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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
Reunveiling of Imre Varga’s statue of Bela Bartok (1881-1945) in South Kensington
On Saturday 24 September 2011, Imre Varga's statue of Bela Bartók was reunveiled on the pavement outside Malvern Court, South Kensington, London following its removal in April 2009 for road redevelopments.
Distinguished guests at the unveiling ceremony included Hungarian Cultural Councillor, Ms Eszter Pataki, the Mayor or Kensington and Chelsea, Councillor Julie Mills, the Rt Hon David Mellor QC, former Secretary of State for National Heritage, Malcolm Rudland, Vice-president of the Peter Warlock Society, Tamas Vasary, Simon Wills, Péter Laki, Malcolm Gillies, Danny Gillingwater, Dr Marek Stella-Sawicki, Chairman of the Polish Heritage Society, the Guildhall Brass Ensemble, the Chelsea Ballet and Rev. Janos Csicsó of the Hungarian Catholic Chaplaincy who blessed the statue. Chelsea Pensioners Marjorie Cole and David Donaghey took up sentry duty with the Hungarian flag on the piazza outside South Kensington Station.
The celebrated Hungarian sculptor Imre Varga cameto London in 2004 for the initial unveiling of his fourth statue of Bela Bartók. 300 of Vargas 'works are to befound in nine different countries of the world.
Varga's London Bartók was removed in April 2009 for road redevelopments, but is now reunveiled, in the same year as a re-discovered statue of Chopin at London's Royal Festival Hall. Bela Bartók (1881-1945), the most significant Hungarian eomposer of the last century, was inspired prineipally by a love for his native folk musie. Choosing exile in Ameriea in 1940, he died there five years later. His musie, includes the Concerto for Orchestra, three piano concertos, six string quartets, and a remarkable set of 153 graded piano pieces called Mikrokosmos.
Peter Warlock (1894-1930), the most significant English song-composer of the inter-war years, was inspired by the musie of Delius, Bartók, and Elizabethan and Celtic music and culture. His musie includes a suite Capriol, 150 songs and several exquisite carols. He helped bring Bartók to London in 1922, and his society planned the unveiling of the statue, and the blue plaque in 1997.
Speech by Dr. Marek Stella-Sawicki on behalf of PHS
{article MS-S Bartok Speech}{text} {/article}
Unveiling ceremony gallery
