The Day We Went to War Page 12

  5.00pm (6.00pm), POLSKIE RADIO STATION, WARSAW

  Polish radio broadcasts a denial that the Germans have suspended military operations. This refutes the rumour that the Poles have heard is going round the French Chamber of Deputies, and which threatens to weaken France’s resolve to help Poland.

  Pictures and empty frames lying on the floor, awaiting evacuation at the National Gallery. The last of the Gallery’s paintings left on the afternoon of 2 September 1939. During this time 3,453 commercial firms also left London.

  A column of German tanks advancing in Poland. Six Panzer (armoured) Divisions, employing over 2,000 tanks, took part in the German invasion.

  5.00pm (6.00pm), MIELESZYN, GERMAN-POLISH BORDER

  In the main street of the small village, SS men first shoot and then bayonet sixty-year-old Tomasz Pasek. Moving on, they now force Jan Maczka, the village storekeeper, to open up his shop. He is then bayoneted to death.

  6.00pm, FRENCH FOREIGN OFFICE, QUAI D’ORSAY, PARIS

  Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet receives Polish ambassador Juliusz Lukasiewicz. The emotionally pent-up diplomat demands to know when France will honour its obligations to his country. Bonnet comes up with the excuse that nothing can be done as yet. The evacuation of women and children from Paris has not been completed, he tells the Pole. ‘Do you then want the women and children of Paris to be massacred?’ Bonnet asks the ambassador. Lukasiewicz, only too aware that Polish towns and cities are already being bombed, protests indignantly. He tells Bonnet that the French air force and anti-aircraft defences are surely strong enough to protect Paris. Each hour’s delay is only helping the Germans in their invasion. Bonnet fobs off the ambassador with a promise to speed things up.

  6.00pm, HOUSE OF COMMONS

  MPs gather to hear Chamberlain make a statement. Every seat is occupied and many MPs have to stand. All the galleries are packed. But the Prime Minister fails to appear and MPs are told that he will now make his statement at 7.30pm. Many adjourn to the members’ bars for ‘Dutch courage’.

  6.30pm (7.30pm), FOREIGN MINISTRY, ROME

  Count Ciano receives a ’phone call from the Foreign Office in London. The Italian foreign minister is told that Britain cannot agree to the five-power conference taking place unless German forces withdraw completely from Poland. In his diary, the Count writes, ‘the last glimmer of hope has died’. He also notes that Mussolini is convinced of the need to remain neutral, but the Duce is not at all pleased about it. The Italian people, however, are ‘unequivocally happy’ that their country is not marching at Hitler’s side. And so too is Ciano himself.

  7.00pm, BRITISH EMBASSY, PARIS

  Ambassador Sir Eric Phipps is telephoned by Lord Halifax. The Foreign Secretary tells Sir Eric to circumvent Bonnet and see Daladier himself. He is to impress on the French premier the need to act quickly. Britain and France must be seen to be acting in concert. Sir Eric agrees to do so, but warns Halifax that the French will say any action is impossible until both their mobilisation and evacuation are completed.

  7.30pm, THE ELYSÉE PALACE, PARIS

  The Council of Ministers meet. They agree with Commander-in-Chief General Gamelin’s request for more time to complete mobilisation, but there is dissension among them. Some, like Paul Reynaud and the tough colonial minister Georges Mandel, are all for immediate and concerted action with the British. They deplore the ongoing disagreement with London over the timing of the ultimatum. Others, like the pro-Italian and fervent appeaser Minister of Public Works Anatole de Monzie think, ‘For once we can afford the luxury of being a step behind the British.’

  7.30pm, SS ATHENIA, SIXTY-TWO MILES OUT FROM LIVERPOOL

  The liner is being blacked out as dinner is served. Passenger Barbara Bailey tells Chief Radio Officer D. Don that she thinks the liner is too crowded. ‘Don’t worry,’ he reassures her, ‘there’ll be a lifebelt for you.’

  7.30pm, THE NEW THEATRE, ST MARTIN’S LANE, LONDON

  Chelsea teenager Joan Wyndham has heard the news that because of the danger of air raids, the Government is going to close all places of entertainment, so she has rushed here to get a gallery seat to see John Gielgud and Edith Evans in The Importance of Being Earnest. Joan thinks that the people in the streets seem quite cheerful. She is struck too by the fact that those in the gallery queue are all talking to each other, ‘which is very unusual for the English!’

