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International

Polish armed forces memorial unveiled in UK

20.09.2009 09:35

photo - Jacek Korzeniowski

The Polish Armed Forces Memorial has been unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, U.K.

The monument is a tribute to the 120,000 Polish soldiers who fought under British command in World War Two, the largest formation being the Second Corps commanded by General Władysław Anders.

The monument was unveiled by the Duke of Kent, and the ceremony was attended by the Duke of Westminster, Winston Churchill’s grandson,  Baroness Kinnock, Minister of State for Europe and some 1, 500 invited guests.

The Polish government was represented by the Deputy Defence Minister Stanisław Komorowski.
In his message, Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the monument as a manifestation of homage to Polish soldiers of all formations, who will be remembered and honoured with pride and gratitude.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth wrote in her message that during World War Two Poles demonstrated courage the love of freedom, which is man’s perennial longing

The base of the monument presents an image of Warsaw turned into ruins by the Germans after the Warsaw Rising of 1944. Four giant bronze figures on top of a block of polished granite represent a specific branch of the Polish armed forces: a pilot from  Squadron 303 that fought in the Battle of Britain, a seaman from the Polish navy, a soldier who took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy and a woman resistance fighter from the Warsaw Rising. Above them all soars an eagle, the ancient symbol of the Polish Republic.

The monument was designed by Polish sculptor and architect Robert Sobociński, residing in Paris. The bronze figures were cast in Poznan, western Poland. (mk)

• vince 20.09.2009 21:25 Very moving speech by baroness taylor, particularly reference to katyn massacre.did anyone else hear it? vince
• KStyrna 20.09.2009 23:40 www.kresy-siberia.org
  What did they say of Polish II Corps who's participation in Victory Parade was prevented by England?
  Polish II Corps (Polish Drugi Korpus Wojska Polskiego, 1943-1947), was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General WÅladyslaw Anders and by 1945 it grew to well over 75,000 soldiers. The Polish II Corps was created in 1943 from various units fighting alongside the Allies on all theatres of war. The 3rd Carpathian Division was formed in Middle East from smaller Polish units fighting in Egypt and Tobruk, as well as the Polish Army in the East that was evacuated from the USSR through the Persian Corridor. Its creation was based on British Army Act of 1940 that allowed the allied units of the exiled government of Poland to be grouped on one theatre of war. However, the British command never agreed to incorporate the Polish exiled Air force to be joined with the Corps. In 1944 the Corps was transferred from Egypt to Italy, where it became an independent part of the British Eighth Army under General Oliver Leese. During 1944-1945 the Corps fought on the Italian front, most notably during the Battle of Monte Cassino and the battles of Ancona and Bologna. The forces of the Polish II Corps were crucial in breaking the Gustav Line and the Gothic Line.
  
  In 1944 it numbered about 50,000 soldiers. During the three subsequent battles the Corps suffered heavy losses (in the final stage of the Battle of Monte Cassino even the support units were mobilised and used in combat) and Gen. Anders was proposed to withdraw his units. However, since the Soviet Union broke diplomatic relations with the Polish government and no Poles were allowed out of the USSR, Anders believed that the only source of recruits was ahead - in German POW camps and concentration camps. By 1945 new units were added composed mostly from freed POWs and Poles forced to join the Wehrmacht, increasing the amount of soldiers to approximately 75,000; approximately 20,000 of them were transferred to other Polish units fighting in the West. After the war the divisions of the Corps were used in Italy until 1946, when they were transported to Britain and demobilised. The majority of soldiers remained in exile Composition
  In May 1945 the Corps consisted of 55,780 men and approximately 1,500 women from auxiliary services. The majority of the forces were composed mostly of Polish citizens who were deported by the NKVD to the Soviet Gulags during the annexation of Eastern Poland (Kresy Wschodnie) in 1939 by the Soviet Union. Following the Operation Barbarossa and the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement many of them were released and allowed to join the Polish Army in the East being formed in Southern Russia and Kazakhstan. Due to political reasons the Soviet Union soon withdrew support for the creation of Polish Army on its territory and lowered the supply rate, which forced general Władysław Anders to withdraw his troops to British-held Persia and Iraq. From there the troops were moved to British Mandate of Palestine, where they joined forces with the 3rd Carpathian Division which was composed mostly of Polish soldiers who had managed to escape to French Lebanon through Romania and Hungary after the Polish Defensive War of 1939.
  
