Day-by-Day Timeline of Events
Saturday, July 1st, 1944
Plans by the Polish Army are laid out for a resistance and uprising in the Capital City of Warsaw against their German overseers.
Saturday, July 1st, 1944
Lieutenant-General Komorowski heads up the resistance plans as Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Home Army in Warsaw.
Wednesday, July 26th, 1944
The Polish government, in exile since the fall of their country to the invading Germans, communicates with the British government for help in staging the uprising.
Thursday, July 27th, 1944
The British government promises what it can and this emerges in the form of scattered air drops of weapons and supplies.
Monday, July 31st, 1944
Soviet Army forces close in on German defenders in Warsaw.
Tuesday, August 1st, 1944
Three Soviet Army Fronts converge on the outskirts of Warsaw, prompting Polish General Komorowski to greenlight the uprising.
Tuesday, August 1st, 1944
Roughly 30,000 Poles and scattered firearms make up the beginning of the Warsaw Uprising.
Tuesday, August 1st, 1944
Uprisings begin across the Polish capital of Warsaw.
Tuesday, August 1st, 1944
Upon hearing of news of the Polish uprising, an infuriated Adolph Hitler swears punishment and commits more of his troops within the Capital limits.
Friday, August 4th, 1944
Realizing their chances of victory are slim against well-trained and well-armed Germans, Polish Authorities once again ask the Allies - including the Soviets - for assistance in maintaining the uprising.
Thursday, August 10th, 1944
German Army forces continue to relocate to Warsaw in an attempt to quell the Polish uprising.
Friday, August 11th, 1944
Sensing complete destruction of Warsaw and its people, the Pope himself appeals to the Allies for help.
Sunday, August 20th, 1944
German Army soldiers now number some 21,300 personnel in Warsaw.
Friday, August 11th, 1944
The Red Army finds themselves some 12 miles outside of Warsaw proper, having advanced into the Polish suburbs.
Wednesday, August 16th, 1944
Sensing his own political interests and conquests, Soviet leader Josef Stalin rejects a direct call for aid for the Poles.
Sunday, August 20th, 1944
The swift and thorough German response has divided the Polish resistance into three distinct groups, all cut off from one another.
Sunday, August 20th, 1944
The German Army begins their final push to crush the Polish response.
Friday, August 25th, 1944
SS Obergruppenfuhrer Erich von dem Bach-Zelweski details the final German push.
Friday, August 25th, 1944
The Germans begin their counter-offensive against the remaining Pole units.
Saturday, September 16th, 1944
Pressured by the Americans and British, Stalin gives in - just a little - and delivers a meager air drop of arms consisting of just fifty pistols and a pair of machine guns.
Saturday, September 16th, 1944
Polish Army units fighting alongside the Soviet Army make a dash to support their comrades in Warsaw, this against the orders of Soviet High Command.
Sunday, September 17th, 1944
Under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Zygmunt Berling, the 1st Polish Army forces engage the Germans in Warsaw but are ultimately driven back in retreat.
Monday, September 18th, 1944
American B-17 bombers land at Poltava, now under Soviet control, to refuel. Onboard are arms and supplies meant for the Polish resistance.
Monday, September 18th, 1944
Josef Stalin refuses further Allied use of his forward airfields to resupply the Polish insurgents.
Thursday, September 21st, 1944
For his actions in disobeying Soviet Army orders, Berling is stripped of his army command.
Monday, September 25th, 1944
American air drops deliver their much-needed cargo to the Polish resistance below. However, the drop zones are in firm German control and supplies are captured soon after landing.
Monday, October 2nd, 1944
Polish General Komorowski, sensing total defeat imminent, orders his Polish insurgents to surrender to the Germans.
Tuesday, October 3rd, 1944
Polish military forces all surrender to the German Army, ending the valliant uprising.
Tuesday, October 31st, 1944
Some 250,000 Polish civilians and soldiers of Warsaw will meet their end through execution or deportation to Nazi concentration camps as a result of the Warsaw uprising.