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The London Victory Celebrations of 1946 were British Commonwealth & Empire victory celebrations held after the defeat of Nazi Germany and Empire of Japan in World War II. It took place in the United Kingdom capital of London, on June 8, 1946, mainly encompassing a military parade through the city and a night time fireworks display.

Victory parade

The first part of the parade was the Chiefs of Staff's procession, featuring the British Chiefs of Staff together with the Supreme Allied Commanders. This was followed by a mechanised column which went from Regent’s Park to Tower Hill to The Mall (where the saluting base was) and then back to Regent’s park. It was more than four miles long and contained more than 500 vehicles from the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, British Civilian Services and the British Army (in that order).

Next came a Marching Column, which went from Marble Arch to The Mall to Hyde Park Corner . This was headed by the flags of the Allied nations which took part in the parade, each with an honour guard (see photo on right of Greek honour guard). Next came units of Navies, the air forces, Civilian Services and armies of the nations of the British Empire. They were followed by units from the Royal Navy, followed by British Civilian Services, the British Army, more of the British Civilian Services, representatives of certain Allied air forces and then the Royal Air Force. This was then followed by a fly-past of RAF planes. The parade was 9 miles long and stretched from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace. In the aftermath, 4,127 persons needed medical attention and 65 were taken to hospital.

Though mainly a Commonwealth affair, most of the allies were represented, parading their national flag with an honour guard. The parade also included representatives from the USA, France, Belgium, Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Luxembourg, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway and Transjordan.

The only allied countries not represented at the parade were USSR (the largest contributor to the Allied victory in Europe with 34.4 million troops ), Yugoslavia (which contributed more than 800,000 soldiers to the Allied victory in Europe), and Poland the fourth largest contributor to the Allied victory in Europe (contributing between 200,000 and 400,000 members of the Armia Krajowa 200,000 soldiers in the east and 228,000 in the west). The press at the time reported the Yugoslav government did not send a delegation, in protest about rising tension with British and Italian troops around the Istrian Peninsula, which later became known as the Trieste Crisis and the Istrian exodus.

Political Controversy

The absence of the 228,000 Polish Armed Forces in the West who had served under British High Command has proven controversial. Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud write that "the Labour government invited Communist Poland to take part - and, to avoid annoying Stalin, barred the hundreds of thousands of Poles who had fought under British command. This latest insult was too much for the RAF, which insisted that at least a token delegation of Polish airmen be included. In the end, the government relented on that point. A few Polish fliers were belatedly and grudgingly invited to march".

Soviet installed communist government of Poland was invited to send a delegation to the London parade and, according to Hector McNeil, the British Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the The Times newspaper , promised to send a delegation. The Polish government stated that its army, air force and navy would be represented.

After British newspapers and public figures put pressure on their government to include the Polish Armed Forces in the West, the RAF's Polish veterans were invited, but, according to some sources, refused to attend out of solidarity with those who had been omitted.

Britain's Labour government argued that the invitation to the RAF's Polish veterans was not being extended to other Polish armed forces in the West as a necessary compromise due to the political circumstances of the day. Britain's Conservative opposition criticised the decision, and spoke of British "shame". According to one source, Labour Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin apologized to General Anders about the affair.

Laurence Rees writes that at the time the Polish armed forces in the west faced the question, "Should they return to Poland, a country now with changed national boundaries and under the domination of the Soviet Union?"; and that the "belief that they were no longer wanted was symbolized by the omission of all the Polish army units from the Victory Parade held in London in the summer of 1946." Rees goes on to say in the same paragraph "Only the Poles who had fought in the Royal Air Force were asked to take part in the parade, and they refused to out of loyalty to their comrades."

Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud write that a week before the Parade, ten British Members of Parliament composed "a letter of protest against the exclusion" which said, "the Poles will not be there. Have we lost not only our sense of sense of perspective, but our sense of gratitude as well?"

Norman Davies writes of the invitation being first sent to the communist government of Poland in Warsaw instead of the Polish Government in Exile in London, "before someone noticed that the Warsaw regime had not been Britain's wartime ally". He states that "the faux pas was not corrected until the very eve of the parade", when “in consequence, a last-minute invitation was sent by Foreign Minister Bevin directly to the Chief of Staff of the Polish Army, General Kopanski, who was still in post in London; and other invitations were sent to the chiefs of the Polish Air Force and the Polish Navy and to individual generals. The belated invitations were courteously declined.” Davies also states that "the Victory Parade in London passed off without the participation of any units, colour parties or representatives from Poland." Davies says the only Poles who did take part in the parade were some “fliers and ground crew who attended in their capacity as members of the various RAF formations into which they had formerly been integrated.”

Four days before the parade Ernest Bevin, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs wrote “His Majesty's Government still hope that it will also be possible for a party of Polish airmen who flew with the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain to be included in the parade.” .

Winston Churchill, speaking in parliament as Conservative Leader of the Opposition three days before the Parade, said he "deeply" regretted that "none of the Polish troops, and I must say this, who fought with us on a score of battlefields, who poured out their blood in the common cause, are not to be allowed to march in the Victory Parade." He also said Poland was now "held in strict control by a Soviet-dominated government" and that "we, who went to war, ill-prepared, on her behalf, watch with sorrow the strange outcome of our endeavours." Hector McNeil, the British Labour government's Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs responded to the criticism, by saying, "It is not true that we have not invited any members of those fighting Poles to take part in the Parade. Let me be quite honest. We have not invited the Navy and the Army, but we did invite some of the Poles who flew in the Battle of Britain, to march past in the R.A.F. contingent. The action was not taken to please M. Molotov."

