Why heroes are making a return to former battlefields

To mark Remembrance Sunday, the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has produced a podcast featuring the stories of two World War Two veterans funded through its Heroes Return programme. To date, BIG has awarded over £25 million to more than 51,000 Second World War veterans, their spouses, widows and carers for commemorative journeys back to the places in which they served over 60 years ago.

The podcast includes firsthand accounts from Doug Mayman, who is travelling back to Normandy in April with his daughter to retrace his steps using personal wartime diaries, and Ted Hedges, who talks about his trip back to the Azores where he served with RAF Coastal Command.

Big Lottery Fund Chief Executive Peter Wanless also explains what the Heroes Return programme means to him and the Big Lottery Fund.

Are you a veteran of World War Two or do you know someone who is? 

The programme is still open for applications until 31 January 2012 for journeys up to 31 December 2012 by those who are yet to receive funding. More information is available via the Heroes Return 2 advice line: 0845 00 00 121 or by visiting the website.

Polish Minister to visit Devon's 'Little Poland'

The gardens at Ilford Park

On Thursday (3rd March), the Polish Government’s Minister for Veterans Affairs, Dr Jan Ciechanowski, will visit our Ilford Park Polish Home (IPPH) near Newton Abbot, Devon to present staff and a resident with the Polish ‘Pro Memoria’ medal.

During Dr Ciechanowski’s time at the Home, part of a wider visit to the UK, he will also meet other residents and thank staff for the work they do to look after elderly Polish war veterans who served with the UK Armed Forces during the Second World War.

Those being presented with the medal include Mr Mieszyslaw Juny, former PoW, WWII fighter pilot and now Chairman of Ilford Park Residents Committee. He will also present a medal to Care Worker Mrs Helen Johns, who spent her childhood and later her working life at Ilford Park.

The silver ‘Pro Memoria’ Medal was instituted in 2005 by the Polish Government’s ‘Office for Combatants and Oppressed Individuals’. It is conferred in a single class to honour individuals who have contributed to commemorating the people who fought for the independence of Poland during and after the Second World War.

To find out more about the Home, check out our video.

Honouring the promise

 Ilford Park is based at Stover, near Newton Abbot in Devon, on the borders of the Dartmoor National Park

Described as the 'Little Poland in the heart of Devon', the Ilford Park Polish Home still upholds a promise made by Winston Churchill, following the Second World War, to recognise the sacrifice of the Polish people who fought under British Command or who had been held in Labour Camps. Poland was the fourth largest contributor to the Allied effort in Europe by the end of the War.

After the War, 130,000 Polish nationals came to this country under the terms of the 1947 Polish Resettlement Act. Residential camps, 46 in total, were created to house them. Only one remains open today - The Ilford Park Polish Home.

The Home no longer resembles the original camp after a re-build in the nineties. It now provides 81 residential and 14 nursing beds with five sheltered bungalows. A priority for the Home is to maintain links with Poland; so there is a Polish shop with a wide variety of Polish food on sale, residents also have access to Polish Television and Community teas are held each month where entertainment is traditional Polish songs.

Today, the Home, run by SPVA, continues to provide residential and nursing care to people who qualify for admission under the Act.

If you're interested in finding out more about the Home you can find further information on our website or listen to our podcast interview with Clare Thomas who manages the home.

So until the next post Do Widzenia!