Commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the formation of the Polish 2nd Corps – London, 21 July 2019

On the initiative of the Union of Carpathians – soldiers of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division – celebrations were held to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the formation of the Polish 2nd Corps commanded by Gen. Władysław Anders. The event was jointly organised by the Institute of National Remembrance and First to Fight Living History Group, with the help of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London

— We read on websites of the Institute of National Remembrance.

At 10 o’clock, a Holy Mass for the Polish 2nd Corps soldiers in the Church of Saint Andrzej Bobola in London opened the celebrations. After that, the unveiling of a plaque funded by the IPN’s Office for Commemorating the Struggle and Martyrdom in memory of their heroic fight on the Italian front took place.

During the opening of the exhibition, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Dr Jaroslaw Szarek, emphasized that the 2nd Polish Corps was an extraordinary unit, whose dramatic fate also depicts the fate of Poland during World War II.

The unveiling of the plaque founded by the Institute of National Remembrance - which was possible thanks to the cooperation with the Association of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division - in the church of Andrzej Bobola is a special honor for us 

— the President of the Institute emphasized.

The celebrations continued at noon at the Polish Social and Cultural Association with the opening of an exibition entitled ″Dzieje 2 Korpusu… inaczej! Karykatury autorstwa Mieczysława Kuczyńskiego” [″The History of Polish 2nd Corps…on a Lighter Note, in Caricatures by Mieczysław Kuczyński″].

These humorous drawings illustrating the history of the Polish formation will be on display until 1 August in the the Association’s gallery in London. They were drawn by Mieczysław Kuczyński, a former soldier of the 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division and a veteran of the Italian Campaign, including the Battle of Monte Cassino.

The drawings, made during moments of leisure in the years 1945-1946 – when the formation was still stationed in Italy – helped him recover to some extent from traumatizing war experiences. The exhibition tributes commanders, female volunteers, comrades and brothers in arms of the 2nd Corps and their heroic struggle on the Italian front for the independence of their own country.

The exhibition has been prepared by the IPN’s Wrocław Office. In addition to its educational purpose, it emphasizes the role of humour in a soldier’s life, in which constant fear of injury or death is ever present.

The IPN’s President Dr Jarosław Szarek, the Director of the Office for Commemorating the Struggle and Martyrdom Adam Siwek, war veterans, and representatives of Polish diplomatic corps and Polish Community institutions in Great Britain participated in the celebrations.

gim, source: IPN