Stanislaw Sosabowski — who appears in the apex of this mural in east Belfast — survived the first World War (fighting for Austria-Hungary), the occupation of Poland in 1939, and escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp before crossing Europe and taking command, in Britain, of the 1st Polish Paras. The unit fought in Operation Market Garden at the Battle Of Arnhem. (WP | Polish Heritage Society for a booklet of text and images)

His memoirs have been published as Freely I Served and interviews about his service were collected for a film called A Debt Of Dishonour (youtube) – the title comes from the fact that Sosabowski was blamed for the failure of the Operation, perhaps as a bargaining tactic in negotiations between Britain, Russia, and Poland.

Across the middle of the mural are airmen from the 303 Polish Squadron, which was celebrated in a Shankill mural: Love Demands Sacrifice. In the foreground is a modern British paratrooper in field gear.

For images of the launch, see WWIIPolesNI.

A post at (the blog) We In Coming Days May Be has a report on the East Belfast electoral constituency. Here is a report on Polish Residents In Belfast from the Belfast Interface Project. Attacks on Poles in east Belfast reached a peak in the first few months of 2014; see previously Romanian Housebreakers Beware and e.g. this Telegraph article. See also: Multiculturalism Is Genocide | Never Actually Existed | Belfast You’re Melting My Head.

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