World War II was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated the Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy in 1945. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—China, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France.
1:40 AM: At the Polish-German border post in Jeziorki, near Piła (Schneidemühl), an exchange of fire occurred between a group of several dozen German saboteurs and a Polish border patrol. The 38-year-old Corporal Piotr Konieczka on the Polish side was killed.[1]
3:30 AM: The Polish border patrol on bikes was fired on by German soldiers near Krzepice.[2] German soldiers had already crossed the border line.
4:00 AM: The telephone line and the power supply to the Polish Post Office in Danzig were cut off.
4:30 AM: A bridge in Praszka was blown up by Corporal Józef Górecki with German soldiers on it who were attempting to cross the Polish border.[3]
4:34 AM: Dive bombers, commanded by Bruno Dilley, began bombing the Polish sappers positions of the bridge in Tczew to try to prevent the bridge from being blown up. However, the bridge on the important railway line connecting East Prussia and the Reich was blown up around 6.00 AM and started the German invasion of Poland.[4]
6.30 AM: Warsaw radio and all Polish radio stations broadcast a special message about the beginning of the war.
about 6:30 AM: Aerial combat occurred near Krakow. A Polish PZL P.11c, piloted by Mieczysław Medwecki, was shot down by a Junkers Ju 87, piloted by Frank Neubert. A German Dornier Do 17 E, of the 77th Luftwaffe Bomber Regiment, was shot down by a Polish PZL P.11c, piloted by Władysław Gnyś. As it fell to earth, it collided with a second German bomber, which also crashed.[7][8][9] They were the first Allied and Axis aircraft shot down during World War II. Gnyś and Neubert would meet decades later, in 1989.[10][8][11][12]
about 6.30 AM: From the observation point in Mława, a report was received by the staff of the Polish Pursuit Brigade about a bombing expedition headed for Warsaw. Colonel Pawlikowski ordered the start of the entire Brigade. At about 7:00 a.m. about 54 Polish fighters attacked in the Bugo-Narew region about 80 He 111 from LG 1 and KG 27 "Boelcke" in the cover of 20 Bf 109 from I (Z) / LG 1. German bombers are scattered, dropped bombs and hastily turned back. The expedition does not reach Warsaw[13]
Benito Mussolini ordered his ambassador in Berlin to ask for a telegram releasing Italy from any obligation to take part in the war. At 9:40 a.m. Hitler obliged with a cordial telegram saying he did not "expect to need Italy's military support in these circumstances."[15]
about 10:00 AM: German 4th Panzer Division is conducting second this day attempt to crush Mokra defences, loses 12 tanks (about 50 in total, 150 other vehicles and between 1st and 3rd September) during combat with Wołyńska Cavalry Brigade [clarification needed]
about 11:00 AM:[16] Hitler appeared before the Reichstag to explain his decision.[6] Those in the audience who didn't notice that Hitler was wearing a field-gray uniform instead of his usual brown jacket would have done so after he declared toward the end: "From now on I am just the first soldier of the German Reich. I have once more put on that coat that was the most sacred and dear to me. I will not take it off again until victory is assured, or I will not survive the outcome."[17]
about 1:00 PM: A second German attack on Westerplatte collapses after heavy losses on the German side
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt said at a press conference that "every effort" would be made by his administration to stay out of the war.[19]
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain appeared before the House of Commons shortly after 6:00 in the evening. "It now only remains for us to set our teeth and to enter upon this struggle, which we ourselves earnestly endeavoured to avoid, with determination to see it through to the end", he declared. "We shall enter it with a clear conscience, with the support of the Dominions and the British Empire, and the moral approval of the greater part of the world".[20]
7.00 PM: Personnel surrendered the Polish Post Office in Danzig after some 15 hours of fight. Its director, Jan Machoń, carried a white flag but was shot immediately. Most of the defenders would be executed a month later.
9.00 PM: British Ambassador to Germany Sir Nevile Henderson handed an ultimatum to Joachim von Ribbentrop. It declared that unless the British government received "satisfactory assurances" that Germany was prepared to withdraw from Polish territory, "His Majesty's Government will without hesitation fulfill their obligation to Poland". One hour later, the French ambassador delivered an identical note.[15]
The first International Film Festival (the forerunner to the Cannes Film Festival) was supposed to open on this day but was postponed indefinitely because of the day's events. The festival wound up screening only a single film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.[24]
A lone Polish PZL.23B light bomber attacks a German chemical factory in Ohlau, causing minor damage. It is the first air raid on German soil in World War II.[25]
3 PM: The Parliament of Second Polish Republic gathers for the last time.
French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier addressed the Chamber of Deputies reviewing the events of the past several days and France's commitment to intervene in Poland's defense. "This is the question I lay before the French nation, and all nations", Daladier said. "At the very moment of the aggression against Poland, what value has the guarantee, once more renewed, given for our eastern frontier, for our Alsace, for our Lorraine, after repudiation of the guarantees given in turn to Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland? More powerful through their conquests ... the aggressors would soon turn against France with all their forces. Thus, our honor is but the pledge of our own society. It is not that abstract and obsolete form of honor of which conquerors speak to justify their deeds of violence; it is the dignity of a peaceful people, which bears hatred toward no other people in the world and which never embarks upon a war save only for the sake of its freedom and of its life."[27]
At 7:44 p.m. Neville Chamberlain informed the House of Commons that no reply had yet been received from Germany regarding last night's ultimatum. Regarding the Italian peace proposal he said he appreciated the effort, but "His Majesty's Government, for their part, would find it impossible to take part in a conference while Poland is being subjected to invasion, her towns are under bombardment and Danzig is being made the subject of a unilateral settlement by force. His Majesty's Government will, as stated yesterday, be bound to take action unless the German forces are withdrawn from Polish territory."[31]
At 9:00 a.m. Britain gave Germany a deadline of 11:00 a.m. to announce that it was prepared to withdraw its troops from Poland or else a state of war would exist between Britain and Germany. The deadline passed with no response.[32]
At 11:15 a.m. Neville Chamberlain announced on BBC Radio that Britain and Germany were at war. "You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace has failed", Chamberlain said, sounding dispirited. "Yet I cannot believe that there is anything more or anything different that I could have done and that would have been more successful ... We and France are today, in fulfillment of our obligations, going to the aid of Poland, who is so bravely resisting this wicked and unprovoked attack upon her people. We have a clear conscience. We have done all that any country could do to establish peace, but a situation in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted and no people or country could feel themselves safe had become intolerable. And now that we have resolved to finish it, I know that you will all play your part with calmness and courage."[33][34]
At 12:00 noon, France gave Germany an ultimatum similar to Britain's with a 5:00 p.m. deadline. The deadline came and went with no reply, so France's war on Germany became official.[32][33]
Neville Chamberlain addressed the House shortly past noon and called it "a sad day for all of us, and to none is it sadder than to me. Everything that I have worked for, everything that I have hoped for, everything that I have believed in during my public life, has crashed into ruins. There is only one thing left for me to do; that is, to devote what strength and powers I have to forwarding the victory of the cause for which we have to sacrifice so much. I cannot tell what part I may be allowed to play myself; I trust I may live to see the day when Hitlerism has been destroyed and a liberated Europe has been re-established." Winston Churchill agreed that it was a sad day, but said "at the present time there is another note which may be present, and that is a feeling of thankfulness that, if these great trials were to come upon our Island, there is a generation of Britons here now ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and not unworthy of those great men, the fathers of our land, who laid the foundations of our laws and shaped the greatness of our country. This is not a question of fighting for Danzig or fighting for Poland. We are fighting to save the whole world from the pestilence of Nazi tyranny and in defence of all that is most sacred to man."[35]
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a fireside chat on the European war. "Let no man or woman thoughtlessly or falsely talk of America sending its armies to European fields", the president said. "At this moment there is being prepared a proclamation of American neutrality. This would have been done even if there had been no neutrality statute on the books, for this proclamation is in accordance with international law and in accordance with American policy ... I hope the United States will keep out of this war. I believe that it will. And I give you assurance and reassurance that every effort of your Government will be directed toward that end."[36]
At 6:00 p.m. George VI addressed the British Empire by radio. "For the second time in the lives of most of us we are at war", the king said. "Over and over again we have tried to find a peaceful way out of the differences between ourselves and those who are now our enemies. But it has been in vain ... The task will be hard. There may be dark days ahead and war is no longer confined to the battlefield but we can only do the right as we see the right and reverently commend our cause to God. If one and all be resolutely faithful today, ready for whatever service and sacrifice it may demand, with God's help we shall prevail."[37]
The three-day Battle of Grudziądz ended with Polish withdrawal from the city.
Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies made a radio address announcing that the country was at war with Germany. "Fellow Australians", Menzies began, "it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially, that in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia is also at war."[38]
The passenger liner SS Athenia was torpedoed and sunk in the Western Approaches by the German submarine U-30, the first British ship sunk by the Kriegsmarine in World War II. 128 civilian passengers and crew were killed.
Ten RAF Whitley bombers flew over the Ruhr region during the night and dropped millions of leaflets.[39] The leaflets told Germans that their country's wishes could have been settled peacefully but instead their government had "condemned you to mass murder, starvation and the hardships of war which you can never hope to win. Hitler has cheated not us but you." Breezes scattered the leaflets so widely that some of them were found in the Netherlands.[40]
In the early hours of the morning in New Zealand, Governor-GeneralLord Galway signed the country's declaration of war on Germany and backdated it to 9:30 p.m. the previous night, the equivalent of 11 a.m. on September 3 in England so it would match the time that Chamberlain declared war.[41]
Since Monday was Labor Day, the New York Stock Exchange opened for the first day of trading since Britain and France declared war. Stocks surged almost 10% on speculation of European demand for industrial products.[46][47]
A diplomatic incident between Britain and the United States occurred at Port Said, Egypt when British authorities removed two German engineers from the Don Isidro, a Philippine motorship under the American flag. The United States claimed the act was a violation of its neutral rights.[48]
The small steamer Bosnia became the first British freighter lost in the war when it was sunk by U-47.[5]
President Roosevelt declared a limited national emergency.[26] Increases were ordered in the enlisted strength of the army, navy and National Guard. Also, a $500,000 fund was allocated to assist in the return of American citizens stranded in war zones.[50]
A special morning edition of the Canada Gazette published the Canadian declaration of war against Germany. Signed by Prime Minister Mackenzie King and bearing the seal of Governor GeneralLord Tweedsmuir, it did "hereby declare and proclaim that a state of war with the German Reich exists and has existed in our Dominion of Canada as and from the tenth day of September, 1939."[54]
Nazi Germany issued two decrees virtually prohibiting private automobile use after September 20. Special permits would be required to buy gasoline after that date, and every privately owned rubber tire in the country was declared property of the state.[56]
Canada introduced its first war budget. Minister of National RevenueJames Lorimer Ilsley announced a new 20% surtax on personal income to pay for the war as well as tax increases on alcohol, tea, coffee and cigarettes. A deficit of $156 million was forecast for the fiscal year.[59]
The German submarine U-39 attacked the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal off Rockall Bank, but the torpedoes fell short of their target. Three British destroyers in the vicinity hunted down U-39 and disabled it with depth charges, rescuing all the crew. It was the first U-boat to be sunk in World War II.[62]
Orzeł incident: The Polish submarine Orzeł, at sea when hostilities broke out and unable to return to a Polish base, entered port in Tallinn. Estonian authorities, at the insistence of the German embassy, interned the submarine to prevent it from putting out to sea again.[63]
Charles Lindbergh made a nationwide radio broadcast in favor of American isolationism. "It is madness to send our soldiers to be killed as we did in the last war if we turn the course of peace over to the greed, the fear and the intrigue of European nations. We must either keep out of European wars entirely or stay in European affairs permanently", Lindbergh said. "We must not permit our sentiment, our pity, or our personal feelings of sympathy, to obscure the issue, to affect our children's lives ... America has little to gain by taking part in another European war."[64][65]
