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35018 Polish Sentry - Westerplatte 1939. Soldier in summer uniform made from linen. Unpainted unassembled resin figure. Includes decals with rank insignia, and gasmask bag stencils

Sculpted by: Maciej Pawlica

Figure is inspired by reconstruction from SRH Cytadela website:
Rifleman from  sentry company transit military depot in  Westerplatte


Figure will be released in September/October 2009.
Buy 18th-21st September with 20% discount!
Buy 22nd-25th September with 15% discount
Buy 26th-28th September with 10% discount
Buy 29th-31st September with 5% discount

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We recommend book:

AJP BiK17  
Westerplatte 1939. by Mariusz Wójtowicz-Podhorski. 700 pages of comprehensive history of the most famous battle in 1939.Hundreds of b/w photos, plans, maps. 3D visualisations. Polish text

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Westerplatte - Polish Termopile

Westerplatte - Polish military depot in free City Gdansk (Danzig). Sentry company of 180 Polish soldiers with three guns (37-75mm) against 3500 German troops with battleship (4x280mm point blank fire), pioneer support, Howitzer Abt, Stuka bombers. Ordered to defend 12 hours, they stood 7 days with only 15 casualties. Surrendered with honor. Germans lost 300-4000 killed/wounded.

Read more about Westerplatte below. Longer story in Wikipedia: Battle of Westerplatte

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Westerplatte is a peninsula in Gdansk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the Vistula delta estuaries), in the Gdansk harbour channel. From 1926 to 1939 it was the location of a Polish Military Transit Depot (WST), sanctioned within the territory of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk). It is famous for the Battle of Westerplatte, which was the first clash between Polish and German forces during the Invasion of Poland and thus the first battle of the European theater of World War II.

The transit depot

In 1925 the Council of the League of Nations allowed Poland to keep 88 soldiers on Westerplatte. By September 1939 the crew of Westerplatte had increased to 182 soldiers. They were armed with one 75 mm field gun, two 37 mm Bofors antitank guns, four mortars and a number of medium machine guns. There were no real fortifications, only several concrete guardhouses hidden in the peninsula's forest. The Polish garrison was separated from Free City of Danzig (Gdańsk) by the harbor channel, with only a narrow isthmus connecting the area to the mainland. In case of war, the defenders were supposed to withstand a sustained attack for 12 hours after which a relief from the main units of the Polish Army were to arrive. The Polish garrison's commanding officer was Major Henryk Sucharski, the executive officer was Captain Franciszek Dąbrowski.

Battle of Westerplatte

Westerplatte in flames Maj. Sucharski surrendering the Westerplatte post Nazi war flag on Westerplatte On September 1, 1939, only minutes after the German Luftwaffe (Airforce) had begun the invasion of Poland by dropping bombs in a series of raids on the city of Wieluń by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas, at 04:45 local time, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein then on a "courtesy visit" to the  Free City Gdansk, without warning, opened fire on the Polish garrison. This was followed by an attack by Lt. Willhem Henningsen’s storm unit from the Schleswig-Holstein and the "Wehrmacht pioneers." However, soon after crossing the artillery-breached brick wall, the attackers were ambushed by the Polish defenders, with small arms, mortar and machine gun fire from concealed and well-positioned firing points that caught them in a crossfire. Another two assaults that day were repelled as well, with the Germans suffering unexpectedly high losses. Over the coming days, the Germans repeatedly bombarded Westerplatte with naval artillery and heavy field artillery along with dive-bombing raids by Junkers Ju 87 Stukas. Repeated attacks by 3500 German soldiers were repelled by the 180 Polish soldiers for seven days. Major Henryk Sucharski had been informed that no help from the Polish Army would come. Cut off, with no reinforcements or chance of resupply, he continued his defense keeping the main German force stalled at Westerplatte, preventing further attacks along the Polish coast. On September 7th the Major decided to surrender due to lack of ammunition and supplies. As a sign of honor for the soldiers of Westerplatte, German commander, Gen. Eberhardt, allowed Major Sucharski to keep his sword while being taken prisoner.

 Aftermath

The ruins of the defenders' barracks and guardhouses are still there. After the war, one of the guardhouses (#1) was converted into a museum. Two 280mm shells from the Schleswig-Holstein prop up its entrance.

source - Wikipedia