30 September 1939

The day in dispatches

Filed through the day, as it happened

Newest first

23:55GMT

23:30GMT

EditorialThe Paris Dispatch

Poland has lost its territory but it still has a government

PARIS Tonight Poland has a President and a government again. Władysław Raczkiewicz took the oath of office at the Polish Embassy in Paris today, and General Władysław Sikorski leads a new cabinet. They took office a month after the German invasion began, and one day after Berlin and Moscow published a line dividing Polish territory between them.

23:15GMT

WireSOThe Stockholm Observer

German radio tells British listeners that peace is Britain's choice

BERLIN Germany's English-language radio service told listeners in Britain this evening that it is for Britain to decide whether the call for peace from Berlin and Moscow is accepted.

21:10GMT

AnalysisIRThe Imperial Review

Poland's constitution lets a wartime president choose his own successor

LONDON Poland has a new President in Paris because its constitution allows a president in wartime to name his successor.

19:30GMT

BreakingWirePDThe Paris Dispatch

Poland's new President takes the oath in Paris and names Sikorski premier

PARIS Władysław Raczkiewicz has taken the oath as President of Poland at the Polish Embassy in Paris, after Ignacy Mościcki resigned the presidency in his favour, the Press Association and the Associated Press report.

18:00GMT

17:15GMT

WireLSThe London Sentinel

Pope Pius XII tells Poles that Poland is not going to die

ROME Pope Pius XII told a party of Poles he received at Castel Gandolfo today that he was deeply sorrowful that hundreds of thousands of people had been made to suffer in Poland, the Press Association reports.

14:30GMT

AnalysisSOThe Stockholm Observer

Berlin, Moscow and Manchester papers read the Moscow agreements in opposite ways

STOCKHOLM Newspapers in Germany and the Soviet Union today present the Moscow agreements as a settlement that leaves Britain and France to choose between peace and war. A leading British paper calls it the partition of Poland.

12:00GMT

11:15GMT

CommuniquéAPSAllied Press Service

Berlin reports more surrenders at Modlin and a North Sea air battle

BERLIN The German High Command says a further 269 officers and about 5,000 men have surrendered at Modlin, north-west of Warsaw. It says German fighters shot down five of six British aircraft off the North Sea coast, and that 45 steamers have been searched in the Skagerrak and Kattegat. The report was published by the German news agency DNB.

Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German High Command)

Official text

State media

German High Command figures, published by the state agency DNB. Not independently confirmed.

The High Command of the Armed Forces announces:

05:30GMT

WireFECThe Far Eastern Courier

Japan says it has surrounded 500,000 Chinese troops and China denies it

CHUNGKING Japanese columns are moving rapidly on Changsha from south-west of Pingkiang, the Japanese news agency Domei says, and it expects the city to be occupied within 48 hours.

03:30GMT

00:30GMT

WireAPSAllied Press Service

London says some RAF aircraft are missing after an attack near Heligoland

LONDON RAF aircraft attacked ships of the German fleet in the Heligoland Bight yesterday, the Ministry of Information says. Its communiqué says the crews pressed home their attacks at low altitude despite heavy anti-aircraft fire, and that some of the aircraft have not yet returned.

Where things stood at the start of the day

Poland: Germany and the Soviet Union have published a treaty fixing a frontier between them along the Bug and the San. Both governments call it final.
Peace call: Berlin and Moscow say Britain and France should end the war. British officials say Britain will fight on, and French spokesmen say France will too.
Warsaw and Modlin: Berlin says Modlin surrendered unconditionally with 30,000 men. Warsaw's disarmed garrison is marching out, and German troops are expected to enter the city on 2 October.
The Baltic: The Soviet Union and Estonia have signed a ten-year pact giving Moscow naval bases and airfields on Estonian territory.
Western Front: France reports a calm night, with patrols active west of Saarbrücken.
At sea: AP reports the Norwegian freighter Jern sunk by a submarine off Norway, with her crew saved by a Swedish steamer.
Neutrals: The United States Senate begins debating the neutrality bill on Monday. The Panama conference is drafting a declaration of neutrality.

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