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Vladimir Peniakoff

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Lieutenant-Colonel

Vladimir Peniakoff

DSO MC FRGS
Nickname(s)Popski
Born(1897-03-30)30 March 1897
Huy, Liège, Belgium
Died15 May 1951(1951-05-15) (aged 54)
Bloomsbury, London, England
Buried
Wixoe, Suffolk, England
AllegianceFrance/United Kingdom
Service / branchFrench Army
British Army
Years of service1917–1918 (France)
1940–1946 (United Kingdom)
RankLieutenant-Colonel
Service number159661
CommandsLibyan Arab Force Commando
Popski's Private Army
Battles / wars
AwardsDistinguished Service Order
Military Cross
Croix de Guerre
Africa Star

Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir "Popski" Peniakoff DSO MC FRGS (Russian: Владимир Дмитриевич Пеняков Vladimir Dmitriyevich Penyakov, 30 March 1897 – 15 May 1951) was the founder and commanding officer of No. 1 Demolition Squadron, PPA, colloquially known as "Popski's Private Army", during World War II.

Early life

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Vladimir Peniakoff was born on 30 March 1897 in Huy, Belgium, to affluent Jewish Russian emigre parents. His father, Dmitri, owned and operated an aluminium factory. Peniakoff began an engineering degree at the Free University of Brussels at the age of 15 before his studies were interrupted by the German invasion of Belgium in August 1914.[1][2]

His father took him to England, where Peniakoff resumed his studies at St John's College, Cambridge, reading mathematics. He initially had conscientious objections to participation in World War I, but by his fourth term at Cambridge his views had altered, and he went to France to volunteer as a gunner in the French artillery. He was injured during his service with the French Army and was invalided out after the Armistice in November 1918.[2]

In 1924 Peniakoff emigrated to Egypt, where he worked as an engineer with a sugar manufacturer. During this period of his life he learned to sail, fly and navigate vehicles through the desert, and also become a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Peniakoff was a polyglot who spoke English, Russian, Italian, German, French and Arabic well.

World War II

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Peniakoff was commissioned as a second lieutenant on the British Army General List on 4 October 1940, serving in the Libyan Arab Force.[3] He commanded the unit known as "Popski's Private Army" in the Middle East and Italy. He was eventually promoted to lieutenant colonel.

He was given the nickname Popski, after a Daily Mirror cartoon character,[4] by Captain Bill Kennedy Shaw (the LRDG's Intelligence Officer) because his signallers had problems with the name Peniakoff.

During the conflict he was awarded the Military Cross on 26 November 1942,[5] and on 26 April 1945 he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.[6]

During WW2, Peniakoff sustained two injuries to his left hand: the first, during the desert campaign, resulted in the loss of a finger, while the second, towards the end of the war in Italy, necessitated amputation of the entire hand. [7]

Post-war, in 1947, he was made a Belgian Officier de l'Ordre de la Couronne avec Palme and awarded the Belgian Croix de guerre avec Palme.

Peniakoff became the British-Russian liaison officer in Vienna before demobilisation, naturalisation and achieving fame as a British writer and broadcaster. In 1950 he wrote the book Private Army about his experiences; it sold very well, was reprinted several times that year, and has continued to be reprinted (also titled Popski's Private Army) well into the 21st century.

Personal life

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In Egypt he married Josephe Louise Colette "Josette" Ceysens, an Egypt-born Belgian, on 10 November 1928. They had two daughters, Olga and Anne, born in 1930 and 1932. After receiving his commission he divorced Josephe in March 1941 and sent the family to South Africa.[2] On 2 April 1948 he married Pamela Firth in Chelsea.[8]

Death

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Peniakoff died on 15 May 1951 of a brain tumour at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. His body was buried in the graveyard of St. Leonard's Church, Wixoe, Suffolk.

References

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  1. ^ Willett. Popski. Willett interviewed many of Popski's surviving Jewish relatives after World War II.
  2. ^ a b c "Vladimir Peniakoff: "Popski"". Friends of Popski's Private Army. 28 January 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  3. ^ "No. 35063". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 January 1941. pp. 681–682.
  4. ^ Peniakoff, 1950. p. 94.
  5. ^ "No. 35799". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 November 1942. p. 5142.
  6. ^ "No. 37051". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 April 1945. p. 2216.
  7. ^ 'Private Army', V. Peniakoff, ISBN 978-0192852380
  8. ^ "Pamela Matthews". The Times. 19 December 2005. Retrieved 20 June 2021.

Sources

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  • Peniakoff, Vladimir (1950). Private Army. Jonathan Cape.
--- Private Army. Jonathan Cape. 2nd Edition, foreword by General Sir John Hackett, minor revisions, 1951.
--- Popski's Private Army. Cassell Military Paperbacks, 2004. ISBN 0-304-36143-7.
Translated into Swedish (1951), German (1951), Italian (1951), French (1953), Hebrew (1954), Spanish (1955), Serbo-Croat (1957).

Further reading

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  • Willett, John (1954). Popski: A Life of Vladimir Peniakoff, D.S.O., M.C. London: MacGibbon & Kee.
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  • Friends of PPA online part of the PPA Memorial, Official Register of PPA Personnel, PPA Roll of Honour, PPA Awards, PPA War Establishments and other information.
  • PPA Preservation Society personnel database, photos and information.
  • Popski's Private Army a comprehensive synopsis of the PPA story, by Allen Parfitt.
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