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Introducing
The Institute
of Polish
Military History
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.
Sto Lat-Albert Hall
The Polish Heritage Society
Plaque unveiled in memory of Major-General Stanisław Sosabowski, London W4—26 September 2012
Unveiling speech by Dr. Marek Stella-Sawicki MBE, KM Chairman of the Polish Heritage Society UK:
Major-General Sosabowski"On behalf of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London and the Polish Heritage Society UK I would like to offer my thanks for your kindness in allowing us, to mount a plaque in memory of General Stanislaw Sosabowski on the front of your house. This month has been designated as General Sosabowski month in the Polish Community in the UK, to commemorate a true Polish and Allied Forces WWII hero, who fought in the famous Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands in September 1944.
We are doubly delighted that it has been possible to design and create this plaque and through your and the Polish Embassy generosity to allow it to be fixed to the facade of your house and also to thank all those involved in working on this project, especially Mr. Wiktor Moszczynski, Consul General Ireneusz Truszkowski, Mr. Philip Bujak - Vice Chairman of Polish Heritage Society UK and Mr. Andy Penny from Abbey Printers who provided, a comprehensive media support for a numerous Polish Heritage Society UK Projects."
In spite of the Warsaw Uprising taking place at same time as the Arnhem landing in 1944, the USSR allied to the US and Great Britain, refused to sustain any help to the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa or AK), who were fighting a life or death battle in Warsaw at the same time as the Polish Parachute Brigade continued bravely and with self sacrifice to carry out it's tasks in the drop at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden alongside the British forces.
Meanwhile it is also ironic to note that, during the Arhhem operation, both Great Britain and the US were contemplating the recognition of a Soviet imposed communist regime in Poland with flagrant disregard of the terms of the Atlantic Charter of 1941 signed by all the Allies and later the United Nations in 1942 which pledged that "all people had a right to self-determination". However the Poles continued fighting the Germans, in spite of the increasingly negative policies of the Allies against the Polish government-in-exile—the first Ally of Great Britain—and its aspirations for a return to a democratic post-war Poland.
The Plaque may be seen at 2 St. George Road, Chiswick, London W4 1AU.
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