General Wladyslaw Sikorski Statue - Portland Place, London, UK - Official Local Tourism Attractions on Waymarking.com

The UK Attraction website tells us:

This statue celebrates one of the greatest allies of the British during the 20th Century, the Polish people who now number one of the largest immigrant groups in Britain. Wladyslaw Sikorski was a Polish General during the Second World War and the Polish-Soviet war that led up to the larger conflict. His bravery and determination to keep Polish independence inspired the British and helped to forge a long and strong friendship between the two nations.

The statue is accessible 24/7 and there is no charge to view it. Local street parking is available but can be expensive so public transport is recommended to get to this location.

The slightly larger than life-size statue, cast from bronze stands atop a stone plinth. The statue shows Sikorski in military uniform with his arms and hands down by his sides.

The plinth has an inscription on each face. The south face has the main inscription that 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

The west face of the plinth has a bronze plaque that is inscribed:

In Memory of
General
Wladyslaw Sikorski
and the
Soldiers, Seamen and Airmen
of the
Polish Armed Forces
and the
Resistance Movement
1939 - 1945

The rear, north face, of the plinth is inscribed:

Unveiled by
HRH The Duke of Kent KG
on 24th September 2000

Erected by
Public Subscription

The east face of the plinth has a bronze plaque that reads:

Second World War
Polish Campaign
French Campaign
Narvik
Battle of Britain
Battle of the Atlantic
Tobruk
Monte Cassino
Falaise
Arnhem
Warsaw Uprising

The Spartacus Educational website tells us about Sikorski:

Wladyslaw Sikorski was born in Galicia in Poland in 1881. After leaving school, Sikorski entered the Technical Institute in Lvov. He became a soldier and on the outbreak of the First World War he joined the underground movement for Polish freedom. He served under Josef Pilsudski, who had built a private army that he hoped would enable Poland to fight for its independence from Russia.

In 1914 Pilsudski and his 10,000 men fought with the Austrians against the Russian Army but after the Russian Revolution his loyalty was questioned and he was arrested and imprisoned in July 1917.

On his release in 1918 Josef Pilsudski became provisional head of state and leader of all Polish troops. Pilsudski represented Poland at the Versailles Treaty and his army successfully defended Poland against the Red Army (1919-20).

During the Russian Civil War Sikorski commanded the Northern Army, winning one of the decisive battles of the war. Pilsudki's army made considerable gains and the Soviet-Polish Treaty of Riga (1921) left Poland in control of substantial areas of Lithuania, Belorussia and the Ukraine.

In 1921 Sikorski replaced Pilsudski as Commander-in-Chief and the following year was elected premier. Within a short time he carried out essential reforms and guided foreign policy into a direction which gained the approval of the League of Nations, while he also obtained recognition of Poland's Eastern frontiers by Britain, France and the United States.

After Josef Pilsudski staged a military coup in May 1926, Sikorski retired to Paris. Sikorski returned to Poland in 1938 but was refused a command when Poland was invaded by the German Army in September 1939. He escaped to London where he joined with Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz and Stanislaw Mikolajczyk to establish a Polish government-in-exile.

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union by the German Army, Joseph Stalin agreed in June 1941, to invalidate the Soviet-German partition of Poland.

The relationship between the governments of Soviet Union and Poland was severely damaged by the discovery of mass graves of Polish officers at Katyn. Joseph Stalin claimed that the atrocity had been carried out by the German Army and in April 1943 broke off relations with the Polish government.

Wladyslaw Sikorski was killed in an air crash over Gibraltar in July, 1943.

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