Monday 16 October 1939

The first Luftwaffe plane shot down over the UK to fall there. It was downed by 602 Squadron. Note the double wing markings, done to make the planes less susceptible to friendly fire over Poland. Heinkel HE-111 H, W.Nr.5449 1H+JA, Humbie, Scotland, 1939.

Battle of Poland: The Wehrmacht defines 16 October 1939 as the "official" end of the Battle of Poland. There are still some hold-outs, but no major Polish forces remain in the field. The Polish Embassy in Paris refutes the German claim and contends that there are substantial Polish troop formations at Suwalki in the Carpathians, and in the Pripet Marshes at Bialowieza.

Western Front: The Wehrmacht sends troops into the Saar area that the French had occupied during Operation Saar. Attacking in the morning on a four-mile front east of the Moselle, they are finally halted by French gunfire. In the afternoon, they attack along a 20-mile front east of the Saar River. The offensives clear the area of French observers, the main French force having long ago withdrawn back to France, behind the safety of the Maginot Line.

European Air Operations: The first Luftwaffe strategic bombing attack is launched on Great Britain in the afternoon. Nine Junkers Ju 88 bombers from Gruppe 1 of Kampfgeschwader (KG) 30 (Helmut Pohle) and a few Heinkel 111s attack Rosyth, Firth of Forth. The cruiser HMS Southampton and HMS Edinburgh are lightly damaged. Some casualties are suffered on the destroyer HMS Mohawk. Three German planes (two Junkers and a Heinkel) are lost when some Spitfires of the Glasgow and Edinburgh Auxillary Air Force Squadrons (602 and 603) intervene.

These reportedly are the first enemy aircraft downed over the UK to actually fall on the UK, though one or two previously had been shot down but fallen nearby. There are a lot of "firsts" in World War II - first shot down by the RAF, first shot down from the UK, first shot down to fall on the UK, first shot down over England... and so on and so forth. To be clear, the first aircraft shot down by a UK-based RAF aircraft was a Dornier 18 over the North Sea on 8 October.

RAF bombers drop leaflets over Germany during the previous night. The British are learning from feedback: Germans are afraid to be seen stooping to pick up the literature, so the British propaganda office makes the typescript big enough to read from a standing position.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Kriegsmarine revises its instructions to U-boat commanders:

All merchant ships definitely recognized as enemy ones (British and French) can be torpedoed without warning. Passenger steamers in convoy can be torpedoed a short while after notice has been given of the intention to do so.

In practice, it is virtually impossible to give warning to ships sailing in convoys, and it is seldom done except inadvertently.

German tanker Emmy Friedrich leaves Tampico, Mexico for a rendezvous with Admiral Graf Spee. Neutrality patrols are on the lookout for it.

The British detain US freighter Gateway City and release US freighter Black Heron.

German vessel Halle is scuttled to avoid capture west of Dakar.

U-35 appears on the cover of Life Magazine for its rescue of Greek sailors in the Diamantis incident.

Finland: The Finnish negotiators return from Moscow.

Poland: The Germans expel all Poles from Gdynia.

Iraq: The Grand Mufti arrives in Baghdad following his escape from the French.

Finnish negotiator Juho Kusti Paasikivi returning from Moscow on 16 October 1939 (Jukka Nevakivi: Apu jota ei annettu, ISBN 951-0-24676-x, page 213 photo 9).

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 3 October 1939

U-35 featured on the cover of Life Magazine.

Battle of Poland: German units begin returning to the Reich on 3 October 1939. In particular, the German 10th Army heads toward the Western Front. Some 30 Divisions of the 53 originally committed will remain in Poland for the time being, including the 3rd, 8th, and 14th Armies.

Reviewing the situation between the Bug and Vistula rivers, General Otto now realizes that the Poles are not ready to surrender. He sends his entire division on an assault with the aim to split the Polish defenses. The Poles, on the other hand, decide to launch a flank attack on the Germans, the object to send the Germans back behind a nearby river (the river Wieprz). After heavy fighting, the Germans are stopped after making slight gains. The Polish counter-attack is stopped almost immediately. Otto decides to commit more forces late in the day, and that too is unsuccessful.

