It is famous for the Battle of Westerplatte, which was the first clash between Polish and German forces during the Invasion of Poland and thus the first battle of the European theater of World War II.

The place where the Second World War started, Westerplatte is also located there.

The defense of Westerplatte served as an inspiration for the Polish Army and people as the successful German advances continued elsewhere and today is still regarded as a symbol of resistance to the invasion.

Already during the war the defense of Westerplatte served as an inspiration for the Polish Army and people as the successful German advances continued elsewhere and even today is still regarded as a symbol of resistance to the invasion ; a Polish Thermopylae.

The resort was established on the Westerplatte peninsula around 1830 which had a beach, a forested park, an ocean-side bath complex and health spa facilities.

After local dockworkers had refused to unload ammunition supplies throughout the Polish-Soviet War in 1920, the Westerplatte peninsula ( until then a city beach ) was also given to Poland to build up an ammunition dump and a military post within the city's harbor.

During the first week of September 1939, a Military Transit Depot ( Wojskowa Składnica Tranzytowa, WST ) on the peninsula of Westerplatte, Free City of Danzig, that was manned by fewer than 200 Polish soldiers, held out for seven days in the face of a heavy German attack.

The WST was separated from the New Port of the Free City of Danzig ( present day Gdańsk ) by the harbour channel, with only a small pier connecting them to the mainland ; the Polish-held part of the Westerplatte was separated from the territory of Danzig by a brick wall.

Since then, Gdańsk Shipyard has operated as Stocznia Gdańsk S. A. On 1 April 1993 Northern Shipyard of " Westerplatte Heroes " became a corporation, under the name Northern Shipyard S. A.

At 04. 45 Central European Time, under cover of darkness, the German WW1-era battleship Schleswig-Holstein quietly slips her moorings at her wharf in Danzig harbor, drifts into the center of the channel, and commences firing on the fortress Westerplatte, a Polish army installation at the mouth of the port of Danzig, Poland.

The German navy positioned its old battleship to shell Westerplatte, a section of Free City of Danzig, an exclave separate from the main city and awarded to Poland by Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

In 1925 the Council of the League of Nations allowed Poland to keep 88 soldiers on Westerplatte, which the Poles had secretly increased to 176 men and six officers by September 1939.

In 1925 the Council of the League of Nations allowed Poland to keep only 88 soldiers on Westerplatte, but secretly the garrison was gradually expanded to 176 men and six officers.

In the years after war, several dozen schools and several ships in Poland were also named after the " Heroes of Westerplatte " or " Defenders of Westerplatte ".

** WWII: Polish troops on the Westerplatte are forced, due to lack of food and ammunition, to surrender.

According to the city's website, Tczew was the location of the start of World War II when German bombers attacked Polish sapper installations to prevent the bridge from been blown up at 04: 34 on 1 September 1939 ( the shelling of Westerplatte commenced at 04: 45 ).

* Post Office – situated on the corner of Dąbrowskiego and Obrońców Westerplatte streets.

On March 17, 1735, Marshal Münnich superseded Peter Lacy, and on May 20, 1735 the long-expected French fleet appeared and disembarked 2, 400 men on Westerplatte.

Model of Westerplatte as it appeared on 1 September 1939

A harbor canal was constructed with the Westerplatte on one of its banks.

On board was a Shock troop ( Stoßtruppen ) assault company with orders to launch an attack against the Westerplatte on the morning of August 26.

Model of the aerial view of Westerplatte and Danzig's New Port on September 1, 1939, with the position of SMS Schleswig-Holstein | Schleswig-Holstein

At 0622, the Marines frantically radioed the ship they had heavy losses and were withdrawing, Danzig Police had tried to seize control of the harbor on the other side of Westerplatte but were defeated.

A devastating two-wave air raid by 60 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bombers on September 2 ( the total of 26. 5 tons of bombs ) took out the Polish mortars, directly hit guardhouse 5 ( destroying it completely with a 500 kg bomb ) and killed at least eight Polish soldiers ; the air raid covered the whole area of Westerplatte in enormous clouds of smoke and destroyed their only radio and all their food supplies ; German observers believed that no one could possibly have survived such bombing.

In the meantime, Polskie Radio continuously broadcast the message " Westerplatte still fights on " each morning of the battle.

At 0430 September 7, the Germans opened intense fire on Westerplatte which lasted to 0700.

Nazi war flag on Westerplatte

" It ( the dispute ) centres on the question of who commanded the defence of Westerplatte, Maj. Henryk Sucharski or Cpt.

This dispute has gone so far beyond its narrow circle of fans of the internet, moving into the mass media as a dispute over a film script and the spending of public money on a film which aims to show the new ' truth ' about the defence of Westerplatte.

Without a detailed analysis of this project, one can only stress that it has nothing in common with the confirmed state of knowledge about the history of the defence of the WST Westerplatte in September 1939 .... Regardless of the disputes, Sucharski and the two hundred other defenders of the WST will remain in the circle of good memory, regardless of whether they wanted to defend it to their last bullet, or whether they contemplated putting down arms already after 12 hours of the first shot of the Schleswig-Holstein on 1 September 1939.

In September 1939 some of the forts were used as POW camps for Polish prisoners, specifically those captured after the surrender of the Polish fort at Westerplatte at the mouth of the river Vistula and on the Hel Peninsula.

Cut off, with no reinforcements or chance of resupply, he continued his defense, keeping the main German force stalled at Westerplatte and so preventing further attacks along the Polish coast.

At the end of August 1939, the German pre-dreadnought battleship Schleswig-Holstein sailed to Danzig under the pretext of a courtesy visit and anchored in the channel from Westerplatte.

During the Polish Defensive War of 1939, the main portion of the defenders of Westerplatte as well as the armoured brigade of General Stanisław Maczek were either from Kielce or from its close suburbs.

* Westerplatte ( known also as Osiedle Hubalczyków-Westerplatte ) — a large and fast-developing area in the south-east of Słupsk, including the city's highest point.

Maj. Sucharski surrendering the Westerplatte post

Over the coming days, the Germans repeatedly bombarded Westerplatte with naval artillery and heavy field artillery along with dive-bombing raids by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas.

As a sign of honor for the soldiers of Westerplatte, German commander, Gen. Eberhardt, allowed Major Sucharski to keep his sword while being taken prisoner.

Image: Westerplatte barrack. jpg | Barrack ruins at Westerplatte.

Image: Westerplatte Nigdy Wiecej Wojny. jpg | Never Again War

A 75 was used by Polish forces during the Battle of Westerplatte, making it the first artillery weapon deployed against German forces during the war.