Winner of 'The Arts Council of England's Community Publishing Prize 2001'

Britain's Polish community settled in this country in the aftermath of World War Two.  Six million Poles had died during the War and their armed forces played a vital and courageous role in the defeat of the Nazis.

Yet at the end of the War the map of Poland was redrawn, the east absorbed by the Soviet Union and the west ruled over by a Communist regime controlled by Moscow.  For Poles displaced by the War a return to life under the rule of Stalin was both unacceptable and dangerous.  Their lives in exile had begun.

Using archive and contemporary photographs and oral history this book tells the extraordinary story of Polish people who have made Britain their home.

"This is a publication that really does stand out.  It is well written and well presented.  It evokes a clearly defined community and is politically strong.  This book is not just informative; it is moving".  -Stuart Hood, The Arts Council of England.

One of the photos shown is from the Sikorski Museum: On arrival in Britain the vast majority of Polish troops were billeted in Scotland where they underwent further training and were allocated coastal defence duties.
(this is the photo that my mother-in-law studied and discovered that it was taken on the street in her hometown of Cowdenbeth, Scotland!