In the heart of the East Midlands, in Leicestershire, lies the town of Melton Mowbray known world wide for its famous Pork Pies and Stilton cheese.  Yet the world outside the area knows very little of the large WW2 Airfield which, in 1946, became a Polish Displaced Persons Camp

The camp was an old Polish Air Force/RAF Station.  In 1947 Melton Air Base was formally turned over to the Polish Resettlement Corps, at that time there were 350 Polish airmen, officers and a small contingent of British officers still on site, carrying on as an RAF Station with the King's Regulations rigidly enforced.  This made family life for the incoming Polish civilians, wives and children of the air men, extremely difficult.  Husbands and wives had to live in separate quarters which naturally caused some friction between the military and civilians, one cannot marshal civilians, especially mothers and children, in the same way as troops

Ex-army camps were not ideal as family accommodation.  The barrel shaped Nissen huts could hardly be regarded as very homely at the best of times and families, arriving in the winter of 1946/7, from sun drenched Africa found them cold and depressing.  It was like living in a fridge and, to make maters worse, at first the huts were partitioned only by blankets so privacy was minimal. There were shared ablution blocks and a communal kitchen where meals were dished out military style.

The camp consisted of several sites scattered over small hills with distances of up to three miles from one to another. Three of the sites were allocated for use by Polish dependants arriving from Displaced Persons (D.P.) camps in Africa.

Chappei’s Ltd., Animal Foods, St. Margaret’s Clothing Manufacturers and various other firms.  There was also seasonal work on farms which provided extra income for many households and many enterprising people used their pre-war skills within the camp to earn money.

Father Maximilian Kotowski was the first priest in Melton. He arrived in 1947 as an Air Force chaplain and was the driving force for many years in the building of the community and the Polish Church. One of the large Nissen huts was transformed into  the camp's place of worship.  In 1953 a  white marble statue of Our Lady came from Italy and was placed outside the church.  More then a 1,000 people attended the open air service of dedication.  Today the statue stands outside the new Polish church

By 1955 Melton Mowbray town expanded with Council houses and new streets to the very doorstep of the Polish church and community centre in the northern settlement. A small number of Polish families obtained Council houses but it took many years before all  the Polish families were re-housed.

In 1961 the Polish community in Melton purchased a plot of land on which  the camp once stood in Sandy Lane, to build a new Polish Church. The first collection for the construction of the church raised £600 and the church was  built largely by the parishioners themselves with Fr. Kotowski leading by example. The church was consecrated in May 1963 and although the camp had now closed many families settled in the area of Sandy Lane and the processions continue to this day.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

To make sure that Polish children learned about their heritage, schools were set up in most of the DP camps teaching Polish language, history, culture, religion and English. The camp's first  nursery and primary school was set up in 1947 with one teacher, Mr. Iżyk, and 18 children.  By July 1948 the number of children increased to 48 and more were expected with the new transports from Africa.  Larger premises had to be found to accommodate the children so a Nissen hut was allocated at the south end of the camp and, because of the vast distances between camps 1,2,3, 4 and the school Nissen hut, children had to be bussed in from the various sites

Later Mr. J. Kuchn taught primary classes on site 4, intermediate classes were on site 1, advanced classes on site 2.  Other teachers were Mrs. Maria Kułakowska and Mr. M.S. Romanek.  The education authorities were very aware that English had to be taught not only to the children but also to the adult population.  Adult education evening classes were established and, despite the distances between the sites, were well attended.  Teachers cycled  from site to site which was most unsatisfactory, specially on dark cold evenings.

Polish culture steeped in tradition is deep rooted in every Polish heart. Wherever they find themselves and whatever fate may throw at them they try to keep up all the traditions. 3rd May Constitution Day,  Independence Day, religious ceremonies, like Corpus Christi and Christ the King,  St. Nicholas " Święty Mikołaj", Christmas Eve "Wigilja" and midnight mass "Pasterka" to mention just a few.

Szczepan Wojtak:-  On the 10^th of February 1940 the Wojtak family, father Józef, mother Maria and their children Stanisław, Antoni, Szczepan, Franciszka, Karol and  Wacław were deported to Uzbekistan.  In 1942 with the announcement of an amnesty the family made a bid for freedom.  Sadly Józef died in Uzbekistan. The older sons, Stanisław and Antoni, joined the Polish army while mother Maria and her younger siblings Wacław, and  twins Franciszka and Szczepan were sent to Masindi camp in Africa.

Hela Kołodziejczyk,  her widowed mother Julia and three surviving siblings Adela  Tadeusz  and Jan  managed to escape  from Archangel in Russia where they were deported to in 1940.  Tadeusz and Jan  joined the newly formed General Anders army in 1942 which enabled the family to leave Russia and while the boys went on with the army Julia and her young daughters were sent to Abercorn North Rhodesia. In 1948 they came to the UK on board the HMT Empire Ken and the family were reunited in Melton Mowbary camp. Hela was sent to Stowell Park girls school to finish her education. 

Contact

 Links