COUNCIL ‘INSULTS ALLIES’ BY LOCKING MEMORIAL
ORGANISERS and supporters of the ‘Cursed Soldiers’ commemoration at the Polish War Memorial in Ruislip have accused Hillingdon Council of dishonouring war dead, after it locked gates to the memorial and banned the event.
Members of Polish youth organisation Patriae Fidelis hit out at the council for preventing the memorial for Polish antiSoviet “freedom fighters”, who died resisting the communist occupation after the Second World War.
However, the council said the event last year “created prolonged traffic congestion, involved unlawful use of pyrotechnics and smoke affecting the public highway and left behind broken equipment and rubbish to be cleared up by the council”.
The fallout from last year’s event led to several complaints to both Hillingdon Council and RAF Northolt, “neither of whom had any responsibility for the event”, according to a council spokesman.
The annual Cursed Soldiers’ Day event draws hundreds of attendees, so the council locked the gates of the memorial, concerned that the organisers would press ahead with the event regardless of permission being denied.
On Twitter, British Poles posted a “heartbreaking” picture of veterans laying wreaths at the locked gates and asked “what can be done to prevent such scandals in future?”
“Distinguished Polish war veterans lay a wreath at the locked gate of the Polish War Memorial last Sunday,” the tweet read.
“@Hillingdon banned the traditional annual commemorations of the Polish community. The wreath was binned the following day.”
In response, @mikeonthemarne said: “Appalling behaviour on the part of Hillingdon Council - a gratuitous insult to brave allies. There should be an enquiry held, with consequences for those responsible.”
Hillingdon Council said it warned Patriae Fidelis organisers after the 2017 event that in future they would need to have a prior agreement with Metropolitan Police before events could proceed.
A spokesman for Hillingdon Council said: “The organisers were informed in September 2017 that if the police are unable to commit to an adequate presence at the event then we will not be able to accept your application for 2018 and the memorial or its environs will not be made available to you.”
Metropolitan Police were contacted by the organisers and told the event was not a “policing priority”.
The council also said there is renovation work taking place at the memorial, which is maintained by Hillingdon Council, and the gates were locked to avoid the risk of injury.
Polish War veterans from across the country visited the Polish War Memorial on Sunday to leave wreaths outside the gates, on which a sign was added, which read: “Dear Hillingdon Council, you can shut the gate but you can’t shut our minds and hearts”.
One man who attended the ceremony said: “It is a great dishonour for our council and I am ashamed as a Polish Brit to have witnessed the sad faces of so many good people.”
A spokesman for Hillingdon Council added: “Suggestions that Hillingdon Council do not respect the memory of Polish airmen could not be further from the truth: we recently provided, planted, and now maintain a garden of remembrance adjacent to the memorial, and routinely carry out all cleaning and maintenance necessary on the memorial itself.
“Our dedication to the memory of the Polish Air Force in the West could not be stronger.
“The real problem is that Patriae Fidelis some years ago started an annual event which has nothing to do with the Polish Air Force, at a site which is precious to surviving veterans, their families and the local community. The size, scale and conduct of the event in recent years has been incompatible with the dignified remembrance of the Polish Air Force for which the memorial was erected.
“As a council, we have seldom come across such a poorly organised event and it is the organisers who are responsible for any upset caused to the Polish community.”
Suggestions that Hillingdon Council does not respect the memory of Polish airmen could not be further from the truth