Two days before the parade, the Polish government notified the British government that the Polish contingent would not march and that reasons for this decision would be set forth in a note which would be delivered to the British. On the day of the parade it was reported that the invitation had been refused because pilots loyal to the defunct Polish government in exile had been invited. A small group of Polish airmen who had served in the RAF marched with British pilots.

Rudolf Falkowski, a Pole who flew with the RAF 635, 639 and 303 squadrons, speculated that the Polish authorities had given in to pressure from Moscow, stating that "Later on, we heard some rumors, that apparently, the Polish authorities were ready to sent a contingent of men, but at last moment, received a "message" from Moscow: "What’s going to happen, if your soldiers get captivate by fascists in England and never return?" " After the parade Polish state radio announced that Polish forces had not taken part because “The attitude of Britain regarding Poland’s western border has been negative” and the Polish government had not received any answer to questions asked regarding General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski being granted a diplomatic passport and a visa to go to the USA.

Australian contingent

The Australian contingent was headed by Major General Ken Eather, an officer with a distinguished record in the war. The contingent consisted of 250 servicemen and women, drawn from the three services, including Private Richard Kelliher, who had won the Victoria Cross in the Battle of Lae in 1943. The Victory March Contingent sailed for the United Kingdom on HMAS Shropshire on 8 April 1946.

Associated festivities

After sunset of the same day, the principal buildings of London were lit by floodlights, and crowds thronged the banks of the Thames and Westminster Bridge to watch King George VI and his family proceed down the river in the Royal barge. The planned festivities ended with a fireworks display over Central London. However, crowds continued to gather in London and surrounded Buckingham Palace even after the Royal family had retired from the festivities. Many festival goers could not return home that night and spent the rest of the night in public parks and other public areas around London.

References

1. ^ “Colourful London Victory Parade” “The Canberra Times”, 10 June 1946. Retrieved: 23 October 2009.
2. ^ The Official Programme of the Victory Celebrations on 8th June 1946 in London, England Part 1 Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1946
3. ^ Rudolf Falkowski, The Victory Parade. Last accessed on 30 September 2009.
4. ^ "London Victory Parade: Britain celebrates V-E holiday with pomp and fireworks." Life, 24 June 1946. Retrieved: 21 October 2009.
5. Gaumont British Newsreel Last accessed on 23 October 2009.
6. http://www.polishsquadronsremembered.com/Victory_parade.html
7. “No Soviet troops for London’s Victory Parade” “The Canberra Times”, 29 May 1946. Retrieved: 23 October 2009.
8. See Г. Ф. Кривошеев, Россия и СССР в войнах XX века: потери вооруженных сил. Статистическое исследование (G. F. Krivosheev, Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: losses of the Armed Forces. A Statistical Study, in Russian)
9. ^ “Yugoslavia annoyed at British Note” “The Canberra Times”, 7 June 1946. Retrieved: 23 October 2009.
10. Perica, Vjekoslav (2004). Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States. Oxford University Press. p. 96. ISBN 0195174291.
11. Davies, Norman, 1983. God's Playground. Vol II. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 0-19821944 p. 575
12. Władysław Anders, “An Army in Exile” MacMillan & Co., London 1949. page 299
13. http://books.google.ca/books?id=LkoEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA32&ots=_GcCLqn9h6&dq=poland%201946%20london%20victory%20parade&pg=PA32#v=onepage&q=&f=false
14. R. F. Leslie, The History of Poland since 1863
15. http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect16.htm
16. Steven J Zaloga (1982). "The Polish People's Army". Polish Army, 1939-1945. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-417-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
17. "Fighting with the Allies: Remembering Polish Fighters." PBS (Behind Closed Doors). Retrieved: 22 October 2009
18. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=165717&sectioncode=6
19. Lynne Olson, Stanley Cloud, A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II , Knopf, 2003, ISBN 0375411976, Excerpt (prologue).
20. Kwan Yuk Pan, Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade, Financial Times, July 5, 2005. Last accessed on 31 March 2006.
21. http://www.aniaspoland.com/polish_forces.php
22. ^ Dr Mark Ostrowski
23. Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud, For Your Freedom and Ours, Arrow Books, 2004, page 397
24. ^ Laurence Rees, World War II Behind Closed Doors, BBC Books, 2009, page 391
25. ^ Statement to Parliament by British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 5 June 1946. Hansard
26. ^ Millions jam London for victory event, greatest in years, The Times Daily – June 7, 1946
27. Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud, For Your Freedom and Ours, Arrow Books, 2004, page 397
28. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/nov/08/featuresreviews.guardianreview2
29. Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud, For Your Freedom and Ours, Arrow Books, 2004, page 5
30. ^ Davies, Norman (2004). Rising '44: the battle for Warsaw. London: Pan Books. p. 507. ISBN 0-330-48863-5.
31. Written answer from British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to question regarding Polish participation in Victory Parade 4 June 1946. Hansard
32. “12 million victory fete in London”, The Pittsburgh Press - Jun 8, 1946
33. “Millions applaud as London pays tribute to war victors”, AP Associated Press, The Milwaukee Journal - Jun 8, 1946
34. "Britons celebrate victory day", Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Jun 9, 1946 [http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xb8qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=m2QEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2003,5544310&dq=london+victory+parade+poland&hl=en
35. Poland and London Victory Parade, The Glasgow Herald - Jun 12, 1946
36. Eather, Steve (2003). Desert Sands, Jungle Lands: a Biography of Major General Ken Eather. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen and Unwin. pp. 179–188. ISBN 9781741141825. Retrieved 24 September 2009.

External links

• Victory Parade, London 1946 by Ron Goldstein (BBC WW2 People's War Archive) An eye witness account.

• 1946 in the United Kingdom
• Aftermath of World War II
• 1940s in London