News & Events

UNVEILING OF THE NEW STATUE OF GENERAL WLADYSŁAW SIKORSKI AT NEWARK-ON-TRENT CEMETERY

On 4th July 2023 the new statute of General Władysław Sikorski, by artist Andrew Lilley, was unveiled in a ceremony at Newark-on-Trent Cemetery.

The statue depicts General Sikorski saluting the Polish Air Force memorial cross and the graves of 400 Polish troops, mainly airmen, who lost their lives during World War 2 and are buried in the Polish Sector of the cemetery. The general was himself interred beneath the cross after he lost his life in an aircraft crash on 4th July 1943. In 1993 his remains were exhumed and now lie in the royal crypts in Wawel Castle in Kraków.

The unveiling ceremony was carried out by His Excellency Professor Piotr Wilczek and Air Chief Marshall Sir Andrew Pulford and was attended by numerous dignitaries from the UK and Poland.  A guard of honour was provided by the Polish Scouts in the UK.  Mr. Krzysztof Barbarski and Mrs. Danuta Bildziuk laid a wreath on behalf of the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum.

80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF GENERAL WŁADYSŁAW EUGENIUSZ SIKORSKI

On this day, the 4th of July, the Members and Staff of the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum commemorate the 80th anniversary of the tragic death of General Władysław Sikorski.

General Sikorski was Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces when, in 1943, he was returning to Great Britain after having visited his troops in the Middle East. His aircraft had made a stop-over in Gibralter and, sixteen seconds after taking off for the last leg of the journey, it crashed into the sea taking with it the lives of 16 of the 17 people on board.
The Polish nation, soldiers and civilians alike, in Occupied Poland and dispersed around a war-torn world, mourned the loss of a great soldier and statesman.

 STATUE COMMEMORATING GENERAL WŁADYSŁAW SIKORSKI, POLAND’S WARTIME PRIME MINISTER AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF TO BE UNVEILED IN NEWARK  

On 4th July 2023, on the 80th anniversary of General Sikorski’s tragic death in a plane crash off Gibraltar, a statue of him will be unveiled in Newark Cemetery.

The project is the initiative of Newark Town Council, The Polish Cultural Institute in London and Newark and Sherwood District Council.

The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum through its then Chairman, and present Honorary Curator of the Museum, Mr. Krzysztof Barbarski, was instrumental in providing the necessary illustrations and advice to the sculptor, Andrew Lilley during the process of work on the statue.

Following the unveiling ceremony at 3 pm in Newark Cemetery, there will be further commemorations including a talk about General Sikorski, given by Professor Norman Davies CMG Honorary Fellow of St. Antony’s College Oxford, and Dr Andrzej Suchcitz the Keeper of Archives of the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum at Newark Town Hall.

POLISH BIKERS VISIT THE POLISH INSTITUTE AND SIKORSKI MUSEUM ON THEIR ROUND TRIP OF THE UK  

On 27th June 2023 thirty-two Polish bikers of the “Motorcycle Association East-West” visited the Polish Institute and Gen. Sikorski Museum in London. This was the first leg of their trail, officially called the “General Władysław Sikorski Motor-Cycle Trail of England – Scotland 2023”. undertaken to commemorate the 80th anniversary of General Sikorski’s death. Their aim is to visit various places in England and Scotland with a Polish connection, meeting and building bridges with the local Polish and British communities.

They were taken around the Museum by Messrs. Michał Olizar and Krzysztof Nowakowski, following which a small reception was laid on, to see them on their way to the next leg, Peterborough. As always, the Museum exhibits made a deep impression upon the visitors. The Keeper of Archives Dr Andrzej Suchcitz and Deputy Keeper of Archives Miss Jadwiga Kowalska MA said a few words about the archival holdings resulting in several follow up questions from
the bikers.