The Polish government knew the war was coming.
The Germans would do anything in their power
to undo the Polish corridor, capture the
free city of Danzig, and reunite the two
sections of Germany separated by a territory
that gave Poland access to the Baltic Sea.
The two nations realized a
massive battle was about to erupt,
but they had to pretend nothing unusual
was happening to mislead the opponent.
In true Trojan Horse fashion, Germany then
sent an old warship, SMS Schleswig-Holstein,
on a ceremonial visit to the port of Danzig.
Inside its hull, hundreds of German soldiers
silently awaited the start of the war.
Early on September 1, 1939,
the warship fired the first shot of
World War 2 against the Westerplatte naval
base in a defiant surprise attack that
was projected to dethrone the defending
Polish forces in less than ten minutes.
However, the German deceivers had been misled,
and the Polish had a
catastrophic surprise of their own…
Westerplatte Base
Adolf Hitler had promised not to invade
Poland, and Britain and France had made
an oath to declare war if he did… On
paper, there was nothing to worry about.
But the Germans and the Poles knew
what was lurking behind the scenes,
and they secretly prepared for what was coming.
The free city of Danzig was particularly problematic for
the Poles; it was surrounded by German territory,
and the great majority of the population were
German speakers who sympathized with Nazi ideals.
As such, the Polish minority in the city was
at an unspeakable risk of being eradicated.
To make matters worse, Poland only had a minuscule
territorial asset to put up a defensive effort:
a tiny naval depot outside the Danzig
dock on the Westerplatte peninsula.
The naval base was just a few hundred
meters from the city port, and the
garrison inside would be tasked with defending
the harbor if the Germans decided to attack.
By August of 1939, the Polish garrison at
Westerplatte consisted of no more than 88 men,
but reinforcing the defenses or sending additional
men would immediately alert German factions.
Additionally, the East Prussian city of Elbing
was just 37 miles away, facilitating an expedited
military response if the Germans suspected
Poland was strengthening their naval base.
Ultimately, the Polish needed to be
extremely careful to prepare for the worst.
Trojan Ship
Hitler wanted to attack the naval base
at Westerplatte as soon as the invasion
began to prevent any attempts to reinforce
the site. As such, Germany would need to
have at least one ship stationed at the
Danzig port before the war commenced.
In a tactical operation not unlike that
of the Trojan Horse in ancient Greece,
Germany deployed SMS Schleswig-Holstein,
an old Deutschland-class battleship,
to pay the port of Danzig a so-called ceremonial visit.
The ancient battleship played an essential
role in World War 1, especially during the
battle of Jutland, but in 1939 she was not
seen as a significant naval threat anymore.
Using that to their advantage, the Germans moored
SMS Schleswig-Holstein in the city dock weeks
before the invasion launch, carefully positioned
as close to the Westerplatte as possible.
It is unclear whether the German
population in Danzig knew of the scheme.
However, the Polish authorities had no idea
that deep below the deck of the German vessel, a
marine shock-troop company of 225 marines awaited
patiently with massive stockpiles of munitions.
Secret Reinforcement
The Polish knew that war was about to break at
any moment and that the free city of Danzig would
be a prime target for Germany. As such, they
fortified their naval depot at Westerplatte.
Each night they would send dock workers
home dressed as Polish soldiers,
and real soldiers would then
take their place in the morning.
Consequently, Nazi spies operating from
Danzig believed the naval base still had
a garrison of fewer than 100 men when
there were over 200 troopers in reality.
Little by little, the Polish military
replaced all the civilian workers in the
naval depot with military reinforcements, but
they needed more to slow the German advance.
Thus, they secretly built an advanced network
of defensive structures around the naval base.
The process was painful and excruciating,
as they had to construct bunkers, ditches,
trenches, barbwire fences, and secretly reinforced
concrete walls without the help of the locals.
Most of the work took place under cover of night.
By the advent of September, the Polish had
managed to drastically reinforce the naval
base at Westerplatte. Meanwhile, the Germans
were assured by the local Danzig police that
the frailly protected military post
would fall in less than ten minutes.
The Germans placed most of their
confidence in their secret plan to
attack using SMS Schleswig-Holstein
and the hidden soldiers in it,
but both sides were about to fall into their foe’s trap.
