{"id":3416,"date":"2026-04-24T05:04:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T05:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/3416\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T05:04:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T05:04:03","slug":"battle-rages-for-devons-little-poland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/3416\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle rages for Devon’s ‘Little Poland’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newton Abbot\u2019s MP has stepped into the battle for Britain\u2019s last care home for Polish allies who fought alongside British forces in the Second World War.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Defence has launched a consultation into the future of the Ilford Park Polish Home at Stover, which was opened in 1948.<\/p>\n

Known locally as Little Poland, it was part of \u2018Winston Churchill\u2019s Promise\u2019, in which the country\u2019s wartime leader pledged perpetual support for Polish people who had stood by Britain.<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of 307 Squadron at what is now Exeter Airport(Image: 307 Squadron Project)<\/p>\n

However, the home has room for 90 people and currently only houses 40, and the MoD says it may soon be time to close it down and move residents elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The MoD has pledged to make sure residents are cared for, and has also promised to foot the bill, but the news has already sparked a backlash.<\/p>\n

Newton Abbot<\/a> \u2019s Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley said: “Ilford Park is the final remaining hostel established for our Polish allies – the very heroes who proved vital to our victory in the Battle of Britain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe owe it to them to keep these doors open for as long as they are needed. To close them prematurely would be a profound insult to veterans everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reaction to the news online has been mixed.<\/p>\n

In a comment on Devon Live\u2019s Facebook account one reader wrote: \u201cThe MoD should use it to rehome veterans who are homeless.\u201d Another said: \u201cIf this is closed, it is a disgrace. We should honour the memory of those who helped keep our freedom today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other posters said the home may be used in future for refugees from other, more recent, conflicts, while others admitted that it may have to close.<\/p>\n

One said: \u201cThe number of residents has halved in the past five years. There’s hardly any left now. You can’t run it empty.\u201d<\/p>\n

And another added: “It’s pointless being there if hardly anyone lives there any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of 307 Squadron(Image: 307 Squadron Project)<\/p>\n

Among the key Polish contributions to the Allied war effort was that of 307 Squadron, known as the Lwow Eagle Owls after their home city, which is now known as Lviv and is part of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

In recent years it has been the target of numerous Russian missile attacks.<\/p>\n

The pilots were based at RAF Exeter<\/a>, which is now the city\u2019s airport, and flew Beaufighter aircraft on dangerous missions to protect the city.<\/p>\n

On one night in May 1942 alone the Polish pilots shot down four German bombers during an overnight raid. Historians say their actions saved Exeter from further loss of life and damage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newton Abbot\u2019s MP has stepped into the battle for Britain\u2019s last care home for Polish allies who fought…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2490,2492,2849,2850,2491,2493,9,122,2489],"class_list":["post-3416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-poland","tag-armed-forces","tag-exeter","tag-facebook","tag-liberal-democrats","tag-ministry-of-defence","tag-newton-abbot","tag-poland","tag-politics","tag-teignbridge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}