The worst thing that ever happened: 17 Sep 1939

By September 17, Poland had been battling the German army for more than two weeks, always outmatched but always valiant. Then the Soviet Union invaded from the east, so that the country was being dismembered not by one of the largest and most powerful military forces in Europe, but by two of them, the Wehrmacht and the Red Army. From this moment, there was no possibility that Poland could remain free, or that Europe would be spared a Second World War. Above: David Low's cartoon in the Evening Standard, 20 Sep 1939. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford