Galerie

 

German ships in bay opened fire at 1100 hours, followed by infantry attack.
When the attack bogged down, due to heavy machine gun fire from Guardhouse Nos.1 and 2, the ground forces called for mortar support. Inaccurate aiming prevented direct hits, but Guardhouse No. 2 was seriously damaged.

Outpost Przystan, nearest the river, suffered under constant shelling, and snipers on the other shore were able to see any activity.

With searchlights from the German ships illuminating all of Westerplatte, it became obvious that the defenders were completely cut off, and that the British Navy was not to become engaged.

Wednesday, September 6, 1939
All of the Germans’ artillery opened fire about 1030 hours, which lasted until noon.

An attack by the Pioneers was turned back by effective fire by the Guardhouses andoutposts.

Heavy mortar fire fell in the area of Guardhouses Nos.1 and 2, and the barracks. The buildings were heavily damaged, and all the trees in front were uprooted. The mortar crews had found their targets. Shooting from the windows was returned each time by accurate German machine gun fire.

An oil-filled train car was rolled down the track by the Germans in order to be upended in front of the defenses and ignited, removing the remainder of the vegetation, which hindered accurate aiming. Two Polish engineers had already loosened the rails, but the car still managed to burn the foliage.

Thursday, September 7, 1939
From early morning, the heaviest firing yet was directed in segments and moved from one area to another for saturation. In spite of being completely destroyed, Guardhouse No.2’s men managed to escape death by taking refuge in the basement.

It would seem that this saturation shelling would have finished off the resistance, but the following infantry attack after 0830 was still repulsed by machine gun fire from No.1, Fort and Tor. The exhausted defenders desperately tried to keep the attackers at bay to avoid hand-to-hand combat.

Major Sucharski made the final decision to surrender. He knew of the situation further south, in the rest of Poland, which was being overrun by the Blitzkrieg.


All guardhouse and outpost personnel were ordered to the barracks, where the commander spoke to the men and thanked them for their bravery. The men lined up for the march to captivity.

The German commander of the Danzig forces, General Eberhardt, allowed Major Sucharski to keep his sword. The wounded were taken to hospitals. and the officers, NCO’s and men were detained in Danzig and then distributed to prison camps in Germany.

Other Actions
Most foreign diplomats began to leave Danzig at the first indication of trouble, but Burkhardt and Chodacki stayed behind. Albert Forster, who was named by Hitler to be head of state of Danzig (Staatsoberhaupt). went personally to the League’s High Commission and ordered Burkhardt to leave. Not entirely surprised by the action, Burkhardt and his staff hastily packed and took off by car to neutral Lithuania via East Prussia. As the swastika flag was raised over the High Commission building, a small crowd watched. In Berlin, foreign correspondents noted that the mood of the crowds was quite different from the optimistic gayety that accompanied the start of World War I. This one was to be taken dead seriously.

 
Danzig Report Vol. 1 - Nr. 84 - July - August - Sept - 1994, Page 11.