The Warsaw flights commemoration was held at Katyn Memorial, James and Ethel Gray Park

The Polish community in Johannesburg commemorated the 79th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising and historic Warsaw Relief Flights at the Katyn Memorial, James and Ethel Gray Park in Melrose on September 9.

Giving the background to the historic event, secretary of the Warsaw Flights commemoration organising committee, Jean Urry said, “Among those who shaped these early commemoration services were pillars of the SA Polish community – first chairman of the Polish settlers, Franciszek Socha-Paprocki and WWII Polish Air Force hero Karol Gerard Ranoszek. In 1981 the service was held for the first time at The James and Ethel Gray Park in Melrose, built to commemorate the Katyn massacres of 1940.

President of the Polish Foundation in Southern Africa Jacek Fastyn added that the commemoration helped him to remember and thank brave pilots who lost their lives during the Warsaw Flights.

“I also lost my uncle during the Warsaw Uprising and my aunt is a survivor, which is why this commemoration is important to me.”

Urry added that early receptions were held at the Polish Club, and later in various town clubs.

“In 1948, to honour the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw Flights, there was a special visitor, a former Captain of the Polish Home Army, Bronislaw Kowalski. During the communist regime in Poland, there was hostility towards the Warsaw Uprising, as it was seen as a means of stirring up Polish nationalism, but Bronislaw defiantly erected a monument at Michalin near Warsaw to honour fallen South African airmen.”

Facts about the Ditsong National Museum of Military History include:

• The Ditsong National Museum of Military provides a home for the memory and study of military history.
• The Museum began its existence during the Second World War when a few far-sighted individuals grasped the need to collect material evidence of our nation’s contribution to world history.
• The museum was opened on August 29, 1947 and in 1975, its scope was widened to reflect all military conflict in which South Africans have taken part.
• Many of the displays can be viewed in the two Bellman aircraft hangers – the original buildings on site when the museum was opened.
• The museum is also the home to various enthusiasts and military veterans’ organisations.
• The reference library and archives hold a large and unique collection of books, pamphlets, journals, archival documents, photographs, audio-visuals and maps.
• The museum houses some of the rarest military equipment in the world.
• The Molch one-man submarine is one of several types of midget submarines built by Germany during the Second World War.

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