in the water on my own thinking ?What the hell am I doing here??

He heard the engine of a motor boat in the distance.

?I shouted but they never heard me,? he said.

Later, Mr Skrzypczak heard a boat again, and this time was picked out by a flashlight, he was taken back to shore and received treatment for the jellyfish sting.

Mr Skrzypczak was also involved in providing naval support for the ill-fated Dieppe campaign in August 1942 where many Canadian soldiers lost their lives.

He said onboard the ships of the Polish Navy it was like ?little Poland? with just one British officer and three signalmen.

The rest of the crew would be made up entirely of Polish speakers and the only time English would be spoken was when the crew went ashore.

Mr Skrzypczak said the memory of D-Day itself ?June 6, 1944 ? was still fresh in his mind.

?I remember when we started shelling at first light in the morning, there were seven houses on the coastline, and one by one they gradually disappeared.?

He said the noise of the constant firing was incredible.

?I did think it was like the end of the world when they started firing,? he said.

?It was frightening. The larger British ships were behind us and firing over our fleet. The pressure was such, it was rocking us up and down like a yo-yo,? he recalled.

The Polish cruiser was also meant to assist in the liberation of the town of Caen in the second week of operations, but on the very day the attack started, the ship was damaged and the men had to be rescued.

Mr Skrzypczak remains modest about his involvement in the war. ?I wasn?t a hero, but we did our little bit,? he said.

Mr Skrzypczak?s family had left Poland to move to France in 1923. Although they had intended to return to Poland one day, as the situation worsened in Europe during the 1930s they decided to remain in their adopted home.

Mr Skrzypczak said at the outbreak of war, as a young man he wanted to do what he could to help his country of birth, as did his friends.

?Five of us applied to join up, only three of us were accepted, but both of my friends died during the conflict,? he said.

So after the war, Peter Skrzypczak came to Okehampton, married and began a new life on English soil.

His ability on the football pitch helped him to settle into the community. He was a regular for Okehampton Argyle Football Club from the late 1940s through the 1950s, also working as groundsman for the club.