Monday 18 September 1939

Red Army soldier guarding a Polish PWS-26 trainer aircraft shot down near the city of Równe (Rivne, now Ukraine) in the Soviet-occupied part of Poland. September 18, 1939.

Battle of Poland: German troops enter Lublin after a short battle in the suburbs on 18 September 1939. Army Lublin and Army Kraków under general Tadeusz Piskor attempt to break through the German positions around Tomaszów towards the Romanian Bridgehead area. They attack in the morning, and by 1 p.m. half of the town is in Polish hands. However, the 4th Light Division of XXII Panzer Corps, part of a large German troop concentration to the south, joins the battle, striking rear Polish units and forcing a withdrawal. Warsaw Brigade tries again that night, and fails again.

In Wilno (Vilnius),  Podpułkownik (Lieutenant Colonel) Podwysocki defends the city with scratch forces and manages to stave off the complete occupation. Soviet forces take the airfield and Rasos Cemetery.

Battle of the Atlantic: The Polish submarine Orzeł escapes from internment at Tallinn, headed for Scotland (which it reaches in October). The Soviets accuse Estonia of helping the Orzeł to escape and threaten to enter Estonian territorial waters to search for the submarine. Estonia, of course, is on Stalin's list for later occupation pursuant to the secret protocols of the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact.

German Propaganda: William Joyce, later known as Lord Hee-Haw, makes his first English-language propaganda broadcasts over German radio to England.

Soviet propaganda paper "Izvestiya" publishes this map on September 18, 1939 - one day after the Soviet invasion of Poland. It shows the demarcation line previously agreed under the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact.

Future History: Frankie Avalon is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (some sources give his year of birth as 1940). Avalon makes his first television appearance at age 12, playing the horn. He becomes one of the top pop stars of the 1950s, and in fact has the last No. 1 song of the 1950s, "Why." He also becomes a top film actor, appearing in the "Beach Blanket' films with Annette Funicello. He remains a working actor in 2016.

Frankie Avalon is born on 18 September 1939.

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

2019