Warsaw Uprising anniversary 2026

On 31 July, Deputy Head of Mission, Brendan Farrell, participated in a ceremony to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. The event commemorates the resistance of the men and women from the Polish Home Army who, from 1 August to 7 October 1944, struck a heroic blow for freedom from tyranny and oppression. We remember all those who fought, and in particular those who gave their lives for this cause.

Among the heroes was Eileen Frances Short-Garlińska, born in Liverpool in 1912 to Irish parents. In 1935, she moved to Warsaw to teach English, and in September 1939, she married Józef Garliński. Eileen and her husband joined the Home Army and fought against the Nazi occupation of Poland. In 1986, she was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the Government-in-Exile in recognition of her services to Poland. Eileen died in 1990. A commemorative nameplate in the Field Cathedral of the Polish Army in Warsaw is a reminder of her courage.