Sat, May 19 2012
On September 1st., 1939, 1.8 million German troops invaded Poland on three fronts, East Prussia in the north, Germany in the west and Slovakia in the south. They had 2600 tanks against the Polish 180, and over 2000 aircraft against the Polish 420. Their "Blitzkrieg" tactics, coupled with their bombing of defenseless towns and refugees, had never been seen before and, at first, caught the Poles off-guard. By September 14th, Warsaw was surrounded. At this stage the Poles reacted, holding off the Germans at Kutno and regrouping behind the Wisla (Vistula) and Bzura rivers. Although Britain and France declared war on September 3rd. the Poles received no help - yet it had been agreed that the Poles should fight a defensive campaign for only two weeks during which time the Allies could get their forces together and attack from the west.
Poland was only just beginning to modernize her armed forces before the attack, but had been forced (by Britain and France) to delay mobilization (which the two powers claimed might be interpreted as aggressive behavior). As such, at the time of invasion, only about one-third of her total potential manpower had been mobilized.
The initial Manchester air raids were relatively light (one was actually a propaganda leaflet drop) but gained in intensity in October and November. Then during Christmas 1940 between the 22nd and the 24th, the city was hit with a monumental air raid and one of the most intense incendiary bomb attacks of the war. A fire storm ensued in the center of the city. Incendiaries dropped on the City of London caused over 1400 fires including six that were classed as conflagrations, one of which covered half a square mile. The Guildhall was damaged, only its walls stood, eight churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren were destroyed as was Paternoster Row, a major telephone exchange, the Central Telegraph Office and guild company halls. Also damaged that night were five mainline stations, nine hospitals, sixteen Underground stations and St Paul's were hit by incendiaries.
And finally, according to my gun and history loving husband, England called its citizens to voluntarily give up privately owned weapons to arm its military near the beginning of the Second World War, which they selflessly did in large numbers. Because of this, the home guard (akin to a public militia or auxiliary) were armed with old single shot rifles and shot guns, when they were given weapons at all.
To improve their situation, some members of the home guard scrounged up war trophies such as the Lewis guns to have on hand, while others did indeed snatch up a few of the cheaply made mass produced Sten guns that England had been sending in bulk to the French resistance. After the war, the private ownership of weapons in England was kept limited with a progression of restrictive laws until it became what it is today.
Chapter 17 | Addendum