A memorial to Polish soldiers and their families who settled in a Suffolk town after the Second World War is to be erected in their memory.
The decision was made at a meeting of Brandon Town Council last night after councillor Victor Lukaniuk raised to resolution that a memorial be placed in the town's cemetery.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr Lukaniuk said the memorial should be delivered at no cost to the council and that Brandon businesses including Omar Homes, a large local employer, had offered to donate to the project.
He said; 'It was members of the Polish forces who come to Brandon in the 1940s, followed by their families who survived Siberia. This memorial will be for them.'
Mr Lukaniuk mentioned the existence of other similar memorials to Poles who fought with Britain in the war, and those who fled the country after 1945 and settled in East Anglia, such as one which was unveiled in Riddlesworth by a Polish ambassador earlier this year.
He added that he would take on the maintenance of the memorial and that it would not take 'centre stage' in the cemetery.
Councillor Ian Horner said in agreement: 'Those people who came here because these country was not free despite their efforts in delivering freedom for everyone else, including Britain.'
Concerns about possible pressure to honour other nationalities who came to the area after the war were dismissed by the council.
What do you think? Email bethany.whymark@archant.co.uk
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