I don't need to tell members of this forum that September will see the 70th Anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War. I would be interested to hear opinions as to how this anniversary should be marked, and perhaps what this forum should do to mark it? A new section for the 70th, perhaps?
I hoping other members will contribute to my thread I started back in September. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/all-anniversaries/15563-marking-70th-anniversary.html
As we already have threads for marking anniversaries of specific events, I was wondering if we, as a forum as a whole, could do something to commemorate individuals who died or fought and start in September. Rather along the lines of 'Remembering today' those who fell, but with a bit more detail. Perhaps we could chose a name through Geoff's search engine... highlight the background and see what we could find about that person and their unit ? Some of us have access to Histories, WDs, recommendations and the like and the forum seems to be quite good at this research already, but so as not to overload ourselves, a name could be chosen for the month or possibly each week. Starting with the first casualties from each service and then as the war expands and for each major anniversary that comes along, one from each theatre? Contributions relevant to each date could also be added by any members with specific information about other individuals of differing nationalities, in various campaigns. This could be an on-going project and something which would be of benefit to those researching their relatives ... Or … On the anniversary itself we could start a thread in gratitude to those who served, and encourage as many members as possible to post a message, just to say how WW2 affected their family, or what it means to them personally. Just my thoughts. D
Diane - I think that is an excellent idea. A post about each person would be better, rather than one long post with many people in it. Will be a great way to commemorate some servicemen and women who died.
I hoping other members will contribute to my thread I started back in September. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/all-anniversaries/15563-marking-70th-anniversary.html Yep, that's a good one, too.
Diane - I think that is an excellent idea. A post about each person would be better, rather than one long post with many people in it. Will be a great way to commemorate some servicemen and women who died. It is quite possibly a great thing to do, what needs to be thought out is who do you pick - is it a random pick or perhaps a request to the forum?
Paul, My thoughts of it being on one Commemorative thread was following the example of Peter on his excellent This day in History thread ... so that it may not necessarily have to be about those who died, but could include acts of bravery ... taken from newspapers, histories, or medal recommendations ...? Perhaps this is two separate ideas. But honestly, this is where I step back and see what the mods think and what anybody else will come up with ... It is quite possibly a great thing to do, what needs to be thought out is who do you pick - is it a random pick or perhaps a request to the forum? GH, Only suggestion is, if it is to be inclusive and representative, then total randomness could not come in to play ... Hope we can do something for the Anniversary as a forum. :mellow: D
Only suggestion is, if it is to be inclusive and representative, then total randomness could not come in to play ... D Excellent idea. Agree it cannot be random, but could select a random individual from a particular event (Peter's thread is excellent for this). My search engine could help. For the first month of the war, here are the Commonwealth casualties: (there is only one choice of event for September 17) http://www.********.co.uk/WW2talk/September1939.jpg EDIT: missed off the numbers for September 3: 14 casualties.
Any Polish people we can mention?? Given the day thats in it I think it would be unfair to mention anyone else
Kapral Piotr Konieczka, is one of the first Polish casualties from the fighting on 1st September 1939 Piotr Konieczka - pierwszy polski ¿o³nierz poleg³y w wojnie obronnej 1939 roku - II wojna ¶wiatowa - Konflikty Zbrojne - www.konflikty.pl
or Staff Sergeant Wojciech Najsarek was the station master responsible for supervising the loading and unloading of equipment from railway wagons. Najsarek has the unenviable distincton of being possibly the first military victim of the Second World War, having been killed when Westerplatte railway station was attacked in the very first moments of the war The Second World War
"I do not propose to say many word tonight. The time has come when action rather than speech is required. Eighteen months ago in this House I prayed that the responsibility might not fall upon me to ask this country to accept the awful arbitrament of war. I fear that I may not be able to avoid that responsibility. But, at any rate, I cannot wish for conditions in which such a burden should fall upon me in which I should feel clearer than I do to-day as to where my duty lies. No man can say that the Government could have done more to try to keep open the way for an honorable and equitable settlement of the dispute between Germany and Poland. Nor have we neglected any means of making it crystal clear to the German Government that if they insisted on using force again in the manner in which they had used it in the past we were resolved to oppose them by force. Now that all the relevant documents are being made public we shall stand at the bar of history knowing that the responsibility for this terrible catastrophe lies on the shoulders of one man - the German Chancellor, who has not hesitated to plunge the world into misery in order to serve his own senseless ambitions." Address by Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister, in the House of Commons, September 1, 1939.
