Polen i Norge

The deputy minister of defense of Norway, Tone Skogen, as well as delegations of Allied nations: Polish and French Ambassadors, Great Britain Attaché, as well as the German Ambassador took part in the 80th anniversary celebrations. The ceremony was also attended by the fylkesmann of Nordland, Tom Cato Karlsen, the Mayor of the hosting kommune, Ordfører Rune Edvardsen, the new Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen, generals and admirals of the Norwegian Armed Forces.

From 9 to 14th of April 1940, naval battles were fought in the waters around Narvik, resulting in the destruction of the German fleet. Polish destroyers ORP "Błyskawica" (Lightining), ORP "Burza" (Storm) and ORP "Grom" (Thunder), which were part of the British fleet, participated in those fights. They patrolled the fjords and shelled German positions. In addition, Polish ships "Chrobry", "Batory" and "Sobieski" participated in the operation, as transport for the army. After about two weeks of fighting on land, the battle of Narvik began. After several days of heavy fighting, on the night of May 27-28, Narvik was conquered simultaneously by the 13th half-brigade of the Foreign Legion and the Podhale Rifles (Highlanders) Brigade. This Polish brigade, numbering less than 5,000 soldiers, accounted for 1/3 of all Allied land forces. During the battles for Narvik, the Polish formation lost 97 soldiers, 189 were wounded and 28 went missing.

Ambassador Iwona Woicka-Żuławska in her speech at the new cemetery in Narvik referred to the ideas of ​​solidarity of allied countries and to the obligation to keep alive the memory of battles at Narvik for the next generations. She presented the story of the Highlanders Rifle Brigade, formed in exile due to the invasion of Poland in the first days of the II World War, as a result of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact. She also pointed to the fact that the hopes awakened by the first Allied victory in Narvik brought on 8.05.1945 a real victory over Nazism and totalitarian systems to many nations. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen in the case of Poland and other countries of the region, that were swallowed that year by the 'Soviet sphere of influence'.

Together with the attaché, capt. Bogdan Anuszkiewicz, the Ambassador laid also wreaths at the Allied landing site near Skjomnes close to Narvik. On this occasion, she handed a commemorative plaque to the director of culture of Narvik, Randi Melgaard, for her contribution to promoting historical truth and strengthening Norwegian-Polish cooperation. Ambassador Woicka-Żuławska also laid a wreath at the monument of ORP Grom, commemorating the sinking of the Polish unit on May 4th, 1940, by a German bomber in the Rombakken Fjord (59 crew members were killed).

Moreover, after laying a wreath at the monument at the cemetery in Håkvik, where 66 Polish soldiers are buried, she handed the 100 years of Polish Independence commemorative plaque to a representative of the local Polish community, Mrs. Elżbieta Borgsø, who for years has been taking care of Polish memorial sites related to the battles of Narvik, as well as actively helping the Polish community living in Narvik kommune.

https://www.narvik.kommune.no/fokusnyhet/slik-ble-28-mai-markert.346924.aspx