In the Southern Cemetery (Southern Cemetery) in Manchester, in the Chorlton-cum-Hardy district , we can find several Polish traces. They are undoubtedly a testimony to the Polish presence in the UK, though not only. Some of the memorials also recall the contribution of Polish soldiers to the fighting on the Second World War fronts.

The cemetery, founded in 1879, is the largest municipal cemetery in the UK and the second largest in Europe. In its southern part there is a special section dedicated to the soldiers of the Polish Air Force and Polish Army. The stone memorial bears the inscriptions: "FALLEN FOR GOD HONOUR AND FATHERLAND/ 1939-1945/ POLISH ARMY/ POLISH AIR FORCE". A total of seventeen Polish soldiers serving for the Allies during the war are buried or commemorated at the site. Their names are listed as well as the date of their death.

Near the Polish Airmen monument is the grave of the "Last Tatar Lancer" , Stefan Mustafa Abramowicz . He was a Polish Tatar, lancer of the 13th Vilnius Lancer Regiment, participant in the 1939 campaign and the Battle of Monte Cassino in the ranks of the 2nd Polish Corps. After the war he settled in Manchester, where he died in 2018.

In addition to the military section, graves of Poles and people of Polish descent are visible in the cemetery. Some were buried here even before 1939. Others in later years. A guide to the Polish community in Manchester highlights that: "walking through Southern Cemetery one can come across graves with Polish names. This is evidence of the enduring presence of the Polish community in the region.

Along Princess Parkway, surrounded by the graves of Poles, a memorial to those killed in the Katyn massacre was erected in 1990. The monument was designed by an officer of the ship "ORP Błyskawica", the late Tadeusz Lesisz . This place is to remind us of the crime committed on the Polish elite by the Soviet occupiers.

Looking for Polish traces in the Southern Cemetery, it is also worth mentioning the figure of Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska , a Polish artist buried at this site. The poet and playwright ended up in Manchester during the Second World War. In 1945, she underwent surgery at the Christie Institute there. Sadly, she died in that hospital, on 9 July 1945.

Manchester's South Cemetery is a specific 'map of Polishness'. The graves and monuments have become a place of remembrance for the Polish community in the UK, but also a testimony to the participation of Polish citizens in world events and in British history.