In these years
2014 -2018 we remember WW1. I am writing this on September 3rd
2016 the 77th anniversary of the declaration of WW2. The
fate of Britain in that war might have
been different were it not for the contribution made by Polish forces. Herefordshire and the Leominster area in particular became temporary home to thousands of Poles at the end of the
war and some of them or their descendants still live locally
Poles and
others have been the subject of abuse particularly since the Brexit vote so it is particularly important to remember what we owe to Poland.
POLISH FORCES in WW2 BRITAIN
At the National
Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire one of the most impressive memorials is
that of the Polish Forces of WW2. The
Poles fought in many battles but there are two instances in which their effort
was critical for us. The first is the Battle of Britain. The other is the vital part they played in
the breaking of the German Enigma Code.
They were working on this before the war and the Polish resistance ensured that
details of their work reached Bletchley Park, the headquarters of the British
code-breakers.
Many do not
realise that the Polish Armed Forces were the fourth largest allied force after
those of USA, USSR and Britain. In fact
at the time of the 1940 Battle of Britain they were the second largest
because Russia and America did not enter the war until 1941.
Two years ago I
visited Gdansk Poland, a lovely city.
From the centre you can take a
boat down the river or a tram to
Westerplatte. Here there is a memorial
commemorating the fact that on September 1st 1939 Nazi Forces fired
on the Polish Garrison there. These were
the opening shots of WW2. Hitler gambled that Britain and France would turn a
blind eye to his annexation of Polish territory as they did with his invasion
of Czechoslovakia. However France and
Britain stood by their commitment and declared war on Germany on September 3rd.
Despite
tremendous resistance the Polish armed
forces were no match for the superior
Nazi forces and Poland was soon overrun.
Large numbers of Polish military fled the country and by different
routes many of them reached France and fought with the French forces. In May
1940 France too fell and many Polish
servicemen moved to Britain. When France was overrun Winston Churchill famously
said “The Battle of France is over, I
expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.”
In the summer
of 1940 the German Air Force set out to destroy the RAF as a prelude to a Nazi
conquest of Britain. These air battles are now known as The Battle of
Britain.” Sometimes the impression is
given that Britain was fighting alone.
The United States had not yet entered the war. However besides British and
Commonwealth pilots there were a number from other countries, but mostly Polish. At first Polish pilots flew in
British squadrons and there were language difficulties. Eventually two Polish squadrons, 302 and 303
were established flying Hurricanes.
Poles also flew in other squadrons. The
Polish pilots were far more experienced than most of the British ones because
they had already fought against the Nazis, first in Poland and then in France.
They were battle-hardened and desperate to avenge their country. Polish
303 squadron claimed more ‘kills’ than any other. There were occasions
when one in five pilots was Polish.
The Poles played such an important part in
winning the Battle of Britain that the
head of RAF Fighter Command, Air Chief
Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding wrote the following-
"Had it not been for the magnificent
material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I
hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle would have been the same.”
In
other words without the Polish pilots the Battle may well have been lost and
Britain would have fallen to the Nazis – as important as that!
Polish forces were prominent in many other
great battles including Tobruk, Monte Casino, Arnhem and Berlin.
After the war many Poles who could not or
did not want to return to now communist Poland found shelter in this country.
Thousands of these were in Herefordshire in camps at Foxley, Kington, Shobdon
and Barons Cross. In Leominster cemetery there are 7 graves of
Polish servicemen who died at Barons Cross Camp. One of these I discovered was
a General who was imprisoned in Nazi camps in Romania and Germany before ending
his days in Leominster.
We declared war to defend Poland but sadly
at the end of the war Poland was abandoned to the Soviet sphere and the
enormous part played by Polish forces was not officially recognised until some
years later. It was played down out of
deference to Stalin. It is a disgrace that at the London victory parade on
June 8th 1946 many countries were represented including some that
played little part in the war. Poland
was to be excluded but pressure was
exerted to include the Polish Air Force but the Polish army was excluded. As a proportion of population Poland lost
more people in the war than any other country, somewhere around 16% of its
pre-war population. This would equate to
around 7 million Britons.
.
