Everything about Westerplatte totally explained
Westerplatte is a
peninsula in
Gdańsk,
Poland, located on
Baltic Sea coast at the river mouth of
Dead Vistula (one of the
Vistula delta
estuaries), in the Gdańsk harbour channel. From
1926 to
1939 it was the location of a Polish Military Transit Depot (WST), sanctioned within the 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.
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
guardhouses hidden in the peninsula's forest.
The Polish garrison was separated from
Freie Stadt Danzig (Gdańsk) by the harbor channel, with only a narrow
isthmus connecting the area to the mainland. In case of war, the defenders were supposed to withstand a sustained attack for 12 hours after which a relief from the main units of the Polish Army were to arrive.
The Polish garrison's commanding officer was
Major Henryk Sucharski, the executive officer was
Captain Franciszek Dąbrowski.
Battle of Westerplatte
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 of 3500 German soldiers were repelled by the 180 Polish soldiers for seven days. On September 7th Major
Henryk Sucharski decided to surrender due to lack of ammunition and supplies and realization no help was going to come from the Polish Army. As a sign of honor for the soldiers of Westerplatte, German commander, Gen. Eberhardt, allowed Mjr. Sucharski to keep his officer's sword while being taken prisoner.
Aftermath
The ruins of the defenders' barracks and guardhouses are still there. After the war, one of the guardhouses (#1) was converted into a museum. Two, 280mm, 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).
Image:Polen juli 2005 052.jpg|Monument at Westerplatte.
Image:Westerplatte_Graves1.JPG|Memorials to fallen soldiers.
Image:Westerplatte barrack.jpg|Barrack ruins at Westerplatte.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Westerplatte'.
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