The Polish submarine Orzeł escaped from internment at Tallinn and began a perilous 27-day voyage to Scotland. The crew's navigational charts had been confiscated by Estonian military authorities but someone from the British embassy might have secretly provided them with new charts. The Soviets angrily accused Estonia of helping the Orzeł to escape and threatened to enter Estonian territorial waters to search for the submarine.[63]
William Joyce began making English-language propaganda broadcasts over German radio to England. He would earn the nickname Lord Haw-Haw.[28]
Hitler entered the former Free City of Danzig and gave a speech denouncing the Polish government and warning England that Germany would never capitulate even if the war lasted years.[69]
Reinhard Heydrich met with police and security officials in Berlin. Heydrich ordered that Germany's Jews and Romani be transferred to Poland using freight cars.[30]
President Roosevelt made a speech to Congress saying the United States should amend its Neutrality Acts to allow countries fighting Germany to purchase American arms. The president said the current laws stood to give passive "aid to an aggressor," while denying help to victimized nations.[71]
The Luftwaffe bombed Warsaw for the first time, reducing entire streets to rubble and causing widespread fires. The British government considered the bombing a breach of the pledge Germany made at the start of the war to refrain from indiscriminate attacks.[75][76]
In the Battle of Husynne, the Polish Army beat back a Soviet infantry corps but were surrounded and forced to surrender by a counterattack of Soviet tanks.
The French Communist Party and all of its affiliates were banned. The French government took the action in response to the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland and pact with Germany.[80]
^Eleanor Roosevelt (September 2, 1939). "September 2, 1939". My Day. Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, George Washington University (2008 digital publication). Retrieved February 8, 2021. HYDE PARK, Friday—At 5:00 o'clock this morning [11:00 AM Berlin time - ed] our telephone rang and it was the President in Washington to tell me the sad news that Germany had invaded Poland and that her planes were bombing Polish cities. He told me that Hitler was about to address the Reichstag, so we turned on the radio and listened until 6:00 o'clock. [12 noon Berlin time - ed])
^ abMiddlebrook, Martin; Everitt, Chris (2014). The Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book 1939–1945. Pen & Sword Aviation. ISBN9781473834880.
^Taylor, Edmond (September 5, 1939). "British Flyers Attack in War of Propaganda". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
^Ring, Trudy; Watson, Noelle; Schellinger, Paul (2013). Northern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places. Routledge. p. 389. ISBN9781136639449.
^Manly, Chesly (September 9, 1939). "Roosevelt Puts Nation in State of Emergency". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
^"Canada Enters Empire's War Against Nazis". Chicago Daily Tribune. September 11, 1939. p. 3.
^Aboul-Enein, Youssef; Aboul-Enein, Basil (2013). The Secret War for the Middle East: The Influence of Axis and Allied Intelligence Operations during World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN9781612513362.
^"German Government Confiscates Every Rubber Tire in the Nation". Chicago Daily Tribune. September 13, 1939. p. 1.
^Jones, Edward Monroe; Roderick, Shawn S. (2015). Submarine Torpedo Tactics: An American History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 72. ISBN9780786496464.
^Ciment, James (2015). World Terrorism: An Encyclopedia of Political Violence from Ancient Times to the Post 9/11 Era. Routledge. p. 66. ISBN9781317451525.
^Lewin, Eyal (2014). Ethos Clash in Israeli Society. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 245. ISBN9780739184073.
^Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945. London: Chatham Publishing. p. 5. ISBN9781591141198.
^"Nazis Bury Slain General With Military Pomp". Chicago Daily Tribune. September 27, 1939. p. 18.