Western Front: The French end Operation Saar by completing their withdrawal from the Warndt Forest/Saarbrücken salient. The French claim to have occupied 154 square miles of German territory.

Elsewhere, the BEF mans a section of the Western Front.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-35 (Kptlt. Werner Lott) torpedoes the Greek ore freighter Diamantis. She is a legitimate target because, although neutral, she is carrying cargo for Great Britain. Lott, in an extraordinary act of kindness and at risk to himself, transports the crew to the Irish coast, where his U-boat is seen by civilians in Ventry onshore unloading the 28 Greek sailors. Lott later is later reprimanded by his commanders for jeopardizing his command, but also was featured on the cover of Life Magazine.

British Government: PM Chamberlain address the House for the fifth time about the war. He states:

“No mere assurance from the present German government could be accepted by us. For that government has too often proved in the past that their undertakings are worthless when it suits them that they shall be broken.”

House members are angry, and round on Lloyd George when he suggests that peace offers should at least be considered.

Turkey: Turkish Foreign Minister M. Sarajoglu remains in Moscow. A Turkish military mission arrives in London.

Lithuania: Foreign Minister M. Urbsy arrives in Moscow for talks with Molotov.

Future History: Lott and his crew from the U-35 survived the war because they were captured by British naval forces after he scuttled his boat on 29 November 1939. Once again, Lott was involved in a dramatically unusual humanitarian gesture, but this time on the receiving end: the attacking British ships stopped and sent lifeboats to pick up all the German sailors, one of the very few times that happened during World War II.

The event is not forgotten. On Saturday, 17 October 2009, a special day was set aside in Ventry, Ireland to commemorate the event. A memorial stone was unveiled and the German Ambassador attended.

The Diamantis (Photo Courtesy of Library of Contemporary History, Stuttgart).

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

Saturday 16 September 1939

Steel-helmeted, uniformed Polish women march through the streets of Warsaw to aid in defense of their capital on September 16, 1939. They are not, however, armed. (AP Photo).

Battle of Poland: Polish forces break through German lines on 16 September 1939 in the forests north and west of the town of Janów. Six battalions get through to Janów despite determined defense by the German "Pemsel" combat group formed from the 1st Mountain Division. The Poles repel a counter-attack at Dobrostany. This concludes the Battle of Jaworów, which has been a tactical Polish victory.

The Luftwaffe bombs the Jewish quarter of Warsaw. The Poles in Warsaw are successfully repelling determined German ground attacks but are largely defenseless to air attack. General List's army is both investing Warsaw and heading north to link up with the rapidly approaching XIX of General Guderian.

European Air Operations: The Polish Air Force launches its final bombing raid.

Soviet Government: Moscow broadcasts that it will invade Poland the next day "to protect the Ukrainian and Belorussian minorities."

Western Front: French forces make some tentative movements in the Saar and are 12 miles east of Saarbrücken.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-27 (Kapitänleutnant Johannes Franz) torpedoes and sinks the trawler Rudyard Kipling. He stops to pick up the crew and keeps them for eight hours, giving them food and clothing, before releasing them in their lifeboats for the long row (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) to Ireland. U-27 so far has eluded destroyers HMS Fortune and HMS Faulknor, which know there is a U-boat in the vicinity and have been hunting it.

U-31 (Kptlt. Johannes Habekost) sinks an independent, the Aviemore, which is near convoy OB-4. Of the crew, 23 are lost and 11 are picked up by HMS Warwick. This marks the first successful attack on a ship within the convoy's sphere of protection, though technically the Aviemore is not a member of the convoy.

Belgian steamer Alex van Opstal is sunk by Luftwaffe mine or torpedo off Weymouth.

Other Allied losses for the day are Fanad Head, Davara, and Cheyenne. Some vessels are accounted for on other days for various reasons.

A large escorted convoy leaves Halifax, the first of three over the next week.

British Government: The Duke of Windsor, newly returned from France, is appointed a liaison to the French government.

Japanese/Soviet Relations: Pursuant to the agreement of the previous day, the battle of Khalkhin Gol formally ends.

War Crimes: Mass executions commence in Przemysl on the eve of the Jewish New Year. The liquidations occur at several places in the city outskirts: Lipowica, Pralkowce, Pikulice, at Przekopana, near the Wiar river and near the Jewish cemetery at Slowackiego Street. According to some estimates as many as 600 Jews in total are killed over the next few days.

