June 3, 2015

Finest Hour 101, Winter 1998-99

Page 25

By Rafal Heydel-Mankoo

The death a year ago of my 92-year-old great-uncle, Count Xavier Puslowski, struck a personal chord which transcended the void experienced by the loss of a loved one. Having been actively involved in some of this century’s most tumultuous events, Count Puslowski became in my eyes a larger-than-life figure. Against the backdrop of his sparkling grey eyes one could almost see the great spectacles of the past being replayed. Naturally such a life led to encounters with Winston Churchill.

The son of Count Ladislas’ Puslowski and Princess Christina Pignatelli d’Aragon, Xavier was born on 29 September 1905 in northeast Poland, present-day Belarus. His English connections included his grandmother, Ida Cavendish, first cousin of the 7th Duke of Devonshire, and grand-daughter of Sir William Rumbold. The Puslowskis endured many tragedies in the early years of the century, not least of which were the Russian Revolution and the First World War.

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On the outbreak of war in 1939 Xavier fought as an officer in the cavalry and in an armoured battalion. With the defeat of Poland, he and his wife, Zofia Puslowska, fled to London, leaving behind their 600,000-acre estate. He soon joined the Polish government-in-exile and became A.D.C. to Polish President Raczkiewicz. Remaining in this position for the duration of the war, he was able to meet Churchill on numerous occasions.

An amusing incident occurred early in the war. The Prime Minister was walking along a corridor followed by an entourage of aides and officials, including Field Marshal Alanbrooke. Approaching an elevator, Puslowski turned to Churchill and said, “You must be getting tired, sir.” The PM turned and snapped: “Me, tired? No—they! They are the ones that are always tired!” With that he made a broad gesture towards Alanbrooke and company.

Xavier was also friendly with General Sikorski and especially with the Polish Ambassador to Great Britain, Count Edward Raczynski. The latter died only a few years ago, having passed the century mark. A marvellous monocled character (he married his secretary when he was in his late nineties) he held the dubious honour of being the first person to inform Churchill that the Second World War had started, telephoning the First Lord at Chartwell to notify him that the Germans had crossed the border (see Gilbert’s Volume 6). He later wrote a book about Churchill: Od Narcyza Kulikowskiego do Winstona Churchilla, published in London by the National Polish Cultural Foundation in 1976. I had the honour of meeting Count Raczynski when I was a child. Only later would I discover this great man’s accomplishments.

Before my uncle died, he gave me a letter I cherish, from Downing Street and signed by Anthony Bevir, one of the PM’s private secretaries. Alas it remains the only physical link attesting to Count Xavier’s connection to Sir Winston.

The last link between my uncle and Churchill is rather indirect. At my Count Xavier’s funeral I met his cousin, Sir Henry Rumbold, great-grandson of The Rt. Hon. Sir Horace Rumbold, a legendary Ambassador whose biography was written by none other than Sir Martin Gilbert.

Sir Horace, who was British Ambassador to Germany from 1921 to 1933, stands with Churchill, Duff Cooper, Harold Nicolson and a handful of others, the few who spoke out against Hitler before the war. References to Rumbold abound in any decent Churchill biography. According to William Manchester, “Sir John Reith at the BBC continued to gag Hitler’s critics—Sir Horace Rumbold and Harold Nicolson were denied airtime because they were ‘anti-German.'” After the First World War, when my uncle’s estates were overrun by the Bolsheviks in the Soviet invasion of Poland, my uncle and his family escaped to Warsaw and were accommodated at the British Legation by Sir Horace.

Many people regarded Sir Winston Churchill as the last of the Victorians. I like to view my uncle as one of the last Edwardians.

*The correct spelling in Polish is Wladyslaw (pronounced Vwadiswav); since Polish names are difficult for non-Poles to pronounce, his name is usually spelt “Ladislas” in France or England.

Mr. Heydel-Mankoo is studying Law at the University of Ottawa and has been an ICS Canada member since age 14; he is now 23. He is executive director of the National Capital Chapter of the Monarchist League of Canada.