The 1946 Victory Parade – the symbol of Poland’s betrayal

The first parade celebrating the British victory was held in London on 8 June 1946 and was officially called the “Victory Celebration”, not the “VE Day Parade”. It was organised to mark the total Allied victory in Europe and the Pacific in the Second World War. While VE Day falls on 8 May, the parade was scheduled for a month later – 8 June – primarily for practical and political reasons.

The choice of date was not unrelated to Britain’s economic situation. As pointed out by British historian Jennifer Grant in June 1946, the country was facing deepening post-war hardships, and just a few days after the parade, bread rationing was introduced—something that had not occurred even during wartime. 

This came as a shock to many Britons and sparked public discontent. As a result, historians note that although the parade was meant to be a triumphant occasion, it took place under the shadow of mounting economic difficulties.

The Victory Parade held in London in June 1946 was designed as a grand spectacle, a tribute to the Allied nations who had endured the trials of war and emerged victorious. Over 10,000 servicemen and women from across the British Commonwealth and its allies marched through the streets of the capital. Yet, amid the cheering crowds and waving flags, one striking omission cast a long shadow over the day’s festivities: the Polish armed forces, Britain’s staunch wartime allies, were not officially invited to march.

The Polish military contribution to the Allied war effort was, by any standard, exceptional. From the RAF’s No. 303 Squadron – one of the highest scoring units during the Battle of Britain – to the heroic stand at Monte Cassino and the liberation of Breda in the Netherlands, Polish soldiers, sailors and airmen fought with courage and distinction across multiple theatres of war. At the war’s end, over 200,000 Polish troops were serving under British command.

The Polish soldiers wanted to secure a free Poland after the war. 

The official explanation for not letting the Poles march alongside other Allied troops at the time revolved around political sensitivities. By 1946, Britain had recognised the Soviet-backed Provisional Government of National Unity in Warsaw, not the Polish government-in-exile based in London. Inviting Polish troops loyal to the latter, most of whom refused to return to a Soviet-controlled homeland, would have angered Joseph Stalin and risked diplomatic backlash.

The British government initially offered only to include a token representation of Polish airmen, a proposal widely seen as an insult. In protest, all Polish forces declined participation. The result: a Victory Parade without the soldiers who had shed blood for Britain at both domestic and foreign fronts of the 2 World War.

The exclusion did not go unnoticed. Veterans’ groups, MPs, and members of the public condemned the decision. Letters flooded into newspapers. Many Britons expressed their disappointment that brave men who had stood with Britain in her darkest hours were being cast aside in a post-war game of realpolitik.

Winston Churchill, no longer Prime Minister, was reportedly furious. 

“They are the first to fight and the last to be remembered,” said one letter to The Times.

Some sympathetic British units informally honoured their Polish counterparts in private ceremonies. But the damage had been done. For many Poles, the 1946 parade was not a celebration but a symbolic betrayal.

Thousands of Polish servicemen would go on to live out their lives in exile in Britain and across western Europe. Their homeland, left behind the Iron Curtain, was closed to them. The parade was supposed to be the moment of their appreciation, and it was stolen.

Today, historians and veterans alike agree: the exclusion of Polish troops from the 1946 London Victory Parade remains a stain on Britain’s wartime legacy. 

Source: IPN, Jenny Grant/X

Photo: @WWIIpix

Tomasz Modrzejewski

Full article here: https://www.britishpoles.uk/the-1946-victory-parade-the-symbol-of-polands-betrayal/