World War II - 80 Years On

[Walter White]

A remembrance thread.

September 1, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"Nazi Germany and Slovakia invade Poland, beginning the European phase of World War II."

"Switzerland mobilizes its forces and the Swiss Parliament elects Henri Guisan to head the Swiss Armed Forces (an event that can happen only during war or mobilization)."

"Adolf Hitler signs an order to begin the systematic euthanasia of mentally ill and disabled people."

[LaLaLand]

Awful period in history that I hope is never forgotten or repeated, though sadly in many ways it seems like we're always never too far away from history repeating...

Anyone have relatives who served/fought in WWII?

[Nicky91]

here it is 75th anniversary of independence, and we get a lot of WW2 specials on our dutch NPO channels, also a lot of that on national geographic too

[smudgie]

Awful period in history that I hope is never forgotten or repeated, though sadly in many ways it seems like we're always never too far away from history repeating...

Anyone have relatives who served/fought in WWII?

Sadly most of those that served have passed on now.
My dad and father-in-law both served, one in the Air Force and one in the navy.
My maternal grandfather was in the army.

[arista]

Yes Poland left alone
no help.
At the Start

[Twosugars]

Yes Poland left alone
no help.
At the Start

Not much help later either. Oh well

Two of my lot died in combat, a third one in a German labour camp. A fourth survived a different camp but didnt return to communist Poland and settled in France instead.

[Saph]

why did he do it

[The Slim Reaper]

why did he do it

It was a dare.

[Nicky91]

1167460082298314757

our PM Rutte with Canadian veteran Don White, who he had named a tulip after earlier this year

1167841089350524931

Rutte about 75th anniversary of liberation, in Terneuzen was the 1st festivity where loads of veterans were honoured who had their share in liberating our country :)

[LaLaLand]

My Granddad was in the RAF, a rear gunner in Lancaster Bombers during WWII as well as a like “spotter” after the war was over flying around the waters surrounding the UK locating submarines with binoculars from the same glass-bottom part of the LB’s.

He also went into one of the concentration camps after it was liberated (don’t know which one) and would NEVER speak about it. I used to be fascinated when I was younger but now I can’t help but think what horrific things he must have witnessed.

[Walter White]

September 2, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"Following the start of the invasion of Poland the previous day, the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) is annexed by Nazi Germany."

[Nicky91]

our king willem alexander's new look, at the 75th anniversary of liberation here

https://content-cdn.tipsenweetjes.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/02083100/koning-willem-alexander-baard.jpg

he looks good

[Walter White]

September 3, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia declare war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, forming the Allies."

"The United Kingdom and France begin a naval blockade of Germany that lasts until the end of the war. This also marks the beginning of the Battle of the Atlantic."

[Walter White]

September 4, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"William J. Murphy commands the first Royal Air Force attack on Germany."

[Twosugars]

September 4, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"William J. Murphy commands the first Royal Air Force attack on Germany."

Any update on invasion of Poland?

[Mystic Mock]

This is a fascinating read.

I can't even imagine what people went through during that time, it must've been terrible, and how did Hitler manage to get so much power in his own country? it's crazy.

[arista]

This is a fascinating read.

I can't even imagine what people went through during that time, it must've been terrible, and how did Hitler manage to get so much power in his own country? it's crazy.



When Hitler
was mass murdering Jews in Poland
it was kept secret from the General Public in Germany.
Evil Hitler kept his plans secret.

[Walter White]

September 6, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"Britain suffers its first fighter pilot casualty of the Second World War at the Battle of Barking Creek as a result of friendly fire."

"South Africa declares war on Nazi Germany."

[Walter White]

September 9, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"The Battle of Hel begins, the longest-defended pocket of Polish Army resistance during the German invasion of Poland."

[Twosugars]

September 9, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"The Battle of Hel begins, the longest-defended pocket of Polish Army resistance during the German invasion of Poland."

Hel peninsula, a very good seaside spot now, beautiful.

[Ammi]

..The different expressions of six Polish civilians moments before death by firing squad on 9 September 1939 in Bydgoszcz...

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jTatXymWtBM/Wj8u4XlQvwI/AAAAAAAAO04/akjxCdYNv7k6ydBvwAmC5TC1yUUCuZq7wCLcBGAs/s1600/Polish_facing_the_death.jpg

[Twosugars]

Nazis were cruel murderers, this was like no other war before.
Wermaht was implicated as much as SS and Gestapo.

[arista]

"The different expressions of six Polish civilians moments before death by firing squad on 9 September 1939 in Bydgoszcz..."

Yes Evil Nazi's
were the worst

[Ammi]

...meanwhile back in the USA, Patricia Donnelly was being crowned Miss America in New Jersey...it’s surreal...

https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Patricia-Donnelly-Miss-America-1939.jpg

[Twosugars]

That pic Ammi is very moving

First one is in despair, the second in a trance, the third laughing?, the rest standing expressionless

[Ammi]

..the bodies just laying behind them of those who had already faced the death squad...

[Ammi]

That pic Ammi is very moving

First one is in despair, the second in a trance, the third laughing?, the rest standing expressionless

...yeah I keep looking at the ‘laughing’ one and it’s obviously just the angle of it all..?..but yeah, it really does set the thoughts in motion ...the guy in the white shirt just looks so resigned...so lifeless already..?..

