SAILING ACROSS THE PACIFIC II MEMORIES FROM THE HIGH MARITIME UNIVERSITY 1969-1973
We invite you to read a series of articles that will take us back to the harsh reality of the 70's and 80's, known to most of us only from stories told by our parents or grandparents. Their author is Mr. Andrzej Buszke, a graduate of the Naval Academy in Gdynia, a sailor who worked 28 years of his life at sea. The stories are accounts and descriptions of subjective feelings of the author. The stories describe the reality of communist Poland, as well as the world, which no longer exists, seen through the eyes of an adept and then ETO (Electro-technical Officer).
Military College The rooms of the Military College were located deep in the right wing. The training lasted five semesters (2,5 years) and ended with an exam to become an officer. Those who had already done their military service were exempt from classes. They had ‘a day off ’. On that one day, dressed in military white cloth uniforms (sewn like those from Sergei Eisenstein's movie Battleship Potemkin) and black berets with an eagle without a crown, we were committed to the Armed Forces. We had to be careful when going outside the School because we could be stopped by the Internal Security Service patrols for incomplete uniforms or lack of saluting. The lectures given by the commanders took place in several specialist rooms. The submarine weapons room was interesting, a small museum with display boards, mine gadgets and a long torpedo in cross-section. In the front section of the torpedo you could lie down comfortably, and since we were notoriously sleep-deprived, it provoked competition: ‘who will be the first to take a seat there’ during
a long break of 20 minutes. The rest of us had to settle for a place with a beret under our heads on the parquet floor, which we had previously painstakingly shaved and waxed. The Petty Officers conducted field exercise, on the firing range and the training ground. During
one of the exercises called ‘a sailor in defense’, the petty officer ordered us to put on gas masks and plunged us into a deep pit. The petty officer ordered us to put on gas masks and he drove us into a deep pit. Then he threw a few gas grenades in there. We sat in the
On the training ground. Author - second from left.
Lifestyle | Autumn 2021 | 23
