One of the first direct victims of the Nazi scourge in Europe.
Total Events: 29
1939 Thursday August 31st
Adolph Hitler provides the final orders for the invasion of Poland.
1939 Friday September 1st
German airborne elements begin bombardment of Polish defensive targets. At 6:00 AM, 50 German divisions making up Army Group North and Army Group South flood into Poland. Army Group South's mission is the capture of the Polish capital of Warsaw.
1939 Friday September 8th
German ground forces arrive at the outskirts of the Polish capital of Warsaw, covering an astounding 200 miles in a single week.
1939 Saturday September 9th
Polish Poznan army units launch a counter-offensive against the German army at Kutno on the Bzura.
1939 Sunday September 10th
Polish forces at the Modline fortress some 20 miles north of Warsaw fall under siege to the German Army.
1939 Sunday September 17th
Polish resistance at the Bzura River north of Lodz finally surrender to the Germans. Some 170,000 Polish prisoners are taken captive.
1939 Sunday September 17th
Soviet army elements begin their invasion of Poland from the east. Attacks occur near Vilnius and Bialystok.
1939 Monday September 18th
The Polish government flees into Romania.
1939 Monday September 18th
The Polish city of Vilnius falls to the Soviet army.
1939 Tuesday September 19th
German and Soviet army elements finally meet one another in Poland at Brest-Litovsk.
1939 Friday September 22nd
The Polish City of Lwow falls to the Soviet Army.
1939 Friday September 22nd
The Polish city of Bialystok falls to the Soviet Army.
1939 Wednesday September 27th
The Polish capital of Warsaw officially falls.
1939 Thursday September 28th
Polish forces fighting it out at the Modline fortress officially surrender.
1939 Friday September 29th
The German-Soviet Boundary Friendship Treay is signed between German representative von Ribbentrop and Soviet representative Molotov. Poland is divided into a western zone under German control and an eastern zone under Soviet control.
1939 Monday October 2nd
The last valiant gap of Polish resistance - numbering some 4,500 soldiers under the command of Admiral Unruh - north of Danzig on the Pubwysep Hela peninsula falls to the Germans.
1944 Tuesday January 11th
The first major Allied offensive to take Cassino is launched.
1944 Friday February 11th
A blanket retreat is enacted by the Allies in an attempt to regroup and plan a new strategy to take Cassino.
1944 Tuesday February 15th
Following the Allied aerial bombardment, the second major Allied offensive to take Cassino is launched.
1944 Saturday February 19th - March 13th
The Italian winter makes its arrival and postpones any further Allied offensives for the next month.
1944 Wednesday March 15th - March 21st
Positions on Monte Cassino are officially in Allied hands.
1944 Wednesday March 15th
Artillery guns open up on Cassino while 600-plus Allied bombers attempt to shake the German defenders.
1944 Wednesday March 15th
A third major Allied offensive is put into action.
1944 Wednesday March 22nd
With mounting losses in both manpower and tanks, further Allied thrusts are called off.
1944 Thursday March 23rd - May 10th
A lengthy six-week period allows the Allies to rebuild their forces - though this period allows the Germans to increase their defensive foothold.
1944 Thursday May 11th
A combined British, Polish and American assault converge on Cassino involving the British 13th Corps, the Polish II Corps and the US 5th Army.
1944 Thursday May 11th
The fourth offensive to take Cassino is put into action.
1944 Thursday May 18th
The Poles take Monte Calvario.
1944 Thursday May 18th
Monte Cassino falls to the Allies, costing some 50,000 casualties along both sides of the battlefield.
