New Zealand Conservative

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (C) with his wife Malgorzata Tusk (2-R), Prince Harry (2-L), New Zealand Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae (R) and Polish General Wieslaw Grudzinski (L) arrive for the official ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino Prince Harry stood shoulder to shoulder with Polish veterans as he commemorated their bravery and sacrifice capturing Monte Cassino in one of the Second World War's bloodiest battles. From the (UK) Telegraph : It was 70 years ago on today that troops from the Polish II Corps finally took the ruined Benedictine monastery near Rome - a symbol of Nazi resistance to the Allies' campaign to push Hitler's forces out of Italy. The victory had followed months of hard fighting that left an estimated 250,000 dead. The Prince joined more than 50 Polish veterans of the battle, their prime minister Donald Tusk and many dignitaries for an open-air mass at the Polish Military Ceremony...

I was asked yesterday (by Kowtow) on DPF's General Debate for more information about the Polish II Corps denied a place in the Victory Parade in London after WWII. I found the following from Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade , which shows when and why Poland was excluded.  It was because Stalin wished it so. Among the veterans who will march along The Mall on Sunday [July 2005] in a parade marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the second world war, few will participate with the same pride as a contingent of elderly Poles. For the Poles and their military standards will be present for the first time in a British victory parade. Even though Poland made one of the largest contributions to the Allied war effort and there were thousands of Polish troops stationed in the UK at the time, the country was excluded from the original London celebration in 1946. Stalin, who had established communist rule in eastern Europe, indicated that he did not wis...