Rank
Service	
Born
Unit
Regiment
Date of death
Initially buried
Today buried
Grave

HUPA Wiktor
ks. st. kapelan 
04559
19.10.1912 Zawady p. Rawicz
1. Pol.Dyw.Panc.
9. B.S.
20.8.1944, castle near Maczuga, France
on M.R. 7F/6 435562
at Langannerie, France P.C.W. 
V.B.2.

He became the chaplain of the 9th battalion on the 24th of May 1944.
On the 29th of July he landed with the division in Normandy.
He took part in the fights near Falaise.
        
In a first-aid-dressing-station at the foot of the hill Mont Ormel the 
Franciscan chaplain Father Wiktor Hupa was assisting wounded 
soldiers in their last moments. 

The wounded men lay in the garden of a small castle, when the 
Germans opened fire on them.

He was the leader of the counter-attack on a German Panther tank, 
which attacked in spite of the fact that the location of the hospital 
had been marked by Red Cross flags. 

He defended himself, pistol in hand, against the attackers, to chase 
them away; in this action he lost his life.

All the time during this action, he encouraged his men and was a 
personal example; not only as a chaplain, but also as a soldier.

He was killed by a series of bullets from a machine-gun.

He received  the distinction "Virtuti Militari" for this action.


See the book "WITH THE TANKS of the 1st Polish Armoured Division",
author K. Jamar, page 134.

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