The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Case White - The Invasion of Poland(9/1/1939) - Sep. 1st, 2003

http://www.electricscotland.com/history/ww2/ww2-3.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

Fighting on all Fronts:

The Polish Army, Navy and Air Force reorganised abroad and continued to fight the Germans. In fact they have the distinction of being the only nation to fight on every front in the War. In 1940 they fought in france, in the Norwegian campaign they earned a reputation for bravery at Narvik, and in Africa the Carpathian Brigade fought at Tobruk. Polish Squadrons played an important role in the Battle of Britain, accounting for 12% of all German aircraft destroyed at the cost of 33 lives. By the end of the war they had flown a total of 86,527 sorties, lost 1669 men and shot down 500 German planes and 190 V1 rockets.

The Polish Navy, which had escaped intact, consisted of 60 vessels, including 2 cruisers, 9 destroyers and 5 submarines ( one of which was the famous "Orzel") which were involved in 665 actions at sea. The first German ship sunk in the war was sunk by Polish ships. The Navy also took part in the D-Day landings.

When the Soviet Union was attacked by Germany, in June 1941, Polish POWs were released from prison camps and set up an army headed by General Anders. Many civilians were taken under the protection of this army which was allowed to make its way to Persia (modern-day Iran) and then on to Egypt. This army, the Polish Second Corps, fought with distinction in Italy, their most notable victory being that at Monte Cassino, in May 1944, and which opened up the road to Rome for the Allies as a whole. One of the "heroes" of the Polish Second Corps was Wojtek, a brown bear adopted in Iran as their mascot; at Monte Cassino Wojtek actually helped in the fighting by carrying ammunition for the guns. He died, famous and well-loved, in Edinburgh Zoo in 1964, aged 22.

Invading German troops enter the town of Lodz. Poland, September 8, 1939.

All the Polish forces took part in the Allied invasion of Europe and liberation of france, playing a particularly crucial role in the significant Battle of the Falaise Gap. The Polish Parachute Brigade took part in the disastrous Battle of Arnhem in Holland. In 1945, the Poles captured the German port of Wilhelmshaven.

In 1943 a division of Polish soldiers was formed in Russia under Soviet control and fought on the Eastern Front. They fought loyally alongside the Soviet troops, despite the suffering they had experienced in Soviet hands, and they distinguished themselves in breaking through the last German lines of defence, the "Pomeranian Rampart", in the fighting in Saxony and in the capture of Berlin.

Invading German troops approach Bydgoszcz. Poland, September 18, 1939.

The "Home Army", under the command of General Stefan Roweki (code-named "Grot"), and after his capture in 1943 (he was later murdered), by General Tadeusz Komorowski (code-named "Bor"), fought a very varied war; at times in open combat in brigade or division strength, at times involved in sabotage, often acting as execution squads eliminating German officials, and often fighting a psychological campaign against German military and civilians. It was a costly war since the Germans always took reprisals.

The Intelligence Service of the Home Army captured and sent parts of the V1 to London for examination, providing information on German military movements (giving advanced warning of the German plan to invade Russia), and gave the RAF full information about Peenemunde, where the Germans were producing V2 rockets.

Betrayal:

The crime of Katyn was discovered in 1943 and created a rift in Polish-Soviet relations. From now on the Home Army was attacked by Soviet propaganda as collaborating with the Germans and being called on to rise against the Germans once the Red Army reached the outskirts of Warsaw.

Secretly, at Teheran, the British and Americans agreed to letting the Russians profit from their invasion of Poland in 1939 and allowing them to keep the lands that had been absorbed. The "accidental" death of General Sikorski at this time helped keep protests at a minimum.

When the Russians crossed into Poland the Home Army cooperated in the fight against the Germans and contributed greatly to the victories at Lwow, Wilno and Lublin only to find themselves surrounded and disarmed by their "comrades-in-arms" and deported to labour camps in Siberia.

Captured Polish TKS tankettes

On August 1, 1944, with the Russian forces on the right bank of the Vistula, the Home Army rose in Warsaw; the Warsaw Rising. Heroic street-fighting involving the whole population, using the sewers as lines of communication and escape, under heavy bombardment, lasted for 63 days. The city was completely destroyed. Not only did the Russians cease to advance but they also refused to allow Allied planes to land on Russian airfields after dropping supplies. After surrendering many civilians and soldiers were executed or sent to concentration camps to be exterminated and Warsaw was razed to the ground.

