Mieczysław Lubelski, pomnik poległych lotników polskich 1940-1945, projekt 1946, odsłonięty 1948, beton, brąz, okładziny granitowe i sjenitowe, Northolt, lotnisko, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0, Conditions d\'autorisation
Photo montrant Polish Airmen Memorial in Northolt
Mieczysław Lubelski, pomnik poległych lotników polskich 1940-1945, projekt 1946, odsłonięty 1948, beton, brąz, okładziny granitowe i sjenitowe, Northolt, lotnisko, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0, Conditions d\'autorisation
Photo montrant Polish Airmen Memorial in Northolt
Mieczysław Lubelski, pomnik poległych lotników polskich 1940-1945, projekt 1946, odsłonięty 1948, beton, brąz, okładziny granitowe i sjenitowe, Northolt, lotnisko, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0, Conditions d\'autorisation
Photo montrant Polish Airmen Memorial in Northolt
Mieczysław Lubelski, pomnik poległych lotników polskich 1940-1945, projekt 1946, odsłonięty 1948, beton, brąz, okładziny granitowe i sjenitowe, Northolt, lotnisko, photo Andrzej Pieńkos, 2013
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0, Conditions d\'autorisation
Photo montrant Polish Airmen Memorial in Northolt
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ID: POL-001428-P

Polish Airmen Memorial in Northolt

ID: POL-001428-P

Polish Airmen Memorial in Northolt

Variants of the name:
Pomnik poległych lotników polskich 1940-1945 w Northolt

A slender column with an eagle with outspread wings is clearly visible at the motorway exit. It stands in a fenced square, forming a monumental monumental establishment with a pool on the axis. Inscriptions on the column in English and Polish read: "Polish Air Force 1940-1945", a list of squadrons and the names of the places of battles in which they took part, including those away from the British Isles. The symbols of the squadrons and the names of 1,241 fallen airmen are engraved on the wall enclosing the memorial square.

This most famous Polish monument in the UK and one of two designed by Mieczysław Lubelski, who remained in exile there after 1945 (next to the monument to Polish sailors in Plymouth), was created shortly after the end of the Second World War and is one of the earliest commemorations of its heroes. However, the idea of honouring Polish airmen who fought over England had been in the making since 1943. - It was initially to be realised by a plaque bearing the names of the fallen, erected on the edge of London's Northolt military airfield, one of the main bases of the Polish Air Force. A committee established in July 1945 commissioned a design for a larger memorial from Lubelski, known for several memorial projects in Poland before 1939. At that time it was decided that it would commemorate all Polish airmen from units stationed in the UK who had died during the war. The realisation was handled by the Polish Air Force Association, which started collecting money. The land for the memorial was donated by the Middlesex County authorities, for a nominal perpetual lease. Made of perishable sandstone, it has been repaired many times, and the entire structure underwent extensive conservation and, in part, reconstruction to a design by Professor Zbigniew Gąsiewicz in 1996. The 800 airmen who died not during combat flights were added to the list of names. Maintenance of the whole site is provided by the Borough of Hillingdon and the War Memorial Trust. A chapel with a small wooden altar, made by Polish soldiers during the war, is preserved at the nearby airfield, while the cemetery at Northwood contains the graves of Polish airmen.

Related persons:
Time of origin:
design 1946, unveiled 02.11.1948
Creator:
Mieczysław Lubelski (rzeźbiarz; Polska, Wielka Brytania)(aperçu)
Bibliography:
  • Grzesiuk-Olszewska, Polska rzeźba pomnikowa w latach 1945-1995, Warszawa 1995, s. 182, 319.
  • A. Szałkowski, Pomnik Lotników Polskich w Northolt – twardy dowód pamięci, „Gazeta wrocławska”, 24.09.2010.
  • „WTK Tygodnik Katolicki”, 1970, nr. 1.
  • P. Matthews, „London’s Statues and Monuments”, London 2012, s. 208.
Author:
prof. Andrzej Pieńkos
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