PASTWISKA
Lieutenant František Geisler
An eye witness account taken from letters
to František's wife and father immediately after his death
by his friend Dr. Jan Flax
I shall attempt to write down everything however before I begin, Captain Lustbader who was from Nitra used to take a lot of pictures as he had a lot of film. I am certain that František must appear on some, perhaps several of the pictures, because that was the only camera that worked during the entire trip from England to Russia where we divided the pictures.
As for those who joined the 2nd Czechoslovak Parachute Brigade there were six of us doctors and František was included in our clique. With him were Ist Lt. Tondo Renčin and Captain Pavezka from Hranice. So were a clique of six doctors:-
Franta Štastny (known in Luhacovice)
Aleš Dobry (whose father had a frame business in Pilsen).
Artur Flach, Fred Koždon, Igor Leb, Jan Flax
Originally we contemplated to join the Medical Services of the British Army but we changed our minds and volunteered for Russia in August 1944. Those who wished to go to Russia were gathered into a replacement body where they were completely outfitted. By the time we were outfitted several months had passed. During that time we were supposed to study Russian, the officers of the weapons units attended special courses and the doctors were in the hospitals practising medicine.
On the 2nd July 1944 I was suddenly ordered by telegram from the hospital to the Replacement Centre. At that time we were on strict alert and no one was allowed to go very far from the Replacement Centre which was located south-
Prior to that, František had served with a reconnaissance unit where František Štastny served as a doctor and he brought František to our house to play cards – zoliky or bulka and marias. I am an illiterate when it comes to card playing therefore I did not participate in these card games. Also, I do not smoke and they made me the butt of their jokes. l was the non-
.
However we became better acquainted later on and he learned that I was not the saint my friends jokingly made me out to be and he found out that I could be a good friend. He was with us almost the entire day. First Lieutenant Baumgarten was with him (František was a Lieutenant) a very quiet and proper person. However František was an impulsive person. but gentle nevertheless and he did not have a single enemy. He had a gold right front tooth which everyone noticed because he smiled so often. He was tall, slender and had a very wiry build. I heard him relate how he often went on hunting trips.
In England in 1940 there were many officers. Those who wished could join the army of General de Gaulle or the British Army. František joined the British and he became quite popular and was very successful. Eventually, he became an instructor in a British Battle School. He held the rank of Captain in the British Army and was on the list for promotion to Major just when he volunteered to join those forces moving to Russia to fight for their homeland.
As an instructor at Battle School he was at one time stationed on the island of Orkney. There, through circumstances involving a dog belonging to him, František became engaged in a conversation with a girl, Joyce. I don't remember precisely whether they did not have some sort of an argument about the dog, I only know that František didn't pay the least attention to Joyce at that time. He had forgotten about her completely. A few days later the officers staff held a dance in the officers mess, besides others he also danced with Joyce whom he did not recognise. It was she who reminded him of the episode with the dog and František then realised with whom he had the honour to be dancing. From then on they saw each other frequently, unfortunately however, František left Orkney soon after that. They exchanged letters but it never appeared as though they were especially fond of each other. In fact it twice appeared as though they would break up completely.
Sometime in 1943 something possessed František, he requested a leave for the purpose of getting married. He and Joyce had never talked about marriage before. He came to them and requested her father for a private talk. That was on Saturday. František told the father directly that he wished to become engaged with Joyce. “hen?'' asked the father. František told him that he wished to do so immediately or tomorrow – I don't quite remember which. "And when do you propose to get married" asked the father more astonished than shocked. To which František replied "The day after tomorrow". The father's jaw reportedly dropped. But it really did happen that way, Joyce was also in uniform as a Wren, they called it the W.R.N.S. (Women's Royal Naval Service) in England and the honeymoon trip to London took place the following Monday.
After he found me trustworthy, František confided in me with details of his marriage and constantly described it in a beautiful light and I envied him for it from the depths of my soul. He utterly loved Joyce. I also wished to have such a lady and bitterly regretted not having gotten married in England. Before he left – for eternity – he said “n case I don't come back take over everything I have” František's orderly was to transfer everything to me. In short he confided all his happiness and sorrows to me so that I might continue in his mind.