The defeat in Warsaw destroyed the political and military institutions of the Polish underground and left the way open for a Soviet take-over.

With the liberation of Lublin in July 1944 a Russian-sponsored Polish Committee for National Liberation (a Communist Government in all but name) had been set up and the British had put great pressure, mostly unsuccessful, on the Government-in-exile to accept this status quo. At Yalta, in February 1945, the Allies put Poland within the Russian zone of influence in a post-war Europe. To most Poles the meaning of these two events was perfectly clear; Poland had been betrayed. At one stage the Polish Army, still fighting in Italy and Germany, was prepared to withdraw from the front lines in protest; after all, they were supposed to be fighting for Polish liberation. It is a reflection on Polish honour that no such withdrawal took place since it could leave large gaps in the front lines and so was considered too dangerous for their Allied comrades-in-arms.

The war ended on May 8th, 1945.

[SAMWolf]

The Cost:

The Poles are the people who really lost the war.


Polish Cavalry, September 1939

Over half a million fighting men and women, and 6 million civilians (or 22% of the total population) died. About 50% of these were Polish Christians and 50% were Polish Jews. Approximately 5,384,000, or 89.9% of Polish war losses (Jews and Gentiles) were the victims of prisons, death camps, raids, executions, annihilation of ghettos, epidemics, starvation, excessive work and ill treatment. So many Poles were sent to concentration camps that virtually every family had someone close to them who had been tortured or murdered there.

There were one million war orphans and over half a million invalids.


The Sigismund Monument stands amid rubble in the Polish capital after Germany's Blitzkrieg assault. Warsaw, Poland, 1939.

The country lost 38% of its national assets (Britain lost 0.8%, france lost 1.5%). Half the country was swallowed up by the Soviet Union including the two great cultural centres of Lwow and Wilno.

Many Poles could not return to the country for which they has fought because they belonged to the "wrong" political group or came from eastern Poland and had thus become Soviet citizens. Others were arrested, tortured and imprisoned by the Soviet authorities for belonging to the Home Army.



Although "victors" they were not allowed to partake in victory celebrations.

Through fighting "For Our Freedom and Yours" they had exchanged one master for another and were, for many years to come, treated as "the enemy" by the very Allies who had betrayed them at Teheran and Yalta.

Additional Sources:

www.polandinexile.com
www.worldwar2database.com
www.ibiscom.com
www.ushmm.org
www.geocities.com/rob_mcd_aus
members.tripod.com/George_Parada
mailer.fsu.edu
www.wwnorton.com
www.wojciechowski.freeserve.co.uk

[SAMWolf]

One of Poland's greatest gifts towards the war effort was to have captured an Ultra machine early in the conflict. The true value of this encryption machine was instantly recognised by Polish and french code-breakers. Unfortunately, true recognition of its significance came later and the thanks given to the Poles hardly covers the couple of sentences in either archives or in historical text.

'...in general the bravery and heroism of the Polish Army merits great respect.'

Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt

[SAMWolf]

[RadioAstronomer]

bttt :-)

[snippy_about_it]

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Monday Morning Everyone!


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[RadioAstronomer]

Hi! :-)

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole. Happy Labor Day. We got another inch of rain yesterday. We're under a Flash Flood Watch. The rain is forcast to taper off today.:-D

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on September 01:
1653 Johann Pachelbel, composer (Canon)
1791 Lydia Sigourney US, religious author (How to Be Happy)
1849 Elizabeth Harrison US, educator (Natl Congress of Parents & Teachers)
1854 Engelbert Humperdinck Germany, opera composer (Parsifal)
1864 Sir Roger David Casement Ireland, martyr (IRA)
1866 James "Gentleman Jim" Corbett heavyweight champion boxer (1892-97)
1875 Edgar Rice Burroughs novelist (Tarzan, Mars Saga)
1900 Richard Arlen actor (Alice in Wonderland)
1904 Ray Flaherty AFL/NFL/AAFC coach (NY Giants)
1907 Walter Reuther labor leader/president of UAW & CIO
1910 Jack Hawkins London England, actor (Ben-Four Just Men)
1922 Melvin R Laird (Rep-R-Mich), US Secretary of Defense (1969-73)
1922 Vittorio Gassman actor (War & Peace)
1922 Yvonne De Carlo Vancouver BC, actress (10 Commandments, Munsters)
1923 Rocky Marciano heavyweight champion boxer (1952-56)
1933 Ann Richards (Gov-Tx)
1933 Conway Twitty [Harold Jenkins], Miss, country singer (Hello Darlin')
1935 Seiji Ozawa Hoten Manchuria, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
1937 Al Geiberger golfer (US PGA lowest score on 18 holes, a 59)
1937 Ron O'Neal Utica NY, actor (Superfly)
1938 George Maharis Astoria NY, actor (Buz-Route 66, Most Deadly Game)
1939 Heinrich Messner Austria, downhill skier (Olympic-bronze-1972)
1939 Lily Tomlin Detroit, comedienne/actress (9 to 5, Laugh-in, All of Me)
1944 Leonard Slatkin LA Calif, conductor (Concert Orch, Neth)
1946 Barry Gibb singer (BeeGees-Stayin' Alive)
1946 Erich Sch„rer Switzerland, 2 man bobsled (Olympic-gold-1980)
1957 Gloria Estefan Cuba, singer (Miami Sound Machine-Conga, 1-2-3)

