The memorial marks the southern extremity of South Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon, near RAF Northolt, where seven Polish-manned fighter squadrons were based at different times in the war.

They decided to erect a monument and a committee, led by Air Vice Marshal Mateusz Iżycki [pl] (later naturalised as Matthew Izycki de Notto), raised the necessary funds mostly from the British public, with a campaign in The Daily Telegraph supported by William Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose, which raised over £8,000.

The site at the edge of RAF Northolt was donated by Middlesex County Council, which took over and redeveloped the airfield for civilian use after the war.

Bronze lettering on the column gives the dates "1940-1945" and lists the Polish fighter and bomber squadrons that served with the RAF in the Second World War.

[5] The site includes landscaped grass and flowerbeds, with poles for the flags of the UK and Poland, and is enclosed within cast iron railings and gates, supported by Portland stone pillars.

In his speech, Lord Portal said that it was a sad blow that many Polish veterans were unable to return home, as their country had been occupied by the Soviet Union.

At the same time the opportunity was taken to extend the monument to add the 659 missing names, and adding 23 Polish airmen killed in the Battle of France in 1940.

[9] In 2016, the Prime Minister of Poland, Beata Szydło, laid a wreath at the monument, accompanied by her British counterpart Theresa May.