Posted on 09/09/2009 5:44:05 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
A key to the map symbols is on my profile
http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-in-europe/war-in-britain/war-in-britain-index-1939.htm
Advance elements of the BEF begin to a arrive in France.
http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-in-europe/western-europe/western-europe-index-1939.htm
The 4th Army (von Kluge) captures Lodz and Radom, as the 4th Panzer Division reaches the outskirts of Warsaw. Further penetrations in to the suburbs of Warsaw by the 4th Panzer Divisions are repulsed by the cities defenders.
http://www.worldwar-2.net/timelines/war-in-europe/eastern-europe/eastern-europe-index-1939.htm
In Poland... The German 4th Panzer Division, part of the German 16th Panzer Corps, mounts an attack in the southeast suburbs of Warsaw but is beaten off. The German command believes that almost all the Polish forces have retired east of the Vistula River but in fact fresh units from the Poznan Army and part of the Pomorze Army have joined together around Kutno.
About 10 Polish divisions are assembling in this area under the command of General Tadeusz Kutrzeba. They now begin a counterattack over the Bzura River against the German 8th Army. The battles which follow will be the hardest fought of the campaign. Initially, the Poles gain some success.
On the Western Front... French troops advance into the Warndt Forest across the German border and occupy 3 square miles of German territory. The action is widely viewed as having more propaganda than military purpose since the region, referred to by the French as “occupied Germany,” is deserted, heavily mined and booby-trapped.
In France... The last of 13 RAF squadrons arrives in move begun on September 4th to strengthen the British Expeditionary Force.
From Moscow... Molotov prematurely congratulates the Germany for the “entry of German troops into Warsaw” and promises Soviet intervention “within the next few days.”
From Berlin... Goring threatens reprisals against Britain if the RAF bombs Germany and boasts that Berlin will never be subjected to enemy aerial attack. He says that “the Polish Army will never emerge again from the German embrace.” Ribbentrop invites the Soviets to advance to their new common frontier, the Narew, Vistula and San rivers (the Bug and Pissa would eventually replace the Vistula to avoid a divided Warsaw.
Interesting read on Roosevelt’s Emergency Proclamation and subsequent actions.
Never let a crisis go to waste - even a war...
NAVAL EVENTS: Saturday, 9 September
British northern waters - the Admiralty received reports that exaggerated the capability of German bombers and decided that for the time being, Scapa Flow was too vulnerable to air attack.
Netlayer GUARDIAN departed Scapa Flow on the 9th to put down an anti-submarine net in Loch Ewe.
British east coast –destroyers made a number of depth charge attacks on contacts off Norfolk, starting with JERVIS and JUPITER at 1042, 40 miles west of Orfordness, JAVELIN and JERSEY at 1400, one mile west of Haisborough, JERSEY at 1453, 16 miles west of Cromer, and JUPITER 1510, 24 miles north of Cromer.
Convoy FN.2 departed Southend, and arrived at Methil on the 10th.
Norwegian waters - two German steamers ran aground - CLARE HUGO STINNES I (5294grt) on Raftsund in the Lofotens, refloated on the 17th and BALDUR (5805grt) near Lister, later salved
North Sea –Dutch steamer MARK (1514grt) sank on a mine
Submarine URSULA on patrol in the Heligoland Bight 35 miles NW of Borkum Island in 53-52N, 06-05E fired four torpedoes at U.35 at 1912 and one more at 1933, but all missed. U.23, also in the area, reported being missed by three torpedoes at 1950 and U.21 reported sighting submarine URSULA.
German waters - U.22 arrived at Kiel. U.58 arrived at Kiel.
Baltic - Polish submarine ZBIK laid 20 mines NE of Heisternest, at 54-45N, 18-44E, one of which accounted for German minesweeper M.85.
Dover Straits - minelayer ADVENTURE and auxiliary minelayers HAMPTON and SHEPPERTON arrived at Dover for operations.
