The Polish War Memorial

I thought it would be appropriate to change the tone a bit today, and talk about something sombre. I went on a bit of a trek after work up to South Ruislip on the Central line. About a ten minute walk from there gets you to the North Circular Road, where you’ll find the Polish War Memorial, erected in 1948 to commemorate the Polish airmen who fought on the side of the Allies during World War II, during the Battle of Britain and beyond.

The monument lists all of the fighter squadrons as well as the theatres where they operated. On the rear (which you can’t get to without climbing over the low fence around it, and I had my best trousers on!) all of the names of the fallen are shown, with the latest being added between 1994 and 1996 when the monument was rededicated (by Polish president Lech Walesa no less). At the summit there’s a rather fierce looking eagle, the eagle being the symbol of the Polish Air Force, and there’s also an ornamental pool at the base with floodlights around it. I imagine it looks spectacular at night with the eagle’s golden talons and beak glistening in the light.

There are monuments all over the UK and Poland that recount how brave and fearless these guys were – I’ve visited the one in Warsaw, and they’re also justifiably proud there of the Polish squadron spitfire which sits out at the front of the war museum in the city. When it comes to our own, it is very near to the RAF base at Northolt but I do whether its so far out of town because of a sense of shame at what befell Poland after the war. Perhaps our military leaders wouldn’t have been comfortable looking out over Whitehall and seeing it every day. I doubt we’ll ever know….

Anyway pour a glass of your favourite vodka (mines a Wyborowa) and drink a toast to the Polish squadrons of the RAF – “Marz o tym, jakbyś miał wiecznie żył, żyj jakbyś miał umrzeć dziś!”