Polish war veterans reunited in Devon care home

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-34450026

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Two Polish resistance fighters who fought side-by-side as teenagers in World War Two have been reunited in a care home.

Andrew Borowiec and Ted Stopczynski are now neighbours at Ilford Park Polish care home, near Newton Abbot, Devon.

They first met 71 years ago trying to liberate Warsaw from the Nazis, fighting in a Polish resistance unit.

They described it as an "enormous coincidence".

They were part of the Warsaw Uprising, which was a major operation in the Polish resistance movement which aimed to drive out the occupying Nazi forces and liberate the city before the advancing Soviets could take control.

Many of Warsaw's buildings were demolished and tens of thousands of people were killed or injured as the Germans defeated the resistance.

Mr Borowiec said that, at first, he did not recognise his old friend.

He said: "Someone had to tell me who he was, but once I realised who he was I remembered him.

"It is an enormous coincidence - mind you, it's not so impossible for Poles to meet in England because this was our rescue place."

Mr Stopczynski said: "We were very young, but a lot of older people were either locked up, abroad or whatever. We were, to some extent, an exception.

"We were all scouts, but at the same time we were soldiers."