WESTERPLATTE

'Westerplatte' is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, at an estuary of the Dead Vistula (one of the Vistula delta estuaries), in the Gdańsk harbour channel. From 1926 - 1939 a Polish Military Transit Depot was located there, on a territory of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk).
It is famous as the place of Battle of Westerplatte, the first major battle of the Invasion of Poland in 1939.

Contents

The transit depot

Battle of Westerplatte

Aftermath

See also

Further reading

Sources and documents

Guidebooks

Fiction

Other

External links

The transit depot

In 1925 the Council of the League of Nations allowed Poland to keep 88 soldiers on Westerplatte. By September 1939 the crew of Westerplatte had increased to 182 soldiers. They were armed with one 75 mm field gun, two 37 mm Bofors antitank guns, four mortars and a number of medium machine guns. There were no real fortifications, only several concrete blockhouses hidden in the island's forest.
The Polish garrison was separated from Freie Stadt Danzig (Gdańsk) city by the harbour channel, with only a small pier connecting them to the mainland. In case of war, the defenders were supposed to withstand a sustained attack for 12 hours.
The Polish garrison's commanding officer was Major Henryk Sucharski, the executive officer was Captain Franciszek Dąbrowski.

Battle of Westerplatte

On September 1 1939, at 0445 local time, as Germany began its invasion of Poland, ''Schleswig-Holstein'' started to shell the Polish garrison. This was followed by a repelled attack by German naval infantry. Another two assaults that day were repelled as well. Over the coming days, the Germans repeatedly bombarded Westerplatte with naval and heavy field artillery along with dive-bombing raids by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas. Repeated attacks were repelled by the Poles for seven days. On September 7th major Henryk Sucharski decided to surrender.

Aftermath

The ruins of the island's barracks and blockhouses are still there. After the war one of the barracks has been converted into a museum - two shells from the ''Schleswig-Holstein'' prop up its entrance.
Polish poet Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński wrote a widely known poem about this battle, A Song of the Soldiers of Westerplatte (''Pieśń o żołnierzach Westerplatte'').

See also

★ Karol Szwedowski

Further reading

Sources and documents

★ Znaki pamięci : listy westerplatczyków (1940-1993), Stanisława Górnikiewicz-Kurowska (red.), , , "Marpress", 1994, ISBN 83-85349-21-9

★ Dziennik działań bojowych pancernika "Schleswig-Holstein" 8.09.-2.10.1939 r., Jacek Żebrowski (red.), , , Toruń: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, 2001, ISBN 83-7322-123-9

Guidebooks

★ Westerplatte : przewodnik historyczny, Franciszek Mamuszka, , , Wydawnictwo PTTK "Kraj", 1988, ISBN 83-7005-192-8

★ Westerplatte : informator historyczny, Rafał Witkowski, , , Gdańsk: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, 1989, ISBN 83-03-01772-1

Fiction

★ Westerplatte: Załoga śmierci, Mariusz Wójtowicz-Podhorski, Krzysztof Wyrzykowski, , , Milton Media, 2004, ISBN 83-920878-0-1

Other

★ Tu, na Westerplatte, Zbigniew Flisowski, , , Książka i Wiedza, 1982,

★ Westerplatte, Zbigniew Flisowski (red.), , , Wydawnictwa MON, 1989, ISBN 83-11-07694-4

★ Bastion u wrót Gdańska, Maria and Zbigniew Flisowscy, , , Nasza Księgarnia, 1985, ISBN 83-10-08779-9

★ Honor : mjr Henryk Sucharski, Władysław Kluz, , , Akademia Teologii Katolickiej, 1989,

★ Westerplatte, Mirosław Gliński, , , Gdańsk: Muzeum Historii Miasta Gdańska : Wydaw. Gdańskie, 1998, ISBN 83-85843-76-0

★ Lwy z Westerplatte, Stanisława Górnikiewicz-Kurowska, , , Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Morskie, 1988, ISBN 83-215-7237-5

★ Westerplatczycy : losy obrońców Wojskowej Składnicy Tranzytowej, Stanisława Górnikiewicz-Kurowska, , , Gdańsk: "Marpress", 1999, ISBN 83-87291-53-6

★ Wojna zaczęła się na Westerplatte, Andrzej Drzycimski, , , Gdańsk: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, 1989, ISBN 83-03-02403-5

★ Major Henryk Sucharski, Andrzej Drzycimski, , , Wrocław: Ossolineum, 1990, ISBN 83-04-03374-7

★ Westerplatte, Melchior Wańkowicz, , , Pax, 1990, ISBN 83-211-1113-0

External links

★ Detailed description of attack

★ A Song of the Soldiers of Westerplatte

★ westerplatte.pl/

★ Satellite photo of Westerplatte in WikiMapia