Lying opposite Arnhem, the Rhine town of Driel was the site of the landing of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade (under the command of General Stanislaw Sosabowski) on 21 September 1944, during Operation Market Garden. Nearly 100 soldiers fell there in a hopeless battle due to mistakes by the British command. In the final phase of the battle, on the night of 25-26 September, the Poles covered the retreat of the surviving British paratroopers until the end. A memorial was erected in the town's central square as early as September 1946, with the inscription: "God bless Poland". The Driel-Poland Foundation ('Stichting Polen-Driel'), set up by Dutchwoman Cora Baltussen, also took care of the graves of Poles who had been moved to the military cemetery in nearby Oosterbeek. SBS soldiers helped after the war to rebuild a school destroyed in 1944. It was given the name of St Stanislaus Kostka.

The current memorial was erected in 1961 on the initiative of the Driel-Poland Foundation, after overcoming objections from the Dutch authorities (relating to the cover-up of the British command's responsibility for the failure of the operation) and was funded by local residents. In 1963, one of the squares in Driel was named after General Sosabowski.

The plinth of the monument is intended to symbolise the Polish Nation (earth from Poland was placed in it). Originally the plinth rose directly from the ground, the lawn surrounding the monument, but is now surrounded by a car park in the square's shopping area. On either side of the plinth are the coats of arms of Poland and Warsaw, surmounted by the emblem of the Independent Parachute Brigade. A concrete element rises from the plinth to symbolise the strength of the Polish spirit and fearless courage. From the front we see a figure representing youth and the future, who holds freedom in his hands like a precious treasure.

The inscription proclaims "1944 SURGE POLONIA".

The monument is looked after by, among others, the Driel-Polen Foundation. Regular commemorations of the battle are held at it; a particularly solemn one, with the King of the Netherlands in attendance, was organised in 2014. On 17 June 2016, a new commemorative plaque was unveiled at the monument, with an inscription explaining the significance of the monument erected in 1961. It also states that the monument was funded by the people of Driel and is in the care of the town's youth (the unveiling of the plaque was carried out by pupils from the two primary schools Kameleon and Meeuwenberg). Where the new plaque is attached, there were previously inscriptions from the first memorial from 1946 (now in the display case of the De Polen van Driel information centre at the Catholic church).

In 2006, on the 62nd anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem, a monument to General Sosabowski was unveiled on the Polish Square in Driel - right next to the monument to his Brigade. It was created thanks to the initiative of two British veterans.