O
O.C.
Guest
Seven days in Sept.1939
To tell the story about the start of the 2nd World War you must go back to the Great War, and the Treaty of Versailles signed by Germany in 1919 that lead to the sowing of the seed that started the war.
The Free City of Danzig was declared in 1920, which gave the Poles the right of free port access, its own postal service and telegraphic services.
As the Polish people only made up 5-10% of the population this caused resentment and it was not long before the German dominated council prevented the Poles using the port and by 1933 there were a lot of bitter disputes in Danzig and it became a hot political potato which Hitler used as a political weapon in his Nazi Propaganda machine, stirring up hatred of the Pole’s and saying Danzig which is the German name for Westerplatte was a German City.
Westerplatte was virtually an Island created out of the sands of the mighty river Vistula and the sea just connected to the mainland by a tiny stretch of sand
Westerplatte is a 1300 metres long, 500metres across and about 200 metres wide and in 1929 it had a Polish garrison of 88 men and 20 NCO’s and a stockpile of ammunition which in the following years held off everything the might of the German Army could throw at it.
As soon as Hitler gained power the Polish General Staff started to prepare Westerplatte for a possible attack by the Nazi Paramilitary groups thinking they would begin an assault by land, how wrong they were.
The polish barracks which were built in 1934 and finished in 1935 consisted of guardrooms forming a ring around a centrally placed barracks all linked with a brilliant system of crisscross machine gun fire which could be fired from ground level by the men in the basements through hatches designed to look like ventilation grills with the central barracks designed to be bomb proof by building the roof to absorb high impact bombs to go through the roof, with all the debris from the 2 floors piling up on the basement in a big mound which was very strongly reinforced with RSJ’s
So the preparations for an attack went on relentlessly smuggling in anti tank guns, mortars and a 75mm anti-tank gun which was assembled in the garage.
Leading up to war the Germans began to secretly move into Danzig under the cover of darkness thousand of men and war material began to pour in.
When finally ready the German Brigade totalled over 12,000 men, 44 field guns, 12 anti-aircraft guns, 48 anti-tank guns 500 light machine guns and 160 medium light machine guns
All waiting for the command to rid the city of Polish presence with the help of 100’s of SS who had been recruited in the Danzig region.
The Germans had a very cunning plan. They told the Polish Government that they intended to visit the city to honour the war dead of the German cruiser Magdeburg that had been sunk in 1914 of Finland as some of the sailors were buried in Danzig.
The Ship finally chosen to go on the 25th August 1939 by the Germans was the Schleswig-Holstein, so the deceit began parading round the city with brass bands to the great joy of the crowds that came to see them. On the night all was quiet as the Schleswig-Holstein was moored opposite the Guardroom on the Westerplatte. Moving up and down the river all the time planning and taking measurements for its mighty four 280mmguns.Countdown to the start of World War Two had begun.
Day One
At 4-15 a.m. on August 31st 1939 as a mist spread over the Westerplatte a single shot rang out and everyone on both side sprang to alert attention, no one knew who fired it. At 4-47a.m. tracer fire went over the heads of the polish defenders.
The First day of War had began
With the garrison alarms ringing the Polish Major Henryk Sucharski put the garrison on battle alert as tracer fire and shells landed nearby not knowing what was about to happen. The guns of the Schleswig-Holstien were firing from a range of 500metres at zero angle smashing through everything in its path and within seconds the workshops and houses had gone up in flames.
The German High Command had expected the Garrison to surrender within a few hours and Westerplatte flooded with German Shock Troops what a shock they were about to receive from that small Polish Major Sucharski
At 4-55a.m. the firing from the Battleship stopped, two German platoons rushed forward supported by machine gun fire, but the Polish Corporal with a light machine gun and two other soldier stopped the German army in its tracks from a position on the embankment hideout he mowed the running troops down like a scythe cutting grass, who had to retreat to reorganize.
Meanwhile Warrant Officer Jan Gryezman who was in another outpost cut the Germans down in the crossfire inflicting heavy losses on the first platoon.
The second platoon was thrown into panic at this onslaught and fell back to regroup and fetching their dead.
At 6-22a.m. and their losses were 40-50 killed and wounded
The Germans high command were told about the Polish marksmen in the woods so the Great Battleship turned to fire broadside all of its guns at the woods
At 7.40 a.m. the firing began, stopping at 8-55 at which point it had fired 90, 280mm shells. 407, 150mm shells. 366, AA Shells. And 3,000 rounds of 20mm.
The firing had managed to knock out the Polish 75mm Field Gun the largest piece of equipment they possessed
Then the German Army advance onto the wood.
Gryezman who was in the outpost survived and retreated back into the guardroom
10-55 a.m. the Germans were near the guardroom
11-55a.m. the Germans had retreated with all machine guns lost
1.00p.m the German high command were told taking Westerplatte by assault troops was impossible.
The next day on Goring’s instructions they ordered 60-70 Stukas to wipe the place of the map and mop up with the German marines
During the night under the instructions of the Polish Major Sucharski two men were sent out to unscrew sections of the railway track from the railway to the guardroom which they did under the shadows of the German machine gunners with only the distant firing to the muffle the sound as they unscrewed the bolts on the railway track.
Day Two
On Saturday morning at 1-30 Admiral Albrecht was told that the planned air raid was cancelled.
At Midday Hitler ordered Westerplatte to be taken that day, but it was agreed without the support of the Stukka’s, heavy artillery and flamethrowers it could not be done.
So the polish garrison was harassed all day by artillery fire and sniper patrols.
They were told that the air strike would take place that evening at 6-00p.m.
The Stukka’s took the Polish garrison by complete surprise zooming in at tree top height and dropping their bombs one after another for 40 minutes, 60 Stukka’s in total in two groups dropping 8, 500kg bombs. 50, 250kg bombs and over 100, 100kg. Fragmentation bombs.
If the Germans would have followed it up with an all out infantry attack the garrison would have not survived but for some reason the expected attack never came and late that evening the brave Polish Garrison fought of another two attacks.
Day Three
Further attacks took place all through the day but the German forces were beaten back time and time again.
Day Four
On Monday morning at 7.00a.m. Westerplatte was shelled from all sides. The situation was become quiet bad for the Polish band of heroes so bad in fact Major Sucharski raised the possibility of surrender which the officers and the NCO rejected to a man and all decided to fight on.
Day Six
From 9.00 a.m. till 10.45 a.m. the Germans shelled the Barrack guardrooms and compound with heavy field howitzers with the Schleswig-Holstein firing in support.
It must have been hell on earth under all that rubble, bravely the Poles fought on, now all in the basements with the building and rubble on top of them, the wounded all lying on the floor, with every explosion being peppered with steel shell splinters dust and concrete with no escape. The company doctor could not cope as the men were wounded over and over again. With gangrene setting in on the men who were wounded a few days before. All hot food tea and coffee were lost during the second day so all the wounded had to drink was hot water and anything that could be scavenged from the NCOs Mess.
Over the other side of the canal the German dead were being buried with full military honours to the tunes of the Fatherland played by the Ships musicians.
Day Six
At 3.00a.m. the Germans filled Railway wagons to the brim with fuel with the intention of incinerating the woods and guardhouse but the Poles hit it with anti tank fire and it failed. Then the flamethrowers were bought in which also failed.
A second attempt was made with the fuel in the railway trucks but again it failed when the carriage hit the rails the Poles had taken the bolts out and it overturned setting the woods on fire.
Relentlessly the attacks went on all through the day and night, while in the basement the wounded were dying but still they agreed to hold out.
Major Sucharski stated if the wounded deteriorated to a desperate condition he would order his men to lay down their arms and surrender whether they liked it or not.
Day Seven
3.00 a.m. The German marines moved in to occupy positions they occupied on the first day of fighting
4.20 a.m. The Schleswig-Holstein opened fire at the decimated little patch of ground Major Sucharski held sweeping slowly from the east rolling slowly to the central part supported by A.A. guns and machine gun fire.
5.00 a.m. the shelling stopped and the assault troops moved in
5.50 a.m. the Schleswig –Holstein concentrated all of her firepower on the guardroom which received a direct hit and collapsed, the Poles survived by nothing short of a miracle retreating into the sub-basement.
6.20.a.m. the Schleswig-Holstein stopped firing and moved away.
Supporting the assault troops were the marines, pioneers and infantry with platoons of anti-tank guns and mortars and even with all this support the brave Polish fighters kept them at bay.
7.25 a.m. The Germans called their attack off. Then a bombardment of unimaginable power was unleashed at the blockhouse and guardroom.
Major Sucharski’s men were determined to fight to the death and desperately wanted to make a last stand dying at their posts but the Major knew his men could take no more and told them the garrison had achieved its objective by telling the rest of the World what was going on and ordered a white flag of surrender to be put up first in the barracks then in the dug-out.
Slowly those brave band of men came out into the open emerging from the rubble away from what they thought was going to be their graves, gathering in front of the ruins were Major Sucharski finally surrender
11.33 a.m. The German High Command received a message “Westerplatte surrender”
That afternoon while being marched to captivity a command rang out and all the German soldiers flanking the prisoners sprang to attention and saluted as a mark of respect for a gallant foe.
Westerplatte has gone down in Polish history as one of the most remarkable battles ever fought by those brave Polish fighters.
This story I have very briefly told (and left a lot out) was the first seven days to one of the bloodiest wars in the history of the World
And the photographs that will be on here shortly will be showing the 7 days of that epic struggle
To tell the story about the start of the 2nd World War you must go back to the Great War, and the Treaty of Versailles signed by Germany in 1919 that lead to the sowing of the seed that started the war.
The Free City of Danzig was declared in 1920, which gave the Poles the right of free port access, its own postal service and telegraphic services.
As the Polish people only made up 5-10% of the population this caused resentment and it was not long before the German dominated council prevented the Poles using the port and by 1933 there were a lot of bitter disputes in Danzig and it became a hot political potato which Hitler used as a political weapon in his Nazi Propaganda machine, stirring up hatred of the Pole’s and saying Danzig which is the German name for Westerplatte was a German City.
Westerplatte was virtually an Island created out of the sands of the mighty river Vistula and the sea just connected to the mainland by a tiny stretch of sand
Westerplatte is a 1300 metres long, 500metres across and about 200 metres wide and in 1929 it had a Polish garrison of 88 men and 20 NCO’s and a stockpile of ammunition which in the following years held off everything the might of the German Army could throw at it.
As soon as Hitler gained power the Polish General Staff started to prepare Westerplatte for a possible attack by the Nazi Paramilitary groups thinking they would begin an assault by land, how wrong they were.
The polish barracks which were built in 1934 and finished in 1935 consisted of guardrooms forming a ring around a centrally placed barracks all linked with a brilliant system of crisscross machine gun fire which could be fired from ground level by the men in the basements through hatches designed to look like ventilation grills with the central barracks designed to be bomb proof by building the roof to absorb high impact bombs to go through the roof, with all the debris from the 2 floors piling up on the basement in a big mound which was very strongly reinforced with RSJ’s
So the preparations for an attack went on relentlessly smuggling in anti tank guns, mortars and a 75mm anti-tank gun which was assembled in the garage.
Leading up to war the Germans began to secretly move into Danzig under the cover of darkness thousand of men and war material began to pour in.
When finally ready the German Brigade totalled over 12,000 men, 44 field guns, 12 anti-aircraft guns, 48 anti-tank guns 500 light machine guns and 160 medium light machine guns
All waiting for the command to rid the city of Polish presence with the help of 100’s of SS who had been recruited in the Danzig region.
The Germans had a very cunning plan. They told the Polish Government that they intended to visit the city to honour the war dead of the German cruiser Magdeburg that had been sunk in 1914 of Finland as some of the sailors were buried in Danzig.
The Ship finally chosen to go on the 25th August 1939 by the Germans was the Schleswig-Holstein, so the deceit began parading round the city with brass bands to the great joy of the crowds that came to see them. On the night all was quiet as the Schleswig-Holstein was moored opposite the Guardroom on the Westerplatte. Moving up and down the river all the time planning and taking measurements for its mighty four 280mmguns.Countdown to the start of World War Two had begun.
Day One
At 4-15 a.m. on August 31st 1939 as a mist spread over the Westerplatte a single shot rang out and everyone on both side sprang to alert attention, no one knew who fired it. At 4-47a.m. tracer fire went over the heads of the polish defenders.
The First day of War had began
With the garrison alarms ringing the Polish Major Henryk Sucharski put the garrison on battle alert as tracer fire and shells landed nearby not knowing what was about to happen. The guns of the Schleswig-Holstien were firing from a range of 500metres at zero angle smashing through everything in its path and within seconds the workshops and houses had gone up in flames.
The German High Command had expected the Garrison to surrender within a few hours and Westerplatte flooded with German Shock Troops what a shock they were about to receive from that small Polish Major Sucharski
At 4-55a.m. the firing from the Battleship stopped, two German platoons rushed forward supported by machine gun fire, but the Polish Corporal with a light machine gun and two other soldier stopped the German army in its tracks from a position on the embankment hideout he mowed the running troops down like a scythe cutting grass, who had to retreat to reorganize.
Meanwhile Warrant Officer Jan Gryezman who was in another outpost cut the Germans down in the crossfire inflicting heavy losses on the first platoon.
The second platoon was thrown into panic at this onslaught and fell back to regroup and fetching their dead.
At 6-22a.m. and their losses were 40-50 killed and wounded
The Germans high command were told about the Polish marksmen in the woods so the Great Battleship turned to fire broadside all of its guns at the woods
At 7.40 a.m. the firing began, stopping at 8-55 at which point it had fired 90, 280mm shells. 407, 150mm shells. 366, AA Shells. And 3,000 rounds of 20mm.
The firing had managed to knock out the Polish 75mm Field Gun the largest piece of equipment they possessed
Then the German Army advance onto the wood.
Gryezman who was in the outpost survived and retreated back into the guardroom
10-55 a.m. the Germans were near the guardroom
11-55a.m. the Germans had retreated with all machine guns lost
1.00p.m the German high command were told taking Westerplatte by assault troops was impossible.