  The main bulk of the soldiers were from the eastern voivodships of pre-war Poland. Although the majority of them were ethnic Poles, there were also members of other nationalities who joined the units of II Corps, most notably Jews, Belarusans and Ukrainians. After being relocated to Palestine, the Corps faced the problem of increased rate of desertions by soldiers, most of whom defected en masse to the Haganah. The most noted among them was Menachem Begin, the future Prime Minister of Israel. General Anders decided not to prosecute the deserters. The armament was as follows:
  * 248 pieces of artillery
  * 288 anti-tank guns
  * 234 anti-air guns
  * 264 tanks
  * 1,241 APCs
  * 440 armoured cars
  * 12,064 cars, Bren carriers and trucks
  Losses
  During the Italian Campaign the Polish II Corps lost 11,379 men. Among them were 2,301 KIA, 8,543 WIA and 535 MIA.
  Order Of Battle (ORBAT)
  *Polish 3rd Carpathian Infantry Division CO: Maj.Gen. Bronisław Duch
  **1st Carpathian Rifle Brigade
  **2nd Carpathian Rifle Brigade
  **3rd Carpathian Rifle Brigade (added in 1945)
  **12th Podolian Uhlan Regiment
  **smaller divisional units
  *Polish 5th Kresowa Infantry Division CO: Brig.Gen. Nikodem Sulik
  **5th Wilno Infantry Brigade
  **6th Lwów Infantry Brigade
  **7th Wolyn Infantry Brigade (added in 1945)
  **15th Poznań Uhlan Regiment
  **smaller divisional units
  *Polish 2nd Armoured Brigade (became Polish 2nd Warsaw Armoured Division in 1945). CO: Brig.Gen. Bronisław Rakowski **4th Armoured Regiment **6th Armoured Regiment
  **1st Krechowiecki Uhlan Regiment
  **14th Wielkopolska Armoured Regiment (added in 1945)
  *II Corps Artillery Group CO: Brig.Gen. Roman Odzierzyński
  **9th Medium Artillery Regiment
  **10th Heavy Artillery Regiment
  **7th Horse Artillery Regiment
  **7th Anti-tank Regiment
  **7th Light Anti-air Regiment
  **8th Heavy Anti-air Regiment
  *Other Corps-level units
  **1st Independent Polish Commando Company
  **Independent Carpathian Uhlan Regiment (Corps Recce)
  **Logistics,Medical and other general support and reserve Corps-level units. http://en.allexperts.com/e/p/po/polish_ii_corps.htm
  
  KStyrna
• Maciej Skiba 21.09.2009 01:23 Gotta say, that's very cool of the Brits.... Maciej Skiba
• Stan 21.09.2009 03:35 Thanks to the British people for this monument. Stan
• K. Smith 21.09.2009 04:26 There were a number of elements missing in this picture. However such a memorial is now possible only because it memorializes a very small group of elderly people whose numbers have been reduced by the march of time. It is likely that if they were all with us now they would not have stood for such shameless hypocrisy.
  
  The missing elements of this belated event were as follows:
  
  -An apology by Britain for not meeting its treaty obligations.
  
  -An apology for participation in the Yalta Agreement
  
  -An apology for banning Poles from the VE day victory parade
  
  -An apology for withdrawing recognition of Poland’s Government in Exile
  
  -An apology for demanding Polish servicemen not speak of the conditions of their imprisonment in the USSR
  
  -An immediate declaration that all files involving Poland during the wars years be made available to historians and removed from the classified document list
  
  A cynical public relations excersise involving smoke and mirrors doesn’t create lasting relationships.
  
  The omission of truth is the same a lie!
  
  
  K. Smith
• johnny english 21.09.2009 07:30 K.Smith: mostly true... But one step at a time!
  
  And i for one, thought that now there are less people to remember what happened means that this monument is all the more important! johnny english
• michael moszynski 26.09.2009 20:54 K Smith please be aware that the Tony Blair apologised for the snub at the Victory Parade when I wrote to him in 2003 and after more letter writing we managed to get the Polish Veterans to lead the 2005 60th Anniversary Parade.
  
  The Memorial is something organised by Poles in Britain with the support of many, many Brits including Lord Gutherie and British Legion
  
  Time to stop complaining and being cynical and do things to resolve issues and problems. Sure Polish forces, including my father and Poland had a rough ride, but Poland is now free and we are free to get things done.
  
  Given what our parents went through it is the least we can do.
  
  
  michael moszynski
• John Nieurzyla 27.09.2009 03:34 Yes the Poles did lead the 60th Anniversary parade, but the BBC commentary and television cameras concentrated on the NAAFI flags marching behind the Polish contingent. John Nieurzyla
• W.J.Fudakowski 05.10.2009 11:39 Glad to see these comments but above all Michael Moszynski's.It was his personal intervention. Read"First to Fight" book issued on the unveiling occasion. W.J.Fudakowski

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