Polish Greatness (Blog) is devoted to promoting Polish History, and gives tribute to the Polish Armed Forces past and present for their Courage, Honour and Sacrifices.
The siege of Warsaw continues. Polish forces have issued a communique demanding re-enforcements and shipments of ammunition and medical supplies. Warsaw is running out of food and potable water supplies are all but depleted. Though Warsaw is completely surrounded by the Germans, Polish insurgents are still showing signs of strong resistance having repelled numerous attacks. Meanwhile in Berlin the German government is claiming that Poles have ceased fighting and state that "In a connected series of destructive battles, of which the greatest and most decisive was in the bend of the Vistula, the Polish Army of a million men has been defeated, captured or routed. No single Polish active or reserve division escaped this fate. Only fractions of individual groups were able to avoid immediate destruction by fleeing into the swamps of eastern Poland. They succumbed there to Soviet troops. Of the entire Polish army only an insignificant remainder still is fighting at hopeless positions in Warsaw, Modlin and on the Hela Peninsula."The Poles fight on courageously against all odds.
In Germany wireless sets have been confiscated from all Jews.
Two Finnish steamers in the North Atlantic have been attacked and sunk by German submarine forces. Reports are coming in from the Western Front that Germans are mounting numerous counter-attacks all without success.
Mussolini has confirmed the Italian intention to remain neutral unless attacked. He stated that Italy is following a policy to "strengthen our army in preparation for any eventualities and support every possible peace effort while working in silence." He also suggested that the "liquidation" of Poland would facilitate a European peace settlement.
In Tokyo, Admiral Nomura becomes Foreign Minister in General Abe's recently appointed government. Reports indicate that Tokyo has made initial conciliatory moves towards the United States but without response.
At Panama, American states have agreed to a 300-mile (480km) neutral zone off the coast of the Americas.
" September Campaign" The opening scenes are of Polish Military Forces
September 20, 1939
In a stunning turn of events, Polish armies in the city of Lwow find themselves trapped. German units that were positioned to the north and south of the city have suddenly withdrawn all their forces and in their place are now Soviet infantry. Reports indicate that many Poles have either been forcibly conscripted into the Red Army or have done so willingly. No confirmation has yet been received from the Polish Commanders.
The Polish Armies of Poznan and Pomorze, which were defeated by German troops yesterday at Bzura, have reached the outskirts of Warsaw to provide reinforcements. Over 120,000 Polish troops have converged and broken through the German encirclement at Warsaw and Modlin. German units numbering over 175,000 soldiers were prepared for the assault. Casualties were high on both sides.
In response to Hitler's so-called peace offerings, France and Britain proclaimed that they "will not permit a Hitler victory to condemn the world to slavery and to ruin all moral values and destroy liberty." Despite their concerted bravado, Britain and France have still not deterred Germany's drive for territorial expansion across Europe. With the exception of occasional military skirmishes along the Maginot Line, the Allied Front remains weak. Both Britain and France have promised to come to Poland's aid but have failed to take any action. The Polish government is concerned that Poland will follow the same fate as Czechoslovakia. When Hitler demanded control of the Sudetenland in 1938, Britain unilaterally ceded part of Czechosolvakia in exchange for guarantees of peace. Will Poland be next?
Partition of Czechosloakia
Chamberlain and Hitler at Munich Conference 1938
Meanwhile in the British House of Commons, the Conservative Government under Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain has come under heavy criticism from the Labour Party Opposition for his policy of appeasement and for failing to provide assistance for Poland's defence after the September 1st invasion by Germany.
A flight of German ME-109 fighters attacked three Fairey Battle reconnaissance bombers today over the Siegfried Line near Aachen. Britain was able to shoot down one Me fighter before losing two of her Fairey Battles. In the meantime 110 British and French armored divisions sit idle while Hitler carves up Europe.
After three days of heavy fighting Polish infantry divisions retreated at Mlawa, in north-central Poland. A German column of tanks led the attack supported by the Luftwaffe but could not push through Polish lines. The initial assault was repelled by Polish-made 37mm Armata ppanc.wz 36 anti-tank guns. The commander of the German army ordered his troops to attack the Polish units several times in a row but all attacks were repelled and by nightfall the Germans were forced to return to their original positions. Yesterday the Germans opened fire on Rzehnow on the right flank of the Poles for over two hours continuously until the Polish units started to waver. Polish counter-attack by then was unsuccessful. The Commander of the Polish Modlin army ordered his Division to regroup further eastward to establish a defense of it's right flank between the villages of Debsk and Nosarzewo. Meanwhile the Germans were preparing for a counter-attack. The Manzovian Cavalry Brigade was also in the area and vulnerable to German attack. The Polish Commander ordered his Brigade to split into two forces and attack from different directions, but conflicting information about German positions disrupted the plan and led to chaos among his troops. By evening most of the Polish units were destroyed but the 21st Infantry Regiment of Colonel Stanislaw Sosabowski managed to withdraw from the battlegrounds towards Modlin Fortress.
Map of surrounding area of Mlawa 1939
One of the Polish anti-tank artillery
Polish tanks mobilizing for attack
German engineers were able to cut through Polish anti-tank barriers and used local civilians as human shields. Despite being able to capture several bunkers on the left flank of the Polish forces they could not move farther. German attacks on the right flank proved more successful and by late evening the German units had broken through the lines of the Polish 79th Infantry Regiment. Rather than face the risk of being surrounded, General Emil Krukowicz-Przedrzymirski ordered his troops to withdraw towards Warsaw and Modlin abandoning their fortified positions.
German mechanized units suffered heavy losses and were unable to take pursuit. The Polish regiment retreated to the south of Mlawa but because the area is lightly forested their position was easily detected and they were bombed and strafed continuously by the Luftwaffe.
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German troops occupied Czestochowa seizing all property and making mass arrests of Jewish Poles. They were led to public areas where hundreds were systematically executed in broad daylight in a massacre that has been referred to as "Bloody Monday."
German soldiers in Czestochowa watch Polish Jewish prisoners
Czestochowa: Jews were lined up along the wall. Moments later they were executed.
Eleven Polish planes and 3 bombers were obliterated by a fleet of German Me109 fighters over Lodz Poland today. In the north, the Polish Modlin army is in a state of retreat after putting up a stubborn defense against the German war machine. Meanwhile the German 10th Army forces from the south have made significant gains and advanced more than 50 miles inland.
In a daylight raid in German airspace the British RAF flew 29 Blenheim and Wellington bombers targeting German warships in the Heligoland Bight. The German cruiser Emden was damaged but by the wreckage of a shot-down Blenheim. The RAF hit the Admiral Scheer 3 times but the bombs did not detonate. Britain lost 7 of their planes.
Prime Minister Chamberlain gave a radio message to Germany and speaking in German denounced the Nazi regime and explained the British stand. Last night began the first of a series of propaganda raids in which the British RAF will be dropping 6 million leaflets on cities in northern Germany and the Ruhr.
In France, advance elements of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) are landing from destroyers docked at Cherbourg, in northwestern France. Sources indicate that intermittent skirmishes are taking place in "No Man's Land" between the French Maginot Line and the German Siegfried Line.
In a German article published in the official newspaper of the National Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP), the Volkischer Beobachter, Goebbel claims that the sinking of the SS Athenia was planned by Churchill to provoke hostilities between Germany and the United States.
The Japanese government continues to claim neutrality stating that they will concentrate "efforts on a settlement of the China affair."
