Gedenkteken Generaal Wladyslaw Sikorski Gibraltar

Deze plaquette, in de Great Siege Tunnel, herdenkt de Poolse generaal Wladyslaw Sikorski, premier en bevelhebber van de Poolse troepen in ballingschap, die op 4 juli 1943 op een mysterieuze wijze in zee bij Gibraltar crashte. De tekst op de plaquette luidt:

"IN EARLY JULY 1943, GENERAL WLADYSLAW SIKORSKI PRIME MINISTER AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE POLISH FORCES IN EXILE STOPPED AT GIBRALTAR ON HIS WAY FROM CAIRO TO LONDON. ON THE NIGHT OF THE 4 JULY 1943, A BRITISH BOMBER WITH GENERAL SIKORSKI ON BOARD CRASHED INTO THE SEA SHORTLY AFTER TAKE-OFF, THE CAUSE OF THIS MYSTERIOUS ACCIDENT HAS NEVER BEEN ASCERTAINED; A FACT WHICH HAS GIVEN RISE TO MANY SPECULATIONS, DOUBTS AND RUMOURS. AT THE END OF THIS TUNNEL, DOUGLAS F. MARTIN, A RADIO-OPERATOR WITH SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE, HAD HIS TRANSMITTING STATION, ROUGHLY FOUR HUNDRED METRES FROM THE PLANE. HE WAS THE ONLY WITNESS WHO ACTUALLY SAW THE CRASH."

De plaquettes zijn in de "Great Siege Tunnels" aangebracht. De ingang van de tunnel is aan het einde van Willis's Road.

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Gebruikte bron(nen)

• Tekst: Kaj Metz
• Foto's: Nathan Harig