It's no exaggeration to say that the world in which we live was created in the white heat that was World War Two. As a social and cultural historian, I find myself less interested in the geo-political or economic arguments and considerations - important as they are - and more intrigued by the thoughts, hopes and goals of the individual and how they tied in to the overall experience of society.

We are the last generation of historians able to question those men and women who were alive and in the centre of events. Yes oral history is full of pitfalls and often raises more questions than answers, but not to record the voices and memories of those that are left would be nothing short of an academic loss of unimaginable proportions.

I hope readers will find the stories of the Poles in WW2 of particular interest. The Poles' war record, while ably recorded in their mother tongue, has, for one reason or another, often been overlooked by English-speaking historians.

A key resource for researching Poland at war has been the archives at the Sikorski Museum: www.sikorskimuseum.co.uk

Polish antipodeans, or antipodeans of Polish descent should also take the time to visit www.researchinstitute.org.au