On 8 September 1944, the Poles liberated Tielt. They were part of the First Polish Armoured Division, nicknamed The Black Brigade, and were under the command of General Stanislaw MACZEK (whose statue can be found elsewhere in Tielt, in the Deken Darrasstraat).
This Polish Armoured Division, formed in Scotland, landed at Arromanches and Courseulles in France between 30 July and 4 August 1944. At the time, it consisted of 13,000 soldiers, 4,050 vehicles and 381 Sherman, Stuart and Cromwell tanks.
On 8 September 1944, the 24th Lancers Regiment and the 8th Hunters Battalion, nicknamed The Bloody Shirts, together with motorised troops and anti-tank artillery, conquered Tielt after bloody fighting. In the city centre, 8 Polish soldiers and 5 people from Tielt lost their lives. 25 German soldiers were killed.
From their landing in August 1944, the Poles liberated numerous French, Belgian and Dutch cities.
On 5 May 1945, they finally occupied the German port of Wilhelmshaven.
This monument bears the motto of the Polish liberators "Non omnis moriar", "I will not die completely".
Source: information board on site