Joyce also loved him very much and wanted to have his child so that at least something of him would remain in the event that he did not return. Joyce was exactly in her sixth month of pregnancy when František left forever.
Up to the last minute we, the doctors, did not believe that we would leave England – something like the sudden death of someone which we refuse to accept. But on the 15th July we left Chalkwell by train and travelled through London to the port of Greenock, near Glasgow, Scotland. We remained on a ship there for 3 days before forming up a convoy and on the 18th July 1944 we left Britain where we had been indescribably happy and which we hated very much to leave. I admit that I had been angry and unhappy to come to England just four years ago to the day.
We shall never forget the sea convoy, it is impossible to describe how beautiful it was. It took 3 weeks via Gibraltar to Port Said. Then we went to Cairo to have a look at the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Then by train to Palestine – to Haifa. There we visited the Czechoslovak Consul, Mr. Sigmund Glasel. Since the gentleman was expert in the wood working business, František asked for his advice because František's plan for the future was to try the woodworking business. Mr Kadles was recommended to him and František visited him in Jerusalem. He stayed at Kadles's for a number of days during which they had serious discussions but I was not there with him.
Upon his return from Jerusalem František parted from his other friends: Franta Aleš, Baumgarten and Šatana but I was with him everywhere. I helped him with his shopping, he received 50 pounds sterling from Mr. Kadles which he spent entirely on gifts for his wife and expected child. He bought truly beautiful things among other items there was a round silver powder compact which was engraved with their wedding date. It was a reminder of their first anniversary' of their wedding.
Then we went to Damascus, Syria and from there across the Syrian Desert to Baghdad. In one place František saw growing a very special flower which he picked and placed in my medical book as a remembrance unfortunately not even that remained.
From Baghdad we went again by train to Basra – after exactly one month of travel but we reached Tehran on the 21st August. Then by truck through the Elbrus mountains to the Caspian Sea where we took a dip. Then by boat over this not so calm sea, we experienced such a bad storm that we all were sick. We lived through it though and then calmly sailed to Soviet territory -
There were not enough planes and for that reason they divided us into two groups. František was in a different group than I. We hated to say goodbye to each other for he was afraid that we would never meet again. From then on he called me Honzičku. Three days later I flew off via Rostov, Dniepropetrovsk, to Chernivets'ka where we met again.
Near Chernivets'ka there was a village called Sadagura where we joined other Czechoslovakian units in the Soviet Union. Since we could not take all of our luggage with us aboard the plane we left it in Baku under the supervision of two officers. We took only the most necessary things in handbags, briefcases, etc. As a consequence. it took a delay of several days in Sadagura where the Replacement Regiment of the First Czechoslovak Army Corps was located, to clothe and equip us for the front.
František had a small, handsome suitcase which he placed in my care at the dispensary which had become my home. I sometimes did not see very much of him for he went hunting. His success! A deer! And for this he nearly missed the departure and had it not been for mechanical problems with the lorries he would.
To Sadagura there came heavy lorries to pick us up and take us to the front. It took 3 days and nights to get there. There we were attached to the 2nd Independent Brigade. It was located beyond L'vov, toward Krosno in the direction of Dukla. Krosno had just been taken by the Russians. We reported to the 2nd Czechoslovak Parachute Brigade Headquarters, the Commanding Officer then was still Colonel Přikryl. The Commander of the 1st Battalion was Major Záhara, commanding the 2nd Battalion was Major Voves.
There were also other units there of many kinds. Libo chose the 1st Battalion, inasmuch as I had chosen the 2nd. You see, František knew Major Voves already from France and England and was confident that Voves remembering his capabilities would request that František be assigned to his unit. Obviously I wanted to be with František and we both hoped for the same, and as he hoped, so it happened. Major Voves really did ask for him as he could rely on him 100%.
Tondo Renčin and Pavezka were also assigned to us and besides the two of us, there was also Captain František Vrzala. We thus formed a clique of officers from England. František did not get along with Pavezka, nobody did, but that did not matter we all stuck together and acted as a group.
Major Voves assigned the Third Company to Renčín and Pavezka became his deputy. František became the commander of the Headquarters Company the biggest unit in the battalion. Within one day he won over every one of his men so that they would have followed him into an inferno and he became to them 'Our Lieutenant'.
