Of the truly great ones, we have only one enemy - time.
Joseph Conrad
After the defeat of France in July 1940, more than 27,000 Polish soldiers, including thousands of airborne troops and sailors, found themselves in Britain. As a result, the Polish government and Supreme Command set about rebuilding the Polish armed forces in Britain. Soldiers were sent to improvised camps in Biggar, Douglas and Crawford in Scotland. The most famous in Britain was the Polish Air Force, which had 15 fighter squadrons, several flying schools and a number of specialist support units. Today, heroic soldiers lie buried all over the UK (sometimes their graves have been moved) and their gravestones have a distinctive eagle cone that draws attention to itself.