Saturday 23 September 1939

Polish POWs of the Germans, 23 August 1939.

Battle of Poland: At Krasnobród, the Polish cavalry of the Nowogródek Cavalry Brigade has assembled in some nearby forests. Early on the morning of 23 September 1939, they charge the town, which is located on a hill with and surrounded by anti-tank trenches. The German 8th Infantry Division is taken completely by surprise and falls back into the town. The Germans just so happen also to have cavalry at the town, and their cavalry responded but was beat back. The Poles, led by the 25th Greater Poland Uhlan Regiment under Col. Bogdan Stachlewski, take the town and capture the Germans' commanding officer, General Rudolf Koch-Erpach. Both sides take tremendous casualties, but it is a huge boost for Polish morale.

The Germans announce the fall of Lviv.

The surrounded Fortress of Modlin and nearby Warsaw continue to hold out. Morale is high even as rations dwindle.

German radio announces that Germany has taken 450,000 prisoners and destroyed 800 Polish planes.

German Propaganda: The German government issues a statement that proclaims: "The Polish Army of a million men has been defeated, captured, or routed. No single Polish active or reserve division escaped this fate." It states that organized resistance in Poland has ended, but for a few holdouts "in Warsaw, in Modlin and on the Hela Peninsula."

European Peace Efforts: Mussolini, in a speech to fellow fascists in Rome, urges a cease-fire and a peace based on current frontiers. He also somewhat ominously states that the country must "strengthen our army in preparation for any eventualities." He does, however, reiterate Italy's neutrality.

Battle of the Atlantic: Two Finnish steamers carrying cellulose, the Walma, and Martti-Ragnar, are sunk.

Western Front: German forces counter-attack to little purpose.

German/Soviet Relations: German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop tells his ambassador in Moscow, Schulenberg, that the time has come to sign a treaty for "the definitive structure of the Polish area" and that he is willing to fly to Moscow - again - to complete it.

German Navy: U-54 is commissioned.

Kapitän zur See Kurt-Caesar Hoffmann takes command of the Pocket Battleship Scharnhorst.

Holocaust: The Nazis confiscate all radios in the possession of Jews.

British Homefront: Sigmund Freud passes away from cancer of the mouth and jaw in London at age 83.

Latin American Relations: The Panama Conference (held in Panama) begins. It establishes a maritime security zone for 300 miles around the Americas, to be patrolled by a Neutrality Patrol. All hostile submarines are banned from the port.

The conference is formally titled "First Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics for Consultation Under the Inter-American Agreements of Buenos Aires and Lima.”

Japanese Government: Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura, considered a moderate, becomes a Foreign Minister in the government of General Abe.

American Homefront: Cookie Lavagetto of the Brooklyn Dodgers goes 6 for 6 as the Dodgers get 27 hits and beat the Philadelphia Phillies 22-4.

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