A Polish engineer, Ernest Malinowski, helped defend Peru’s main port in 1866

Ernest Malinowski is famous in Poland for the spectacular Andes railway — but in Peru he’s also remembered for a very different job: helping prepare the defenses of Callao, the main port of Lima. On May 2, 1866, Spain’s Pacific squadron bombarded the port (the ironclad Numancia opened fire around 11:50), and Callao’s forts and batteries fought back for hours. This essay tells that lesser-known chapter with solid sources, plus period maps and artwork, showing Malinowski not as a romantic hero, but as an engineer doing hard, high-stakes logistics while shells are landing. Full essay in Polish: Ernest Malinowski and the day when the port of Callao in Peru did not yield to the Spanish (1866)