The Polish War Cemetery in Lommel (Belgium) was established in 1946 on the initiative of the English authorities. This cemetery is the rest of the soldiers of the 1st Polish Armored Division who died during the liberation of Belgium and the Netherlands in 1944, exhumed from cemeteries scattered throughout Belgium. The then authorities of the city of Tielt did not agree to the exhumation and transfer of their liberators to the cemetery in Lommel.
In addition to the soldiers of the 1st Armored Division, pilots from Squadrons 302, 308 and 317 of the Polish Air Force in Great Britain are also buried in the cemetery.
The youngest soldiers buried at the War Cemetery in Lommel were 18 years old. Their sacrifice is symbolized by a marble obelisk by Marian Wnuk, unveiled in 1956.
”For Our and Your Freedom” – this is the inscription in three languages on the memorial wall, which is topped with a 6-meter steel cross.
Every year, on the last weekend of September, ceremonies are held here to commemorate those years and the soldiers who rest in this cemetery.
The Polish War Cemetery in Lommel is looked after by the City of Lommel on the Belgian side, and by the Polish Association of Poles in Belgium (which has been present in the history of the Cemetery since 1946) and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Brussels.
author: Witold Gudyś (Polska Grupa Pamięci Historycznej), Belgium
