Britain... What the Poles did for us.

The Poles have been in the UK only for four years and not four decades, so I doubt that they managed to make a great impact on the British society. On the other hand, some claim that there are 1,5 million of them currently on the island. Surely, disappearance of that many people wouldn't go unnoticed. :)

The point is, they weren't there to make an impact. Many who went prayed for better days in their home country and a stint in the UK was an ideal respite from trying times. Their gamble has paid off as things have picked up here. Salaries have gone up and Tusk has created more job opportunities. Or, so we are told.

well said. my father was denied that opportunity to march in the victory parade..
he was in italy with general anders

Well i havent forgiven the Poles for the Pole tax...! I mean , i didn,t have any Poles living at my house....Ha...little did i know that not so many years later i would have five of em living at my house....while i was living in...Poland...funny old world ain,t it....?

i couldn't have put it better. we could all be under nazi rule today if the polish pilots had not tipped the balance in our favour in 1940, and of course the efforts by other branches of polish forces later on.

never forget...

Well, that was somewhat of an exaggeration byronic, to be fair. Read above and you will see that I applaud the Polish effort and they were significant in the British RAF. Let's start from that premise, that the Poles did well.

However, tipping the balance? LOL Were you practising your conditionals? ;)

I'd adapt, right.. I want out of here.

Have you formed a plan then ?

Still in the process.. I've a year before I take that plunge... ow.

We provided fresh blood to the genetic pool of the Isles: ;)

Kazimierz Grabski, a Polish merchant, traded a shipment of grain for sheep in Scotland in 1514, and brought six PONs to move the sheep. A Scottish shepherd was so impressed with the herding ability of the dogs that he traded a ram and two ewes for a dog and two *******. These dogs were bred with the local Scottish dogs to produce the Scottish herding dogs, most obviously the Bearded Collie.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Lowland_Sheepdog

I think britain has gained a lot from having polish workers here, problem is their seems to be more unemployment now, dilemma

seanus- not really, when the RAF was on its last legs air vice marshal dowding released the polish squadrons that were in reserve- he had to, there were few trained pilots left. his gamble paid off, though the polish pilots were inexperienced they proved to be ferocious fighters.

p.s, im confused by the 'practicing my conditionals' bit- i'm english in case you didn't know....
(and the word is 'practiCing' not 'practiSing' :)

Now that I've seen it, I stand by my decision. I've always learned that the Brits wrote 'practising' and Americans 'practicing' and that it's the verb that takes the 's'. I'm British so I wrote practising.

I also thought we used capital letters, e.g I'm Scottish, I learned that in primary school. Not "i'm english".

What gamble? Needs must!! Ferocious, yes, that doesn't mean that they tipped the balance. This would need a fuller discussion, byronic.

yes it was a gamble, because the polish pilots were mostly newly converted to RAF fighters and largely untested in battle- and i don't use capitals when i'm typing as i can't be bothered...

I'd call it a necessity. Hard times call for hard decisions. RAF look like capital letters to me, LOL. Maybe I couldn't be bothered writing the practicing Vs practising point, but I did.

If this is a fact then I would like to know where this information comes from? Education or training? they may not be the same thing!

I think that Polish people have largely bought positive things to Britain, but if they choose to go home the British economy is not going to collapse (its already done that) and I also resent the stereotype that British people are lazy and the attitude of some Polish people here who think that we (Britain) owes them a living, whether it be in work or State handouts. If only Poland could show as much of a welcome to Brits working there as we have to them we could all be happy. Its true that there is racism towards Polish people in Britain, but as a percentage of the population I would say there are far more racist views in Poland than in Britain.. only my opinion of course.

If you put Poland's war effort in monetary terms Britain would have to declare bankruptcy.

I agree with that. But this generation of Poles has nothing to do with the article posted by the OP, which refers to the recent wave of immigration.

Yes it is your opinion. And in over liberal towards monorities and not so tolerant towards majorities UK today, racism is 'not allowed'..... So it is hidden but I can assure you it exists.And when is shows it is in much more aggresive form than in Poland.

Matyjasz,

The Poles have not been in Britain for only the last 4 years.............

A lot longer than that my friend!!

ZZamoyski.

Largely wrong - where did you source this misconception? Probably from your school days eh?

You should read 'The Forgotten Few' by Zamoyski - it'll put you right on the facts.

For what the Poles gained out of assisting the Poms in BoB, they probably should have stayed out of it.


Cool avatar mate. Relative? What rank and military arm?

actually more arrived than going home according to a 2008 cencus

Which census is this ? I didn't think that the National Census was due for another three years. (In the UK that is.)

It was his personal one, lol

The annual local village survey :)

i put RAF in capitals because i was in the services, sometimes i bother, but only when i think it's worth the huge effort of pressing the caps lock.

Is Poland getting hit as hard as the UK as far as the credit crunch is going? Just wondered, because I'm told that there are quite a few Polish workers heading home these days. At a guess I would have said the majority of the peeps leaving are from the building trade, as the building trade seems to have all but dried up here now.

It depends who you believe ;)

Only when you have Polish towns where recent immigrants number 10-30% of the population will you be able to compare such attitudes in Britain and Poland.

Very true. I left Britain in 1990, when I returned 12 years later i did not recognise the place- a nation of indigenous chavs and sullen asian immigrants, mosques and bargain supermarkets, obese couch potatoes, (usually unemployed through some vague, hard to disprove ailment such as depression or back pain.) & religious fanatics preaching hatred and resentful of the country they chose to dwell in.

Notions such as freedom of speech, concerns for ones culture, and patriotism are quickly quashed and labelled racism. I would welcome all Polish people to Britain and Ireland, because generally they work, they respect that they are in someone else's country, they integrate and are not trying to force their culture on us, but then maybe that is because we share a similar culture anyway.

a warning to the Polish- do not let your country and culture be overrun and destroyed in the same way that Britain has. So far you have not had a large influx of immigrants, but when your economy improves, when they think that there is something to be gained- then you must beware.

You make some very well observed and some very good points, Byronic.

You're right that things have changed a great deal since 1990, however, I think the rot was setting in long before that. I doubt that the gravy-train that is the British "system" will ever run dry or be put on the right track.

It would take a political party with a tough and radical agenda, that isn't afraid of offending a few people, to be in power for a good while before there was even a chance of putting things right. Such a party simply doesn't exist and the ones currently available don't have the balls.