I was asked by a friend a few years ago to sell some of his stuff on ebay. While sorting through the articles, this dropped out of a book, and my friend allowed me to keep it. I have treasured it ever since.
It is dated 8th September 1939. Germany had invaded Poland on the 1st of September, to be followed on the 3rd of September by the declaration of war by the British and French governments, followed by India, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, thus beginning the Second World War.
The text reads:
Maidstone.
8.9.39.
We have to report again at 10a.m. on Monday to check up all billets, so I still can't say when I can get away. We are not to go out of the town for more than half a day at present,- so sometime later! Hope all's well with you.
Yours
Enid
I have no idea who these people were, or what their relationship was, but I always speculate when I look at the card!
I am touched by the simple optimism of the card's sentiment, however realise at the same time that the war was already being prepared for. What fears must have been going through the minds of the populace at that time, only hinted at by the fact that this woman was unable to leave her post for more than half a day?
My mother used to tell us that on the day that War was declared, she had her leg in traction in hospital. Being an adventurous 8 year old little girl, my mother decided that she was going to scale a sheer rock face in her little Welsh village. It took her a while to get up, but the descent was much quicker, ending up with her broken leg (an injury that she never really recovered from) and hospitalisation for numerous months!
War was declared, but life went on, during what became known as 'The Phoney War.' As we all know, it did not last for long before the carnage spread from Poland to engulf the whole world.
Next week is the anniversary of the invasion of Poland and the Declaration of War. I give this forgotten little post card as a source of reflection for these landmarks in the history of the world.
| Invasion of Poland | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II | |||||||||
 The map shows the beginning of World War II in September 1939 in a wider European context. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Germany Slovakia (see details) |  Poland | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Fedor von Bock (Army Group North) | Edward Rydz-Śmigły | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Germany: 60 divisions, 6 brigades, 9,000 guns,[1] 2,750 tanks, 2,315 aircraft[2] Slovakia: 3 divisions
Joined on 17 September:
Soviet Union: 33+ divisions, 11+ brigades, 4,959 guns, 4,736 tanks, 3,300 aircraft | Poland: 39 divisions (some of them were never fully mobilized and concentrated),[4] 16 brigades,[4] 4,300 guns,[4] 880 tanks, 400 aircraft[1] Total: 950,000[Note 1] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Germany:[Note 2] 16,343 killed, 3,500 missing,[11] 30,300 wounded Slovakia: 37 killed, 11 missing, 114 wounded[12]
Soviet Union:[Note 3]
1,475 killed or missing, 2,383 wounded[3] or: 5,327 killed, missing and wounded[13]
Total casualties:59,000
| Poland:[Note 4] 66,000 dead, 133,700 wounded, 694,000 captured 904,000 total casualties | ||||||||
Further reading:
No comments:
Post a Comment