A message from our President, General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank
'I am delighted to be associated with the work of the Polish Heritage Society and very honoured to serve as its President. The Society's work highlights the enormous contribution which generations of Poles have made to their adopted country. Preserving and celebrating that heritage will only further strengthen the ties between Poland and the United Kingdom.
I worked closely with the Society on the project to build a memorial to the Polish Forces at the National Memorial Arboretum and saw at first hand the energy and dedication of those involved.
I encourage you to explore this website and learn about the many other projects the Society has sponsored. Do please contact us if you would like to be involved in any way'.
General The Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank GCB LVO OBE
A Debt of Dishonour is a unique documentary film dedicated Major General Sosabowski and all ranks who served in the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade Group and to their Comrades-in-Arms of the 1st British Airborne Division that fought in the ill-fated “Operation Market Garden” at Arnhem and Driel during September 1944.
The Polish Heritage Society would like to thank all the volunteers from all over the United Kingdom who took part in our campaign “A Polish Flame on a Polish Grave” (see galleries below).
Hundreds of Poles from different generations and walks of life lit more than 1,000 candles on the graves at more than 50 cemeteries in Scotland, Wales, the Midlands and all over London in the run-up to All Saints’ Day on November 1st. They included graves of officers and soldiers from the Polish Army, members of the political and cultural elite, and ordinary people whose lives had ended in their adopted country and whose families are no longer there to look after them.
We are very grateful to the Polish Consulate and the Polish Catholic Mission, who provided the candles. Numerous Polish organisations replied to our appeal again: Poland Street, Polish schools, Polish Scouts and Girl Guides, SPK and all the Polish media represented in the UK.
The Polish Heritage Society raised the awareness of the Polish Poets’ Corner in Hampstead Cemetery in London. Literary figures buried there include Zygmunt Nowakowski, Teodozja Lisiewicz, Kazimierz Wierzynski, Antoni Borman, Krystyna Herling-Grudzinska and Tadeusz Sulkowski. As a result, for the first time this year, we worked with Zwiazek Pisarzy Polskich na Obczyznie (ZPPoN) (Union of Polish Writers Abroad) on the campaign.
The full list of participating organisations is so long that it is not possible to mention everybody, and we hope to mobilise even more people next year.
Register today for next year’s campaign “A Polish Flame on a Polish Grave”.
For more information, please contact: maalterman@polishheritage.co.uk