Debicki, Joseph

Mar. Joseph Debicki, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Debicki, 31 Grey Street, had almost two years' service with the Polish Navy when he became ill and died from tuberculosis at the Brighton, England, hospital, April 6, 1945. His funeral, with full naval honors, was most impressive, and after a solemn requiem mass at the Church of St. John the Baptist, Kemptown, he was buried in the Heroes' Corner of the Brighton Borough Cemetery. Capt. C. K. Petelenz represented the Polish Navy, and a gun carriage and a firing party were provided by officers and ratings of H.M.S. Vernon. Born on March 31, 1926, in Poland, in the Village of Poznanka, in the Province of Tarnopol, Joseph came to Brantford with his parents when he was four. He attended Central School and took a course in welding at the B.C.I, and V.S., while he was working at the Cockshutt Plow Company, Ltd. He then worked at the Brantford Coach and Body Company, Ltd., before enlisting in the Polish Navy on September 10, 1943. He went to England late in that same year, and was on the Destroyer Slazak, and took part in the invasion of Normandy. He continued in action until a short time before his death. While at home, Joseph attended St. Basil's Church.

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