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Deaths which occurred on September 01:
1159 Adrian IV only English pope (1154-59), dies (birth date unknown)
1557 Jacques Cartier French explorer, dies (birth date unknown)
1648 Marin Mersenne French mathematician, dies at 59
1715 Louis XIV the great, king of France (1643-1715), dies at 76
1838 William Clark 2nd lt of Lewis & Clark Expedition, dies at 68
1862 Oliver Tilden of the Bronx, killed in the Civil War in Virginia
1914 Martha last known passenger pigeon, dies at Cincinnati Zoo
1955 Philip Loeb actor (Jake-The Goldbergs), dies at 61
1963 Guy Burgess, British spy for the USSR
1967 James Dunn actor (Uncle Earl-It's a Great Life), dies at 65
1969 Drew Pearson newscaster (Drew Pearson), dies at 71
1977 Ethel Waters actress (Beulah)/singer (Stormy Weather), dies at 76
1981 Albert Speer, German Nazi architect/minister of Armaments at 76
1983 Henry "Scoop" Jackson (Sen-D-Wash), dies at 71
1984 Howland Chamberlain actor, dies at 73
1986 Murray Hamilton actor (Rich Man Poor Man), dies at 63
1988 Leonor Sullivan (Rep-D-Missouri, 1955-77), dies at 86
1989 A Bartlett Giamatti baseball commissioner, dies of heart attack at 51

