Battle of Westerplatte

1–7 September 1939, Westerplatte, Free City of Danzig

German victory; the depot surrendered after a week

The old battleship Schleswig-Holstein had come to Danzig on a goodwill visit and moored across the harbour from the Polish military depot on the Westerplatte peninsula. At about 4.45 on the morning of 1 September 1939 she opened fire on it at point-blank range, among the first shots of the Second World War. The depot's 200 or so soldiers under Major Henryk Sucharski, expected to hold out for twelve hours, beat off attack after attack by marines, SS troops and police, and held out against her guns, artillery and dive bombers for seven days. They surrendered on 7 September, with 15 killed; the Germans lost many more. Westerplatte became a symbol of Polish resistance.