Poland in Canada

On 1 September 1939, Germany attacked Poland from the west and north and, together with Slovakia, also from the south. The armed forces of the Reich consisted of over 1.6 million soldiers equipped with around 10,000 mortars and howitzers, over 2,700 tanks, and 1,300 aircraft.

The Polish army was relatively strong but, due to the difference in potential, decidedly smaller than the Wehrmacht. Following incomplete mobilisation, Poland managed to equip around 1 million soldiers and had 4,300 mortars and howitzers, around 880 tanks and armored vehicles, and 400 military aircraft in stock.

From the first moments of the war, Poland fulfilled its treaty obligations; awaiting military action from her allies, she provided strong resistance. In September 1939, Poles fought while fully aware that only a joint, coalition effort could change the strategic situation in their struggle against the Germans. The tenacious resistance of Poland against German aggression forced the Allies to take clear steps.

After Hitler rejected the Western ultimatum, France and Great Britain officially declared war on the German Reich on 3 September 1939. Declarations from New Zealand and Australia followed. Regardless of subsequent developments, this was Hitler’s first setback, as he had not managed to downsize the invasion of Poland to a local, bilateral conflict.

1 September 1939 – the events

The German attack on Poland and the beginning of the Second World War. At 4.45 am, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein began shelling Westerplatte, the Military Transit Depot in the Free City of Gdańsk, defended by a garrison (about 200 soldiers) under the command of Maj. Henryk Sucharski and Cpt. Franciszek Dąbrowski. For seven days, the Poles heroically repelled repeated German attacks from the sea, land and air, becoming a symbol of Polish resistance.

The defense of the Polish Post in Gdańsk (commanded by Konrad Guderski). The Poles surrender in the afternoon when the post office building is set on fire. A month later they are shot by the Germans.

Operation "Tannenberg". The organized and planned German murder of civilians, especially the Polish elite in the western territories of the Republic of Poland, is carried out by the Selbstschutz (sabotage units recruited from members of German minority living in Poland) and security police (the so-called Einsatzgruppen).

The bombing of Wieluń. One of the first attacked towns is Wieluń, bombed by the Luftwaffe - the number of victims is estimated at around 1,200 civilians.

If you would like to find out more about the first campaign of WW2 visit the website:

https://1september39.com/