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Notes

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General Sikorski distinguished himself as a commander in the Polish-Soviet War and went on to serve as Prime Minister from 1922 to 1923. Following Jozef Pilsudski's coup in 1926, he was removed from public office. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, he went to Paris, where he became Prime Minister of the Polish Government in Exile. While in France, he organised Polish army divisions and air force squadrons, and when he was forced to leave France in 1940, he committed these expatriate servicemen, by agreement with Winston Churchill, to fighting with the British until the end of the war. From this point they made a very considerable contribution to the war effort. In 1941, Sikorski made a pact with the Russians over the future of Poland, but relations soured when Stalin revealed his intention to push back Poland`s eastern border. They broke down completely in 1943 when Sikorski called the Russians to account over the massacre of 4000 Polish army officers at Katyn. Sikorsky was killed in the same year, when his plane crashed into the sea immediately after take-off from Gibraltar.

Title

General Wladyslaw Sikorski (1881–1943)

Date

2000

Medium

bronze & Portland stone

Measurements

H 280 x W (?) x D (?) cm;
Plinth: H 178 x W (?) x D (?) cm

Accession number

W1B_II_S002

Acquisition method

commissioned by the British-Polish Council

Work type

Statue

Owner

British-Polish Council

Custodian

Westminster City Council

Work status

extant

Unveiling date

24th September 2000

Access

at all times

Signature/marks description

right boot of the statue: FAITH WINTER

Inscription description

front of the pedestal: GENERAL WŁADYSŁAW SIKORSKI / (1881-1943) / PRIME MINISTER OF / THE POLISH GOVERNMENT / AND / COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF / THE POLISH ARMED FORCES / 7 NOVEMBER 1939-4 JULY 1943; bronze plaque on west side of pedestal: IN MEMORY OF / GENERAL / WŁADYSŁAW SIKORSKI / AND THE / SOLDIERS, SEAMEN AND AIRMEN / OF THE / POLISH ARMED FORCES / AND THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT / 1939-1945; on bronze plaque on east side of pedestal: SECOND WORLD WAR / POLISH CAMPAIGN / FRENCH CAMPAIGN / NARVIK / BATTLE OF BRITAIN / BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC / TOBRUK / MONTE CASSINO / FALAISE / ARNHEM / WARSAW UPRISING; on back of pedestal: UNVEILED BY / THE DUKE OF KENT, K.G. / ON 24TH SEPTEMBER 2000; (and below): ERECTED BY / PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION; on back of self-base of statue: Burleighfield Arts

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