The day in dispatches
Moscow says Poland's government has vanished, and Poland's ministers say otherwise
STOCKHOLM Two descriptions of Poland were published today, and only one of them can be accurate.
London, Paris and Washington have yet to respond to the Soviet move
LONDON The British, French and American governments have yet to make any formal statement about the Soviet entry into Poland, and the day is nearly over.
Lithuania's prime minister says the country's neutrality will be strictly observed
KAUNAS Lithuania's neutrality will be strictly observed, the prime minister, Jonas Černius, said in a broadcast to the country this evening.
Britain accepts the invitation to October's refugee committee in Washington
WASHINGTON Britain has accepted the White House invitation to the October meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, the State Department announced today. Lord Winterton is to head the British delegation.
American ship reports an aircraft attacking a submarine after the Kafiristan was torpedoed
NEW YORK The American ship American Farmer radioed a report today of an aircraft attacking a submarine in the North Atlantic, after the British steamer Kafiristan was torpedoed.
Chungking papers treat the frontier armistice as a ceasefire and nothing more
CHUNGKING Chungking's newspapers carried the armistice on the Mongolian frontier this morning, and they interpret it narrowly.
France orders German-born men aged 50 to 65 to report at once
PARIS German-born men between the ages of 50 and 65 have been ordered to present themselves to the French authorities immediately, carrying two days' food and hand baggage.
Reuters reports German families in Aachen ordered out of the city
BERLIN German families in Aachen have been ordered to leave the city for the interior, according to a Reuters dispatch today.
Polish ministers say from Kuty that their government is still functioning
KUTY The government of the Polish Republic is operating on Polish territory, the foreign minister, Józef Beck, said today in a communication from Kuty, a town near the Romanian frontier. He instructed Polish representatives abroad to press the Allies for a decisive protest.
French communiqué reports German reinforcements and counter-attacks repulsed
PARIS German reinforcement of the western front is continuing, artillery activity has been heavy, and German counter-attacks have been repulsed, the French High Command's communiqué says today.
Warsaw holds out a day after the German surrender demand
WARSAW Warsaw is still holding out, a day after a German officer brought a surrender demand to the Polish lines. The city has left the demand unaccepted.
A German spokesman says the Soviet advance has Berlin's full approval
STOCKHOLM The Soviet action in Poland has Germany's full approval, a spokesman for the German Propaganda Ministry told correspondents in Berlin early this morning.
Berlin says its troops have taken the citadel at Brześć Litewski
BERLIN German troops have taken the citadel at Brześć Litewski, the German High Command says. The announcement says the Polish defence there was broken.
RAF flight leader describes bombing a German warship at Wilhelmshaven
LONDON An RAF flight leader has described going in low to bomb a German warship at Wilhelmshaven on 4 September, in an account printed this morning in the Sunday Pictorial.
Molotov says Soviet troops entered Poland to protect undefended populations
MOSCOW Soviet troops have entered Poland to protect Ukrainians and White Russians who have been left undefended, the foreign commissar, Vyacheslav Molotov, said in a broadcast to all stations in the Soviet Union. He spoke at half past eleven this morning Moscow time, which is half past eight GMT.
Moscow tells foreign missions its neutrality towards their countries is unchanged
MOSCOW The Soviet government has told the foreign missions in Moscow that its policy of neutrality towards their countries is unaffected by its action in Poland.
Moscow's case for entering Poland rests on its own claim of Polish collapse
MOSCOW The Soviet note read to the Polish ambassador at three o'clock this morning justifies the Red Army's entry into Poland with a single claim, which is that the Polish state has collapsed.
Soviet troops cross the Polish frontier, with accounts of the hour in conflict
MOSCOW Soviet forces crossed Poland's eastern frontier during the early hours of this morning. Moscow radio says the advance runs from the northern end of the frontier to the south.
Moscow tells Poland's ambassador the Polish state has ceased to exist
MOSCOW The Soviet government has told Poland's ambassador in Moscow that the Polish state and its government have in effect ceased to exist, and that the Red Army has been ordered across the frontier.
Where things stood at the start of the day
- Poland
- Berlin claimed its troops were close around Praga and put figures on prisoners and guns taken south-east of the city. Warsaw radio said the defence was holding. Neither account could be tested.
- Western Front
- Paris said German troops were destroying villages as they fell back towards their fortified line. No width has ever been given for the French advance.
- Baltic
- Estonia continued disarming the Polish submarine Orzeł at Tallinn.
- Far East
- Fighting on the Mongolian frontier stopped at two o'clock on the 16th. Extracts from the terms were published in Moscow, and a boundary commission was left to be named.
- Atlantic
- Contraband control continued to take cargoes off neutral ships, with the cost falling on the shipper.
- Washington
- Colonel Lindbergh broadcast against American entry. Congress meets in special session on 21 September to consider the arms embargo.
- India
- The Congress Working Committee's terms for supporting the war stood unanswered by the Viceroy.