"So, war is here! From this day on, all our other affairs and concerns must become secondary. We are shifting our whole public and private lives onto a special track. We have entered a time of war. The whole nation’s energies must be steered in a single direction. We are soldiers, one and all! We must think about a single goal: to fight until victory!" Polish Radio broadcast, September 1, 6.30 am, 1939.
Published in the Telegraph 70 years ago today World War 2: Czechs rise against Nazis - Telegraph A widespread revolt has broken out against the Nazi authorities in the former Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia and Western Slovakia. Published: 8:44AM BST 21 Sep 2009 Czechs rise against the Nazis and Adolf Hitler. Photo: AP Article first published in the Daily Telegraph, Sept 21, 1939. It began on Sunday, and, despite repressive measures and superior forces, the fight against a ruthless tyranny continues with courage and determination. In a statement on the revolt last night the Ministry of Information said: “Considerable material damage has been done. Bridges on important railways and roads have been demolished, fire stations put out of action, railway rolling stock and material damaged, workshops of important factories bombed and machinery destroyed”. The revolutionary movement had been preceded in the days immediately before the rising by the labour demonstrations in Prague which, by Saturday night, had developed into serious clashes with the Germans, chiefly Nazi Storm-troopers. Firearms were used on both sides, and casualties are said to have been considerable. Between Sunday and Tuesday riots took place at a number of places in Bohemia and Moravia. On Tuesday the movement spread to Western Slovakia. Slovak garrisons revolted and about 15,000 troops have been disarmed. The fact that this is not just a flash in the pan is shown by the unanimity of purpose, tenacity and the discipline of the participants. Those who had no firearms seized kept weapons handy. Labourers in Prague were content with boards studded with nails with which to strike at the enemy. Fighting has been relentless and grim with no quarter given. The Germans took ruthless measures to suppress the rising. The list of those arrested runs into thousands and of those executed into hundreds. Germans join revolt - Garrisons Rise Among the towns mentioned by the Ministry of Information as the centre of revolts are: Pardubice, Tabor, Pisek and Brunn. In the last-named town a proportion of the members of the German-Czech community made common cause with the Czechs. When the movement spread to western Slovakia, Slovak garrisons at Stilima and Trencin revolted and it was here that about 15,000 troops were disarmed. The German authorities took ruthless measures when they realised that they were dealing not with sporadic outbursts but with an organised movement on a wide scale. Despite their severity the repressive steps have not succeeded in slowing the revolt. It was reported from Copenhagen on Tuesday that a revolt had broken out in the Skoda arms works in Bohemia. The German secret police there made hundreds of arrests. Executions were stated to have taken place at the vaults of a Prague bank. German admission Following Tuesday’s admission of extensive action in Slovakia, the German Congress stated last night that a “secret organisation” had been discovered in Bratislava. The organisation were said to be mainly Jews and the activities to have included the spreading of information. Death for sabotage Commenting on the revolt among Slovak people, the Belgrade correspondent of “Le Jour Echo de Paris” says that the older classes of men are proving the most resistant, with the result that the Slovak Government has ordered the demobilisation of reservists in the age 35 to 40 years. Sabotage in the German protectorate of Slovakia has assumed dangerous proportions and the public have been warned by wireless that death is the penalty. Three persons have so far been condemned. From Prague, the correspondent reports the arrests of 10,000 persons.
This website lists those killed at Westerplatte. Westerplatte One caught my eye: # po kapitulacji: * sierżant Kazimierz Rasiński radiotelefonista, zamordowany po kapitulacji za odmowę wydania szyfru # after the surrender * seargent Kazimierz Rasiński wireless operator, murdered after the surrender for refusing to hand over the codes
Today in 2021 from a Polish tweet: There is a biography of him, in Polish: Henryk Sucharski – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia
