Bodies of three Polish presidents in exile —Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski, Stanisław Ostrowski — have been exhumed today from Newark Cemetery in history-making moment for Poland

The bodies of three Polish presidents in exile have been exhumed today from Newark Cemetery ahead of their return to their homeland in a history-making moment for Poland.

Just as their wartime leader Władysław Sikorski was exhumed from the Polish War Graves section of the cemetery before them, the remains of Władysław Raczkiewicz, August Zaleski and Stanisław Ostrowski will be returned to a hero's welcome.

The three men and others like them were the heads of a free Polish government in exile in Britain in the decades when Poland was ruled by the Nazis and then the Soviets.

None of the three lived to see their homeland free.

So auspicious is the occasion that Polish TV will broadcast live from a Catholic farewell mass led by Polish bishops at Newark Parish Church on Sunday, starting at 1.30pm.

Family members of the three will join dignitaries from Britain and Poland to lay wreaths at the graves at around 11.20am.

Among those attending the service will be the last surviving member of the Polish government-in-exile, Tadeusz Musioł along with UK politicians past and present and a member of the royal family, the Earl of St Andrews, George Windsor, son of the Duke of Kent.

The return to their homeland is part of an initiative to establish a mausoleum of the Polish presidents-in-exile in Warsaw.

The three were among six Polish presidents who led the exiled governments.

Also attending will be Newark Town Mayor Laurence Goff, Jan Dziedziczak, the Polish Government’s Plenipotentiary for Poles Abroad, Wojciech Labuda, the Polish Prime Minister’s Plenipotentiary for Memorial Site Protection, representatives of Poland’s defence ministry and Polish Ambassador Piotr Wilczek.

It is expected there will be a guard of honour by Polish military and standards outside of church. Although it is a closed service that will be attended by 300 invited guests, people can watch from outside.

Speeches will then follow at the town hall.

Town clerk Matthew Gleadell said Newark had been proud to be custodian of the three presidents in exile.

"This is a significant day for Poland and for its well-established friendship with that country," he said.

"It will be a day when that bond will be strengthened even further.

"Newark has had a long friendship with Poland dating back to the second world war when we were brothers-in-arms and many Poles continue to live here to this day. Our Polish wartime commemoration services are viewed as being the most significant in the UK.

"We are proud to have been custodians of these three presidents in exile, just as were to have had General Sikorski."

The presidents will rest in the Polish capital’s Temple of Divine Providence, which houses the remains of some of the greatest Poles in history and is a national and religious symbol for Poland, once repatriated.

The Mayor of Newark will receive one of Poland's top military honours on behalf of the town in recognition of the part that Newark has played in being custodian of the remains and being the last resting place of more than 400 Polish servicemen in what is the largest Polish war graves plot in the UK.

Mr Goff will then lead a delegation from Newark to Warsaw to be honoured guests at the the state funerals of the three.

Short road closures will be necessary on Sunday for the coaches carrying the guests to arrive and depart. A road closure is necessary on Saturday too when there will be a dress rehearsal of the service and when TV crews will set up.

Vehicles will be parked in the market place over both days so there will be round-the-clock security both there and at the church.

The Polish government-in-exile was the legitimate state representation of Poland from the authorities’ evacuation in 1939 until 1990. Reconstructed first in ‪Paris, and from 1940 residing in ‪‎London, it led the Polish ‪war effort throughout ‪the second world war.

Following the war, its existence gave hope that Poland might one day topple the communist occupier and regain freedom. It represented the preservation of the republic’s sovereignty and constitutional continuity.

In 1990, president Kaczorowski handed over the presidential insignia to the first democratically elected president of post-war Poland, Lech Wałęsa.

Together with a 500,000-strong community of Polish exiles in all corners of the free world who could not return to ‪Poland after 1945, the government-in-exile recreated the Poland they knew from before the war, with all her political institutions, school system, and even cultural life. They created the Republic in Exile – Poland outside Poland.

The office of president was held by: Władysław Raczkiewicz (1939-1947), August Zaleski (1947-1972), Stanisław Ostrowski (1972-1979), Edward Raczyński (1979-1986), Kazimierz Sabbat (1986-1989), and Ryszard Kaczorowski (1989-1990).