The Memorial to the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division

The Memorial to the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division was erected on Hill 575 in June 1944, just two weeks after the end of hostilities, to honour the memory of the Division's 503 dead and 1,531 wounded. The consecration ceremony took place on 18 May 1945. The location was chosen because of it visibility both from Monastery Hill and the valley of the River Liri. Hill 575 had also been the final goal of the assault by the Division's troops during the battle for the Gustav Line.
The memorial, mounted on a stone pedestal, is in the shape of a cross constructed from the steel framework of a Bayley bridge. It was designed by two engineers: Królikowski and Urbanowicz. At the base of the memorial there are two plaques with inscriptions in Polish and Latin:
"IN THIS PLACE, THE SOLDIERS OF THE 5TH TH KRESOWA INFANTRY DIVISION, FORCEFULLY TORN FROM THEIR FATHERLAND, THEIR MARCH BACK TO POLAND LEADING THEM THROUGH PRISONS, CAMPS, THE SIBERIAN TUNDRA, ACROSS DESERTS AND SEAS, FOUGHT A 7-DAY BATTLE. 503 WERE KILLED, 1,531 WERE WOUNDED".

And the second plaque:
"IN THE NAME OF THE LAWS OF GOD AND OF MAN, FOR YOUR FREEDOM AND OURS, FULFILLING THE TESTAMENT LEFT BY THEIR FOREFATHERS, CARRYING OUT THEIR DUTIES TO THE LIVING, AS A SIGNPOST FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS, FOR WILNO AND FOR LWÓW, SYMBOLS OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND, THEY FOUGHT – DIED – AND WERE VICTORIOUS".
The monument was crowned with the coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with three fields bearing images of the Polish White Eagle, the Lithuanian Vytis and Archangel Michael, and also the arms of the cities of Wilno and of Lwów. All three coats of arms were later stolen at some stage. After his death in 1992, the ashes of Gen. Klemens Stanisław Rudnicki (1897 – 1992), deputy commander of the 5th Division were scattered at the foot of the monument.






18 may 1945
consecration of memorial
 

pomnik-5-kdp-mini

"The soldiers of the 5th Kresowa Infantry Division, forcefully torn from their Fatherland, their march back to Poland leading them through prisons, camps, the Siberian tundra, across deserts and seas, fought a 7-day battle. 503 were killed, 1,531 were wounded"