Reply To: Poland 1939 – Preparing for 80th Anniversary of World War II

[yavasaParticipant 4740xp 2]

Thanks for posting the link @torros looks tempting 🙂

@gladesrunner I am also waiting for Ops Center. I consider myself a fan of the show 😀 On a side note, hope you guys are ok.

So, 1st of September 4:45 AM Schleswig-Holstein opens fire on Westerplatte. Point blank, 200 defenders stand fast for a week against overwhelming sea, land and air attacks. Here’s actual footage of how close the ship was to it’s target.

Germany attacks without a declaration of war. On this day, Polish Post Office in the Free City of Gdańsk is being defended by postmen (basic training, armed) until the late afternoon hours when the building is lit. Defenders are killed a month later.

The Battles of Mokra and Krojanty are fought and the Polish cavalry stalls the German advance. The myth of Polish cavalry charging German tanks is born.

Wieluń is the first Polish town bombed by Luftwaffe with almost 1200 civilians dead in the raid.

However, these are only some symbols of the 1st day of the war. Germans were pushing hard on all fronts and soon the not fully mobilized Polish Army would lose the fight at the borders and had to start withdrawing towards the second line of defense.