London Victory Celebrations of 1946 - Political Controversy

Political Controversy

The parade caused political controversy in the UK and has continued to be criticised because of the lack of representation of Polish forces. During the war, more than 200,000 members of the Polish Armed Forces in the West had fought under British High Command. These were loyal to the Polish government-in-exile, were opposed to the Soviet Union since the time of the Nazi-Soviet pact and hoped to return to a democratic, non-communist Poland after the war. However, by 1946, the British government changed its diplomatic recognition from the pro-democracy Poles in exile to the new communist-dominated Provisional Government of National Unity in Poland, where, according to Winston Churchill and others, totalitarian control was being established.

The British government initially invited the Soviet-backed government in Poland to send a flag party to represent Poland among the allied forces in the parade, but did not specifically invite representatives of the Polish forces that had fought under British High Command. Britons including Winston Churchill, figures in the RAF and a number of MPs protested against the decision, which was described as an affront to the Polish war effort as well as an immoral concession to communist power. Also, the pro-democracy Polish forces did not feel properly represented by the Soviet-backed Polish government, and saw the development as a negation of what they had fought the War for.

After these complaints, 25 pilots of the Polish fighter squadrons in the Royal Air Force, who had taken part in the Battle of Britain, were invited to march together with other foreign detachments as part of the parade of the Royal Air Force. The government said this was a necessary compromise due to the political circumstances of the day. Also, after the public criticism in Britain, last-minute invitations were sent by Foreign Minister Bevin directly to the Chief of Staff of the Polish Army, General Kopanski, who was still in post in London, and to the chiefs of the Polish Air Force and the Polish Navy and to individual generals.

These invitations were declined, and the airmen refused to participate in protest against the omission of the other branches of the Polish forces. The Soviet-backed Polish government, in turn, chose not to send a delegation, and later cited the invitation to the pilots as its reason to stay away. In the end, the parade thus took place without any Polish forces. The Soviet Union and Yugoslavia also stayed away.