Anniversary of the German invasion of Poland.
Today, in our calendar we will look at the course of fighting during the 1939 Polish defensive war.
On September 1, 1939, the Nazi 3rd Reich attacked the Sanitation II Republic. The outbreak of the war was preceded by provocation, during which Germans disguised as Poles made a diversion attack on the radio station in Gliwice. The invasion began with the bombing of the defenseless Wielonia. This act became the symbolic beginning of the first conflict in which the civilian population was absolutely disregarded.
The main German attacks, like large ticks, led from Silesia and east Prussia to Warsaw. Auxiliary impacts were carried out on the Pomeranian Corridor, Katowice and Kraków. Poland besides invaded puppet Slovakia, attacking in Carpathians.
During the campaign, the Nazis tried their tactics of the instant war alleged Blitzkrieg. He relied on the usage of standalone mobile armored units, which, assisted by aviation, artillery and infantry, rapidly broke the front and went out to the rear of the enemy, causing his panic and disorganization. There was nothing left to the troops that collapsed suddenly, but retreat or continued in the lap.
The lap marked the liquidation of the unit by following the armored squadrons on foot, while in reverse, by raids of enemy aviation, a mass of people and equipment were lost.
The evil Polish defence plan caused that in the main directions of German strokes, there were not adequate forces and detachments. As if there were few, already in the first hours of the invasion, a large number of Polish combat aircraft were destroyed at airports, which resulted in the full run being held under the sign of the undisputed German dominance in the air. Despite the considerable advantage of the enemy, Poles heroically stood up to fight, performing real miracles.
Everywhere the Nazis attacked, they came across strong and fierce resistance. Nevertheless, concentric attacks from land and air destroyed further defensive positions.
The troops retreating towards the Vistula River had no minute of rest, driving distant from the enemy's ubiquitous aircraft. The situation was hampered by the spontaneous escape of the population from the front areas, as terrified of the scale of the Nazi barbarism of civilians, they instinctively sought refuge somewhere in the country, distant from murderous bombs and missiles. It besides operated so-called. V column or composed of members of the German national minority, diversionary branches.
They caused panic in the back, destroyed telephone lines, and besides shot tiny retreating soldiers. 1 specified group opened fire on Poles marching through Bydgoszcz.
The captured diversions were shot, which became an excuse for the Germans to massacre the civilian population after occupying the city. In east Galicia and Volyn, a local Ukrainian population led by the CNS took place during which respective 1000 Polish soldiers and civilians were killed.
On the first day of the fight, the Volyn cavalry brigade, supported by 2 armored trains, made immense losses to Germany in the conflict of Mokra. The strong opposition of Westerplatte and Gdańsk Polish post grew to the rank of the symbol.
A increasing number of war heroes whose fierce opposition slowed the enemy's attack. Under Jordanow, Corporal Wincenty Dziechcier, under Wizna, Captain Władysław Raginis, and in the full run Edmund Orlik will take over. The first 1 destroyed respective tanks utilizing CKM anti-tank ammunition. The second for 3 days stopped with about 700 soldiers of the XIX army corps Heinz Guderian. The 3rd in turn, destroyed at least 10 armored vehicles with the aid of TKS tankers.
However, the enemy’s vast advantage has come to light. On September 6, the enemy occupied Kraków, and the next day Westerplatte surrendered. Poles retreated towards the Vistula River, but erstwhile they got to it, it turned out that without the previously lost dense equipment, they would not be able to hold its shore. Part of the Polish fleet sank and any withdrew to the UK or neutral ports. The implementation of the “Peking” plan began on 30 August, erstwhile 3 Polish destroyers were directed to allied ports.
On 8 September the Germans approached Warsaw, but the effort to conquer the city from the march failed.
The enemy had to retreat from the capital due to the large counteroffensive of the army “Poznań” and “Pomorze” under General Tadeusz Kutręba and Władysław Bortnowski. The bold plan of the attack on the German flank was presented earlier, but due to the undecided chief chief Edward Śmigłego – Rydz and his chief of staff, Wacław Stachiewicz, the decision was postponed in time, losing the chance to task the opponent with a serious blow.
