On September 26, together with the 6th Airborne Brigade named after Gen. Stanisław Sosabowski and the University of the National Education Commission in Kraków, the Polish Aviation Museum invites you to an International Scientific Conference marking the 80th anniversary of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade’s participation in Operation Market Garden.
Honorary patronage over the event was taken by:
Vice-Premier, Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz,
Voivode of Małopolska Krzysztof Jan Klęczar,
Marshal of the Małopolska Region Łukasz Smółka
Schedule:
In Operation Market Garden, a key role was played by airborne forces, including two American divisions (101st and 82nd), the British 1st Division, and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade. The Brigade was created by General Stanisław Sosabowski, a distinguished pre-war Polish Army officer and defender of Warsaw in 1939. Thanks to his determination, one of the finest units of the Polish Armed Forces in the West was established, regarded as elite and innovative.
The Polish paratroopers were trained with a mission to occupied Poland in mind, which, however, never took place. Instead, the Brigade took part in the fighting in the Driel-Arnhem area, as part of Operation Market Garden. The first parachute drop of Polish soldiers took place on September 21 on the south bank of the Rhine. Attempting to support the encircled British 1st Airborne Division of General Urquhart, which was to capture the bridge at Arnhem, the Polish paratroopers encountered strong German resistance. Planning errors and fierce German defence meant that the operation ended in Allied failure.
The moderator of the International Scientific Conference marking the 80th anniversary of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade’s participation in Operation Market Garden will be Dr hab. Przemysław Wywiał, Professor at the University of the National Education Commission, and the following participants and speakers will take part:
*The conference programme is not final.
An accompanying event of the conference will be the vernissage of the temporary exhibition The 1st Independent Parachute Brigade in Operation Market Garden 1944, which will be presented in the Main Hangar as part of the permanent exhibition Wings and People of the 20th Century. The exhibition will feature memorabilia from the collections of the Tradition Hall — Museum of the 6th Airborne Brigade and the Tradition Hall of the 18th Bielsko Airborne Battalion, as well as from private individuals.
Among the most interesting exhibits will be, among others, a previously never-displayed original writing desk of Gen. Stanisław Sosabowski, donated to the 6th Airborne Brigade by the General’s great-grandson, Professor Hal Sosabowski, in 2023. Visitors will also be able to see decorations awarded to the General and the Brigade, a replica of the famous Surge Polonia banner, elements of paratrooper equipment from World War II, as well as numerous documents and photographs from the era.
The aim of the event is to bring the history of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade and Operation Market Garden to a wider audience and to restore the memory of the heroic soldiers of Arnhem.
We cordially invite you to participate.