The next day on Goring’s instructions they ordered 60-70 Stukas to wipe the place of the map and mop up with the German marines
During the night under the instructions of the Polish Major Sucharski two men were sent out to unscrew sections of the railway track from the railway to the guardroom which they did under the shadows of the German machine gunners with only the distant firing to the muffle the sound as they unscrewed the bolts on the railway track.
Day Two
On Saturday morning at 1-30 Admiral Albrecht was told that the planned air raid was cancelled.
At Midday Hitler ordered Westerplatte to be taken that day, but it was agreed without the support of the Stukka’s, heavy artillery and flamethrowers it could not be done.
So the polish garrison was harassed all day by artillery fire and sniper patrols.
They were told that the air strike would take place that evening at 6-00p.m.
The Stukka’s took the Polish garrison by complete surprise zooming in at tree top height and dropping their bombs one after another for 40 minutes, 60 Stukka’s in total in two groups dropping 8, 500kg bombs. 50, 250kg bombs and over 100, 100kg. Fragmentation bombs.
If the Germans would have followed it up with an all out infantry attack the garrison would have not survived but for some reason the expected attack never came and late that evening the brave Polish Garrison fought of another two attacks.
Day Three
Further attacks took place all through the day but the German forces were beaten back time and time again.
Day Four
On Monday morning at 7.00a.m. Westerplatte was shelled from all sides. The situation was become quiet bad for the Polish band of heroes so bad in fact Major Sucharski raised the possibility of surrender which the officers and the NCO rejected to a man and all decided to fight on.
Day Six
From 9.00 a.m. till 10.45 a.m. the Germans shelled the Barrack guardrooms and compound with heavy field howitzers with the Schleswig-Holstein firing in support.
It must have been hell on earth under all that rubble, bravely the Poles fought on, now all in the basements with the building and rubble on top of them, the wounded all lying on the floor, with every explosion being peppered with steel shell splinters dust and concrete with no escape. The company doctor could not cope as the men were wounded over and over again. With gangrene setting in on the men who were wounded a few days before. All hot food tea and coffee were lost during the second day so all the wounded had to drink was hot water and anything that could be scavenged from the NCOs Mess.
Over the other side of the canal the German dead were being buried with full military honours to the tunes of the Fatherland played by the Ships musicians.
Day Six
At 3.00a.m. the Germans filled Railway wagons to the brim with fuel with the intention of incinerating the woods and guardhouse but the Poles hit it with anti tank fire and it failed. Then the flamethrowers were bought in which also failed.
A second attempt was made with the fuel in the railway trucks but again it failed when the carriage hit the rails the Poles had taken the bolts out and it overturned setting the woods on fire.
Relentlessly the attacks went on all through the day and night, while in the basement the wounded were dying but still they agreed to hold out.
Major Sucharski stated if the wounded deteriorated to a desperate condition he would order his men to lay down their arms and surrender whether they liked it or not.
Day Seven
3.00 a.m. The German marines moved in to occupy positions they occupied on the first day of fighting
4.20 a.m. The Schleswig-Holstein opened fire at the decimated little patch of ground Major Sucharski held sweeping slowly from the east rolling slowly to the central part supported by A.A. guns and machine gun fire.
5.00 a.m. the shelling stopped and the assault troops moved in
5.50 a.m. the Schleswig –Holstein concentrated all of her firepower on the guardroom which received a direct hit and collapsed, the Poles survived by nothing short of a miracle retreating into the sub-basement.
6.20.a.m. the Schleswig-Holstein stopped firing and moved away.
Supporting the assault troops were the marines, pioneers and infantry with platoons of anti-tank guns and mortars and even with all this support the brave Polish fighters kept them at bay.
7.25 a.m. The Germans called their attack off. Then a bombardment of unimaginable power was unleashed at the blockhouse and guardroom.
Major Sucharski’s men were determined to fight to the death and desperately wanted to make a last stand dying at their posts but the Major knew his men could take no more and told them the garrison had achieved its objective by telling the rest of the World what was going on and ordered a white flag of surrender to be put up first in the barracks then in the dug-out.
Slowly those brave band of men came out into the open emerging from the rubble away from what they thought was going to be their graves, gathering in front of the ruins were Major Sucharski finally surrender
11.33 a.m. The German High Command received a message “Westerplatte surrender”
That afternoon while being marched to captivity a command rang out and all the German soldiers flanking the prisoners sprang to attention and saluted as a mark of respect for a gallant foe.
Westerplatte has gone down in Polish history as one of the most remarkable battles ever fought by those brave Polish fighters.
This story I have very briefly told (and left a lot out) was the first seven days to one of the bloodiest wars in the history of the World
And the photographs that will be on here shortly will be showing the 7 days of that epic struggle