The Clash
The infamous order of attack was given
in the small hours of September 1, 1939,
and SMS Schleswig-Holstein rushed to face her
guns against the Polish naval depot and garrison.
The night’s calm was suddenly shattered by the
raucous thundering of the German battleship’s
guns unleashing their munitions onto the fortified
bulwarks at Westerplatte. The pugnacious assault
would go into the annals of history as
the first gunfire exchange of World War 2.
In their eagerness, however, the Germans
had positioned their battleship too close
to the naval base, which resulted in their
largest shells failing to explode on impact.
Despite the deafening din of battle engulfing
the entire naval base, the initial attack
inflicted no casualties and allowed the Polish
officer in command to send a distress message.
As SMS Schleswig-Holstein repositioned herself
and continued the
dilapidation of the Polish base,
the Germans sprang their other trap. Just before
the ship attack, the 225 German soldiers descended
from the hiding spots within the vessel and
intended to unleash a surprise attack on the
naval depot by land as the confused Polish
defenders struggled against the battleship.
However, after traversing the artillery-breech
brick wall at the border, advancing 220 yards,
and engaging the Polish outpost, the
interlopers were abruptly ambushed.
The Germans found themselves in the middle of
a fervid trap devised by the Polish defenders.
Then, in a shrewd orchestra of destruction,
the Poles unleashed a series of artillery
and mortar attacks on both the ambushed
infantry troopers and the battleship.
Soon, another hostile maritime unit of the Danzig
police attacked the Polish garrison while trying
to land on the western side of the depot. However,
the Polish exerted complete dominion over the
surrounding areas, and the Danzig police were
forced to flee for their lives. Minutes later,
the ambushed German troopers started to
retreat in the face of overwhelming casualties.
Even so, the German infantry regrouped and
made another attempt to storm the naval base,
but they were met by a merciless
Polish defense that included mines,
felled trees, barbed wire, and
intense fire from several directions.
Epic Last Stand
The post that was supposed to be taken
almost without effort ended up holding
firm for several days, during which the
Germans grew increasingly desperate.
The Germans concluded that the Poles
had constructed extensive underground
and armored fortifications throughout the
peninsula and were confident the garrison
was armed with several artillery units when,
in fact, they only had a few mortars available.
A massive offensive against the tiny naval depot
was then launched with continuous naval fire,
artillery shelling, and a two-wave
air raid by 60 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka
dive bombers that dropped 26.5 tons of explosives.
The onslaught finally took a toll on the brave
Polish men, who suffered considerable casualties,
lost their mortars and their only working radio,
and had their remaining food supplies destroyed.
The appalling attack swallowed
the Polish base in dust and smoke,
which actually gained them some time.
The depleted Polish garrison considered surrendering,
but they opted to continue fighting. They
then repelled numerous enemy probing attacks,
while the Germans continued to tread lightly,
believing they were dealing with a larger force.
After several fruitless attacks, the German
forces began executing more cunning incursions.
At 3:00am on September 6, they sent
a burning cart toward the Polish
positions, but the gambit failed when the
frightened driver uncoupled prematurely.
The rigged cart could not reach the intended
oil cistern, igniting the nearby forest instead.
By the 7th, the Poles were reaching the
end of their supplies and fortitude.
Many men did not make it, and several survivors
were injured or suffering from gangrene.
Nevertheless, the heroic garrison would
have to withstand one more attack.
Soon, the Germans descended into the
post with flamethrowers and explosives,
destroying the remaining guardhouses
where the Poles were taking shelter.
After that, the defenders could not fight anymore.
Aftermath
At 9:45am on September 7, a white flag appeared
over the ramparts of the Polish naval depot.
For seven days, the small garrison of patriotic
men had held back the German advance even
as they conquered the rest of the country.
A few Polish soldiers managed
to keep over 3,000 German troops,
several warships, and artillery
units busy for an entire week,
and the German commander was so impressed
with his Polish counterpart that he allowed
him to keep his ceremonial Polish Sabre
even as he was taken prisoner of war.
Ultimately, the Germans suffered 200
casualties, while the Poles only lost 55 men.
A few days later, Hitler himself visited the
city of Danzig, where he inspected the depot
at Westerplatte and expressed respect for
the defensive efforts of the Polish men.
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