Until the end of this year, a peculiar exhibition prepared in cooperation with the 6th Brig. Stanislaw Sosabowski presenting exhibits related to the participation of the 1st Parade Brigade in Operation marketplace Garden in 1944.
The exhibition can be admired in the Main Museum Hangar as part of the permanent exhibition “The Wing and People of the 20th Century.” The display cabinets are under the Li-2 aircraft, a russian adaptation of the DC-3 machines, whose military versions known as Skytrain or Dakota were active in the marketplace Garden operation.
The smelly secretary...
Among the most interesting exhibits there will be, among others, the previously unrepresented first secretary of Gen. St. Sosabowski handed over to the 6th Air Force by the great-grandson general, prof. Hal Sosabowski in 2023. The individual secretary of Gen. Stanisław Sosabowski, who was a gift from 1 SBS soldiers in proof of respect and recognition, was made of wood obtained from orange boxes. If individual has a good or even average sense of smell, by leaning over the secretary’s office, he can odor citrus odor so far.
62 years of waiting for justice
Gen. Sosabowski and 1 SBS despite their heroism were not awarded for their participation in Operation marketplace Garden. British commanders (primarily march. Montgomery and General Browning tried to hide their incompetence in the planning and execution of Operation and to blame Poles.
Only 62 years after the conflict of Arnhem (in 2006), thanks to the efforts of Dutch citizens, Queen Beatrice awarded the 6th Landing and Storm Brigade (now 6th Airborne Brigade), a continuationist of the tradition of the 1st Self-Professional Parade Brigade with the highest Dutch discrimination – the Wilhelm Military Order, and Gen. Sosabowski posthumously Medal of the Bronze Lion.
Both of these first decorations will be seen in the exhibition.
Original uniforms under Arnhem and... bike!
The exhibition presents first uniforms with the equipment of 1 SBS soldiers, both from the early training period as well as the landing under Arnhem – including the Denis Smock kind parachute coat mjr Stanisław Lucjan Karpiński, an intelligence officer of the Brigade, after the war of Gen. Sosabowski's friend and head of the Union of Polish Spadochronists in large Britain.
An extraordinary curiosity is the folding parachute bike besides landed on the battlefield.
“Arise Poland!”
The exhibition besides features awards granted to the General and the Brigade and a replica of the celebrated flag of Surge Polonia ("Polish Uprising"). The banner for the 1st Paradote Brigade was made in Warsaw in 1942, then for more than a year it was hidden and moved from place to place. It was not until April 1944 that it was possible to transport it by air to the UK, where on 15 June General Sosabowski was officially handed to him by president Władysław Raczkiewicz. The banner never returned to Poland, and the replica presented was prepared specifically for the 6th Airborne Brigade.
The aim of the event is to bring the communicative of the 1st Paratrooperal Brigade and marketplace Garden operations to the general public and reconstruct the memory of heroic soldiers from Arnhem.
The largest military operation involving air-desant troops, conducted by the Allied
Air-desant troops played a key function in the marketplace Garden operation, including 2 American divisions (101st and 82nd), British 1. Division and the Polish 1st Paradural Brigade. The brigade was created by General Stanisław Sosabowski, a prominent officer of the pre-war Polish Army and defender of Warsaw in 1939. Thanks to his determination, 1 of the best units of the Polish Armed Forces in the West was created, considered elite and innovative.
Polish paratroopers were trained for a mission to occupied Poland, but it never took place. Instead, the Brigade took part in the battles in the Driel-Arnhem area, which are part of the marketplace Garden operation. The first parachute landing of Polish soldiers took place on 21 September on the confederate shore of the Rhine. In an effort to support General Urquhart's laped British 1st Airborne Division, which was to take the bridge at Arnhem, Polish paratroopers encountered strong opposition from the Germans. Errors in planning and strong German defence caused the operation to neglect the Allied.
The patron of the exhibition is Kraków Airport.
Development of the exhibition:
Ewa Cuber-Strutynska – curator,
Mateusz Tułodziecki – text and selection of materials,
Piotr Kolasinski – selection and description of objects,
Aleksandra Blachnicka – description of objects,
Arkadiusz Morawski – plan and graphic design,
Marcin Kralka – graphic design.
Photos:
Tomasz Markowski, Zuzanna Kaczorowska
Text: Zuzanna Kaczorowska/ Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków