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 NICHOLS HUBERT C. PENSACOLA FL.
1966 SCHMIDT NORMAN BEN LOMOND CA.
[03/06/74 REMAINS RETURNED]
1967 JOHNSON ROBERT D. DALLAS TX.
1967 OTT EDWARD L. III ROCKVILLE CT.
1968 KINKADE WILLIAM L. CORVALLIS OR.
1969 ESCOBEDO JULIAN JR. SAN ANTONIO TX.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
69 Traditional date of the destruction of Jerusalem
312 -BC- Origin of Greek Era-Start of Indiction of Constantinople
891 Northmen defeated near Louvaine, France
1267 Ramban (Nachmanides) arrives in Jerusalem to establish Jew community
1614 Vincent Fettmich expells Jews from Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany
1661 1st Yacht race, England's King Charles vs his brother James
1666 Great London Fire begins in Pudding Lane. 80% of London is destroyed
1689 Russia begins taxing men's beards
1739 35 Jews sentenced to life in prison in Lisbon Portugal
1752 Liberty Bell arrives in Phila
1772 Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa forms in California
1799 Bank of Manhattan Company opens in NYC (forerunner to Chase Manhattan)
1807 Aaron Burr acquitted of charges of plotting to set up an empire
1836 Reconstruction begins on Synagogue of Rabbi Judah Hasid in Jerusalem
1849 California Constitutional Convention held in Monterey
1858 1st transatlantic cable fails after less than 1 month
1859 1st pullman sleeping car in service
1859 RC Carrington & R Hodgson make 1st observation of solar flare
1862 Federal tax levied on tobacco, especially that grown in Confederate states
1862 Severe action at Chantilly, Virginia
1863 RR & ferry connection between SF & Oakland inaugurated
1865 Joseph Lister performs 1st antiseptic surgery
1870 The Prussian army crushes the French at Sedan, the last battle of the Franco-Prussian War.
1874 Sydney General Post Office opens in Australia
1876 The Ottomans inflict a decisive defeat on the Serbs at Aleksinac
1878 1st female telephone operator starts work (Emma Nutt in Boston)
1882 The first Labor Day is observed in New York City by the Carpenters and Joiners Union.
1890 1st baseball tripleheader-Boston vs Pittsburgh
1894 By an act of Congress, Labor Day is declared a national holiday.
1902 Tinker, Evers, & Chance appear together for 1st time
1905 Alberta & Saskatchewan become 8th & 9th Canadian provinces
1906 Alberta adopts Mountain Standard Time
1906 Joseph Harris (Boston) & Jack Coombs (A's) pitch complete 24 inn game
1906 Papua placed under Australian administration
1911 M Fourny sets world aircraft distance record of 720 km
1914 St Petersburg, Russia changes name to Petrograd
1916 Keating-Owen Act (child labor banned from interstate commerce)
1916 Bulgaria declares war on Rumania as the First World War expands.In 1878, Bulgaria had no army. By 1913, it had one of the most formidable land forces in Europe.
1918 Baseball season ends due to WW I
1918 US troops land in Vladivostok, Siberia, stay until 1920
1922 NYC law requires all "pool" rooms to change name to "billards"
1923 Earthquake strikes Tokyo & Yokohama, kills 106,000
1923 US beats Australia in tennis, for their 4th straight Davis Cup
1928 Albania becomes a kingdom, with Zogu I as king
1932 NYC Mayor James J "Gentleman Jimmy" Walker resigns (graft charges)
1938 Mussolini cancels civil rights of Italian Jews
1939 Hitler orders extermination of mentally ill
1939 Physical Review publishes 1st paper to deal with "black holes"
1939 WW II starts, Germany invades Poland, takes Danzig
1941 Yellow star becomes obligatory for Jews in the Reich to wear
1945 Japan surrenders ending WW II (US date, 9/2 in Japan)
1945 Phillies Vince DiMaggio ties NL record with 4th grand slam of season
1946 Patty Berg wins the US Open
1947 NY Giants 183-185 HR of year breaks Yankee mark of 182 in 1936
1948 Communist form North China People's Republic
1948 UN's World Health Organization forms
1949 1st network detective series-Private Eyes-premiers
1950 West Berlin granted a constitution
1951 PM Ben-Gurion orders establishment of Israeli secret service Mossad
1951 US, Australia & New Zealand sign ANZUS treaty
1952 Sutro Baths, SF purchased by George Whitney
1956 Indian state of Tripura becomes a territory
1957 Excursion train crashed into a ravine killing 175, injuring 400
1958 St Louis Card Vinegar Bend Mizell walks a record 9 men in a shutout
1961 USSR tests nuclear bombs in central Asia
1962 10,000 die in an earthquake in western Iran
1962 UN announces Earth population has hit 3 billion
1963 St Louis Cards pitcher Curt Simmons steals home plate
1967 SF Giants beat Cincinatti Reds, 1-0, in 21 innings
1968 Pirate Radio Marina (Netherlandsd) begins transmitting
1969 Libyan revolution, Col Moammar Gadhafi deposes King Idris
1971 Qatar declares independence from Britain
1972 Bobby Fischer (US) defeats Boris Spassky (USSR) for world chess title
1973 74-year-old Hafnia Hotel burns, killing 35 (Copenhagen, Denmark)
1973 George Foreman KOs Jose Roman in the 1st to retain heavyweight title
1975 Gunsmoke goes off the air
1975 KOL-AM in Seattle Wash changes call letters to KMPS
1975 NY Met Tom Seaver is 1st to strike out 200 in 8 consecutive seasons
1975 NYC transit fare rises from 35 to 50
1976 NASA launches space vehicle S-197
1976 NJ Meadowlands racetrack opens
1976 Wayne L Hays, (Rep-D-Oh), resigns (scandal with Elizabeth Ray)
1977 1st TRS-80 Model I computer sold
1978 Jacqueline Smith of Great Britain scores 10 straight dead center strikes on a 4" disk in World Parachute Championships in Yugoslavia
1979 Debbie Boone & Gabriel Ferrer wed in LA
1979 LA Court orders Clayton Moore to stop wearing Lone Ranger mask
1979 Pioneer 11 makes 1st fly-by of Saturn, discovers new moon, rings
1981 Fiona Brothers sets women's propeller boat speed record (116.279 MPH)
1982 Max speedometer reading mandated at 85 MPH
1982 Palestinian Liberation Organization leaves Lebanon
1983 Korean Boeing 747 strays into Siberia & is shot down by a Soviet jet
1983 WGH-AM in Newport News VA changes call letters to WNSY
1985 US-French expedition locates wreckage of Titanic off Newfoundland
1986 Paul McCartney releases "Press to Play" album
1989 Princess Anne & Mark Phillips announce their seperation