British Expeditionary Force - the first BEF convoy arrived in France and by 7 October, 161,000 men, 24,000 vehicles and 140,000 tons of stores had reached France. Troops and vehicles were convoyed from Southampton, tanks, guns, ammunition and stores from Newhaven and petrol from Poole and Fawley.
Among the British merchant ships involved were ACHILLES (11,404grt), BELLEROPHON (9019grt), EURYMEDON (6223grt), GLENEARN (8986grt). GLENSTRAE (9460grt), LYCAON (7350grt), MARON (6487grt), RHESUS (6530grt). Steamer GLOUCESTER CITY (3071grt) was among six fitted to carry ammunition.
Engish Channel - Destroyer KEITH attacked a submarine contact near Wolf Rock.
UK-out convoys - OA.2 sailed from Southend and destroyers JACKAL, JANUS, JUNO from Devonport on the 9th to escort the convoy, but JUNO returned on the 10th. JACKAL and JANUS joined up on the 11th, the convoy dispersed at 1600/12th in 49-30N, 12-30W and the destroyers returned to Devonport on the 13th.
OB.2 departed Liverpool on the 9th escorted by destroyers VANQUISHER, WALKER, WINCHELSEA, but WINCHELSEA was soon detached to escort convoy OB.3 on the 11th.
Southwestern Approaches - aircraft carrier COURAGEOUS with destroyers KEMPENFELT, ARDENT, ECHO left Plymouth for anti-submarine duties in the Western Approaches in Operation AS.2. At 1030/10th, COURAGEOUS’ aircraft attacked a submarine contact 280 miles W by S of Ushant and at 1250/10th made another attack 270 miles west of Ushant. During these operations, a Swordfish of 822 Squadron was unable to locate the carrier at the end of its patrol on the 10th and lost with its crew, Lt W A H Playfair, Sub Lt (A) H A Wheatman, Naval Airman 1/c F Frizzel. COURAGEOUS arrived at Milford Haven late on the10th, departed on the 11th and all ships arrived back at Plymouth on the 14th.
U.48 unsuccessfully attacked steamer JAMAICA PROGRESS SW of Ireland.
Mediterranean - destroyer GRENVILLE made a submarine contact at 0508, but was relieved by destroyers MOHAWK and SIKH so she could continue on to Malta.
Destroyer WISHART attacked on a submarine contact off Gibraltar.
Convoy Blue 1 departed Alexandria and Port Said with twenty ships, escorted by destroyers HARDY, HASTY, HEREWARD, HERO, HOSTILE and sloop ABERDEEN which all departed Port Said on the 9th. On reaching Gibraltar on the 19th, the convoy was redesignated HG.1 for passage to England.
Indian Ocean - destroyer STRONGHOLD had left Plymouth on 26 August for duty with the China Force. She then departed Malta on the 2nd, Suez on the 6th, and reached Aden on this date, the 9th. Arriving at Bombay on the 13th, she departed on the 15th, reached Colombo on the 17th, left the 18th and arrived at Singapore on the 23rd.
Light cruiser GLOUCESTER departed Mombasa on patrol and arrived back on the 15th.
Light cruiser MANCHESTER departed Colombo on patrol and arrived back on the 14th.
Chinese waters - heavy cruiser DORSETSHIRE departed Shanghai and arrived at Hong Kong on the 18th.
Australian waters - Australian destroyer STUART on patrol off Terrigal in Broken Bay, north of Sydney, attacked a submarine contact which later proved to be rocks. On the 10th, she continued the hunt with destroyer WATERHEN, both of which had just completed recommissioning trials.
Funny you should say that...FDR already had a domestic crisis with his assorted failing depression era federal works projects. The war came along at a most fortuitous time for him.
He spent the next two years trying to get into it.
...and he succeeded, with the help of the Japanese.
"Ursula started the war operating in home waters. On 9 September 1939, she fired the first British submarine torpedoes of the war when attacking the German submarine U-35."
HMS Ursula was transferred to the Soviet navy in 1944, returned to Britain in 1950 and scrapped.
