4 Sept 1939

British Bombers Attack Admiral Scheer

Admiral Scheer was one of three Deutschland-class German heavy cruisers, together with the namesake Deutschland and the Graf Spee. They each were 186m long, with a beam of 21.7m, and a draught of 7.3m. With a cruising speed of 28.5 knots, the Deutschland class housed 38 guns and 8 torpedo tubes (see below for full armament). Thanks to their atypically large firepower for their size, the British nicknamed this class of ship 'pocket battleships'.

Named after Admiral Reinhard Scheer, commander of the German High Seas Fleet at the Battle of Jutland, Admiral Scheer was launched in 1933 and commissioned in 1934 in Wilhelmshaven, a port on the North Sea near the mouth of the Weser.

In the first tangible offensive action by the Western Allies, a British wing of Bristol Blenheim dive bombers attacked Admiral Scheer while in port at Wilhelmshaven. The Blenheims were unable to do any substantial damage to Admiral Scheer, but four of the bombers were shot down. The damage he did sustain, however, kept the Admiral Scheer in port for overhauling (Admiral Scheer was one of few ships to have been referred to with male pronouns).

Photo of Admiral Scheer, 1934

Characteristics
Armament:	6 × 283 mm SKC/28
	8 × 150 mm SK C/28
	6 × 105 mm SK C/33
	8 × 37 mm SK C/30
	10 × 20 mm C/30
	8 × 533 mm torpedo tubes
Armor:	turret: 160 mm
	belt: 80 mm
	deck: 40 mm
Aircraft carried:	2 × Arado Ar 196 seaplanes
	one catapult

3 Sept 1939

Britain and France Declare War on Germany

Two days after Germany had invaded Poland, the two major powers in Western Europe decided to go to war to stop the German menace from advancing any further. The doctrine of appeasement which had been followed up to that time had now been abandoned. The Western powers had given Germany the Saar, the Rhineland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. Poland, however, was that metaphorical straw that broke the camel's back.

Earlier Britain had given Germany an ultimatum, demanding the Hitler withdraw his armies from Poland. When the deadline for that ultimatum passed at 1100 BST on 3 September 1939, the British Parliament declared war; the Commonwealth nations of Australia and New Zealand, who had both played instrumental roles in the First World War, followed suit. Later that afternoon France's own ultimatum ran out and war was declared. Germany was now at war with five countries.

One intersting factoid is that Newfoundland was its own British dominion at this point. It would not join Canada until 1949. Furthermore, thanks to the economic hardship of the Great Depression on the coastal territory the Dominion of Newfoundland had been under the direct control of Parliament since 1934. So when Britain declared war, Newfoundland was effectively at war, as well.

For the most part, however, the West Front would remain quiet for several months until the breakout of the Battle of France.

2 Sept 1939

The Free City of Danzig Votes to Re-unify with Germany

The city-state of Danzig was created by the Treaty of Versailles as part of the reapportionment of German lands bordering on the Baltic Sea. Compare, for exapmle, to the creation of the Polish Corridor which gave Poland access to the Sea, while creating the exclave of East Prussia. The city, which included 200 surrounding villages and covered 759 sq mi, was to be represented internationally by the new nation of Poland, while remaining under the protection of the newly assembled League of Nations.

Danzig, like many other regions in Germany, had a long history of independent existence, being a member of the Hanseatic League and the Prussian Confederation, but always retaining a varying degree of autonomy. Even under Napoleon, the city retained its separate identity, as the similarly named Free City of Danzig (Freie Stadt Danzig). It was the Congress at Vienna that integrated the city into Prussia again.

After WWI, despite its separation from Germany and new affiliation with Poland, Danzig's demographics remained overwhelmingly German. A 1923 study showed that 95% of the population were German-speakers. And so predictably the artificial relationship which the League had created between Poland and Danzig was understandably heated. After all, tensions are bound to rise when two newly created [inter]national forces are given oversight over a traditionally autonomous region. The tensions only mounted when Poland began building - as if from scratch - the new port city of Gdynia to compete with Danzig.

Subsequent to Hitler's ascension to the Chancellorship in Germany, the Nazi Party won power in Danzig. Mimicking the Nazi policies of Germany, Danzig experienced a new wave of Anti-Semitism and xenophobia.

When Germany invaded Poland on 1 Sept 1939, the chaos of the situation finally gave Danzig's Nazi leaders the opportunity to vote for re-unification with Germany. Though the act was clearly illegal under international law and constitutionally invalid, the world had, by that point, much bigger fish to fry.

1 Sept 1939

Germany Invades Poland

World War II began with Hitler's invasion of the country of Poland. Codenamed Fall Weiß (Case White) and planned by Chief of the General Staff Franz Halder, the operation saw invading forces coming from three directions: Germany proper in the west, East Prussia in the north, and the recently occupied Czechoslovakia in the south.

Army Group South was commanded by General Rundstedt and consisted of the 8th, 10th, and 14th Armies. They were supported by the Luftwaffe's 4th Air Fleet and invaded from the west and south.

Army Group North was commanded by General von Bock and consisted of the 3rd and 4th Armies. They were supported by the Luftwaffe's 1st Air Fleet and invaded from the north, out of East Prussia.

Hostilities commenced at 0440 when the Luftwaffe began bombing Wieluń, a town on the Baltic, just downriver from Danzig. The bombing is often decried as a terror bombing, since the military importance of the bombing is now disputed. The attack resulted in 1300 civilian casualties. Poor weather conditions throughout the region may have contributed to the collateral damage.

In the afternoon Luftwaffe directed their efforts against a nearby Polish cavalry division (possibly the original intended target of the early morning bombings), resulting in heavy Polish casualties and 4 downed Junkers.

Wieluń was captured by the Army later in the day.