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Brunei : Revelation of the Koran
Lybia, Egypt : Revolution Day (1969)
Malaysia : National Day
Mexico : Presidental Message Day/Opening of congress
Michigan : Mackinac Bridge Walk Day
Pakistan : Quaid-i-Azam's Death
Puerto Rico : Labor Day (1894)
Syria : United Republic's Unity Day
Tanzania : Heroes' Day
Namibia, South Africa : Settlers' Day (Monday)
US, Canada, Guam, Virgin Islands : Labor Day (1894) (Monday)
National Spanish Green Olive Week (Day 2)
National Oral Hygiene Week Begins
Mental Health Workers Week (Day 2)
Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month
Bourbon Month

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Religious Observances
Ang : Commemoration of David Pendleton Oakerhater
Christian : Feast of Adjutor Day
Orthodox church : Beginning of year (9/14 NS)
Christian : Feast of St Drithelm of Northumbria
RC : Commemoration of St Giles, abbot

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Religious History
1558 Dutch Anabaptist reformer Menno Simons, 62, confessed in a letter: 'There is nothing upon earth my heart loves more than it does the church.'
1646 The Cambridge Synod of Congregational Churches convened in Mass. It formulated the 'Cambridge Platform,' outlining the proper polity (religious government) to be followed by the New England Congregational churches.
1803 In Boston, the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) was instituted. It was the first tract society established in North America.
1836 A wagon train of Presbyterian missionaries, led by pioneer missionary Dr. Marcus Whitman, reached the site of modern Walla Walla, WA. Whitman's wife Narcissa became the first white woman to cross the North American continent.
1985 The HQ of Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry moved to its present location in Bellmawr, NJ. Founded in 1938 by Victor Buksbazen, F.I.G.M. works through evangelism and Bible distribution.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"Mistakes are oft the stepping stones to failure."

---

You might be making your co-workers uncomfortable if...
you answer the phone, "I am the angel of the death. The hour of reckoning is upon us. How may I help you?"

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Murphys Law of the day...(Ginsberg's Theorems)
1 You can't win.
2 You can't break even.
3 You can't even quit the game.

---

Cliff Clavin says, it's a little know fact that...
In 1892, Italy raised the minimum age for marriage for girls - to 12.

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. Good Morning R.A.

Didn't you sleep last night?

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC.

It is raining here now. Surprise, surprise. Looks like it will be for most of the morning.

[snippy_about_it]

1982 Max speedometer reading mandated at 85 MPH

Because everyone knows if they pass a law that says speedometers can't read over 85 then that's as fast as you can go. LOL. Yet another stupid law.

[CholeraJoe]

Happy Labor Day, snippy and SAM.

Must not be enforced much. The speedometer goes up to 100 on my 3 tons of Detroit Iron.

Have you seen this? WWII Memorial

You can enroll Veterans who served in WWII. It's free to enroll but if you want to add a photo, it'll cost you $10 extra. This one needs more publicity. Maybe the Foxhole can help.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!

Have a restful day from labor today.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morining Cholerajoe.

I have no idea what my speedometer goes to, I guess I'll check on my way out this morning. LOL. Maybe the law was changed along with the speed limit laws, who knows. Just more wasted tax dollars I expect.

Thank you for the link to the WWII Memorial site.

I've seen it in the past, it's been updated since then.

I'm glad you brought it to our attention here at the Foxhole. You have a good idea about getting this some attention, we need to push this a bit as the dedication is coming up next year.

I'll look into coming up with a thread to help get the word out. Excellent idea! Thanks.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning feather. Rest? What's that? LOL.

[SAMWolf]

Morning RA! Number 1 for two days in a row!!

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Snippy.

Instead of flowers today I figured I 'd go with some balloons.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning E.G.C. Sunny and warm (Again).

Send some of that rain, my lawn looks like a field of straw.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Good morning! Happy holiday to you :)

Lovely here this morning. Sitting down to a quiet day, I hope.

Another excellent job on today's thread. Perhaps the most tragic anniversary in human history.