U-35 was another Type VIIA, commanded by Werner Lott, who survived its November 1939 sinking and died in 1997, at age 89.
New York Times Editorial, September 9, 1939
"If the heavy fighting now in progress at the gates of Warsaw should end in the capture of the city by the German Army it would be both as military blow and a national tragedy for the Poles.
"A capital many times fought for, lost and regained, it is at once a city and a symbol of nationhood to this sorely beset and passionately patriotic people. this time, squeezed by powerful mechanized armies advancing on three sides, it has been bravely and tenaciously defended against overwhelming odds.
"The retreat was not a rout. It marked the end of the first phase of Polish resistance, based on delaying tactics, but it may also mark the beginning of a second phase, based on the strategy of drawing the German armies farther into a more difficult and therefore more easily defensible country.
"It has been forecast from many quarters that if the German Army once gained full control of Warsaw, Hitler, or perhaps Mussolini acting in behalf of Hitler, would propose an armistice on the western front and a prompt discussion of terms of peace. The German or the Italian argument would be that Germany has no quarrel with the western Powers; that her only quarrel has been with Poland; that this quarrel could now be settled in such a manner as to prevent any recurrence of hostilities in the future, and that it would be an act of reckless folly on the part of the western Powers to prolong the war in such circumstances.
"If such a proposal should actually be made, the only nations which are entitled to express an opinion regarding its acceptance are those nations -- France and Britain -- which would have to accept the enormous sacrifices involved in a continuation of the war.
"Neutral nations like our own, comfortable remote from the war in its present phase, indeed in a position to profit by its continuance in certain material respects, would have no right whatever to give advice or to resort to exhortation in the matter.
"We should, however, do the French and British less than justice if we failed to note that they have hitherto taken the position that the fate of Poland is inseparable from the larger question of preventing brute force and unprovoked aggression from becoming established as the controlling forces in Europe.
"It is in this larger cause that they have gone to war, and to the Polish people Mr. Chamberlain said on Thursday evening, when German armies were already at the gates of Warsaw, that "those who have taken up arms in such a cause are assured, whatever sacrifices they may be called upon to make, a victory in the end."
I note some very interesting points here:
"Prolong the war," to my ears sounds like the anti-war language of Vietnam. Curious to see it here, already, in the first days of WWII -- the language of losers.
At least the ones they see being drawn into an unwinnable conflict are the Germans instead of the U.S. or the allies.
Gestapo arrests many ex-socialists.....
purge
United States Government Printing Office Washington: 1942
c. Phase III: September 9-14--Encirclement of Polish armies.
(1) Fourteenth Army (List).--On the evening of September 8, troops of the Fourteenth Army had reached the general line Gorlice-Pilzno-Debica. In their front the Polish armies were trying to retire to defensive positions behind the San River. This withdrawal, which was made in two groups, was not carried out entirely in an orderly manner. The Cracow Army Group moved northeastward in order to defend the lower San and the Vistula, from Zawichos, near their confluence, to Lezajsk. The Przemysl Group, which now consisted of only two divisions, withdrew due east toward Lemberg in order to bar the upper San from Lezajsk to the Carpathians.
The German advance during this period was unusually rapid. The two armored divisions of the Fourteenth Army, the 2d Panzer and the 4th Light Divisions, cut loose from the foot divisions, dashed toward the San, and seized its crossings before they could be organized for defense.
On September 9 the army had reached the line Dukla-Rzeszow-Kolbuszowa, an advance of 35 miles in some places. The following day the Fourteenth Army gained very important tactical and strategic successes. The advanced armored divisions that had occupied Rzeszow on the 9th forged ahead 40 miles more on the 10th and seized bridgeheads on the east bank of the San at Radymno and Jaroslav.
The 24th Polish division, which should have denied the crossing in this sector, had retired in a more northerly direction and was not near Jaroslav. Thus the armored forces were able to cross the San unhampered at this point.
An equally important success was gained by the 1st German Mountain Division, which forced a crossing of the San at Sanok, in the Carpathian foothills, against strong resistance by the 11th Polish Division, which withdrew toward Przemysl.
The Fourteenth Army pressed forward in forced marches to the north and south of the fortress of Przemysl, its pursuit gaining momentum. On the 12th the army's right flank reached Sambor. A strong detachment of Infantry was loaded in requisitioned trucks and dispatched toward Lemberg. On the same day armored units from Jaroslav reached the outskirts of Lemberg, and for the next few days confused fights occurred in its environs. Thirty miles west, the 11th and 24th Polish Divisions, endeavoring to retire toward Lemberg, were intercepted near Grodek and halted.
Northwest of Lemberg, armored units succeeded on September 13 in crossing the Lublin-Lemberg highway at Tomaszow Lubelski and Rawa Ruska. On this day the main elements of the Polish Cracow Army Group were in the vicinity of Bilgoraj, on the east bank of the San, far in the rear of these armored forces.
Seizure of the San line, the last suitable defensive position in south Poland, was a strategic success that opened eastern Galicia to the German invaders and prevented the retreat of the Polish forces south into Rumania. The Cracow Army Group had no recourse but to continue retreating eastward in the hope of finding temporary refuge in the roadless wilderness of the Pripet Swamps.
(2) Tenth Army (von Reichenau).--During the period September 9-14 the Tenth Army fought in two distinct combat groups in widely separated sectors.
On the right wing General Hoth's panzer corps, which had cut across the line of withdrawal of the 3d, 12th, 19th, and 29th Polish Divisions at Radom and Zwolen, now received the support of German foot divisions in attacking this Polish force of more than 60,000 men. On the 9th and 10th the four Polish divisions were completely encircled. Battered from all sides, they made desperate efforts to escape but failed. The bulk of the force surrendered on the 12th--60,000 officers and men, 143 guns, and 38 tanks.
On the left wing, General Hoepner's panzer corps renewed its attack on Warsaw, employing Lieutenant General Reinhardt's 4th Panzer Division and motorized Infantry. At first the attack penetrated almost to the city's main railway station, but Polish resistance was too strong for such a small force. At nightfall the German troops withdrew to the western suburbs. During the next few days they awaited reinforcements, but support came slowly and was insufficient for a renewal of the attack. The repulse suffered by the armored units in this first effort to storm Warsaw taught the German Army an important lesson from which it profited in many subsequent battles. This was to isolate cities and strong fortifications by passing around them, leaving their reduction to the motorized and foot divisions that followed the armored spearheads.
Meanwhile a great crisis had arisen north of Lodz and along the Bzura, where the main Polish armies withdrawing from Posen and Thorn had attacked the Eighth Army with considerable success. Every unit that could be spared from the Tenth Army was rushed to the assistance of the Eighth.
Almost the entire left wing of the Tenth Army was thrown into the battle on the Bzura and only a screening force was left to contain the Polish forces in Warsaw. The critical phase of the Bzura battle came on the 11th and 12th, when Polish divisions captured Sochaczew and secured strong footholds on the right bank of the Bzura. Further details of this battle are given below in the operations of the Eighth Army.
After its success at Radom the right wing of the Tenth Army seized bridgeheads on the east bank of the Vistula at Pulawy and Annapol. These bridgeheads were widened and deepened on the 14th.
(3) Eighth Army (von Blaskowitz).--On the evening of September 8 the Eighth Army had passed Lodz to the east and west and had reached the line Ozorkow-Brzeziny-Lodz, according to plan, was not to be occupied until the 9th. The army commander hoped to seize the line of the Bzura on the 9th as a means of fulfilling his mission of protecting the left flank of the Tenth Army.
Polish forces were known to be in and around Kutno and along the Bzura, but their strength was gravely underestimated. The German High Command believed that these forces amounted to only five infantry divisions and two cavalry brigades. Actually they comprised 12 divisions and the 2 brigades, more than double the strength of the Eighth Army. More than half of these forces had not hitherto been engaged.
