Wednesday 20 September 1939

German and Soviet troops in Brest-Litovsk (Ehlert, Federal Archive).

Battle of Poland: The Polish Kraków Army (Armia Kraków) surrenders after the First Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski on 20 September 1939. It has been the largest tank battle of the campaign. Units from other Polish armies are located nearby and remain active.

The Germans claim to have taken 105,000 Polish prisoners so far.

The Soviets reach Lwow, which the surrounding Germans hand over to them.

Soviet tanks of the 27th Armoured Brigade of the 15th Armoured Corps approach Grodno. They attempt to seize the city by crossing the bridge over the Niemen River but are repulsed. They regroup for an attack in the morning.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-27 is tracked down after several recent successes that have alerted the Royal Navy to its presence. HMS Fortune rams the U-boat after three torpedoes launched at it and the accompanying HMS Faulknor explodes prematurely. All of the 38 U-boat crew members survive. Kapitänleutnant Johannes Franz later alerts the Kriegsmarine BDU (U-boat high command) of the defective torpedoes by managing to send Berlin a coded message from his POW camp.

Battle of the Atlantic: HMS Kittiwake, a Kingfisher class patrol vessel, strikes a British mine in the Straits of Dover. Five men are lost.

European Air Operations: Three RAF Fairey Battle Reconnaissance bombers meet a squadron of Bf-109s over the Siegfried Line near Aachen, Germany. The RAF loses two Battles and the Luftwaffe loses a Messerschmidt.

German Navy: The heavy cruiser Blücher is commissioned.

Resistance: A revolt breaks out in former Czechoslovakia (now incorporated into the Greater German Reich).

Peace Negotiations: The British and French categorically reject the peace offering by Hitler made in Danzig.

British Politics: The Labour Party attacks the Conservative government of Neville Chamberlain in the House of Commons for the conduct of the war.

Czechoslovakia: the revolt in former Czechoslovakia continues. The Germans are applying their usual measures to suppress it.

British Government: The government announces that it has seized £500,000 in good destined for Germany during the week.

Canada: The cabinet decides to raise 20,000 for an expeditionary force to supplement the BEF.

Australia: The government gives the British the personnel of four bomber squadrons and two squadrons of two-seat fighters.

Germany Homefront: Jews are ordered to surrender all radios.

American Homefront: There are newspaper reports detailing the alleged overseas fortunes totaling $33 million of German leaders.

Joe Louis mounts a successful defense of his world heavyweight boxing title against Bob Pastor at Detroit's Briggs Stadium.

Soviet and German troops sharing stories.

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

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

Wednesday13 September 1939

A Panzer III of Panzer Division Kempf advancing in Poland.

Battle of Poland: On 13 September 1939, Modlin, the headquarters of the Modlin Army, is attacked by the East Prussia Panzer Unit (Panzer-Division Kempf), the 2nd Light Division and four supporting infantry divisions. About 100 Luftwaffe planes take part. It is a defensive strong point for the Poles, an essential part of the defense of Warsaw. The Polish government is full of good military news, everything is going well.

According to the newspapers on 13 September 1939, the war is going well for the Poles.

French Government: Premier Édouard Daladier forms a war cabinet.

Battle of the Atlantic: U-27 under the command of Johannes Franz sinks the British trawler Davara. The French minelaying cruiser Pluton explodes in Casablanca with 186 casualties while unloading some mines.

American Homefront: Early Wynn makes his major league debut for the Washington Senators. He goes on to win 300 games, becoming famous for his knuckleball late in his career. He is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 1972.

Future History: Richard Kiel is born in Detroit, Michigan. He becomes famous in the 1970s for playing comic villain Jaws in the James Bond films.

Richard Kiel, born on 13 September 1939, as "Jaws," with Roger Moore.

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