POLONICA in Scotland |
Douglas, Lanarkshire |
Memorial pillar given by the Polish 10th
Armoured Cavalry Brigade POLISH MEMORIAL GARDEN |
POLISH MEMORIAL GARDEN The Douglas Gardening Club in
Lanarkshire, Scotland have created a Polish Memorial Garden incorporating
three Polish memorials from 1940 and which lie in the vicinity of the
village. Robert Wilson a
member of the Gardening Club, who, as a young boy, remembers the Polish
soldiers in 1940, felt that the Polish monuments were a "part of our
history and in memory of the Polish Armed Forces who were our allies in the
war, a lasting monument should be established." Lord Home has greatly
assisted the Club's plans by granting the Club the ground where the Memorial
Garden will be sited and with funding from a local trust they hope to make
the Garden special, "in order that local people and families of the
Polish soldiers can spend a quiet moment reflecting on the past and how much
it meant to the people concerned." The memorial pillar presented by
General Maczek to the village has been renovated. The Glasgow Herald of 28th
October 1940 reported the words of General Maczek, .... "May this monument
always remind you that you have in the 10th Cavalry Brigade most sincere and
faithful friends."... Two other monuments exist
within the Polish Camp - one lay in a field opposite Lady Home Hospital. Dziennik Żołnierza on 7th September
1940 reported, "W niedziele o godz. 11-ej w
szwadronie techniczna-samochodym naprzeciwko szpitala miejskiego ogladzic sie
uroczystosci przekazania „SOUVENIR" miasta Douglas i okolicy w
formie pomika przedstawiajacego oznake wojskowa ofiarodawców. Pomnik
ten z betonu wykonal szw. tech.-samochowdowy." Present were
General Dreszer, then commanding the brigade and members of the Polish
National Council including General Zeligowski, Mr Mikolajczyk, prof.
Folkierski and others as well as Scottish guests. The third Polish monument is
probably the motif of the 10th Cavalry Brigade. It has the abbreviation
"10 BK" - 10th Cavalry Brigade and combines the motif of the
leather wings of a Polish hussar (in the same way as the emblem of the 1st
Polish Armoured Division) with an anchor. Is this symbolic of the evacuation
by sea of Polish troops on British and Polish ships from the western ports of
France in June 1940? The camp occupied by units of
the 10th Brigade, 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment, the 24th Lancers and
Podhalanska Rifle Battalion from late June to October 1940 is in an area
steeped in the history of Scotland and Poland. For instance it is where the
Scottish Cameronians Regiment was raised and nearby at Castlemains where Mrs
Malkowska, the Chief Guide of pre-war Poland set up a Polish primary boarding
school. It was on the 27th June 1940 that the Polish Highlanders started to
arrive at the permanent tented camp at Douglas, with more troops arriving on
the 29th. These troops came mainly from Glasgow where they had been billeted
in the city and now found themselves under canvas on either side of Douglas
Water. Douglas was the setting of the first review by General Sikorski of the
Polish Army in Scotland and where the Highland Brigade's standard was
decorated with the order of Virtuti Militari. Numerous distinguished guests
visited the Polish camp including the Duke of Kent. Many locals fondly
remember the friendly invasion by Polish troops. In early August 1940 some
3,350 men were located in Douglas. The 10th Cavalry Brigade left the camp in
October 1940 to participate in the defence of the Scottish coast in the Angus
sector. Then as the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, part of the 1st Polish
Armoured Division, its soldiers achieved fame in combat in France, Belgium,
Holland and Germany. Today the brigade has contributed troops to the Balkans. Already the Gardening Club
has information and fascinating photographs from two soldiers who were in the
camp - a Mr Kulig of Ontario, Canada and Mr Tabrecki of England. If any
readers have memories or photographs of their stay in Douglas or can provide
information about the monument with its anchor and wings please email to Mr R
Ostrycharz, and I will be very pleased to pass on information to the
Gardening Club. The memorial garden demonstrates
a shared heritage between the Scots and the Poles. Directions: To get to Douglas if
travelling south on the M74 come off at the service station at Junction 11
and look for the A70 to Ayr, if northbound on the M74, Douglas is signposted
at Junction 12. |
mailto: robert@ostrycharz.free-online.co.uk |
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Polonicadouglas.html last
modified 13 March 2009 |
© Copyright R M Ostrycharz 1998 |