The Les Champeaux Cemetery in Montmorency, just a fewer kilometres from Paris, is the largest Polish necropolis in France and besides the pantheon of Polish emigration. To this day 276 graves have been preserved there, which is simply a crucial part of all concessions on this tiny cemetery.
Les Champeaux, like the Polish quarters in the Parisian cemeteries Père-Lachaise, Montmartre or Montparnasse, are classified as civilian necropolis. In addition, there are at least a twelve war cemeteries in France, where Polish soldiers have their quarters. These include cemeteries in Neuville-St Vaast, Dieuze or Villeurbanne. The Polish war necropolis in France are two: the Polish War Cemetery in Aubérive in the Marne department and the Polish War Cemetery in Grainville-Langanner in the Calvados department.
Journey to Aubérive
The statistic show that Aubérive is the resting place of 385 Polish soldiers from the Polish Army in France, Gen. Józef Haller, who died during the large War. The French government only agreed to establish the alleged Blue Army (Gen. Joseph Haller Army) in 1918 after the fall of the Tsar, to which Poles from France applied, prisoners who had previously been recruited into German, Austrian and many volunteers from America.
But there are besides graves buried in the French run and in 1944 during the Western Front fighting. Among them are 7 Polish airmen.
The central point of the cemetery is simply a monument to the fallen, having the form of an obelisk. The plaque was written in Polish: "The Heroes of the Army of General Haller and the Revival Polish Army in France in 1939, who died for the freedom of Poland and France in the fields of Champanji in 1914-18 and 1939-45".
From the past of the cemetery
In the 1930s, wooden crosses were originally replaced by concrete crosses. In September 1936, as the press reported, during a visit to France, General Edward Śmigły-Rydz, General Inspector of the Armed Forces and General Maurice Gamelin laid wreaths on the graves at the Polish military cemetery in Aubérive. They then visited the monument-ossuary “La Ferme de Navarin”.
After the Second War, 256 more soldiers, dead and dead in northeastern France were buried in the cemetery from 1940 to 1945. In 1991, a monument to the dead in both planet wars, was renewed by the Federation of erstwhile Polish Combatants in France (Fédération des anciens commattants polonais en France). On the another hand, in 2016, cross exchange was repeated. The fresh plates contain improved and supplemented data of buried soldiers.
Hussar Wings and Cross
The Polish War Cemetery in Grainville-Langanner is located 17 km from Caen. There are 696 graves in the cemetery, of which 86 are empty, marked with “In Memoriam”. There were buried soldiers of the 1st Armoured Division of Gen. Stanisław Maczek, as well as soldiers of the Polish Air Force: 39 who died from 1941-1944 and 1 Polish Air Force pilot in France from 1940.
The entrances are guarded by forged badges of Hussaria, Polish military units and the cross Virtuti Militari, and the main avenue of necropolis is completed by a monument, whose wings symbolize the White Eagle. The part is topped with a stylized figure, symbolizing the courage and courage of the Polish soldier. The monument, designed by Charles Gianferrari and Jacques Bertoux, was unveiled in August 1954, on the 10th anniversary of the conflict of Normandy. The ceremony was attended by the heroes of these fights, among them the Chief Leader of the Polish Armed Forces General Władysław Anders and the commander of the 1st Armoured Division General Stanisław Maczek.
Found Corporal Chaniewski
It is worth noting that the Graveyard in Grainville-Langannerie is 1 of the 7 cemeteries in France, which is straight cared for by the French state. 2 celebrations are held in the cemetery all year. 1 in June, on the anniversary of an allied landing on Normandy, the another in August, on the anniversary of the conflict of Falaise. The ceremonies organize regional and national associations of the 1st Armoured Division.
In June 2020, a plaque was unveiled on the unnamed tombstone of Corporal Ryszard Chaniewski, identified after years of intensive research. Corporal Chaniewski was a tank-driver mechanic in General Maczek's 1st Armoured Division. They were conducted by employees of the Department of Cultural Heritage behind the Borders and War Straits in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland.
Source: KAI / Mariusz Grabowski/polskifr.fr
RoM