Renčin also gained the complete confidence of his Company. He cared for them and they gave their lives for him.
On Tuesday 12th September we set out for the front lines. I was not able to be with František that day because I had a case of appendix to take care of which I had to deliver to the hospital. Before I could return my unit was already in action. I had an ambulance which was stopped on the road blocked by other vehicles and was unable to get to where I wished to go. I did not have any lights either. Nor did I know my personnel. There were no medical supplies there only that which was in my doctor's bag and a few medicines for first aid which I brought with me from England. That had to suffice for the first casualties, 28 cases.
In this battle in Zarszyn the very first casualties which came in reported that "Our Lieutenant" was killed or captured that there was no trace of him anywhere. Actually however, František was playing a game for he had gone to make a reconnaissance of the enemy position. He took an automatic rifle squad with him. He advanced carefully upon the enemy position until he reached it. He came through a double minefield without injury. An entrenched enemy was so surprised by František's appearance that he forgot to use his weapon. This was enough for František to place an armed grenade behind the enemy's coat and thrust him away. That one never got up again.
Then began a fierce fire fight. His automatic riflemen dispersed and were retreating through the minefields. Some of them paid dearly for it, František carried one injured man on his back thus shielding himself from injury, for that man was wounded again during this time. This was still not enough for František. He returned again and again to the mine field for other wounded men, one with his legs blown off, and again loaded him on his back and he again escaped injury himself "by a hair". His battledress was full of blood but not one drop of his own. Too bad that he was not injured then! A shot ricochetted off his weapon and František only laughed at it all and promised himself a long life.
I argued with him called him names, told him he was risking too much and should think more of his loving family. The next day I myself was wounded in the leg, František walked with me like with a 12 month old child who was being taught by his mother how to walk. He took care of everything. I was ashamed that it was he who was taking care of the doctor while I took care of the rest of the wounded. It was then that we were pulled back from the front into a village called Bazanówka north of Dułgie after regrouping. We were assigned different sectors our 2nd Battalion was to attack and take the village of Besko. I had my first aid station at the township of Wzdów.
The Brigade aid station was located at Jaćmierz. I wanted to report to my Commander that I must move up my aid station closer to the front for I had been placed by him too far back in consideration of my injury but I did not care and never left my position as Battalion chief doctor. For that I was later decorated with a medal for valour.
On Friday 15th September František did not sleep at my unit. He was in charge of the feeding and resupply detail in the front lines and stayed at the field mess at Bazanówka, while I stayed in the township of Wzdów. The next day the 16th we moved into Besko which cost us 13 dead, a bloody battle. Only then did I learn that during the night František had been supplying the troops attacking Besko and had been helping Renčín and Pavezka to capture this largest village we had thus far captured.
It was on the 16th that František and I were taking a walk when he demonstrated his skill in archery for me. First, he showed it to me in a village close to Besko by shooting rabbits, ducks, chickens. etc. He was superstitious about shooting a white rabbit, he said it was bad luck. He caught it instead, placed it under his coat, whereupon the rabbit crawled up into his sleeve. František later gave the rabbit to the wife of one of the officers. We went further and saw some soldiers killing the white rabbits which he did not want. We walked and laughed as though there were no cares in the world.
The next day we got up at 7am, had a good wash and shave and went to my First Aid Station where František felt at home, it was now at the vicarage in Besko. For lunch we had a rabbit he had shot and then he slept before writing reports on the state of the kitchen, food stocks, fuel and ammunition. He passed the remark that the one thing he didn't like to do was reports. Later in my room (for the doctors) he lay down on my bed and begged me to sing his song for him. I was not up to it, for I am too sentimental as it is. But since he begged me so nicely to do so I did sing it for him:-
Man yearns often for various things,
Man suffers uselessly, unnecessarily.
Good fortune is seldom found, we blame it all on fate.
With tears in his eyes he often dreams,
He will not look life into its face.
No one pays attention to him afterward, no one embraces him.
With tears in his eyes, none can see clearly,
Therefore don't let your eyesight be curtained over with tears.
The smiles disappear, fortune flies away from such a face
On which your vision is blurred by tears.