American Homefront: The NY Yankees clinch their fourth straight American League Pennant, beating the Detroit Tigers 8-5. Their opponent in the World Series is yet to be determined.

On September 16, 1939, residents of London carrying gas mask containers (white boxes) walk along curbs widened and marked with stripes for civil defense purposes (AP Photo).

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

2019

Friday 15 September 1939

Jews being humiliated by Wehrmacht troops in Przemysl by shaving off their beards.

Battle of Poland: German radio reports on September 15, 1939, that Wehrmacht troops have surrounded Warsaw. The Third Army from Army Group North attacks Praga. The German forces attack on both sides of the Vistula. Polish forces defeat the German 23rd Infantry at Grochów with heavy Wehrmacht casualties. Polish Major General Juliusz Rómmel, in charge of the Warsaw Army and the Modlin Fortress,  rejects a surrender demand.

German troops occupy oil fields in Galicia.

Wehrmacht troops cross the East Prussian border.

Radio Warsaw claims that forces at Lwow have repulsed a German attack.

General Guderian's XIX Corps surrounds Brest-Litovsk.

Polish submarine Orzeł, which has been at sea, reaches Tallinn in Estonia and is interned at German request.

Western Front: Operation Saar continues without making any progress.

War at Sea: The first convoys from Kingston, Jamaica sets out for England.

Regular convoys also are sailing between Glasgow and London.

European Air Operations: Germany radio broadcasts propaganda interviews of British and New Zealand airmen downed during the Wilhelmshaven raid on 4 September 1939.

Polish Propaganda: Radio Warsaw denounces the Luftwaffe attacks on open towns.

British Home Front: The Ministry of Information announces the seizure of goods destined for Germany, including 28,000 tons of petroleum.

Motorists form long queues at gas stations due to prospective petrol rationing.

Romania: Resisting foreign pressure, the government announces that it will grant asylum to Polish civilians and intern Polish military as required by international law.

Australia: The cabinet authorizes a volunteer force of 20,000.

Palestine: Tensions ease in Palestine due to a recognition of a common danger to world peace.

War Crimes:  Einsatzkommando of the Sipo (Sicher­heitspolizei), begin arresting some of the 20,000 Jews in Przemysl and taking them out to be shot and buried in mass graves.

Japanese/Soviet Relations: As the Soviets desired when signing the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact, Germany has pressured Japan into signing an armistice agreement ending the conflict in Manchukuo and Mongolia. That has the immediate consequence of formally ending the Khalkhin Gol incident. The talks were initiated by the Japanese cabinet.

Jackie Cochran with her record-setting Seversky.

US Aviation: Jackie Cochran sets a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Speed Record flying a Seversky AP-7A, civil registration NX1384, over a 1,000-kilometer course, from Burbank to San Francisco and back to Burbank. Cochran averages 492.34 kilometers per hour (305.93 miles per hour). It is a specially built racer and is the same plane that won the 1938 Bendix Trophy.

American Homefront: Aviator Charles Lindbergh, who has visited Germany and reviewed the Luftwaffe, makes an America First speech that is broadcast across the country. He states (somewhat presciently) "We must either keep out of European wars entirely or stay in European affairs permanently." His ultimate desire is to keep the United States out of the developing European conflict.

Night view of the World's Fair, New York City, September 15, 1939. The international situation is detrimental to the fair's success (Library of Congress).

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

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

Monday, 11 September 1939

Hitler and Generalmajor Erwin Rommel at an airfield of the Army Group South in the area Rawa / Tomaszow, September 11, 1939. Rommel is the commander of the Führerbegleitbrigade battalion, tasked with guarding Hitler and his field headquarters during the invasion of Poland.

Battle of Poland: The Germans occupy Łomża on 11 September 1939.

Saturday 9 September 1939

“The execution of the locals by German soldiers. Bydgoszcz. The Polish Republic. September 9, 1939.” (German town name: Bromberg).