Eventually, the attack of forces from Wielkopolska began on 9 September. 1 enemy infantry division was destroyed, and others suffered considerable losses, causing the recovery of part of the territory and weakening the opponent's force on Warsaw. The entry into the battles of the Nazi armoured and aviation divisions decided on the Polish defeat. The remains of the decimated branches of Kutręba were breaking through towards Warsaw, completely surrounded from 15 September.
On 3 September, France and Britain declared their accession to the war. A strong attack by respective twelve French divisions may have changed the course of this war. Unfortunately, in addition to the limited offensive to admit the prefield of the Siegfried line, no serious attack actions were carried out. It was decided to bomb Germany with flyers calling for peace negotiations to begin.
Chief of Staff of the Wehrmacht Alfred Jodl testified during his post-war trial in Nuremberg: “If we did not endure the defeat already in 1939, this should be attributed only to the fact that during the Polish run about 110 French and British divisions remained completely passive to the 23 German divisions.”
It should only be added that these 23 German divisions were mostly rear formations of mediocre combat value. Although in treaties with Poland the Allies committed to attack no later than 14 days after the start of the mobilization (i.e. 17 September), a pacifist conference of the joint chiefs of staff of these countries in Abbeville, France, took place on September 12.
During the talks, it was determined that there would be no offensive against the Germans. Fearing specified a possibility, Hitler could remainder with relief; Stalin, in turn, gained a free hand to invade Poland. On September 17, the end was attacked by the Red Army, thereby implementing records of the secret protocol to the Ribbentrop pact – Molotov. The propellers then issued a catastrophic order not to fight the Soviets, so officially the II of Poland and the USSR did not enter the war path.
This resulted in far-reaching consequences, as captured Polish soldiers were not treated as prisoners of war but as bandits and terrorists. It's likely that giving this order was related to the Allied concerns. They were faced with light fear due to the fact that if Poland declared a state of war with Stalin, they would gotta do the same. Despite the order of the Blade, any of the military troops and guards of the COP (which they most likely did not scope at all) undertook a defensive fight.
Attacking endings starved and demoralized Soviets proved to be an unimaginable beast, resembling only the hordes of Huns. For example, in Grodno, where Boy Scouts and chance soldiers gave opposition to invaders for 3 days, these drove over tanks arranged on the pavement of civilians and nailed children to their wagons, making them live shields. On 22 September, in Brest over Bug, a joint Soviet-German triumph parade took place.
On 28 September Warsaw surrendered, on 29 September the fortress of Modlin. By 2 October, the cast of Helu fought, and on 5 October under Kock. The decision to lay down arms was made by the commander of the last large branch, Francis Kleeberg.
Combating in the defence war, the officers and privates, mostly showed courage, ingenuity, and sacrifice. Unfortunately, cowardice and incompetence were covered by a large part of the advanced command. Prepared only for planet War I activities, accustomed to luxury and promoted not by skill but by the loyalty of the elite of the sanitation, they could not well command. The standard example is the commander of the “Karpaty” army, Kazimierz Fabrycy, commander of the “Prusy” army Stefan Dąb – Biernacki and of course Marshal of Poland, chief Edward Śmigły – Rydz.
During the run General Fabrycy made a number of simple mistakes, resulting in human and field losses. Finally, he escaped from his army, for which he remained due to Rydz... appointed Commander of the Malopolska Army and later of the alleged last bastion of defence of the alleged Romanian foreman.
General Dąb – Biernacki (member of the Masonic Lodge "Tomasz Zan" in Vilnius) was liable for the disgraceful defeat at Piotrków Trybunalski, after which he deserted. On 10 September, he took command of the alleged Northern Front, from which he deserted for the second time, this time effectively.
On 7 September, Śmigły-Rydz, chief commander, moved from Warsaw to Brest nad Bug, making contact with the command hard and destabilizing the full state defence. His chaotic and erroneous decisions resulted in a weakening of opposition and cost the death of many soldiers. In the following days, he withdrew to the southeast, increasingly losing contact with the fighting troops.
On September 17 after a conference with Muscicki and Beck, he made a decision to cross the border with Romania, which was done the next day. All 3 were interned. In 1941, Blades returned to the country where he wanted to rehabilitate, fighting the occupier. He died shortly after that.
The circumstances of his death are not rather clear, and the mystery is completed by the 1951 execution of his wife, during which the diary of the erstwhile marshal was stolen, among others.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.