General Wladyslaw Sikorski - London, UK
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 51° 31.265 W 000° 08.724
30U E 698035 N 5711637
Located near the Polish Embassy in Portland Place.
Waymark Code: WMPX7R
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/02/2015
Views: 3
This bronze sculpture is roughly life-sized or somewhat larger and depicts the General, standing, in his military uniform, a stern look on his face as he looks down on the viewer with his arms at his side.
The inscription on the plinth reads:
General
Wladyslaw Sikorski
(1881 - 1943)
Prime Minister of
The Polish Government
and
Commander-in-Chief of
The Polish Armed Forces
7 November 1939 - 4 July 1943"
A plaque on the side reads:
" In Memory of
General
Wladyslaw Sikorski
and the
Soldiers, Seamen and Airmen
of the
Polish Armed Forces
and the
Resistance Movement
1939 - 1945"
Wikipedia (
visit link)
adds:
"Wladyslaw Eugeniusz Sikorski (Polish pronunciation: [vwa'd?swaf ?i'k?rsk?i] ( listen); May 20, 1881 – July 4, 1943) was a Polish military and political leader.
Prior to the First World War, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of the independence of Poland from the Russian Empire. He fought with distinction in the Polish Legions during the First World War, and later in the newly created Polish Army during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919 to 1921. In that war he played a prominent role in the decisive Battle of Warsaw (1920). In the early years of the Second Polish Republic, Sikorski held government posts, including serving as Prime Minister (1922 to 1923) and as Minister of Military Affairs (1923 to 1924). Following Józef Pilsudski's May Coup of 1926 and the installation of the Sanacja government, he fell out of favor with the new régime.
During the Second World War, Sikorski became Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile, Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces, and a vigorous advocate of the Polish cause in the diplomatic sphere. He supported the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Soviet Union, which had been severed after the Soviet pact with Germany and the 1939 invasion of Poland — however, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin broke off Soviet-Polish diplomatic relations in April 1943 following Sikorski's request that the International Red Cross investigate the Katyn Forest massacre. In July 1943, a plane carrying Sikorski plunged into the sea immediately after takeoff from Gibraltar, killing all on board except the pilot. The exact circumstances of Sikorski's death have been disputed and have given rise to a number of conspiracy theories surrounding the crash and his death. Sikorski had been the most prestigious leader of the Polish exiles, and his death was a severe setback for the Polish cause."