10-Sep-39: Canada Declares War on Germany; Luftwaffe Raids Warsaw 15 Times; British Expeditionary Force Builds Up in France
In Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King asks a special session of Parliament to approve his request that Canada join the war against Germany. Most Canadians see the coming of war one week after the declarations of war by England and France as inevitable. A few days before, a solemn King George VI took to the airwaves in London in an address called “Canada at the side of Britain.” This also marks the first time that Canadians make their own declaration of war as a sovereign nation.
Prime Minister King vows to secure Canada’s defense, and take “all necessary measures” to curb Germany’s “lust for conquest.” Even though the Canadians are the last of the British Dominions to declare war, the few days of hesitation permits the accelerated delivery from the US of large amounts of war goods which, after the declaration of war are now barred by American neutrality laws.
Meanwhile on the front lines in Poland, Polish armies are ordered to retreat to defensive positions in the southeast of the country. The German Luftwaffe conducts 15 air raids on Warsaw. German forces also make an attempt at spreading false propaganda by broadcasting a fake news bulletin on the same wavelength as Radio Warsaw that announces the fall of Warsaw, the capital.
The Polish Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Smigly-Rydz, continues making pleas to the French to invade Germany and take pressure off the Poles. But the French Chief of the General Staff, General Maurice Gamelin, announces that more than half of his active divisions are in contact with the enemy on the northeast front and that he can do no more to help the Poles.
Meanwhile, at the Channel ports, the first major units of British Expeditionary Force begin to land on French soil; small advance parties have been arriving since 4-Sept. 160,000 men, 24,000 vehicles and 140,000 tons of supplies are sent to France during September.
On the high seas, friendly fire takes its toll as the British submarine Triton mistakenly torpedoes the British submarine Oxley. The Oxley becomes the first allied naval casualty of World War II. Only three of 55 sailors on board survive.