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On September 1, 1939, a small but industrially important part of Czechoslovakia from Bohumín to Jablunkov on the left bank of the Olza River, which was occupied by Poland and became part of it, did not witness fierce fighting on September 1, 1939. Despite its economic importance, the Poles did not intend to defend it steadily, but preparations for World War II and the course of its first day were recorded in municipal chronicles, Polish historiography, as well as in German war documents.
With the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, fascist Germany unleashed a six-year period of global war. The ground, naval and air forces of both countries fought each other in an unequal struggle. The "Blitzkrieg" strategy, backed by adequate military force in the service of a monstrous ideology, brought Poland to the brink of extinction. One of the three main components of the German armed forces was the air force - the Luftwaffe.
A clear assessment of the participation, results and intensity of the combat deployment of I./ZG 2 in September 1939 can be misleading. The Polish Fighter Air Force was not qualitatively or quantitatively equivalent opponent. A preliminary report on the experience of Luftflotte 1 fighter units from air combat states: " No experience was recorded in the fight against an equivalent enemy, because Polish fighters did not reach the speed and ascent qualities of the Bf 109 ..."
In 1939, Brest was the capital of the Polesie Voivodeship. It was an important transport hub and military centre of the central section of the eastern part of Poland. In March 1921, under the Polish-Soviet Treaty, it became part of Poland with its fortress buildings.
Front-loaded 46 mm grenade launcher Mk. 36 was an improved version of the grenade launcher Mk. 30. It was developed from 1931 to 1935 and after subsequent tests, it was in 1936 started its production. From the beginning of the year 1937 it was used as a support weapon for small infantry units.
Stefan Pawlikowski had already seen action in the first world war and then after war end became a test pilot. When Poland collapsed in 1939 he made his escape to France where he took over the training for the Polish Air Force base. Then, with France falling he escaped to England where he had been requested due to his age, to remain in the organisation role of the Air Force.
Seventy years after the start of the German campaign into Poland, which the Poles called the Polish Defensive War or the September Campaign and which gave birth to World War II, it would seem that historians and the general public know all aspects of the war. Yet there are facts that were carefully concealed or suppressed until the 1990s, and only with the political changes in the Eastern Bloc countries did the possibility of comprehensive knowledge of them arise. The possibility of access to surviving original documents, no longer constrained by ideological ties, makes it possible to create new perspectives on facts that are little known to the public.
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