Commemoration of the Defence of Cowes by ORP Błyskawica
06.05.2024
On 5 May, the community of Cowes, Isle of Wight, held its annual ceremony honouring the defence of the city by Polish destroyer ORP Błyskawica.
The ceremony was attended by many local officials, including the Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight Susie Sheldon, the High Sheriff Graham Biss, MP Bob Neely, as well as present and former Mayors of Cowes and councillors. Brigadier General Michał Sprengel decorated members of the Friends of the ORP Błyskawica society with the Polish Army Medals in recognition of their work popularising Polish military history. The ceremony was also attended by Deputy Director of the Institute of National Remembrance Karol Polejewski, vice-consul in London Bartłomiej Milewski, and representatives of the current ORP Błyskawica crew.
On the night of 4 May 1942, German bombers targeted the sky over the Isle of Wight, killing 70 people. ORP Błyskawica, initially built in 1936 in J.S. White’s East Cowes shipyard, had defended Cowes from enemy air attack. It was widely acknowledged that if it were not for the actions of the Polish destroyer’s Captain and crew, the city's devastation would have been far more significant.
In 1992, the then-contemporary Mayor of Cowes, Geoff Banks, invited representatives of ORP Błyskawica to the island and organised the first commemoration related to the events of 1942. In 1997, Mayor Banks, other local leaders and a Polish World War Two veteran, Otton Hulacki, formed Friends of the ORP Błyskawica Society, which continues to popularise WWII history and organises annual commemoration. The Society is currently chaired by Dr Krzysztof Magier, who organised this year’s events.
Photo credit: Michael Dunkason, Official Photographer to HM Lieutenancy
