Interesting memorial about 212 Polish soldiers

dtaylor5632Threads: 49 Posts: 4,459 Joined: May 2, 09 ♂	Oct 13, 11, 22:25 #1
Memorial in Portsmouth dedicated to the Polish soldiers who were exiled in 1831. Seems like the local government weren't too happy about the soldiers being rescued and settled in Portsmouth, so the local population took it upon themselves to help.

IronsideThreads: 59 Posts: 6,786 Joined: Feb 26, 09 ♂	Oct 13, 11, 22:34 #2
Well done, a good thread Dave.

hythornThreads: 6 Posts: 843 Joined: Feb 21, 08 ♂	Oct 13, 11, 22:35 #3
that was nice of them particularly as only 19 years earlier the Poles had fought the British

ZIMMYThreads: 10 Posts: 2,353 Joined: Feb 21, 09 ♂	Oct 13, 11, 22:42 #4
I was unaware of this. There seem to be so many 'Polish tidbits' in history that have gone unnoticed and it is a delight to learn new information such as this. Thank you.

♂

Oct 13, 11, 22:53 #5

It is a really interesting part of history. I came across it after watching the bbc program "who do you think you are?" which takes celebrities and finds out their family histories. Len Goodman is who they were following and his great-great grandfather was a Polish "trooper" in the Krakow Cavalry during the November rising in Poland. Turns out his G-G-grandfather won a major battle just outside Warsaw but in the end they were defeated soon after. They fled to Prussia after the Prussian king offered them exile. Only a thousand made it there and to make things worse the Prussians then decided they wanted rid of them. 212 were put on a boat to N.America but due to storms the ship had to dock in Portsmouth. The Polish soldiers were welcomed in Portsmouth and the local community settled them there instead of sending them to America. Thats the story I'm no historian of Polish history.

This is the link to the program, most of the second part is dedicated to this uprising in Poland.

WroclawThreads: 77 Posts: 7,404 Joined: Apr 1, 06 ♂ [Moderator]	Oct 13, 11, 23:08 #6
dtaylor5632: most of the second part is dedicated to this uprising in Poland. sorry to say... it's blocked to those of us outside the uk.

dtaylor5632Threads: 49 Posts: 4,459 Joined: May 2, 09 ♂	Oct 13, 11, 23:09 #7
Wroclaw: sorry to say... it's blocked to those of us outside the uk. auch I'll download it and post it on some site ;) though not tonight.

a.k.	Oct 13, 11, 23:09 #8
Wroclaw: sorry to say... it's blocked to those of us outside the uk. it's on yt

IronsideThreads: 59 Posts: 6,786 Joined: Feb 26, 09 ♂	Oct 13, 11, 23:12 #9
Yes Polish history is very interesting and dramatic. Ready scenario for movies, nobody interested though, they prefer to go 101 times explore theme of Robin Hood or some other overused story.

dtaylor5632Threads: 49 Posts: 4,459 Joined: May 2, 09 ♂	Oct 13, 11, 23:17 #10
a.k.: it's on yt thanks! Ironside: Yes Polish history is very interesting and dramatic. I really believe so, I think that's why Norman Davies loves the country sooooo much.

♂

Oct 14, 11, 00:49 #11

dtaylor5632:

I came across it after watching the bbc program "who do you think you are?"

Lols, damn it, I was going to post on this the other week :)
and, any regular viewers like me thinking, " Ok,any minute now surely some sad klezmer music and a shot of a synagogue or the railway tracks at auschwitz.." but bugger me sideways for once it wasnt Jew Do You Think You Are.
Len Goodman, TVs most surprising Goy !!

ps, Apparently they are considered Polands first official community in the UK :)

dtaylor5632Threads: 49 Posts: 4,459 Joined: May 2, 09 ♂	Edited by: dtaylor5632 Oct 14, 11, 01:11 #12
isthatu2: Len Goodman, TVs most surprising Goy !! He was good in it, seemed really enthusiastic about finding out his GG-granfather came from Poland. isthatu2: ps, Apparently they are considered Polands first official community in the UK :) But who was this Karl Marx??? Edit, I got him. ;) dumb me for a second :D

Ozi DanThreads: 22 Posts: 552 Joined: Nov 22, 07 ♂	Oct 14, 11, 01:14 #13
dtaylor5632: Memorial in Portsmouth dedicated to the Polish soldiers who were exiled in 1831. Seems like the local government weren't too happy about the soldiers being rescued and settled in Portsmouth, so the local population took it upon themselves to help. Thanks for the info mate. Great story that I was totally unaware of. Cheers. Good on the Poms of Portsmouth!

♂

Edited by: dtaylor5632 Oct 14, 11, 01:18 #14

Ozi Dan:

Thanks for the info mate. Great story that I was totally unaware of. Cheers.

I was reading up on this, at the time of posting i was writing this down on pf. It really seems to me something that has gone missing in the British - Polish relationship. These Poles were substantial to setting up the Polish democratic society in London that Marx also became a member off. These are the guys that set about dragging Polish pilots back to the UK during ww2.

Small unknown facts bring about great things.

Edit@ also it turns out the memorial was made many a year ago, but ran out of funding, so local Poles and Brits in Portsmouth gave the funding. Nice to actually have a happy story on here ;)

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