A photography exhibition highlighting the stories of Polish soldiers who decided to make Fraserburgh their home are the war will open next month.
Many of the soldiers were unable to return to Eastern Europe after World War II, with many choosing to stay in the town for good.
Some of them received letters from back home, telling of comrades who had returned and then disappeared or been arrested.
Now photographer Jennie Milne is preparing to share these stories in her Fragments That Remain exhibition.
She spoke to the descendants of the servicemen in the port and around Scotland for the project.
Mrs Milne was researching her own family’s links with Poland when she read about soldiers based at Cairnbulg and began contacting their descendants.
She said they were all happy to discuss their Eastern European backgrounds and how the men adapted to life thousands of miles from home.
Mrs Milne said: “I met with a number of different families and they were quite eager to show me the memorabilia they had. One family had a tiny little bible he carried throughout the war.
“They told me the men didn’t speak Polish at home as they wanted their children to be British, but they nonetheless maintained ties with Poland.
“The families were all very proud of their Polish links.”
One of the stories she found was that of Richard Dyga, who was forcibly conscripted into the German army before being captured by Allied forces in France in 1944.
He was held as prisoner of war before joining the Polish Army and eventually being posted to Fraserburgh in November 1945.
Mr Dyga married his sweetheart Shelia and the couple opened a newsagent on Broad Street in 1958, which is still run by their son Ian.
Richard Dyga and his family returned to Poland several times.
He would help arrange truckloads of goods to be sent to Fraserburgh as well as greeting any Polish fishing boats that landed at the harbour.
Fragments That Remain will open at Fraserburgh Heritage Centre on Monday, April 1.
It has the support of Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh.
