Sunday, October 1, 1939 - German troops enter Warsaw

[Bootie]

In Poland...
German troops enter Warsaw and begin disarming the Polish garrison (estimated to number 100,000 officers and men). Polish garrison, commanded by Admiral Unrug, on the Hela Peninsula surrenders after a gallant fight. As well as land attacks they have endured a considerable naval bombardment.

In France...
Polish cryptologists arrive with a cargo of two Enigma machines.

Enigma

In London...
The first news of the German pocket-battleships, Graf Spee and Deutschland, reaches the British Admiralty.

In Britain...
Winston Churchill makes his first radio broadcast of the war, saying the Soviet Union has "pursued a policy of cold self-interest" in Poland. He adds that "we could have wished that the Russian armies should be standing on their present line as the friends and allies of Poland instead of invaders. But that the Russian armies should stand on this line was clearly necessary for the safety of Russia against the Nazi menace."

In China...
The Japanese 11th Corps begins withdrawing from northern Hunan province, ending an abortive attempt to capture Changsha and the Tungting Lake area. The fighting is known as the first battle of Changsha and it is a major victory for the Chinese Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek.

In Tokyo...
Several senior officers of the Kwantung army, the Japanese army stationed in nominally independent state of Manchukuo (formerly Manchuria), have been dismissed in the wake of the agreement signed in Moscow, settling the border war with the USSR.

 

[Louis]

The battle of Wytyczno took place on October 1, 1939 near the village of Wytyczno near Włodawa in Poland. It was a struggle between the Polish forces of the Border Defence Corps of Gen. Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann and the Soviet Red Army during the invasion of Poland.

After the battle of Szack on September 28, the Polish commander decided to cross the Bug river and continue the fight there. After a short rest, on September 30 the Poles had crossed the river. Although largely victorious in most of the fights against the Soviets, the Polish unit was reduced to merely 3,000 men and was lacking heavy equipment and ammunition. In addition, most of the soldiers of the Border Defence Corps had been forced to cross large parts of Poland, with the average unit crossing almost 500 kilometres in two weeks.

After crossing the WÅ‚odawa-Trawniki road, shortly after 1 AM on October 1, the Polish unit was attacked by a tank unit of the Soviet 45th Rifle Division. Polish Bofors 37 mm guns opened fire at close range and the Soviet unit withdrew losing four T-26 tanks. Soon after daybreak the Soviets returned, this time with the majority of 45th division's units. The Soviets, expecting the Polish unit to be completely routed and composed entirely of officers, started a frontal assault on the village of Wytyczno. However, the Polish tabors crossed the road into the forest behind the village and placed artillery posts there, which enabled the defending Poles to hold their positions.

The struggle for the village continued, with both sides suffering heavy losses. At 9AM the Polish 75 mm artillery had no more than 60 shells left and the howitzers had not more than 10 per barrel. To lessen the enemy pressure on the centre of the Polish units, Gen. Wilhelm Orlik-Rückemann ordered the Polesie Battalion to attack the left flank of the enemy. However, the soldiers were too tired to start the assault and most of them simply declined to follow the order. Commander of the Sarny Regiment, Col. Nikodem Sulik, reported that the Polish defences were getting weaker with every hour and with all probability the battle would end by dawn with a complete Polish defeat. At 10.30 a war council was held and it was decided that the only option for his men to survive is to withdraw, divide the unit onto smaller detachments and try to break through to the units of Independent Operational Group Polesie fighting nearby. At noon the Polish units successfully withdrew to the forests. Most of them joined the other Polish unit, while Gen. Orlik-Rückemann found his way to Great Britain through Lithuania and Sweden.

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