General von Blaskowitz, however, had carefully watched his left flank, and the 30th Division, which he had echeloned behind and to the left of his X Corps, proved to be the salvation of his army. Nevertheless, this division alone was too weak to hold the Polish forces.
Early on the 9th the Eighth Army took the offensive against the line of the Bzura. Unclarified though the situation was on the army's front, von Blaskowitz, in attacking, acted in accordance with an old German precept: In a doubtful situation the offensive is the best policy and the seizure of the initiative compensates for the weakness of one's own force. The necessary corollary to this precept in the German doctrine is that reinforcements must be provided to maintain any advantages gained. By utilizing the mobility of motorized and armored units, those reinforcements ultimately were provided, and were to turn a threatened disaster into victory.
A local crisis began to develop on the 9th and 10th on the left flank, where the 30th Division was struck by five Polish divisions. The advance guard of the 30th Division was 10 miles ahead of the main body in Leczyca and the division commander vainly endeavored to regain contact by counterattack. He failed, and the division, including the advance guard, withdrew to the southeast.
The X Corps advanced rapidly and seized the various crossings over the Bzura. On the 9th the Eighth Army, seized Lowicz and Sochaczew on the river, northwest of Lodz. Also on the 9th the 30th Division reached Leczyca. These advances, however, were made only after heavy fighting and they resulted in many casualties. By the morning of the 11th the Army was spread out on a broad front and forced to assume the defensive.
On the 12th the Polish Army, seizing the opportunity for a possible escape through the encircling German armies, counterattacked along the whole front of the Bzura, Its main effort was made west of Lowicz and drove the German forces west of the town back across the Bzura. Continued hard fighting on the 12th drove the German forces on to Strykow.
The crisis was finally overcome, however, by three German countermeasures:
(a) Every available man and tank of the Tenth Army as well as tank elements of the Third Army were diverted from the vicinity of Warsaw to stop the Polish troops that had captured Lowicz and Sochaczew.
(b) Reserve divisions close behind the Eighth Army were rushed into position
(c) German Air Force units were diverted from their strategic missions.
The mass of the Eighth Army was turned completely around from Skierniewice toward the Bzura for the counterattack. The XIII Corps east of Lodz was turned north and arrived in time to check the Poles east of Lowicz. A portion of the Tenth Army also turned north to assist in holding the Lowicz line and to cut through the Vistula between Warsaw and the Bzura. By the 14th the Polish attacks were completely halted.
For their part, the reinforced Air Force units assigned to help the Eighth Army launched strong bombardments against the Polish forces north of Lodz on the 11th and 12th. These attacks impeded their movements, paralyzed their reserves, and destroyed their supply installations, contributing in good measure to the final success of the German Army along the Bzura.
(4) Fourth Army (von Kluge).--At the opening of this phase the Fourth Army was divided into two corps groups, one on each side of the Vistula. The III Corps had reached positions south of Bromberg on September 8, and the II Corps on the north bank had passed the Drewenz River and reached the town of Lypin.
The III Corps, consisting only of foot divisions, moved southeastward by forced marches to join in the great battle raging on the Bzura between Kutno and Lodz. This corps was near Kutno on the evening of the 14th.
The II Corps made daily advances of extraordinary depth. By the 10th, Plock on the north bank of the Vistula and northeast of Kutno had been captured, and on the 12th the town of Wysogrod, opposite the mouth of the Bzura, was seized.
During this advance of the Fourth Army, frontier detachments and militia units of the German Army entered the Province of Posen which had been evacuated by Polish regular units, No resistance was encountered and the entire region, unwasted by war, fell into German hands.
(5) Third Army (von Kuechler).--On September 9 the Third Army reached the Bug River between Serock and Brok and gained a foothold on the south bank in the vicinity of Wyszkow. The following day Wyszkow and Brok were captured, and on the 11th two of the three defending Polish divisions, the 8th and the 20th, withdrew southwestward into Warsaw, The other division of this group, the 1st, retreated southeastward toward Siedlce.
