military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (10/11/89)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Friday, 6 October, 1939 The 8,000 Polish defenders at Kock surrender, the last resistance by the Polish Army. They had been commanded by General Kleeberg. In a speech before the Reichstag, Hitler calls for peace, claiming that the division of Poland has removed any reason for hostilities between Germany and the Allies. Results of the Polish Campaign: Germany Russia Poland Killed 10,570 737 ~50,000 Wounded 30,322 1859 unknown Captured 3404 (MIA) unknown 750,000 (Germany) 217,000 (Russia) About 120,000 Polish troops escaped to Rumania and Hungary, to fight again for the Allies. Germany lost 217 tanks (mostly repaired later) and 282 aircraft. Admiral Raeder, CinC of the German Kriegsmarine, warns US officials that the US steamer Iroquois, laden with Americans returning from Europe, would be sunk by the British in an effort to bring America into the war. The Germans also blamed Britain for the sinking of the SS Athenia, for a similar purpose. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@cbnews.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "German armor proved its worth in Poland in technical as in other respects, for as a rule no more than 25% of German vehicles were out of action at any one time due to technical breakdowns." - Janusz Piekalkiewicz, _Tank War 1939-1945_