Raising the flag of ‘friendship’

Horncastle’s Town and County Councillor Bill Aron (left) joins Simon Elmer to hoist the Polish flag at the town’s War Memorial Hospital Centre on Sunday.

Polish Heritage Day - now in its fourth year - is driven by the Polish Embassy and seeks to highlight the shared history and close cultural ties between the UK and Poland.

Simon Elmer, from Woodhall Spa, organises and takes part in a number of Heritage Day events, which were cancelled this year because of Covid-19.

However, the flag raising at Horncastle War Memorial Hospital Centre went ahead.

Mr Elmer explained May 3 is Constitution Day in Poland, the anniversary of the 1791 creation of Europe’s first written formal constitution.

The year 2020 is also significant in Poland. In 1920, the Polish army defeated the forces of communist Russia. Secondly, in 1940, Polish fighter pilots flew alongside their RAF colleagues in the Battle of Britain.

Lincolnshire’s Polish connections go back to the Second World War with Polish bomber squadrons operating from several different bases.

Polish paratroopers were based in the county, including camps at Woodhall Spa and RAF East Kirkby.

Some stayed on, married and raised families in the area.