Monday 2 October 1939

Reichsstatthalter and Gauleiter Arthur Karl Greiser, a chief organizer of the Holocaust, in Poznań, Poland, 1939 (Haine, Federal Archive Picture 183-1998-0109-502).

Battle of Poland: The Polish garrison on the Hel Peninsula formally surrenders on 2 October 1939 and the Germans occupy the territory.

The Polish Polesie Independent Operational Group (18,000 men), led by General Franciszek Kleeberg, is the only Polish formation left in the field. It has concentrated between the Bug and Vistula Rivers in deep forests. The German XIV Motorised Corps (General Gustav Anton von Wietersheim)  and 13th Motorised Division (General Paul Otto) figure that the Poles are just waiting to surrender. Otto sends a small force that attacks several times during the day but is beaten off. He resolves to send larger forces.

Soviet/Estonian Relations: The Latvian Foreign Minister, M. Munters, arrives in Moscow for talks with Molotov. Molotov demands Soviet bases or else the USSR will occupy Latvia.

European Air Operations: RAF planes perform night reconnaissance over Berlin and drop some leaflets.

Battle of the Atlantic: Swedish steamer Gun sunk by U-Boat. U-boats are now operating without warning.

Western Front: The French report light German attacks.

British Government: The British Embassy in Washington D.C. works up a priority list of U.S. armaments that Great Britain needs most desperately in case the US ban on exports was to "be amended." Category 1 includes 'Gun liners" and "Small arms ammunition, shell bodies, cartridge cases." Further down the list is "Aircraft of all kinds."

US Government: The US Senate opens debate on the neutrality bill.

British Homefront: Tribunals are established to process the 50,000 primarily German enemy aliens registered in London.

Czech Government-in-Exile: An agreement is reached with France to raise a Czech National Army in Exile.

Latin America: There is a Declaration of a 300-mile neutrality zone at the Panama Conference.

American Homefront: Louis Armstrong performs at Carnegie Hall, leading off with "When It's Sleepy Time Down South."

Future History: Cosmonaut Yuri Glazkov is born in Moscow. He joins the cosmonaut corps in 1965 and flies (floats?) on the Soyuz 24 mission. He receives the Hero of the Soviet Union award. Glazkov passed away in 2008.

German soldiers, taken prisoner by the Polish army during the German invasion, are shown being held captive in Warsaw, on October 2, 1939. (AP).

October 1939

October 1, 1939: Occupation of Warsaw
October 2, 1939: Hel Peninsula Falls
October 3, 1939: The Diamantis Incident
October 4, 1939: Otto Kretschmer Gets Rolling
October 5, 1939: Polish Resistance Ends
October 6, 1939: Hitler Peace Effort
October 7, 1939: The British Have Arrived
October 8, 1939: First RAF Kill from UK
October 9, 1939: "City of Flint" Incident
October 10, 1939: Lithuania Under Pressure
October 11, 1939: The Atomic Age Begins
October 12, 1939: England Rejects Hitler's Peace Offer
October 13, 1939: Charles Lindbergh Speaks Out
October 14 1939: Royal Oak Sunk
October 15, 1939: Cuban Rockets
October 16, 1939: First Aircraft Shot Down Over UK
October 17, 1939: Marshall Mannerheim Returns
October 18, 1939: Prien Receives His Award
October 19, 1939: Preliminary Plan for Fall Gelb
October 20, 1939: Hitler Grapples with the Jews
October 21, 1939: Hurricanes to the Rescue!
October 22, 1939: Goebbels Lies Through His Teeth
October 23, 1939: Norway the Center of Attention
October 24, 1939: German "Justice" Gets Rolling
October 25, 1939: Handley Page Halifax Bomber First Flies
October 26, 1939: Jozef Tiso Takes Slovakia
October 27, 1939: King Leopold Stands Firm
October 28, 1939 - First Luftwaffe Raid on Great Britain
October 29, 1939: Tinkering with Fall Gelb
October 30, 1939: Defective Torpedoes
October 31, 1939: Molotov Issues an Ultimatum
2019

Tuesday 12 September 1939

Hitler continues his tour of the front, 12 September 1939.

Battle of Poland: The German 1st Mountain Division under Colonel Ferdinand Schörner arrives near Lwów on 12 September 1939, capturing Sambor. He orders an immediate assault on the fly. His advance troops bypass the Polish defenders but are pushed back by garrison troops when they try to take the city.

After the heroic Polish counterattack at Kałuszyn near Mińsk Mazowiecki, the Germans retake the town.

The Polish Army of Poznan advances to the rear and takes the German 8th Army in its flank. Thus begins the Battle of the Bzura River.

Polish troops recapture Lowicz. They evacuate Gdynia.

The Luftwaffe inexplicably bombs Krzemieniec (Kremenets), which has been declared an open village for the temporary housing of evacuated Warsaw diplomats.

German radio announces that German troops have wiped out Polish troop concentrations west of the Vistula and captured their equipment. The German forces are consolidating at Modlin on the north bank of the Vistula, 15 miles from Warsaw.

Western Front: Operation Saar reaches its maximum penetration into German territory, occupying roughly 45 square miles. The French continue to maintain that the operation has drawn off six German divisions from Poland. The French never make contact with the Siegfried Line and contact with the Wehrmacht is minimal despite their overwhelming firepower. General Gamelin declares victory and ends the operation, content to occupy useless territory pursuant to the wishes of the Supreme War Council (see below).

Battle of the Atlantic: Four British cargo vessels - Inverliffey, Firby, Blairlogie, and Gartavon - are reported sunk. The Finnish merchant ship Olivebank sinks after hitting a mine.

In a very touchy maneuver, a German U-boat stops and searches the American freighter Wacosta near Ireland.

Anglo-French War Council: The Council has its first meeting at Abbeville, France. British Prime Minister Chamberlain and Lord Chatfield meet with their French counterparts. They agree to postpone military operations for the time being as they beef up their forces.

British Government: The Duke and Duchess of Windsor return to England after an extended stay in France.

Germany: The government confiscates all rubber tires in the country and restricts the sale of gasoline to those holding special permits.

Foreign Minister Ribbentrop issues an ultimatum to the Romanian Government not to offer asylum to Poles crossing the border: if they do, Germany will consider it an act of war.

Canada:  Minister of National Revenue James Lorimer Ilsley announced a new 20% surtax on personal income, including tax increases on alcohol, tea, coffee, and cigarettes.

Czech Exile Government: The Czechs form an army-in-exile.

British Homefront: Due to reports of numerous violations of the blackout rules, the home office opens an inquiry.

US Navy: Neutrality patrols begin along the Eastern seaboard of the United States and in the Caribbean.

War Crimes: Wehrmacht soldiers massacred the Jewish population of the Polish town of Konskie on September 12, 1939.

Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl with the 14th Army Corps in Poland. Her crew was known as "Special Film Troop Riefenstahl" [Sonderfilmtrupp Riefenstahl]. Her stay on the Polish front only became publicly known at the end of the 1940s, with the discovery of photographs that showed her standing by as Wehrmacht soldiers massacred the Jewish population of the Polish town of Konskie on September 12, 1939.

September 1939

September 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland
September 2, 1939: Danzig Annexed
September 3, 1939: France, Great Britain Declare War
September 4, 1939: First RAF Raid
September 5, 1939: The US Stays Out
September 6, 1939: Battle of Barking Creek
September 7, 1939: Polish HQ Bugs Out
September 8, 1939: War Crimes in Poland
September 9, 1939: The Empire Strikes Back
September 10, 1939: The Germans Break Out
September 11, 1939: Battle of Kałuszyn
September 12, 1939: The French Chicken Out
September 13, 1939: The Battle of Modlin
September 14, 1939: Germany Captures Gdynia
September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded
September 16, 1939: Battle of Jaworów
September 17, 1939: Soviets Invade Poland
September 18, 1939: Lublin Falls
September 19, 1939: Germans, Soviets Hook Up
September 20, 1939: the Kraków Army Surrenders
September 21, 1939: Romania Convulses
September 22, 1939: Joint Soviet-German Military Parade
September 23, 1939: The Panama Conference
September 24, 1939: The Luftwaffe Bombs Warsaw
September 25, 1939: Black Monday for Warsaw
September 26, 1939: Warsaw on the Ropes
September 27, 1939: Hitler Decides to Invade France
September 28, 1939: Warsaw Capitulates
September 29, 1939: Modlin Fortress Falls
September 30, 1939: Graf Spee on the Loose

2020