Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum — Attraction in London

Honestly outstanding. Free with a donation of your choice at the end. It is a guided tour of around an hour and a half and this was time that was very well spent. They have a frankly incredible set of artefacts from the better known photos of Wojtek the bear alongside military pennants of him and a statue. There were also not surprisingly a lot of artefacts relating to General Sikorski including very sadly his military uniform alongside his daughter's from the tragic plane crash off Gibraltar in 1943. Yet such artefacts are only just scratching the surface. The boots given to him by Stalin so that he would leave the USSR quickly were really fascinating.

There were so many attractions which our amazing guide Hugo so skillfully brought to life. He was an absolute gentleman to both myself and my teenage daughter and amazingly well informed. Learning about the real life Polish WW2 Heroine was a treat. She escaped the Gestapo by biting her lip so hard it bled profusely that they believed she had tuberculosis. She was the inspiration for Vesper Lind of James Bond fame who was tragically killed by a jealous lover after the war.

Other highlights included seeing the saddle Napoleon himself used as well as the Polish battle standard which flew over Monte Casino and discovering the two parts of it were discovered years apart. Discovering the ingenuity of the Poles during WW2 was really interesting. I didn't realise they invented by the mine sweeper and the tank periscope. Amazing that the collection also included cutlery rescued from the trainees officers mess in Warsaw and deemed of sufficient importance to ship to Britain early on in the war.

But my favourite three exhibits related to details I knew nothing about until our visit. Hats off to Hugo for his vivid and insightful explanations here.

There was the submarine of which they had a model which escaped Poland at the start of WW2 only to be impounded in Tallinn, Estonia. Its navigational equipment was destroyed before the crew sailed all the way to Rossyth in Scotland aided only by a map hand drawn from memory, which was in the museum. Incredible stuff.

Secondly there was the propeller of a plane a Polish pilot had removed from his plane to disable it in Fascist Spain lest it fall into the hands of the Nazis. He had taken it all the way to Britain with him.

Finally there was a shirt collar with writing on it. This contained essentially the last will and testament of a Polish pilot who crashed into the English channel. He had written a last letter to his wife on it, but in fact survived being rescued after around 85 hours, which was a record at the time. It was summer which probably saved his life.

I absolutely loved this museum. Amazing place with a brilliant guide. I would strongly recommend this museum to anyone with even the vaguest interest in any of its themes as they are so well brought to life.

It is not necessary to buy tickets, but I would let them know either by email or phone that you are coming, so that they can...

As a professional archival researcher, this has to be one of the best places to come and research because of the amazing material and, of course, the utterly incredible staff.

I can't praise them highly enough for their organisation and assistance with some quite intricate research.

The archive requires appointments, so if using the archive, then check their website.

This is a central London location with great public transport links. There is paid parking through just park among others out front.

The artefacts that we could see were fantastic and have a military perspective for the most part. Check with the museum of access.

This is also a wonderful building of course in the heart of the diplomatic area of London very near the Albert Hall.

Again, a great archive and staff whom I wish to thank for their...

An absolutely incredible place. Jaw dropping. The history, determination and valour is palpable. It's somewhere anyone should visit if they want to learn about Polish military history and their part in Poland's struggle to survive, and their campaigns across Europe and Africa. Unfortunately this place is open only on the first Saturday (?) of the month, but it's probably best to check before going. They're staffed by volunteers. If you want to know who Poles really are, come and visit. My tour took two hours. Tours are available in English, and...