World War II began in the early hours of the 1st September 1939 when the elderly German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish garrison at Westerplatte. Over 2000 German aircraft, mainly dive-bombers attacked, targeting Polish airfields with the aim of destroying the Polish air force on the ground, but the Poles had scattered their aircraft to satellite airfields. 60 divisions of German infantry, supported by Slovakian collaborators, almost three thousand panzers and artillery pieces flooded across the border. The Poles’ small army and cavalry were unable to prevent the German blitzkrieg, they lacked mobility possessing fewer than 90 light tanks…
This episode was written by listener Alex Chalmers.
