““On June 8, 1946, Britain staged an elaborate victory parade, inviting armed forces from more than thirty Allied nations to London in a joyous celebration of their collective efforts. Czechs and Norwegians marched down the mall that day, as did Chinese and Dutch, Frenchmen and Iranians, Belgians and Australians, Canadians and South Africans, Sikhs and Arabs, and many, many more. However, the Poles - the fourth largest contributor of manpower to the Allied effort in Europe- were nowhere to be seen. They had been deliberately and specifically barred by the government, for fear of offending Stalin.””
