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LiveWW2The Second World War, in real time
Day 23
Saturday 23 September 1939

Three numbers move without an event behind them, Berlin declares the Polish army destroyed, and Moscow counts its own advance

From the LIVE WW2 feed

The Second World War, in real time, 87 years on.

The day in dispatches

Filed through the day, as it happened
Newest first
23:55GMT
23:55GMT
22:30GMT
22:30GMT
EditorialThe London Sentinel

Today's new figures describe earlier events

Three figures in today's news changed, and none of them changed because of anything that happened today.

20:10GMT
20:10GMT
AnalysisNYRThe New York Register

Pittman begins drafting the neutrality bill

Senator Key Pittman, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, brought senators together today to begin work on legislation to carry out the President's neutrality proposals. Mr. Roosevelt put the proposals to Congress two days ago.

18:20GMT
18:20GMT
WireSOThe Stockholm Observer

Correspondents on German-run tour of Prague report no disorder

Foreign correspondents were taken through Prague today on a visit arranged by the German authorities, and reported afterwards that they saw no disorder.

17:30GMT
17:30GMT
AnalysisIRThe Imperial Review

Mussolini says the Polish question is settled and Italy will stay out

Benito Mussolini told Fascist party representatives from Bologna today that the Polish question had been "liquidated". He was speaking at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome.

16:20GMT
16:20GMT
AnalysisAPSAllied Press Service

Reports put Romanian executions at 340 or at a thousand

Private reports reaching Copenhagen put the number of Iron Guard members executed in Romania at 340. A separate report circulating through London, which this service carried yesterday, put it at a thousand.

15:20GMT
15:20GMT
AnalysisPDThe Paris Dispatch

French say three German attacks east of the Saar were beaten back

French forces east of the Saar were attacked three times today and held their positions each time, according to the French War Office.

14:00GMT
14:00GMT
CommuniquéAPSAllied Press Service

Berlin declares the Polish field army destroyed and names three places still fighting

The German Armed Forces High Command said today that organised resistance by the Polish field army has ended. Its statement says a Polish army of a million men has been defeated, captured or dispersed. It names Warsaw, Modlin and the Hel Peninsula as the three places still fighting. It is the fullest claim Berlin has made about the campaign as a whole.

13:10GMT
13:10GMT
WireNYRThe New York Register

Twenty-one American republics open neutrality talks in Panama tonight

Foreign ministers and representatives of the twenty-one American republics meet in Panama City this evening to coordinate their neutrality and protect the hemisphere's trade from the war in Europe.

12:30GMT
12:30GMT
CommuniquéSOThe Stockholm Observer

Moscow claims 120,000 Polish prisoners and the capture of Białystok and Brest-Litovsk

The Soviet General Staff says the Red Army occupied Białystok and Brest-Litovsk on 22 September and took 120,000 Polish prisoners between 17 and 21 September. Its communiqué was issued in Moscow this morning and covers operations to the 22nd. The American embassy transmitted it to Washington at one o'clock Moscow time, which is 10:00 GMT. All the figures are Soviet claims and are unconfirmed.

11:00GMT
11:00GMT
WireLSThe London Sentinel

Five missing after patrol vessel HMS Kittiwake strikes a mine in the Channel

The patrol vessel HMS Kittiwake struck a mine in the Channel on Wednesday, and five of her company are missing and believed killed, the Ministry of Information has announced on behalf of the Admiralty.

09:20GMT
09:20GMT
WireSCThe Southern Cross

Admiralty adds three Courageous survivors, putting total at 685

The Admiralty has added three more survivors from the aircraft carrier Courageous and put the total saved at 685, according to an announcement datelined London, 21 September, carried in New Zealand and Australian papers this morning.

06:30GMT
06:30GMT
WireSCThe Southern Cross

Correction: Australia's war borrowing is £20,405,000

We reported yesterday that the Australian government asked Parliament for authority to borrow £21,630,000 for the war. That figure was wrong.

05:00GMT
05:00GMT
02:10GMT
02:10GMT
EyewitnessAPSAllied Press Service

Warsaw's mayor gets a message out: troops holding, milk almost gone

Stefan Starzyński, the mayor of Warsaw, has sent a message out of the besieged capital saying the troops are holding. The message reached New York at eight o'clock last night, which is midnight GMT.

Where things stood at the start of the day

Warsaw
Still held and still on the air. The mayor's own message out of the city describes shelling, fires and civilian dead, and none of it can be checked from outside.
The east
Moscow says Białystok and Brest-Litovsk were occupied on the 22nd. Berlin and Moscow announced the demarcation line on Friday: the Pissa, the Narew, the Vistula and the San.
Lwów
Moscow says six Polish divisions and two regiments surrendered in the region. Berlin says its troops there were relieved by Soviet formations.
Prisoners
Three figures are in circulation and they count different things: 170,000 in the Vistula bend, an unpublished total at Tomaszów, and a Soviet claim of 120,000 for the 17th to the 21st.
Romania
Argeșanu's government is under a state of siege. Reports of executions range from 340 to a thousand and neither figure is verified.
At sea
The Courageous count stands at 685 in the Admiralty's own announcement. Contraband control stands at 200 ships stopped and 80 released, counted to the 20th.