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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
The 51st Annual Ceremony of Homage to Polish Airmen who Fell in the Second World War
For the first time, the Polish Heritage Society took part in this long-standing ceremony and was honoured to lay its wreath in homage. The 51st Annual Ceremony of Homage to Polish Airmen who Fell in the Second World War took place at the Northolt Memorial standing on the outskirts of the west London aerodrome, home base to the Polish Wing and so closely connected with the Polish Squadron 303, the best performing squadron in the Battle of Britain.
The weather lived up to its traditional perfection on this day. At exactly noon a Hurricane of the Memorial Flight started the first of three passes directly overhead. The ceremony has been changed this year. For the first time ever a delegation of cadets of Polish Air Force Academy at Deblin attended. Their traditional "Apel Poleglych" invoking the presence at roll-call of those departed was very moving.
Wreaths were laid on behalf of the two nations by the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for Hillingdon and by HE the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland and on behalf of the Lords Mayor of the Councils of Hillingdon, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham. These were followed by those laid on behalf of the Royal and Polish Air Forces, Polish ex-combatants' organisations, the Polish Social & Cultural Centre (POSK) and the Polish Scouting Association.
No. 315 Polish Squadron emblemAfter the Annual Lunch at The Polish Social & Cultural Centre there was a screening of "Tailwind", a documentary made for the Irish Film Board and BBC Northern Ireland about the little-known role of the Province in providing a wartime base for so much of the war effort. In his introduction the producer-director, John Davis, dwelled in particular on the archival footage from the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum which provided so much valuable material for the section devoted to No. 315 (City of Dęblin) Polish Fighter Squadron (315 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Dębliński") which was based for period in 1943 at Ballyhalbert, Co Antrim in Northern Ireland - our first PHS connection with the north of the Emerald Isle.
Polish Air Force Memorial, Northolt
