The contribution of Polish and Czech RAF pilots who were based near Wellington during World War 2 has been commemorated by the unveiling of new artwork in the Iron Duke pub.

Three plaques celebrating Polish and Czech pilots who fought for Britain were officially unveiled on Tuesday, November 14, by Artur Bildziuk, Chairman of the Polish Airmen's Association, local military historian Chris Penney, and manager at the Iron Duke, Caitlin Box.

After Poland was occupied by Germany and Russia at the outbreak of the war, many of the country's pilots escaped to France, and later to the UK.

Some of those pilots were stationed at RAF Culmhead, a former RAF base on the Blackdown Hills near Churchstanton. They included the 302 and 306 squadrons, who piloted the iconic Spitfire planes. By 1942 the Polish airmen were replaced at the airfield by two Czech squads, 312 and 313.

Mr Bildziuk explained: "Around this area there was quite a reasonable presence of Poles. The Poles at that time were converting from Hurricanes to Spitfires. Pictured here is a guy called Stanisław Skalski, a high scoring Polish ace.  "In 1939 Poland was attacked by the Germans and the Russians. Polish pilots had very good training, they were taught to fly one on seven or even one on eight, to defend against multiple threats. When Poland finally capitulated a lot of pilots escaped to France, my father was stationed in Warsaw at that time and arrived in France through Romania and Hungary.  "The French were a bit weary of us because they didn’t think we did too well, but they were very capable pilots. When France didn’t work out we came to Britain. Eventually we had 16 squadrons."

Mr Penney, who led the initiative, praised Wetherspoons for their work in putting up the display. He said: "I was reading Wetherspoon’s in-house magazine and it was reporting on the unveiling of artwork at a pub near RAF Northolt to honour the Poles who helped to win the Battle of Britain. So I wrote to the editor and asked if we could put something up about the Poles who were also stationed here locally near Wellington and they said yes.  "I was absolutely bowled over, Wetherspoons have been a 20/10 in helping to put this together, all credit to them and Mr Tim Martin who runs the chain for highlighting this. It is a little known fact that Culmhead is one of the few RAF airfields in Somerset, and this was a time after the Battle of Britain that you don’t hear about so much and it is good to see it get recognition."

Mr Bildziuk said he was pleased that Polish fighters were getting the recognition they deserved. He said: "It is interesting because at that time we were in a situation where we defended this island and that was going to be a platform to win back the freedom of other European countries. We were now ready to take the war back to the Germans.  "Polish pilots were escorting ships, seeking out submarines, and going further afield into the Bay of Biscay to stop the German Condors causing havoc. 

 "I am very pleased to see this artwork unveiled because we were the fourth largest contributor to the Allied forces in World War 2. They didn’t get the recognition they deserved after the war. At the time the veterans were very upset, these were tough people and they were in tears. They did it for the youth, they were romantic people fighting for a cause. It is satisfying for me to see the British recognising this.  "This display tells a great story, and the story of the Czechs, we call them brothers in arms."