September 15, 1939: Warsaw Surrounded

Friday 15 September 1939

Jews being humiliated by Wehrmacht troops in Przemysl by shaving off their beards.

Battle of Poland: German radio reports on September 15, 1939, that Wehrmacht troops have surrounded Warsaw. The Third Army from Army Group North attacks Praga. The German forces attack on both sides of the Vistula. Polish forces defeat the German 23rd Infantry at Grochów with heavy Wehrmacht casualties. Polish Major General Juliusz Rómmel, in charge of the Warsaw Army and the Modlin Fortress,  rejects a surrender demand.

German troops occupy oil fields in Galicia.

Wehrmacht troops cross the East Prussian border.

Radio Warsaw claims that forces at Lwow have repulsed a German attack.

General Guderian's XIX Corps surrounds Brest-Litovsk.

Polish submarine Orzeł, which has been at sea, reaches Tallinn in Estonia and is interned at German request.

Western Front: Operation Saar continues without making any progress.

War at Sea: The first convoys from Kingston, Jamaica sets out for England.

Regular convoys also are sailing between Glasgow and London.

European Air Operations: Germany radio broadcasts propaganda interviews of British and New Zealand airmen downed during the Wilhelmshaven raid on 4 September 1939.

Polish Propaganda: Radio Warsaw denounces the Luftwaffe attacks on open towns.

British Home Front: The Ministry of Information announces the seizure of goods destined for Germany, including 28,000 tons of petroleum.

Motorists form long queues at gas stations due to prospective petrol rationing.

Romania: Resisting foreign pressure, the government announces that it will grant asylum to Polish civilians and intern Polish military as required by international law.

Australia: The cabinet authorizes a volunteer force of 20,000.

Palestine: Tensions ease in Palestine due to a recognition of a common danger to world peace.

War Crimes:  Einsatzkommando of the Sipo (Sicher­heitspolizei), begin arresting some of the 20,000 Jews in Przemysl and taking them out to be shot and buried in mass graves.

Japanese/Soviet Relations: As the Soviets desired when signing the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact, Germany has pressured Japan into signing an armistice agreement ending the conflict in Manchukuo and Mongolia. That has the immediate consequence of formally ending the Khalkhin Gol incident. The talks were initiated by the Japanese cabinet.

Jackie Cochran with her record-setting Seversky.

US Aviation: Jackie Cochran sets a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Speed Record flying a Seversky AP-7A, civil registration NX1384, over a 1,000-kilometer course, from Burbank to San Francisco and back to Burbank. Cochran averages 492.34 kilometers per hour (305.93 miles per hour). It is a specially built racer and is the same plane that won the 1938 Bendix Trophy.

American Homefront: Aviator Charles Lindbergh, who has visited Germany and reviewed the Luftwaffe, makes an America First speech that is broadcast across the country. He states (somewhat presciently) "We must either keep out of European wars entirely or stay in European affairs permanently." His ultimate desire is to keep the United States out of the developing European conflict.

Night view of the World's Fair, New York City, September 15, 1939. The international situation is detrimental to the fair's success (Library of Congress).

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

2020