Poland invaded this day, 1939

A staged photo,  taken by Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler’s personal photographer, of German soldiers removing a roadblock at the German-Poland border on Sept. 1, 1939.

September 1, 1939 was the first day of World War II in Europe. It was the day Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Poland's army lasted only weeks, but its resistance continued until the end of the war.The country was also invaded from the east on Sept. 17 by the USSR under a concordat between Hitler and Stalin.

Many Poles got to an Allied country and continued the fight. Even as late as 1944, Poles under arms fighting the Germans comprised the fourth-largest national contingent.

And it was the Polish underground that delivered to Britain the greatest spy prize of the war - a working model of the German Enigma cipher machine complete with manual.

Craig Henry has a lot more, so go read.