Polish War Memorial

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The Polish War Memorial is a memorial erected to remember the contribution of soldiers from Poland who helped the Allied cause during World War II.

It is situated beside the A40 between Ruislip and Northolt, Middlesex, England, in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Other Polish war memorials exist within the United Kingdom, including those at Invergordon, Scotland.

The Polish Air Forces in France and Great Britain supported the Allied powers during World War II. A group of Polish officers who remained in Britain after the war formed the Polish Air Force Association and decided to erect a memorial. A committee, led by Air Vice Marshal Izycki, raised the necessary funds, and the memorial was unveiled on 2 November 1948 by Lord Tedder, Chief of the Air Staff, after a speech by Viscount Portal of Hungerford.

The memorial was designed by Miecystam Lubelski, who had been interred in a concentration camp during the war. The memorial is made from Portland Stone with bronze lettering and a bronze eagle - the symbol of the Polish air force. The names of 1,243 Poles who died during the war were inscribed on the memorial, and a further 659 names added between 1994 and 1996, when the memorial was refurbished and rededicated.

Polish presidents Lech Wałęsa and Aleksander Kwaśniewski have both visited the war memorial to lay a wreath, in 1991 and 2004 respectively[1]