  Mothers with babies and children waiting to be evacuated from Victoria Station, London, 2 September 1939. Chamberlain’s Minister of Health, Walter Elliot, proclaimed that evacuation showed what a democratic nation could do.

  7.30pm (8.30pm), PODZAMCZE, LODZ DISTRICT, POLAND

  Soldiers from the German 17th Infantry Division break into the home of wheelwright Kazimierz Hoffmann. They force Hoffmann, his wife, six children and neighbour Maria Domalga into the yard and gun them down. At the same time four other men from the town are first beaten and then bayoneted to death.

  7.44pm, HOUSE OF COMMONS

  The Prime Minister arrives with acting Labour leader Arthur Greenwood. Chamberlain rises to make his statement. It only lasts four minutes. Half of it is given over to the Italian conference proposal which the Cabinet discussed earlier this afternoon:

  While appreciating the efforts of the Italian Government, His Majesty’s Government for their part would find it impossible to take part in a conference while Poland is being subjected to invasion . . . If the German Government should be ready to withdraw their forces then His Majesty’s Government would be willing to regard the position as the same as it was before the German forces crossed the Polish frontier. That is to say, the way would be open to discussion between the German and Polish Governments on the matters at issue between them . . .

  MPs are horrified at the Prime Minister’s bland and vacillating statement. To many it smacks of another Munich. Two MPs are said to be physically sick on hearing it. Arthur Greenwood now rises to his feet. From the Government back benches, Tory grandee Leopold Amery calls out, ‘Speak for England, Arthur!’ And rebel Conservative MP Bob Boothby also shouts out, ‘You speak for Britain!’ Chamberlain goes white, and at least one MP thinks that he is going to collapse. Flushed, but rising magnificently to the occasion, Greenwood tells MPs:

  I am gravely disturbed . . . I wonder how long we are prepared to vacillate at a time when Britain and all that Britain stands for, and human civilization, are at peril . . . I should have preferred the Prime Minister to have been able to say tonight definitely, ‘It is either peace or war.’ Tomorrow we meet at twelve. I hope the Prime Minister then – well, he must be in a position to make some further statement. And I must point out to him, every minute’s delay now means loss of life, imperilling our national honour . . . The moment we look like weakening, at that moment dictatorship knows we are beaten. We are not beaten. We shall not be beaten. We cannot be beaten; but delay is dangerous . . .

  Greenwood sits down to resounding cheers. Even Chamberlain’s most loyal supporters are cheering him. The Prime Minister looks as if he has been slapped in the face. Hore-Belisha believes that Greenwood has acted with great patriotism and statesmanship. Had he turned on the Government just now, he would undoubtedly have had Tory support. And it might have meant Chamberlain’s fall. The Prime Minister now gets up again and attempts a conciliatory speech to calm the House down. He tells MPs, ‘I should be horrified if the House thought for one moment that the statement that I have made to them betrayed the slightest weakening either of this Government or of the French Government . . .’

  But this does nothing to assure the House. Hore-Belisha thinks that, on the contrary, it gives the impression that Britain is weakening in its undertaking to Poland, and that the French are ‘ratting’. Harold Nicolson agrees and notes that Chamberlain ‘must know very well that the better-informed among us already know about Georges Bonnet. He is not telling the truth, and we know it.’ In the Press Gallery, lobby correspondent J.E. Sewell is seized by the lapels by a man he scarcely knows. I
n an agonised voice, the man shouts in Sewell’s face, ‘the French have ratted; it’s another sell-out!’

  7.45pm (8.45pm), WIERUSZOW, NEAR THE GERMAN-POLISH BORDER

  In Main Street, SS men from Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler murder three Jews, two men and a woman – all members of the Lewi family.

  8.00pm (9.00pm), FOREIGN MINISTRY, WARSAW

  Ed Beattie and other foreign correspondents gather to hear the latest news. They are told that poisoned chocolates have been scattered from German ’planes for Polish children to pick up. There are also stories of small balloons, containing some form of poison gas, being found here and there. Beattie is sceptical, believing what is actually happening is ‘bad enough, without all the improbable fairy tales’.

  8.00pm (9.00pm), OSTROWEK, LODZ DISTRICT

  German troops begin to set fire to houses in the village. Aniela Hess and her seventy-seven-year-old father Wojciech Goralski try to escape. But he is shot and dies as he attempts to run past the burning houses. Their neighbour Michal Dulski is also murdered tonight, and so too is Anilela’s married sister Jozefa Binkowska.

  8.30pm, HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Ten members of Chamberlain’s cabinet meet in Chancellor Sir John Simon’s room. They are all aghast at what they have just heard in the House, and demand that the Cabinet meet again. Sir John, up till now a staunch supporter of appeasement, is deputed to see Chamberlain. He is to tell the Prime Minister of their profound disquiet at the turn of events. Some MPs at Westminster suspect that Sir John has his eye on toppling Chamberlain with a view to replacing him as Prime Minister.

  8.40pm, HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Chamberlain agrees to see not just Sir John but the other cabinet ‘rebels’ as well. They file into the Prime Minister’s room where they are met by Chamberlain and his loyal supporter, air minister Sir Kingsley Wood. Simon puts their case very forcibly. He tells Chamberlain that his announcement tonight has taken them completely by surprise. It seems to be going back on what was decided in Cabinet this afternoon, the ultimatum to expire at midnight tonight, irrespective of what the French intend to do. Chamberlain tells his ministers that the problem is indeed with the French. It has proved impossible to get them to agree to synchronise their ultimatum with Britain’s. Earlier today, Paris had told London that it must have a further forty-eight hours to complete French evacuation and mobilisation processes. The Prime Minister tells his colleagues that he wants to banish the impression he has just made in the House. They tell him that a statement should be made forthwith, and not to bother about the French. Chamberlain leaves for Number 10, and the ‘rebels’ go back to Simon’s room. There they draw up a letter to the Prime Minister, summarising points made just now and send it over to Downing Street.

  9.00pm, RMS ATHLONE CASTLE, SOUTH ATLANTIC

  As the liner makes its way from Cape Town back to Britain, ship’s steward Paine writes up his diary entry for today: ‘We receive news that Germany are become [sic] more aggressive to Poland, also that England and France are still talking. Why are they hesitating? It is impossible to retract now with honour . . . As the day wears on speculation is high; it must be war, there is no alternative. We are eagerly waiting the news on the loudspeakers at seven o’clock. The time comes, and all we hear is that the Irish Prime Minister de Valera, says “Although a lot of Irishmen sympathize with England, they have to look after their country first.” What do you expect from pigs but grunts? Why are we not getting any news? Has England already declared war? The suspense is getting worse.’

  Preparations for war are already being made on the ship. The Captain asks passengers to come forward to fill sandbags. The response is good. Among the volunteers are the Cambridge University boat crew, who have been touring South Africa.

  9.00pm, HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Sir John Simon, Hore-Belisha and two other ‘rebels’ dine with Chamberlain supporter Sir Kingsley Wood. As the ministers eat, no further word comes from Number 10.

  9.15pm, 10 DOWNING STREET

  The Prime Minister ’phones Lord Halifax. The Foreign Secretary has never heard Chamberlain sound so disturbed before. Halifax joins him for dinner, and Chamberlain recounts this evening’s events and the cabinet ‘revolt’. He also tells Halifax that Churchill is getting restless. But this is hardly surprising. Chamberlain has not made any contact with Churchill since offering him a post in the War Cabinet yesterday.

  9.45pm, FRENCH EMBASSY, LONDON

  Ambassador Charles Corbin is rung up by a furious Winston Churchill. His ‘ear-splitting voice’ makes the telephone vibrate. In no uncertain terms, Churchill, who has always been a passionate Francophile, tells Corbin that, if France goes back on her word now, he will be entirely indifferent to her fate. In an effort to pacify Churchill, the ambassador starts to explain about technical difficulties. ‘Technical difficulties be damned!’ growls Churchill, rudely interrupting. ‘I suppose you would call it a technical difficulty for a Pole if a German bomb dropped on his head.’