Advancing rapidly on the 12th, the Third Army cut the railroad lines leading from Warsaw to Bialystok and Siedlce. The bulk of the army then turned westward toward Warsaw. On the 14th a line of investment opposite the suburb of Praga was occupied and the encirclement of the Polish capital was completed. A second major operation of the Third Army in this phase was the advance on Brest Litovsk, which had been started on September 9 by the strong group of divisions that had been assembling in the area Lyck-Johannisburg. In a series of rapid advances this group captured Brest Litovsk on the 14th. Meanwhile the 18th Polish Division at Ostroleka, finding German forces on all sides, tried to withdraw southeastward, but it was surrounded near Ostrow Mazowieckie and lost 6,000 prisoners and 18 guns.
The encirclement of Warsaw and the capture of Brest Litovsk were the two most important successes of the Third Army during this phase. The first helped eventually to seal the fate of the Polish capital and the second insured that Poland would be unable to offer effective resistance in her vast eastern territories.
(6) Air operations.--During the period September 9-15 the German air fleets carried out large-scale bombardments designed to paralyze the entire Polish railroad net east of the Vistula and to prevent the transport westward by rail of reserve units mobilizing in East Poland. These operations were partly interrupted between September 11 and 14 by the necessity of diverting bombing squadrons to assist the hard-pressed Eighth Army north of Lodz.
(7) Polish strategy (Map No. 3).--As the situation of the Polish armies grew more critical, especially in the bend of the Vistula, the Polish High Command on September 10 finally began to issue a series of orders that were intended to effect a retirement of Poland's hard pressed armies to the southeast for a stand in East Little Poland. Full advantage was to be taken of existing rivers in the zone of retirement. In this region, in addition to a comparatively few whole divisions which had managed to escape encirclement, a considerable number of reservists and remnants of units were accumulated. A great shortage of weapons and other supplies, however, made it impossible to equip these troops properly.
By the time the last of the orders had been issued on September 15 by the Polish High Command, the retirement generally called for-
(a) A covering force along the right bank of the Vistula from the vicinity of Warsaw to Sandomierz, thence along the west bank of the San River to the Carpathian Mountains, with the mission of preparing and holding crossings for the troops in the Bzura region who were ordered to fight their way to the southeast. That part of the covering position south of Sandomierz was to make the greatest holding effort.
(b) A drive in the direction of Radom-Krasnik for the forces in the general vicinity of Kutno.
(c) A delaying action of the forces on the Bug River toward the southeast in the direction of Siedlce-Parczew, to positions behind the line Deblin-Wieprz River-Kock-Brest Litovsk.
(d) The organization of isolated centers of defense which were to remain at Warsaw, Modlin, Brest Litovsk, the vicinity of Krasnik, Wlodzimierz, Sokal, Tomaszow Lubelski, Przemysl, Lemberg, and Tarnopol.
(e) A final defensive line-for forces withdrawing behind the covering position-from which further operations could be conducted, in the area south of the Dniester River through Halicz, Zydaczow, Stryj, Skole, to the east of the Stryj River. For the protection of the crossing of the Stryj and Dniester Rivers, bridgeheads were established and garrisoned by infantry divisions from the region of Mosciska-Sadowa Wisznia. This final position was also intended to protect the communications with Rumania.
The desperate efforts made by the Polish forces to escape encirclement on the Bzura River temporarily relieved the pressure on other fronts. But the withdrawal plan as a whole was not possible of execution because of the rapidity of the break-through by the German armored divisions and their unexpected interception of retiring Polish columns.
Reading of the exploits of the German 8th Army prompted me to read the Wikipedia entry for General von Blaskowitz. His name did not resonate like those of some better known Wehrmacht officers. He was sort of shunted aside after the battle for France in 1940 and didn't re-emerge until '44.
I think the “Warsaw Station Suddenly Silent” is the one that was the subject of “The Pianist.”
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