Therefore, never cry, even if your heart aches.
Always show the world that you do not know sorrow.
The world does not like tears, rather it will laugh at you.
In life, only he who wins is the one who laughs.
(This is a literal translation only)
Then František asked me to sing "Oh Gloomy Sunday". Since I did not know the lyrics, he wrote them down for me in my copy book. After that I let him sleep again for in the evening when it got dark, he had to go again to deliver rations to the men in the front lines. We parted at six in this Sunday evening, he was due back at ten but didn't return. He left a briefcase and a bag and said he would send his orderly back for them.
So came the sad and last Monday. In vain I waited for him to return as he said he would. I did not sleep all night, I waited for him and waited. I am waiting to this day. But it was all in vain. Half of my sole had gone.
Later instead of František, Pavezka appeared and said "Tondo Renčín fell in battle and is dead." I could not believe it till other wounded returned who had witnessed it. Only then did I admit to myself the sad truth. There had been a terrible fire fight south of Besko and František was there. He did not want to leave Major Voves who had not slept for several nights and was totally exhausted. František directed operations for him during the whole night. There were not 10 men remaining from the entire battalion by morning.
All those around Major Voves were killed, but nothing touched him. After Major Voves had rested for a while. He reached the telephone to issue his last order as he said: "The Battalion attack!" It was Monday the 18th of September at approximately 9 in the morning. If František had listened to me, he did not have to be in Pastwiska. But he did not want to leave Major Voves stranded and exhausted. When the Major gave the order to attack there was only one officer left there and that was František. Sergeant Major Rykslos, Mraz and three other men of whom only one survived (Kons).
Mraz who was an eyewitness, related the following:-
“When the Major gave the order to attack, the Lieutenant (František) did not have to go but he was ashamed to stay behind for the Major was urging everyone on with his revolver. Therefore the Lieutenant called out "Let's go boys" and he led them. There were six of us to pass through woodland, the Lieutenant passed first and walked slowly through the following meadow to the trench of the enemy. He was not 15 metres from the machine gun of the enemy when he saw them and brought their location to the attention of the others and took cover. Unfortunately too late as a bullet hit him as he turned away from the enemy. He straightened up to call out to Rykslos. He called "Sergeant Major, Sgt. Major come here to me!" These were his last words for just as he straightened up he took another round into his head. He fell dead immediately on his face.”
The fire of the enemy was terrible, the others were all wounded and couldn't get back to retrieve his body at that time. František was killed at about 9.30am on Monday 18th September 1944 in Pastwiska, Poland. I wrote a letter immediately to Joyce and sent it as soon as I had the opportunity through Moscow to England. That was the next day the 19th September 1944, when his body was still lying on the battlefield.
At the same time we received the order to leave the battle in order to fly to the nearest airstrip in Slovakia where an uprising had occurred. Our Brigade was supposed to help out. František's orderly brought back a few inconsequential things, erroneously which I did not keep but I did keep his suitcase in my care.
We left Besko and reached the airport in Krosno. The weather was bad so everything was delayed for several days. These days were enough for me and Captain Vrzala to return to Besko and from there to Pastwiska. We searched for traces of František. We found a number of corpses among them also František lying beside a wooden farm house. We positively identified him, the gold tooth helped, that Captain Vrzala could also recognise him. I examined his corpse and was able to determine that he had received one round directly into the rectum and the second round into the right temple as he stood up to call Rykslos for help.
We located a nice place there and dug a grave and buried him on 27th September 1944. I'll try to describe schematically where he is buried and how it came about. I hope that you will be able to understand the map which I have attempted to draw by myself from memory. I never had a real map therefore I remember only by instinct and by having personally walked there on the scene.
Joyce wrote later in reply to my letter that their son was born only after František died. She is very proud of him and she will bring him up well so that she might soon come to Czechoslovakia with him, little František. I myself cried a lot and whenever I hear or sing “With Tears In My Eyes” I cry, for my memories fly back to my comrade, such I have truly never had before.
If František had lived he would certainly have achieved the rank of Captain. After all he was nominated for the highest Soviet decoration but some kind of tricks and complications entered the picture so that he was not decorated at all, although he deserved it.
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