IN ALL the recent extensive coverage of the D-Day celebrations I was saddened to find no mention of the part played by the Polish Forces.
The 1st Polish Armoured Division under General Matzec fought a brave and distinguished campaign in Normandy being a major player in the closing of the vital Falaise Gap, the Germans’ greatest loss in the 77-day battle.
Polish airmen were the most numerous of foreigners who fought in the Battle of Britain with the RAF and some of their pilots became legends. Furthermore the astonishing success of the Enigma machines at Bletchley Park in decoding German intelligence was in no small way due to the brilliance of three Polish mathematicians who supplied us with the earliest ones.
To our lasting shame when the war finished we left the Polish nation to the mercies of Stalin and the Soviet Union. It was 1989 before they became free again. Perhaps we could make some amends by receiving our Polish immigrant friends with some warmth and overdue gratitude.
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