A TESTAMENT TO THE PAST PREPARED IN THE YEAR OF NATIONAL REMEMBRANCE 1996-1997

 

A register of the Polish war graves in Wellshill Cemetery Perth, arranged alphabetically, commemorating members of the Polish Armed Forces and those who served in the Polish Resettlement Corps, including post-war graves up to 1948. (see introduction)

 

The list of Polish casualties at Perth Wellshill Cemetery is intended to provide a document in English commemorating those who served their country.  The crowned Polish Eagle was cut into the headstones which were mostly made of Portland stone.

 

 

Introduction

 

List of Contents

·        Viewing the Register

·        Layout of the Register

·        Introduction to Wellshill Cemetery

·        Location of Wellshill Cemetery

·        Monument at Wellshill Cemetery

·        Numbers of Casualties

 

Proceed to Register of casualties at Wellshill Cemetery Perth

 


 

Polish Ranks: A Comparison with British Ranks

 

Army

Navy

Air Force

 

Explanation of Military Terms

Polish military abbreviations found on the memorials and English translation

 

Sources (to be completed)

 

Layout of the Register

Columns 1, 3, 4 and 5 of this register entry reflect the information inscribed on the

memorial by the CWGC.

Column 1 Rank, initial(s), last name

Column 2 First name(s), derived from Polish sources

Column 3 Unit served in at date of death. (If not indicated on the headstone this is noted)

Column 4 Date of death (in d.m.y. format)

Column 5 Age at death when given.  (If age is not given on the headstone this is shown in parenthesis)

Column 6 Supplementary information drawn from Polish sources - see below

Date of birth stated in d.m.y. format

Place of birth, (Dist.- District, Prov.- Province)

The surname if different to the memorial

Differences in the inscription on the CWGC memorial of the unit last served in, surname etc.,

Rank derived from Polish sources

Other miscellaneous information.

 

 

Introduction to Wellshill Cemetery

According to the Register of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for the County of Perthshire it was in September 1940 when the Polish authorities expressed a wish for a special consecrated plot in a cemetery for the burial of members of their forces. As there was a substantial number of Polish troops in the area, Wellshill Cemetery was selected as one of the burial grounds. The local authorities set aside a special section in the Jeanfield Road entrance for war graves and at the southern end of this section is the large Polish plot.

 

Location of Wellshill Cemetery

Perth is situated on the River Tay and can be reached from Glasgow via the A9 or from Edinburgh via the M90.

Direction signs in Polish indicating the site of the Polish war graves have been erected.

The entrance is off Jeanfield Road.

 

Monument

An imposing stone monument commemorating the fallen overlooks the Polish plot. The monument is inscribed

ETERNAL GLORY

TO THE POLISH SOLDIERS

WHO DIED IN

1939-1945

FOR OUR FREEDOM AND YOURS

 

CHWAŁA

ŻOŁNIERZOM POLSKIM

POLEGŁYM W LATACH

1939-1945

ZA NASZĄ WOLNOŚĆ I WASZĄ

RODACY

 

 

 

 

 

Numbers of casualties

An analysis by the Commission of this cemetery states that there are 354 Polish war graves made up of 339 Army,

4 Navy, 9 Air Force and 2 miscellaneous - 1 Polish nurse and 1 civilian.

Excluded from the Polish casualties are 26 members of the Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC) who are included in the British statistics and Lt-Col G K Langer also of the PRC who died on 30th March 1948. (The CWGC regard deaths after 31st December 1947 as non-War casualties).

Thus Wellshill cemetery contains 381 Polish graves - 50% of the war burials in Scotland.

 

The earliest war casualty in the cemetery is that of pchor (Officer Cadet) Ulrych-Uleński who died on 18th November 1940 and the last known is Lieutenant-Colonel Langer.


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Last modified 17 March 2009

Researched and prepared by Robert M Ostrycharz

WellshillCemetery.html

© Copyright R M Ostrycharz 1998