New Polish War Memorial Dedication

Tuesday, 26 September 2023 20:00

Forgive this "look back" rather than looking forward, but it was an historic occasion for the village.

Thanks very much to Mark Ford for the following photos.
A full gallery is available for viewing here

(Copy of Press Release sent to local media)

Easton on the Hill was host to over 450 Polish Paratroopers during the second World War, when they continued their training under the command of the 1st British Airborne Corps to be deployed in Western Europe. They were members of the famous 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade who were billeted in villages around Stamford. The commander General Stanislaw Sosabowski had his headquarters in Rock House, Stamford.
Sadly many of these brave soldiers were killed in the ill-fated Operation Market Garden at the Battle of Arnhem, and even more tragically, 26 were killed when two US Dakota Aircraft crashed in nearby Tinwell during a training exercise.
A memorial was built on the site of the Polish Encampment in Easton on the Hill immediately after the war, but when that land became privately owned, the village built a replica memorial in 1984 in the local Pocket Park, Spring Close.
This memorial stood proudly for many years until a severe storm in October 2021 brought down a tree on top of the memorial, destroying it.

Easton on the Hill Parish Council and the village History Group have worked with the followers of the 1^stParachute Brigade, (called “First to Fight”), The Polish Embassy, and the Polish Institute of National Remembrance to replace the destroyed memorial with a new one, in the same design, and incorporating salvaged stone from the 1984 monument, but in a much improved setting made from local stone by a local Stonemason, Andrew “Butch” Baker and his son William. The memorial was unveiled by Prof Hal Sosaboski, the Great Grandson of Major General Stanislaw Sosabowski.