Adam Zborowski

   by Roberta McGee

                                                     

Adam Zborowski was a Polish soldier. He was born in Kalusz, Poland on 8/1/1914 and joined the Polish Army in 1940. He was evacuated from Dunkirk to Britain later that year and was sent to the Polish Repatriation Camp in Stewarton before he was moved to Pennylands Transit Camp where he was a Military Policeman. Although the Polish soldiers were not prisoners as such, discipline was kept in the Camp and the surrounding area by Military Police, British and Polish soldiers and the local police force. By the end of 1947 the Polish troops were either repatriated, married to local women or settled within Britain. Many Polish soldiers found themselves torn between facing persecution in their homeland or remaining in the West.

Adam chose not to return to Poland because his family had all died during the War and there was the fear of going back and being under Soviet rule. He had to register with the local authorities under the Aliens Order 1920. This meant that he could not take on paid work until 1948 when he became employed as a Boiler Fireman at the local Barony Colliery. He had been an engineer to trade before the War. 

1920 Aliens Order 

While in Stewarton he had met Clara Cortesi, who had split up with her husband Clarke Callaghan, and with her two sons they moved to Pennylands, Auchinleck and lived in Hut No.66 from November 1949 until 1953. In 1953 they moved to Hut No.30 and were there until 1958. Adam became the boys' stepfather. He proved to be a very skilled handyman tackling plumbing and joinery and making many improvements to their homes at Pennylands to make them more habitable.

Pennylands Occupants History (cumnockhistorygroup.org)

In 1958 the family moved from Pennylands to 57 Cameron Drive in the village of Auchinleck.   

Adam died 29/4/1968 at Ballochmyle Hospital, Mauchline.

Cumnock Connections - Family Tree (tribalpages.com)