70th Anniversary of Invasion of Poland

It's 1st September 2009. 70 years ago today Nazi Germany invaded Poland, followed a couple of weeks later by the Soviet Union invading from the East. This is one of the main events that triggered the start of the Second World War. On the 3rd September Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany.
Warsaw capitulated on 28th September but the Polish government never surrendered and kept on fighting in exile throughout the war.
Many Poles in exile ended up here in Glasgow with many Polish soldiers living in barracks at Yorkhill.

I can't do justice here to the sacrifice, bravery and contribution made by Poland and it's people during the Second World War. Reading Norman Davies' "Europe at War: 1939-1945. No Simple Victory" is a great place to start if you want to read more. The Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain, the breaking of the Enigma code, the Warsaw uprising in '44... it is something we should all know about.

But today thought I would mark this anniversary with a few photos of places in Glasgow that are significant to the story of the Polish community in Glasgow.

Firstly this is St. Simon's Roman Catholic Church near Partick Cross. The is known as the Polish Church as between 1940-1943 Polish soldiers marched to the church from the Yorkhill Barracks for Mass every Sunday.

I stood inside here for a while today. It was so very peaceful and special.

Outside the church is this beautiful memorial with a brass plaque and shield carrying the Polish crest.

Here is a close up shot of the plaque so you can read the inscription which commemorates the soldiers coming to Mass here during the war.

"I was a stranger and ye took me in"

I have been near here so many times and never knew this was there. Worth just wandering down here for a few minutes if you are in the area.

Next up is the Sikorski Polish Club at Parkgrove Terrace.

Today it was overlooking a very flooded Kelvingrove Park.

This is a Society that forms a focal point for the Polish community in Glasgow.
I'll just point you to their web site to find out more.
http://www.sikorskipolishclub.org.uk/

The name Sikorski comes from the Poland's great wartime leader Generak Władysław Sikorski. To read more about this amazing man see below. It also covers a lot of the history of Poland during the war as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Władysław_Sikorski

On the wall of the Sikorski club is this plaque that commemorates the thousands of Polish prisoners of war massacred at Katyn in Russia by Soviet forces in 1940. The estimates of the numbered killed is about 22,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre

And finally this building up near St. George's Cross is the SPK Polish Club which is a Polish ex-service men's club.

http://www.sikorskipolishclub.org.uk/SPK.htm

I popped in there today though didn't have much as much time as I would have liked.

Has a fascinating gallery of photos of Polish armed forces photos through the years.

Will go back again one day to find out more when have more time.

I hope that this small tour today is only the beginning of me finding out more about the history of Poland and the Polish community in Glasgow. I will post up more as I find out.

Hope it also got you interested in reading the links and finding out more on this 70th anniversary.

Be well, be happy!!