[Twosugars]

During the occupation germans in larger Polish cities would swoop on an area and cut off all escape points and then herd people, passersby and residents into lorries and ship them to concentration camps. All at random and without any notice or excuse.
So you could simply go out one day and never return

[Twosugars]

...yeah I keep looking at the ‘laughing’ one and it’s obviously just the angle of it all..?..but yeah, it really does set the thoughts in motion ...the guy in the white shirt just looks so resigned...so lifeless already..?..

He could be laughing hysterically or barring his teeth in anguish, impossible to tell

[Nicky91]

During the occupation germans in larger Polish cities would swoop on an area and cut off all escape points and then herd people, passersby and residents into lorries and ship them to concentration camps. All at random and without any notice or excuse.
So you could simply go out one day and never return

and polish officers being taken by the sovjets and being executed in cold blood

am i correct?

the memorial for this btw, was set to be visited some years back by the late then president Lech Kaczynski but he and many polish staff died in a plane crash en route towards that, also a very sad moment for poland, just people who were on their way to remember fallen polish officers during WW2

[Ammi]

During the occupation germans in larger Polish cities would swoop on an area and cut off all escape points and then herd people, passersby and residents into lorries and ship them to concentration camps. All at random and without any notice or excuse.
So you could simply go out one day and never return

...almost one fifth of a population of people slaughtered, I believe...an unspeakable war crime ..it’s impossible to imagine the terror those people lived through daily...

[Ammi]

He could be laughing hysterically or barring his teeth in anguish, impossible to tell

...that’s the thing with images, they speak so many different things...

[Twosugars]

and polish officers being taken by the sovjets and being executed in cold blood

am i correct?

the memorial for this btw, was set to be visited some years back by the late then president Lech Kaczynski but he and many polish staff died in a plane crash en route towards that, also a very sad moment for poland, just people who were on their way to remember fallen polish officers during WW2

Yes, the Katyn Massacre.

Germans did the same. First thing they did is to round up the elites as they called it so university professors, artists, politicians etc and either kill them straightaway or ship to concentration camps.
They called it decapitation of the nation, removing all intelligentsia. Poles were destined to be either germanised (those looking Aryan) or turned into a slave workforce and stopped from breeding.

[Twosugars]

...almost one fifth of a population of people slaughtered, I believe...an unspeakable war crime ..it’s impossible to imagine the terror those people lived through daily...

The Warsaw Uprising is my favourite episode in the whole sorry story.
Unimaginably tragic and romantic. The flower of Warsaw youth fighting for their city and holding on for two months hoping the Russians already just across the river would help.
But Stalin preferred to wait and let germans squash them bc he didnt want patriotic Poles to succeed but install his communist puppets instead.
Then germans raised Warsaw to the ground in revenge and expelled its population.
Only then the Soviets took the city.

[Ammi]

The Warsaw Uprising is my favourite episode in the whole sorry story.
Unimaginably tragic and romantic. The flower of Warsaw youth fighting for their city and holding on for two months hoping the Russians already just across the river would help.
But Stalin preferred to wait and let germans squash them bc he didnt want patriotic Poles to succeed but install his communist puppets instead.
Then germans raised Warsaw to the ground in revenge and expelled its population.
Only then the Soviets took the city.

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/warsaw-uprising?mediatype=photography&phrase=warsaw%20uprising&sort=mostpopular

...some incredibly powerful images of The Warsaw Uprising...I would want to post far too many in the thread, which would be hijacking it a bit...if you have time some time, maybe look through, TS..

[Twosugars]

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/warsaw-uprising?mediatype=photography&phrase=warsaw%20uprising&sort=mostpopular

...some incredibly powerful images of The Warsaw Uprising...I would want to post far too many in the thread, which would be hijacking it a bit...if you have time some time, maybe look through, TS..

Thank you:love:

[Walter White]

September 10, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"The submarine HMS Oxley is mistakenly sunk by the submarine HMS Triton near Norway and becomes the Royal Navy's first loss of a submarine in the war."

"Canada declares war on Germany, joining the Allies: Poland, France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia."

[Ammi]

https://evelynhartthetorontoglobeandmail.files.wordpress.c om/2013/05/evt100117201700366.jpg

[Ammi]

https://thediscoverblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/e011202191-v8.jpg

[Nicky91]

tomorrow LIVE on our local tv/radio channel omroep brabant

GoleTgKiuis

75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden

[Walter White]

September 14, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"The Estonian military boards the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł in Tallinn, sparking a diplomatic incident that the Soviet Union will later use to justify the annexation of Estonia."

[Twosugars]

The Soviets shamelessly took advantage.
Bet they don't talk about that when commemorating the war.

[Walter White]

September 17, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"The Soviet invasion of Poland begins."

"German submarine U-29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous."

[Walter White]

September 18, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"The Polish government of Ignacy Mościcki flees to Romania."

"The radio show Germany Calling begins transmitting Nazi propaganda."

[Walter White]

September 19, 1939, from Wikipedia,

"The Battle of Kępa Oksywska concludes, with Polish losses reaching roughly 14% of all the forces engaged."