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WWII On This Day: October 2

What happened on October 2 during World War II? This date brings together 5 events from 1939, 1941 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1939
The German battleship Schleswig-Holstein firing on the Polish depot at Westerplatte, September 1939.
Schleswig-Holstein firing on Westerplatte, 1 September 1939 · Public domain · Source
Invasion of Poland 1939

The Hel garrison capitulates

Polish forces on the Hel Peninsula remained isolated on the coast under naval gunfire, air attack and ground pressure after the rest of the coastal defence had been overcome. The narrow peninsula channelled German ground approaches and allowed coastal artillery to contest nearby naval forces. Isolation steadily reduced ammunition, food and the prospects for reinforcement. The garrison surrendered on 2 October after more than a month of defence. Its endurance kept a portion of the Polish coast in organised military hands while the rest of the campaign had contracted to…

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1941
Army Group Centre commander Fedor von Bock at a divisional command post in Russia during the October 1941 offensive. The photograph is used as tightly attributed command imagery for Typhoon, not as a same-day view of 2 October.
Army Group Centre commander Fedor von Bock at a divisional command post in Russia during the October 1941 offensive. The photograph is used as tightly attributed command imagery for Typhoon, not as a same-day view of 2 October. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B12867 / Gutjahr · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Source
The Battle for Moscow

Army Group Centre begins the main drive on Moscow

Army Group Centre's main offensive opened on 2 October. Third and Fourth Panzer Groups attacked around the Soviet forces west of Vyazma while Fourth and Ninth Armies followed to hold the shoulders and reduce the pockets; Guderian's southern thrust was already moving against the Bryansk Front. The German plan depended on destroying the western Soviet armies before they could fall back into the prepared approaches to Moscow. The first days achieved the operational surprise and penetration required for that design, and the panzer spearheads began closing behind large Soviet formations.

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1944
LVT-4 Alligator amphibious vehicles pass Terrapin amphibious vehicles near Terneuzen during the Battle of the Scheldt, 13 October 1944.
Department of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada · 13 October 1944 · Public domain in Canada · Source
The Battle of the Scheldt

The 2nd Canadian Division attacks north

The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division began the drive north from Antwerp toward Hoogerheide and Woensdrecht on 2 October. The objective was the narrow land connection to South Beveland, whose capture would isolate the islands from German reinforcement by road. Open polder, raised roads, mines and well-sited German positions channelled the advance. The division entered a prolonged fight for the low ridge around Woensdrecht rather than achieving a quick closure of the isthmus.

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Infantrymen of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division rest on a slope in the Hürtgen Forest on 18 November 1944.
U.S. Army Signal Corps / National Archives · 18 November 1944 · Public domain · Source
Aachen and the Hürtgen Forest

XIX Corps attacks the West Wall

After a one-day weather delay, the 30th Infantry Division attacked on a front little more than a mile wide north of Aachen. The opening air strike missed many of the pillboxes; more than 400 artillery and mortar tubes then supported the river crossing. The object was to break the fortified belt, turn south and meet VII Corps east of Aachen. Pillboxes had to be isolated and reduced individually.

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Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski and Zygmunt Dobrowolski photographed at the surrender-signing ceremony in Ożarów on 3 October 1944, immediately after the agreement ending hostilities had taken effect on 2 October.
Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski and Zygmunt Dobrowolski photographed at the surrender-signing ceremony in Ożarów on 3 October 1944, immediately after the agreement ending hostilities had taken effect on 2 October. Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe 37-1712-2 / unknown photographer · Public domain (Poland) Source
The Warsaw Rising

The agreement ending the Rising

A ceasefire had been in effect since 05:00 while Polish and German representatives negotiated throughout 2 October at von dem Bach's headquarters in Ożarów. At 20:00 German time, 21:00 Polish time, organised hostilities in Warsaw ceased under the formal agreement signed by Colonel Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki, Lieutenant-Colonel Zygmunt Dobrowolski and the German command. The agreement recognised Home Army soldiers as combatants entitled to prisoner-of-war treatment and set terms for the evacuation of civilians. German authorities subsequently expelled the population and violated the property protections as organised destruction detachments looted, burned and…

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