Polish Air Force Memorial

Polish Air Force Memorial

A memorial to Polish Airmen who served with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, designed by Mieczyslaw Lubelski. The memorial was erected in 1948 and extended in 1996.

The memorial site has a bell-shaped plan centred on a Portland stone pillar with rectangular section, surmounted by a cast bronze eagle with outstretched wings—the emblem of the Polish Air Force. Immediately below the eagle is a square stone panel bearing the dates 1940 and 1945 in incised bronze lettering. The front face of the pillar carries incised bronze lettering listing the fighter and bomber squadrons that served in the war, together with the battles they participated in: Polish Air Force fighter squadrons numbered 302 (City of Poznan), 303 (Kosciuszko), 306 (City of Torun), 307 (City of Lwow), 308 (City of Krakow), 309 (Of Province Ziemia Czerwienska), 315 (Of Deblin), 316 (City of Warszawa), 317 (City of Wilno), and 318 (City of Gdansk); and bomber squadrons numbered 300 (Of Province Ziemia Mazowiecka), 301 (Of Province Ziemia Pomorska), 304 (Of Province Ziemia Slaska), and 305 (Of Province Ziemia Wielkopolska). The battles recorded are the Battle of Britain, Battle of the Atlantic, Dieppe, Western Desert, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany.

The central pillar is flanked by rectangular Portland stone plinths. The left plinth bears the inscription in bronze lettering "To the Memory of Fallen Polish Airmen" and the right bears the equivalent in Polish: "Poleglym Lotnikom Polskim". These plinths unite in a single façade to the rear of the pillar inscribed with the biblical passage "I Have Fought a Good Fight, I Have Finished My Course, I Have Kept the Faith – II Timothy IV. 7." The pillar and plinths stand on a two-tiered base of Portland stone.

In front of the pillar is a shallow ornamental pond of roughly trapezoid shape with fountains, surrounded by a York stone paved walkway. York stone steps on either side of the pillar descend to a sunken semi-circular walkway curving around the back, flanked by curved walls of grey granite panels inscribed with the names of the fallen and the insignia of each Polish Air Force squadron. The outer curved wall, added in 1996, features Portland stone piers at either end, each with an embossed bronze eagle emblem on the inner face.

The memorial is set within a slightly raised landscaped area with grass, flower beds, and flagpoles bearing the flags of Great Britain and Poland. The site is bounded by cast iron railings to the south and east, with Portland stone gate piers to the front. The left pier bears the Polish Air Force wings in embossed bronze—a swooping eagle with a wreath in its mouth—above an embossed bronze plaque with a dedication in Polish. The right pier bears the Royal Air Force pilot wings in embossed bronze above an embossed bronze plaque with the same dedication in English. The dedication records that the memorial commemorates 2,165 Polish Airmen who lost their lives fighting alongside the Allies in the Second World War.