The memorial is partly next to the lesser road interfacing roundabout above the sunkenA40 road (specifically for the A4180 road) and is a local landmark.[4] The term "Polish War Memorial" commonly extends to the arterial underpass and roundabout. The precise coordinates of the eagle finial are given, to six decimal places.
History
Squadron names and numbers on the monument. The cities of "Lwów" and "Wilno" are now Lviv and Vilnius respectively.Polish War Memorial, Northolt
The main elements of the memorial are made from Portland stone and polished granite with bronze lettering. A central Portland stone obelisk, with flanking Portland stone panels, stands beside a trapezoidal pool of water with fountains. The column is surmounted by a bronze Polish eagle, which is the symbol of the Polish Air Force. Bronze lettering on the column gives the dates "1940-1945" and lists the Polish fighter and bomber squadrons that served with the RAF in the Second World War. The flanking panels have inscriptions in bronze lettering: to the front, in English and Polish: "TO THE MEMORY OF / FALLEN POLISH AIRMEN" and "POLEGLYM / LOTNIKOM POLSKIM", and across the rear, a biblical quotation from 2 Timothy 4: "I HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT, I HAVE FINISHED MY COURSE, / I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH/ - II TIM. IV. 7."
The pool and column are surrounded by a York stone walkway, with steps to a sunken semi-circular exedra to the rear where the curved walls have further stone panels inscribed with the insignia of the 14 Polish squadrons that served with the RAF and the names of 1,243 Poles killed in the war (the inner wall with names was replaced, and the outer wall with more names and the insignia was added, in 1996).[5] The site includes landscaped grass and flowerbeds, with poles for the flags of the UK and Poland, and is enclosed within cast iron railings and gates, supported by Portland stone pillars. The bronze eagle and lettering were cast by the Morris Singer foundry.
Originally the names of 1,243 Polish airmen who died during the war were inscribed on the monument, all killed on active service. Subsequently, another 659 Poles were identified whose names should be on the monument. By the 1990s the monument needed refurbishment, so in 1994 an appeal was launched to fund the work. At the same time the opportunity was taken to extend the monument to add the 659 missing names, and adding 23 Polish airmen killed in the Battle of France in 1940. Deteriorating sandstone panels which listed the names of the war dead were replaced with granite, and new dedicatory panels in English and Polish were added. In 1996 the work was completed and the Duke of Gloucester rededicated the enlarged, refurbished monument.[4]
Opening and upgrade ceremonies
The monument was unveiled in 1948. It became a Grade II listed building in 2002 and was upgraded to Grade II* in September 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.[6]
Twenty-one other memorials to Polish World War II contributions exist in the UK – many near major war cemeteries – and some other cemeteries have more than one such memorial.