Apache Inbound
Midfield
It appears that as WWII fades from lived experience to simply ancient and evidently hazy history for many and succeeding generations, putting up memorials to Himler’s SS in allied nations barely raises eyebrows or even a protest, but I’m not going to take the higher ground and criticise Canada for allowing such things as for here in Britain Memorials also exist for the SS Galizien, practically unknown, but nonetheless, quite brazenly displayed in public spaces.
In Saint Michael, the Archangel Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the town of Derby in northern England are not one but two memorial plaques to the 14th SS Galizien. This plaque commemorate the 60th anniversary of the creation of the 14th SS and was put up in 2003.
At the top is the Ukrainian symbol of the golden lion commonly seen in Ukraine today and in World War II the divisional symbol of the 14th SS Galizien worn as a badge on the upper left arms of their tunics.
The second plaque put up in 1984, commemorates 14th SS Galizien losses from the battle of Brody eastern front in 1944 when the division was in very heavy combat against the red Army.
Now if any Canadian members of parliament are watching. It might be rather difficult to understand the red Army commonly referred to as the Russians where our allies of World War II and the Ukrainian SS was fighting for somebody called Adolf Hitler who according to Wikipedia wasn’t very nice.
In the top centre is the Ukrainian Golden trident symbol while in the top left a German iron cross and at the bottom right the unit identification badge of the golden lion. The oat leaves and acorn symbols is found on both memorials are probably associated with the symbolism of the Waffen SS.
A much larger SS memorial exist in Scotland outside a whole new Ukrainian chapel in Lockerbie is this stone memorial that commemorates the SS Galizien whose members built the chapel while living in a former POW camp on the site in 1947, where around 400 of these so called Ukrainian refugees were housed. It features three badges associated with the SS Galizien.
A grant of £52,777 was given to the chapel in 2022 for its restoration. This money coming from something called the south of Scotland enterprise part of the Scottish government, presumably Scottish taxpayers are paying for the restoration of the building built by the Wafen SS and that displays imagery and badges of the unit involved in according to the Polish government and Jewish holocaust groups war crimes on the eastern front in World War II. I’m not entirely convinced that the Scottish government completely thought this one through before opening his cheque-book. Anyway Canadian MPs can take heart as British lawmakers are apparently similarly affected by what I’ve classified historicus Pym itis - one of the symptoms of this cruel new disease being inane clapping with a rather confused expression in one’s face.
Mark Felton.
