President Bronislaw Komorowski (L) leaves a wreath at the tomb of wartime leader General Wladyslaw Sikorski. Photo: PAP/Stanislaw Rozpedzik
A memorial mass was held at Krakow's Wawel Cathedral, attended by veterans of both the Polish Second Corps and underground resistance force the Home Army (AK).
Komorowski then descended into the cathedral's crypts, where Sikorski's tomb lies amid those of monarchs and national luminaries.
General Sikorski, who headed the Polish government-in-exile in London, was flying back to England after visiting Gibraltar when his Liberator plane plunged into the sea, shortly after take-off.
Among the victims was Britain's liaison officer to Sikorski, MP Victor Cazalet, as well as Sikorski's only daughter. The pilot survived, albeit with broken limbs.
“I think that today, on the 70th anniversary of the death of General Sikorski, it is worth recalling not only the tragic moments, but also noting that the death of General Sikorski and the efforts of an entire Polish generation that he led ultimately bore fruit in the recovery of independence in 1989,” Komorowski reflected, as cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Sikorski's remains were not brought back to Poland until 1993, after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Conspiracy theories about the general's death have never been quelled.
Over the years, accusations have been levelled at Russia, Britain and a clique of Polish army officers frustrated by Sikorski.
Historian Professor Norman Davies wrote in his 2003 book Rising '44 that “the puzzle of the accident at Gibraltar remains unsolved,” but told the Krakow Post that “no reputable historian” has ever insisted that sabotage provided the explanation.
Meanwhile, Poland's Institute for National Remembrance (IPN), the state-backed body charged with investigating alleged crimes against Polish citizens, is close to completing the most comprehensive probe on the general's death to date. (nh)