peashooter85:Special Company 800 and The War That Started Too EarlyIn 1939 it was becoming readily a
peashooter85:Special Company 800 and The War That Started Too EarlyIn 1939 it was becoming readily apparent that Europe would be embroiled in a war with Germany. The only questions were when, and who would make the first move. By then Germany had annexed whole nations and large tracks of land.Today we now recognize September 1st, 1939 as the date that World War II officially began. However, five days earlier an incident threatened to start the war earlier than planned. To begin the invasion of Poland, German plans included several night raids by commandos dressed in civilian clothing. These commandos were to cross the border and seize several strategic points necessary for the larger invasion to occur. The original timetable called for the invasion to begin on August 26th at 4:25AM. However, it seemed as though Britain and France may once again capitulate and give in to Hitler’s territorial demands, so the invasion was temporarily halted. The Allies decided that they would stand by Poland, and the invasion was rescheduled for September 1st.One of the commando units did not get the memo. Special Company 800, which was led by Lt. Hans-Albrect Herzner, never received the orders to stand down on the night of the 26th. Instead, Company 800 proceeded with their objectives, a mission to capture a railway station and tunnel at Jablonkow Pass.At 4:00AM, 70 German commando’s, dressed in civilian clothing, moved against Jablonkow Pass five days too early. By 4:25 they had reached their objective and began to open fire on the railway station, clashing with Polish border guards, police, and soldiers. After a furious firefight Lt. Herzner convinced the Polish commander to surrender. Unbeknownst to Herzner, the Polish were able to get a message out to local Polish headquarters, and a large detachment of Polish re-enforcements were on their way. German re-enforcements never arrived, as the war had been rescheduled for Sept. 1st, and the Germany Army were not aware of Herner’s raid. Under attack by a massive retaliatory force, Company 800 was forced to withdraw around midday of the 26th.After the incident Gen. Eugen Ott, commander of the German 7th division, officially apologized to Gen. Josuf Kustron, commander of Polish border forces, claiming that Lt. Herzner was was insane and had acted against orders. The Poles were not fooled, and destroyed the rail tunnel at Jablonkow, greatly hampering German operations when the real invasion occurred on Sept. 1st. Poland did not stand a chance, facing the German invasion in the west, and a Soviet invasion in the east. By October Poland had been completely overrun. -- source link