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KF5JRV > TODAY 05.09.19 17:14l 41 Lines 1981 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 13331_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Sept 01
Path: IZ3LSV<ED1ZAC<CX2SA<N3HYM<KF5JRV
Sent: 190901/1700Z 13331@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
On this day in 1939, German forces bombard Poland on land and from
the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks to regain lost territory and
ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun.
The German invasion of Poland was a primer on how Hitler intended to
wage war–what would become the “blitzkriegö strategy. This was
characterized by extensive bombing early on to destroy the enemy’s
air capacity, railroads, communication lines, and munitions dumps,
followed by a massive land invasion with overwhelming numbers of
troops, tanks, and artillery. Once the German forces had plowed
their way through, devastating a swath of territory, infantry moved
in, picking off any remaining resistance.
Once Hitler had a base of operations within the target country, he
immediately began setting up “securityö forces to annihilate all
enemies of his Nazi ideology, whether racial, religious, or
political. Concentration camps for slave laborers and the
extermination of civilians went hand in hand with German rule of a
conquered nation. For example, within one day of the German invasion
of Poland, Hitler was already setting up SS “Death’s Headö regiments
to terrorize the populace.
The Polish army made several severe strategic miscalculations early
on. Although 1 million strong, the Polish forces were severely
under-equipped and attempted to take the Germans head-on with horsed
cavaliers in a forward concentration, rather than falling back to
more natural defensive positions. The outmoded thinking of the
Polish commanders coupled with the antiquated state of its military
was simply no match for the overwhelming and modern mechanized
German forces. And, of course, any hope the Poles might have had of
a Soviet counter-response was dashed with the signing of the
Ribbentrop-Molotov Nonaggression Pact.
Great Britain would respond with bombing raids over Germany three
days later.
73, Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV @ KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email: KF5JRV@GMAIL.com
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