Newark Cemetery, England.
Each year, on the last Sunday in October, Polish Airmen who gave their lives in the 2nd World War are remembered at the All Souls ceremony in Newark, England. The service of remembrance is organised by the Polish Air Force Association and Newark Town Council.
During the Second World War there were a number of R.A.F. stations within a few miles of Newark, from many of which operated squadrons of the Polish Air Force. A special plot was set aside in Newark Cemetery for R.A.F. burials and this is now the war graves plot, where all but ten of the 90 Commonwealth and all of the 397 Polish burials were made. The memorial cross with the words – For Freedom – remembers their sacrifice..
A memorial cross to the Polish airmen buried here was erected in the plot and was unveiled in 1941 by President Raczkiewicz, ex-President of the Polish Republic and head of the war time Polish Government in London, supported by General Władysław Sikorski, Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Forces and war time Polish Prime Minister.
When both men subsequently died, General Sikorski in a plane crash in 1943 and President Raczkiewicz in 1947, they were buried at the foot of the Polish Memorial. General Sikorski’s remains were returned to Poland in 1993, but there is still a memorial to him at Newark.
The commemoration is attended by Polish people from all over the country.