  9.50pm, 10 DOWNING STREET

  Chamberlain puts through a call to Daladier. He tells his French colleague of the angry scene in the Commons tonight. Furthermore, the Prime Minister tells Daladier, if the French persist in a time limit of forty-eight hours to run from midday tomorrow, it will be impossible for Chamberlain ‘to hold the situation here’. Daladier is still clinging to the hope that the Italian proposal for a five-power conference might yet save the peace. Moreover, he reminds the British Prime Minister, it will be France which will have to bear the immediate brunt of a German attack. Daladier tells Chamberlain, ‘Unless British bombers were ready to act at once, it would be better for France to delay, if possible, for some hours, attacks on the German armies.’ On that note the two heads of government break off the conversation.

  10.00pm, HOUSE OF COMMONS

  The cabinet ‘rebels’ meet again in Sir John Simon’s room. He and Lord Privy Seal Sir John Anderson decide to go to Downing Street to once again confront the Prime Minister. Hore-Belisha thinks that they should go en masse, but he is overruled by the others.

  10.00pm, TAKELEY

  Moyra Charlton and her family listen to the news on the BBC’s new Home Service. They are not at all reassured at what they hear: ‘From Halifax’s and Chamberlain’s speeches tonight we gather that England is taking no immediate action against Germany . . . We send no ultimatum, in fact we hem and haw and talk of negotiation. Meanwhile Germany bombs Poland and hurls her man-power against Polish defences. We are mad, mad. Before we know where we are Danzig and the Corridor will be German. Hitler will declare his objective gained and the crisis will be over, and there will be crisis on crisis again and the agony of suspense, the German faith in the Fuehrer will be forever unshakeable and no one will believe our word again . . . We can’t, can’t back out now.’

  10.00pm (11.00pm), PODZAMCZE, LODZ DISTRICT, POLAND

  German soldiers arrest Mayor Tomasz Monka and two other elderly men. They are taken to a brickyard where they are beaten so savagely that Monka receives fatal injuries.

  10.30pm, FOREIGN OFFICE, WHITEHALL

  Lord Halifax telephones Georges Bonnet at the Quai d’Orsay. He urges the French foreign minister that their two countries should present a united front to Hitler. Both their ambassadors in Berlin should call on von Ribbentrop at 8am tomorrow. They should tell him that if no satisfactory reply is made by midday then ‘we should be free to take action to fulfil our obligations to Poland’. But, Halifax tells Bonnet, if the French will not agree to that, then Britain will go it alone, providing that France follows suit within twenty-four hours. Bonnet is still reluctant to go ahead on such terms. He tells the Foreign Secretary that more time is needed for the evacuation of women and children from Paris. He has been to the Gare d’Orsay, where there are ‘long lines of women, with their infants in their arms’. If there is a German air raid on the French capital, Bonnet tells Halifax, there will be ‘a frightful massacre’. The two men finally agree that the British will deliver their ultimatum in
Berlin at 8am, and the French theirs at midday.

  10.30pm, TRAVELLERS CLUB, LONDON

  Harold Nicolson comes out of the club to find London’s blackout is complete. Nicolson walks home, creeping carefully. Glumly, he foresees ‘that once the habit of order leaves us, there will be a recrudescence of footpads and highway robbery’.

  10.30pm, BOLTON

  A Mass Observation diarist encounters a drunk leaving a pub at closing time. ‘Heil Hitler,’ the drunk says, ‘Och, dinna listen to me – I dinna mean it.’

  10.30pm (11.30pm), GERMAN-POLISH BORDER

  Wilhelm Prueller and his company receive tea and are issued with fifteen cigarettes each. They suffered their first fatality at 5pm this afternoon. Prueller now beds down for the night.

  10.45pm, HOUSE OF COMMONS

  Sir John Anderson returns from Downing Street. He tells Hore-Belisha and the others that the ultimatum will now be given tomorrow morning at 8am to expire at midday. The war minister thinks the interval too long. Another message now arrives from Number 10. The Cabinet is to meet at 11pm.

  10.45pm, 10 DOWNING STREET

  Chamberlain receives French ambassador Charles Corbin. The Prime Minister does not beat about the bush. He tells the French diplomat, ‘Public opinion unanimously considers the Italian offer a trap, intended to favour the advance of the German armies in Poland by immobilizing the Allied forces. Britain is definitely united now, but the country is beginning to be seriously disturbed by the delays due to the vacillating attitude of the French Government. We cannot wait any longer. If necessary, we shall act alone.’