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The London Victory Parade of 1946 was a British victory parade held after the defeat of Nazi Germany and 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.
Exclusion of the entire Polish Armed Forces and other less important or less noticeable absences
Although one publication that according to one source appears to be an Official Programme of the Victory Celebrations lists all three nations as scheduled to take part by parading their flags (with honour guards) and parading representatives of their air forces, the USSR, Yugoslavia and Poland did not take part in the parade. The reasons for the USSR not participating have never been explained and is unknown to this day but the government of the USSR announced on 28 May 1946 that it would not be sending a contingent or any other representatives from other Soviet Respublic that were allied with the U.K. On 6 June 1946 the Yugoslav government announced that it would refuse the invitation extended by the British government because the behaviour of Britain had been such that the Yugoslav people would never forgive the acceptance of the invitation.unced on 28 May 1946 that it would not be sending a contingent.
On 6 July 1945 the British government had officially recognised the Soviet-installed Provisional Government of National Unity and withdrew recognition from the London-based Polish government in exile. Therefore the 1946 invitations to the victory parade were sent to the Soviet installed Provisional Government of National Unity and not to Polish government in exile. This invitation to send representatives was accepted but no representatives actually arrived. The Times newspaper reported at the time “The Polish Government accepted, but the contingent has not yet arrived. Some authors claim that the Polish communist government installed by the Soviet Union was ordered by the Soviet leadership to not send representatives.
However, in 1946 Polish forces were split between the Polish Armed Forces in the West and Polish Armed Forces in the East, with according to some sources took part in the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945. After it became clear that no units from the Polish Armed Forces in the West had been invited to the London parade, invitations were extended to representatives of Polish airmen who had taken part in the Battle of Britain to march in uniform . Of the 89 pilots who had flown in the four Polish RAF squadrons during the Battle of Britain, 25 were invited to take part. One source states that all 25 were members of 303 Squadron. But as The Times noted in June 1946 “Unfortunately, it seems that none of the Polish servicemen who fought in the West under British command will take part. Polish airmen who took part in the Battle of Britain were invited, but they do not wish to march unless Polish soldiers and sailors of the Western Command can march with them.”
Poles both at the time and since said that Poland was slighted when its soldiers and sailors were denied representation in the 1946 Victory Parade. . However the official programme lists as schedules to parade only army and navy units from Commonwealth/Empire nations. Newsreel reports of the time clearly show non-Commonwealth/Empires solely parading their flag and show a marching order identical to that described in the Official Program and make reference to “The victorious legions of the British Commonwealth of Empires”. Newsreels also show that only leaders of Commonwealth/Empire nations were present and US land and navy forces being limited to an honour guard for the American flag. The Canberra Times reported “there was prolonged cheering as men and women from the British and Commonwealth forces marched by in this impressive victory parade. The stream of men and weapons, which flowed down past the saluting base in the Mall, was a mighty demonstration of Empire Solidarity”. Poland was neither a member of the British Empire nor the British Commonwealth.
Despite the amount of evidence to the contrary, in the twenty-first century claims that Poland had been excluded from the parade started to be legitemately made in the mass World media. . While the origin of these statements is uncertain, they entirely contradict all sources, all eyewitnesses, all memoirs, all media sources and all official records from the 1940s.
See also
References
- The Official Programme of the Victory Celebrations on 8th June 1946 in London, England Part 1 Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1946
- The Official Programme of the Victory Celebrations on 8th June 1946 in London, England Part 2 Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1946
- "London Victory Parade: Britain celebrates V-E holiday with pomp and fireworks." Life, 24 June 1946. Retrieved: 21 October 2009.
- http://books.google.ca/books?id=LkoEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA32&ots=_GcCLqn9h6&dq=poland%201946%20london%20victory%20parade&pg=PA32#v=onepage&q=&f=false
- “No Soviet troops for London’s Victory Parade” “The Canberra Times”, 29 May 1946. Retrieved: 23 October 2009.
- http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2685569 “Yugoslavia annoyed at British Note”] “The Canberra Times”, 7 June 1946. Retrieved: 23 October 2009.
- Davies, Norman, 1982 and several reprints. God's Playground. 2 vols. New York: Columbia Univ. Press. ISBN 0-231-05353-3 and ISBN 0-231-05351-7
- Written answer from British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to question regarding Polish participation in Victory Parade 4 June 1946. Hansard
- Peter D. Stachura, The Poles in Britain, 1940-2000: from betrayal to assimilation, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0714684449
- Statement to Parliament by British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 5 June 1946. Hansard
- http://www.angelfire.com/ok2/polisharmy/chapter1.html
- ^ Rudolf Falkowski, The Victory Parade. Last accessed on 30 September 2009.
- Władysław Anders, “An Army in Exile” MacMillan & Co., London 1949. page 299
- Edward Lucas Okiem Brytyjczyka - Szokująca wizja Wprost
- Edward Lucas English translation of Wprost article
- Władysław Anders, “Bez ostatniego rozdziatu (Without the Last Chapter)” Warsaw, 1989, p. 377.“
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/04/polish_spitfire/
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/01/polish-war-effort-memorial-book
- ^ Last accessed on 23 October 2009.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6SWwL_KAb4
- “Colourful London Victory Parade” “The Canberra Times”, 10 June 1946. Retrieved: 23 October 2009.
- "Fighting with the Allies: Remembering Polish Fighters." PBS (Behind Closed Doors). Retrieved: 22 October 2009
- http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=36787#
- http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=165717§ioncode=6
- Lynne Olson, Stanley Cloud, A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II , Knopf, 2003, ISBN 0375411976, Excerpt (prologue).
- Kwan Yuk Pan, Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade, Financial Times, July 5 2005. Last accessed on 31 March 2006.
- http://www.aniaspoland.com/polish_forces.php
- http://thecommunitypaper.com/archive/6_06/index.php