TOUCHED by the story of a 15-year-old girl who endured the horrors of Russian prisons and labour camps in World War Two, a Devon photographer was inspired to stage an exhibition focussed on the tragic tale of wartime Poland.

The result is a graphic account through words and pictures of the destruction of Poland at the hands of Soviet Russia and the role Britain played in its demise, brought together in 'Two Stories' — an exhibition by Susan Young at Duchy Square Centre for Creativity in Princetown.

The images Susan has used to bring this terrible story to life were taken at the last Polish resettlement camp in the UK at Ilford Park, Stover not far from her own home near Newton Abbot.

Now demolished, the camp, known as Little Poland by locals, was once home to as many as 600 exiled Poles and was one of 45 resettlement camps set up in the UK to house more than 200,000 Polish people, many of whom had fought with the Allies during the war.

One of those was a woman Susan met by chance and who told her of life as a teenage girl arrested in Eastern Poland and forced to endure two years in Russian prisons and labour camps, before being resettled in Britain.

'As well as being touched by her story, I realised how painfully ignorant of these terrible events I was and immediately resolved to produce this exhibition,' said Susan.

'The images I took are some of the last photographs to be taken at Ilford Park before its demolition and they show, in a symbolic fashion, the tragic story of Poland.

'I have mixed them with archive photos that show a happier side of life in the camps and then finally the journey comes full circle with photographs that tell the stories of some of those Polish entrants to the UK, both past and present.'

But Susan's exhibition is one of two stories — not just the tale of Polish exiles, but one of the Churchill Government's apparent acceptance of Stalin's brutal treatment of the Poles, as they needed Stalin as  an ally against Hitler.

 Susan said the recent release of official Government documents made it clear that the British public were never given the full facts surrounding Stalin's regime towards Poland — facts that Churchill and his Government apparently knew, but chose to ignore.

 She now hopes the exhibition will go some way to promoting the true story behind the treatment of the Polish people during World War Two, and the fact that Poland was signed over to Stalin's control after the war.

'Many are aware of the debt owed to Polish servicemen who fought with the allies; but it is clear that there is an even greater debt of conscience to pay,' added Susan.

'Now that Poland is an independent member of Europe, perhaps we should face the uncomfortable truth about Britain's role in Poland's demise, and recognise that the roots of Poland's present lie therein.'