Battle of Poland: On the evening of September 9, 1939, the Polish Army Poznań and Army Pomorze (about 10 divisions between them) under General Tadeusz Kutrzeba attack the German 8th Army (Johannes Blaskowitz). This is a grandly heroic and utterly futile attempt to turn the campaign around.

The 8th Army has been advancing east along the Bzura River toward Warsaw and is protected on its flank only by the 30th Infantry Division, which is stretched over 30 km. The attack is an immediate success, with the Germans suffering 1500 casualties and losing 3000 men as prisoners. The 8th Army is thrown back 20 km along the line, and the Poles recapture several towns (Łęczyca, Piątek, and Góra Świętej Małgorzaty). Some histories claim that the Wehrmacht was never forced to give ground before Operation Barbarossa, but this is a clear instance of German forces doing that in Poland.

Elsewhere, General Wiktor Thommée's Piotrków Group (Thommée's Group) retreats to avoid encirclement and the German Tenth Army occupies Łódź.

The XVI Panzer Corps continues attacking Warsaw from the southeast but makes no progress.

German units attack the Hel Peninsula, which is the site of a Polish naval base and effective coastal batteries. The Peninsula is defended by the soldiers of the Fortified Region Hel unit (Helski Rejon Umocniony), part of the Coastal Defence Group (Grupa Obrony Wybrzeża) under Włodzimierz Steyer,

European Air Operations: The RAF drops leaflets over Cassel and nearby locations in central Germany, its fifth propaganda mission of the war. The RAF also carries out a raid on a German airbase on the island of Sylt, off the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein.

Battle of the Atlantic: Several more British and French merchant ships are torpedoed.

German High Command: Adolf Hitler takes note of the tentative French invasion of the Saar and. He issues Directive No. 3, "Transfer of Forces from Poland to the West." He is doing in reverse what Helmuth von Moltke did during the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, weakening the main attack by transferring troops to buttress the weaker front.

Hermann Goering extends his sporadic attempts at peacemaking with an address from a Berlin armaments factory. As usual, he mixes his peaceful overtures with bluster. “No enemy bomber can reach the Ruhr,” he guarantees. “If one reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Göring. You can call me Meyer." Ordinary Germans take to calling the ubiquitous air raid sirens "Meyer's Trumpets" as a result. The absurd promise becomes an underground joke (on both sides of the conflict) that Goering himself somewhat uncharacteristically plays into occasionally.

Goering's bombastic quotes became favorites additions to Allied bombers such as this Avro Lancaster.

German/Soviet Relations: Apparently reacting to erroneous press reports and a German public radio announcement, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov somewhat prematurely congratulates the Germans on their success in Warsaw. In response to an "invitation" from Ribbentrop to advance to the Narew as agreed to under the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact, he states that the Soviets will invade to claim their territory "within the next several days."

Western Front: The French Operation Saar continues, but few gains are made against virtually no resistance. The French have occupied about three square miles (5 km) of this key coal-producing area, but continue to seem hesitant. The area is deserted, mined and booby-trapped.

The BEF receives the last of its full complement of 13 RAF squadrons.

War Crimes: German soldiers line locals up and shoot them in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz). This appears to be in reprisal for Polish shootings of ethnic German civilians by Polish snipers in previous days. The entire incident is very confused and modern scholarship still has not established a definitive timeline. In one accepted version, some ethnic German irregulars/saboteurs/locals fired on retreating Polish troops (Army Pomorze's 9th, 15th, and 27th Infantry Divisions), who returned fire. There were casualties on both sides, but the Polish troops accounted for many more civilians (around 40–50 Poles and between 100 to 300 Germans were killed). The advancing Germans became infuriated when they found the civilian bodies and then took reprisals against Polish civilians. This entire sequence is the "Bloody Sunday" episode.

Belgium: BEF forces become the first to encroach on Belgian territory when some RAF fighters meet some Belgian fighters. Apologies are quickly offered for this diplomatic incident.

Canadian Government: in a perfunctory vote, the Canadian Parliament ratifies Prime Minister Mackenzie King's declaration of war on Germany.

American Homefront: Patricia Donnelly, Miss Michigan, is crowned Miss America 1939. The Glenn Miller Band with Ray Eberle tops the pop charts with their version of "Over the Rainbow."

