Battle of Westerplatte
Battle of Westerplatte | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Invasion of Poland of World War II | |||||||
German battleship Schleswig-Holstein firing her guns, 5 September 1939 | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Germany Free City of Danzig[1] | Poland | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
F.G. Eberhardt Gustav Kleikamp Wilhelm Henningsen † |
Henryk Sucharski Franciszek Dąbrowski | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
c. 3,400 1 battleship[1] 2 torpedo boats 60 aircraft | 182–240 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
50 killed[1] c. 150 wounded |
15 killed[1] 20 wounded[1] 155–185 captured | ||||||
The Battle of Westerplatte was the first battle of the German
In the mid-1920s, the Second Polish Republic established the Polish Military Transit Depot (Wojskowa Składnica Tranzytowa, WST) on the Westerplatte peninsula in the Free City of Danzig. Beginning on 1 September 1939, the German Wehrmacht and Danzig Police assaulted the WST. Despite initial assessment on both sides that the Polish garrison might hold out for several hours before being reinforced or overwhelmed, the Poles held out for seven days and repelled thirteen assaults that included dive-bomber attacks and naval shelling.
The defence of the Westerplatte was an inspiration for the
Background
In 1921, in the wake of the
By early 1933, German politicians and media figures complained about the need for border adjustments. In addition, the Polish and French governments discussed the need for a preventive war against Germany. On 6 March, in what became known as the "Westerplatte incident" or "crisis", the Polish government landed a marine battalion on Westerplatte, briefly reinforcing the WST garrison to about 200 men, demonstrating Polish resolve to defend the depot; the Polish manoeuvre was also intended to put pressure on the Danzig government, which was trying to renounce a prior agreement on shared Danzig-Polish control over the harbour police and to acquire full control of the police and the harbour.[10][11] According to one source, on 14 March 1933, the League had authorized Poland to reinforce its garrison.[5]: 2684 However, according to another, the additional Polish troops were withdrawn on 16 March, following protests from the League, Danzig, and Germany but only in exchange for Danzig's withdrawal of its objections to the harbour-police agreement.[10]: 50
Later, the Poles constructed clandestine fortifications on Westerplatte.[6] These were relatively minor: there were no bunkers or tunnels, only several small guardhouses, partially hidden in the peninsula's forest and several more buildings in the middle of the peninsula, including barracks. Most buildings were constructed with reinforced concrete and were supported by a network of field fortifications, including trenches, barricades and barbed wire.[6][12][13]: 54
Prelude
In March 1939, a
By late August 1939, the Poles had reinforced their 88-man garrison, though its strength is still debated; older sources speak of 182 men but more recent research suggests something in the range of 210 to 240, including six officers:
The Polish defence, which anticipated principally a German land-based assault, rested on three lines of defence. The outer line included entrenched outposts (codenamed Prom, Przystań, Łazienki and Wał) which were to hold long enough for the garrison to mobilize. The second line of defence centred on five guardhouses (numbered I to V) in the center of the depot. The final defence comprised the headquarters and barracks at the depot's centre (sometimes referred to as Guardhouse VI). The Poles also had several supporting positions (Elektrownia, Deika, Fort, Tor kolejowy and Kej).[7]: 445–446 The plan called for the garrison to hold out for 12 hours, after which the siege was expected to be lifted by reinforcements arriving from the mainland.[18]
On 25 August 1939, the German
Neither Eberhardt nor Kleikamp had specific information on the Polish defences.[20] The Germans assumed that preliminary bombardment would soften up the fortifications enough for the marines to capture Westerplatte.[21]: 66 Kleikamp had been assured by the Danzig Police that "Westerplatte would be taken in 10 minutes."[22]: 120 Eberhardt himself was more cautious, estimating that "a few hours" would be needed to overcome the Polish garrison, which the Germans estimated at no more than 100 men.[18]
Battle
On the early morning of 1 September 1939, Schleswig-Holstein fired a broadside at the Polish garrison. That salvo's time has been variously stated as 04:45,[23][24] 04:47,[25]: 5–6 or 04:48.[7]: 446 [26]: 8, 152 Polish historian Jarosław Tuliszka explains that 04:45 was the planned time, 04:47 was the time the order was given by Kleikamp and 04:48 was the time the guns actually fired.[26]: 152 Shortly after, on Westerplatte, Sucharski radioed the nearby Polish military base on the Hel Peninsula, "SOS: I'm under fire."[17]: 12 Other sources indicate the shot was fired at 04:00 rather than at or around 04:45.[1] The battleship's initial bombardment was not very successful, failing to inflict a single casualty among the defenders, as due to the battleship's proximity to its target its heavier shells did not have time to arm and did not explode upon impact.[27]: 100
Eight minutes later Henningsen's marines from the Schleswig-Holstein, who had disembarked two hours earlier on the eastern side of the peninsula, advanced, expecting an easy victory over the Poles.
At 06:22, the German marines frantically radioed the battleship that they had sustained heavy losses and were withdrawing. Casualties were approximately fifty Germans and eight Poles, mostly wounded.[31] A longer bombardment from the battleship, lasting from 07:40 to 08:55, preceded a second attack and succeeded at knocking out the Polish field gun.[18][27]: 101 The Germans assaulted again from 08:35 to 12:30[18] but encountered mines, felled trees, barbed wire and intense fire.[31] By noon, when the Germans retreated, Henningsen had been gravely wounded.[18][27]: 101 Eberhardt requested air support, but it was delayed due to bad weather over Westerplatte.[27]: 101 On that first day's combat, the Polish side had sustained four killed and several wounded.[7]: 446 The German marines had lost sixteen killed and a hundred and twenty wounded.[18]
The German commanders concluded that a ground attack was not feasible until the Polish defences had been softened up.[7]: 443 Re-examining aerial photographs, where they had previously underestimated the Polish defences, they now overestimated them, concluding the Poles had constructed extensive underground and armoured fortifications (six haystacks were declared to be armoured bunker domes).[20][32] In the following days, the Germans bombarded the Westerplatte peninsula with naval and heavy field artillery, including a 105 mm howitzer battery and 210 mm howitzers.[7]: 447 On 2 September, from 18:05 to 18:25,[18] a two-wave air raid by 60 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers dropped 26.5 tonnes (58,000 lb) of bombs,[7]: 446 eliminating the Polish mortars, destroying Guardhouse V with a 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) bomb and killing at least eight Polish soldiers. The air raid shrouded all of Westerplatte in clouds of smoke and destroyed the Poles' only radio and much of their food supply.[31] According to some German sources, after the air raid the Poles briefly displayed a white flag; but not all historians are convinced of this, and the German observers may have been mistaken.[15][18][20]
On 4 September, a
On 5 September, Sucharski held a conference with his officers, during which he urged surrender: the post had only been supposed to hold out for twelve hours.[17]: 11, 14 His deputy, Dąbrowski, opposed surrender and the group decided to hold out a while longer.[34]
Subsequently, the Poles repelled several cautious German probing attacks. At 03:00 on 6 September, during one of the attacks, the Germans sent a burning train toward the Polish positions, but the ploy failed when the terrified driver decoupled prematurely.[17]: 14 The train failed to reach its target, an oil cistern; instead, it set fire to the woods, which had provided the Poles with valuable cover. In addition, the burning wagons created a perfect field of fire; the Germans suffered heavy losses. A second fire-train attack, in the afternoon, also failed.[35]
At a second conference with his officers, on 6 September, Sucharski was again ready to surrender: the German Army was by now outside Warsaw, and Westerplatte was running critically low on supplies; moreover, many of the wounded were suffering from gangrene.[17]: 15 At 04:30 on 7 September, the Germans opened intense fire on Westerplatte which lasted till 07:00. Flamethrowers and bombardment destroyed Guardhouse II and damaged Guardhouses I and IV.[35] Schleswig-Holstein took part in the bombardments.[36]
At 09:45 on 7 September 1939, a white flag appeared. The Polish defence had so impressed the Germans that their commander, Eberhardt, initially let Sucharski keep his ceremonial
Sucharski surrendered the post to Kleikamp, and the Germans stood at attention as the Polish garrison marched out at 11:30.[35] Over 3,000 Germans, including soldiers and support formations such as the Danzig Police, had been tied up in the week-long operation against the small Polish garrison; about half of the Germans (570 on land, over 900 at sea) had taken part in direct action. German casualties totalled 50 killed (16 from the Kriegsmarine[18]) and 150 wounded.[36] The Poles had lost 15 men and had sustained at least 40 wounded.[36][18]
Aftermath
On 8 September, the day after the capitulation, the Germans discovered a grave with the bodies of four unidentified Polish soldiers who had been executed by their comrades for attempted desertion. According to Tomasz Sudoł this had likely taken place following the 2 September air raids.[39] Five days after the capitulation, on 12 September 1939, the Polish wireless operator, Sergeant Kazimierz Rasiński, was murdered by the Germans. He was shot after brutal interrogation during which he refused to hand over radio codes.[40][41]: 55 On 19 September Hitler came to visit Danzig. While there, on 21 September, he inspected Westerplatte.[6]
Westerplatte saw another round of fighting during the
Significance
The Battle of Westerplatte is often described as the opening battle of
The Polish historian Krzysztof Komorowski writes that "Westerplatte has become one of the symbols of the Polish struggle for independence, and is inscribed in the list of the most heroic battles of modern Europe."[7]: 448
For both sides, the battle had mostly political, rather than tactical, importance.[7]: 447 It tied up substantial German forces for much longer than anyone had expected, preventing Schleswig-Holstein from lending fire support in the nearby battles of Hel and Gdynia.[7]: 448
Westerplatte's defence inspired the Polish Army and people even as German advances continued elsewhere; beginning on 1 September 1939,
Controversy
Controversy surrounds the Polish garrison's commanding officer, Sucharski. Early historiography considered him to have been in command throughout the battle, and so early accounts portrayed him as a heroic figure. More recent accounts from the early 1990s have presented evidence that Sucharski's officers had vowed not to disclose in their lifetimes that their commander had been
Sucharski's conduct is still debated by historians.[53]
Remembrance
Westerplatte is a common venue for state remembrance ceremonies relating to World War II, usually held on 1 September. They are generally attended by high-ranking Polish politicians such as Prime Minister Donald Tusk (2014),[54] President Bronisław Komorowski (2015),[55] President Andrzej Duda (2016),[56] and Prime Minister Beata Szydło (2017).[57] The commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, in 2009, was attended by Tusk, former Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, and former Presidents Lech Wałęsa and Aleksander Kwaśniewski, as well as by important figures from about 20 other countries, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and French Prime Minister François Fillon.[58]
The Battle of Westerplatte has been the subject of two Polish films:
Tourist attraction
The Polish 75 mm field gun became one of Germany's first
Westerplatte's Guardhouses I, III and IV, the power plant, and the barracks survived the war.
Following the
See also
- Bombing of Wieluń
- Defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig
- 2022 Snake island campaign
References
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