Patricia Donnelly is crowned Miss America 1939 on 9 September 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

2019

Thursday 7 September 1939

These prisoners were taken at Westerplatte, 7 September 1939.

Polish Military: With Warsaw already threatened from the west, Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły relocates his Polish Army headquarters further east from Warsaw to Brest-Litovsk (Brest, Belarus). He and the rest of the government now realize that the line of the Narew cannot be held.

Battle of Poland: Westerplatte, which the Germans had attacked first thing during the invasion, finally falls to the Germans. It had held out for a full week and inspired resistance elsewhere despite intense German shelling. Its fall is a shock to the nation. However, it remains a national symbol of resistance somewhat akin to the Alamo in the United States. The battleship Schleswig-Holstein, which had begun the war by firing on Westerplatte, now switches its fire to the Polish naval base at Hela.

The Polish town of Wizna is part of the Polish line of defenses of Łomża. The 10th Panzer Division of the XXI Army Corps (General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst) captures it, but the retreating Poles blow up the bridge across the Narew. German patrols cross the river late in the day and attack Giełczyn, but are stopped. This becomes part of the larger battle of Łomża,  which straddles the Narew River. Around mid-day, the 21st Infantry Division advances directly into Polish defenses at Łomża without preparation (aside from scattered Luftwaffe attacks in previous days) but is repelled. The Germans lose 6 tanks and relatively heavy infantry casualties. The Poles hold out, causing the 21st ID to withdraw north and taking 57 German prisoners.

German radio announces that its forces have reached Pultusk, 30 miles north of Warsaw.

Western Front: The French Army mounts an expedition in the Saarland against German screening forces. The area is in peacetime conditions, with German power plants still supplying the French towns with electricity.

Operation Saar, one of the more controversial episodes of the war because of its missed opportunities, is launched by French General Maurice Gamelin's Third, Fourth and Fifth Armies (11 divisions total). They advance timidly into the Cadenbronn and Warndt Forest salients. The advance is extremely measured, and the German outposts retreat without any fuss. The Germans leave behind placards in French stating that Germany has no quarrel with France. They also position loudspeakers blasting propaganda message in French with a similar theme. The defending German forces are light in infantry and have no panzers. They also are very weak in anti-tank weapons. The French military, of course, knows none of this.

Along with the propaganda efforts, the Germans have mined the roads and fields and booby-trap the towns. General Gamelin orders the hesitant French infantry to drive a herd of pigs through the mines, with many of the animals blown up.

Hitler appoints General Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein to be the commander of Army Detachment A, an ad hoc force for the defense of the Siegfried Line. Hammerstein is overdue for retirement, and his appointment is an expression of Hitler's desire that nothing dramatic occurs along the Western Front. Factories in Saarbrücken continue to operate as normal with French forces just miles away and virtually no defenses in between.

Battle of the Atlantic: Winston Churchill organizes and sends out the first British convoy to America. However, many ships still sail without convoys due to being particularly fast or slow. These are called "independents" and provide the easiest targets for U-boats.

The Dutch steamship Batavia is attacked but the torpedoes miss. British freighter Olivgrove is sunk in the Bay of Biscay 200 miles northwest of Spain.

Hitler meets with Admiral Raeder, CIC of the Kriegsmarine. He issues the Athenia Order, which is that "in order not to provoke neutral countries, the United States, in particular, it is forbidden to torpedo passenger steamers, even when sailing in convoy. Warfare against French merchant ships, attacks on French warships and mine laying off French ports is prohibited."

British Government: Ambassador to Germany Sir Neville Henderson is repatriated to England. General Viscount Lord Gort is appointed to command the British Expeditionary Force.

German Government: The death penalty is prescribed for anyone "hindering the defensive power of the German people."

United States Military: The military takes over control of the Panama Canal.

Irish Government: The Eire government calls up volunteers to supplement Army reserve.

Yugoslav Military: Yugoslavia mobilizes its military.

International Relations: Iraq, independent since 1932, breaks diplomatic relations with Germany. The British maintain two RAF bases there,  RAF Shaibah, near Basra, and RAF Habbaniya, between Ramadi and Fallujah.

United States Homefront: In the Webster Times of Webster, Massachusetts, the big news is of the finale of sailboat racing at the lake.

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

2019