World War II Chronology- September 16-22, 1939

WWII Time line as compiled by onwar.com

September 16, 1939 
In Poland... Warsaw is now surrounded, and a German ultimatum is delivered by the Luftwaffe through the dropping of leaflets demanding an immediate surrender.  The German demand is rejected by the Polish garrison, led by General Czuma, and the civil population. The Poles have already fought off one German assault, inflicting heavy casualties. The Germans respond by an intensification of the bombardment against the city.  On this eve of the Jewish New Year, Luftwaffe planes dive-bomb the Jewish quarter of the city.  Polish air force bombers make their final sorties.
In Moscow... The USSR informs Poland that the Red Army will enter eastern Poland on September 17th "to protect the Ukrainian and Belorussian minorities."
In the North Atlantic.. The first German U-boat attack on a North Atlantic convoy, U-31 sinks SS Aviemore. A major escorted convoy leaves Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Canada for Britain.

September 17, 1939

In Poland... Soviet troops enter Poland. Because of the controlled focus on the German's attack, there is virtually no Polish defense as they have only 18 battalions in the east of their country. Just before dawn, the Red Army invades along the entire 800-mile border, catching the Poles by surprise and allowing the Soviet forces to advance virtually unopposed. Stalin declares that Poland no longer exists as an independent state.  Meanwhile, the Polish government is fleeing towards the Romanian border, evacuating from the border town of Kuty -- the fifth and last temporary seat in the Polish provinces. All surviving Polish aircrew fly to Romania.This has now left the Poles temporarily leaderless.
In Warsaw...St. John's Cathedral is bombed during mass; the dead are buried in public parks because the cemeteries are full.  Warsaw is now completely isolated as converging German forces meet at Siedlce, in eastern Poland. Some 40,000 Polish prisoners have been captured by the Germans at Kutno and Brest-Litovsk is taken after a bitter 3-day battle. The isolated pocket around the river Bzura finally falls to German forces north of Lodz.  Over 170,000 Polish soldiers are taken prisoner.  The Germans are given a stop line due to the Soviet invasion in the east and they must honor the German-Soviet non-aggression pact signed on August 23rd.
In Moscow... Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Molotov, announces that the USSR is invading to protect Ukrainian and Belorussian minorities in Poland. Soviet newspapers have been making claims of "brutal treatment" of national minorities in Poland, especially Ukrainians and Belorussians. The Soviet government promises to respect Finnish neutrality and recognizes Slovakia as an independent state.
In Athens... The Italian government assures the Greek government that it will take no military action against Greece even if Italy enters the war.
In the North Atlantic... The British aircraft carrier, HMS Courageous, is sunk by U-29 while on anti-submarine patrol off the southwest coast of Ireland. More than 500 men are killed (514 of 1200 crew members). After this second incident, carriers are withdrawn from such work. Courageous had been one of the most effective of the British carriers.

September 18, 1939

In Romania... The Polish president, Moscicki, and the Commander in Chief, Rydz-Smigly, enter Romania and are interned. They leave behind messages telling their troops to fight on.
In Poland... Soviet forces have advanced 100 km into Poland, meeting little resistance. Vilnius falls to the Soviets.  The German 3rd and 10th armies begin attacking Warsaw. Members of the Polish cipher bureau, with vital knowledge of the German Enigma code, flee the country and head for Paris.
In Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm and Reykjavik... In simultaneous announcements, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland declare that they intend to continue trading with all belligerents to protect their economic existence.

September 19, 1939

In Danzig... Hitler makes a triumphal entry into the formerly free city and makes a foreign policy speech that seems to offer conciliation with France and Britain, suggesting that the war could be concluded on the basis of the German territorial gains already achieved. He also swears that Danzig will be German forever and that Germany will fight to the bitter end, if necessary.

In Poland... The Soviet advance reaches the Hungarian frontier. In the north, Vilna is taken. The Soviets link up with the Germans at Brest Litovsk, which is given up to the Soviets according to the provisions of the secret agreement of August 23, 1939. Meanwhile, about 30,000 Polish troops reach Warsaw after fighting their way out of Kutno. German bombers begin a continuing assault on Warsaw, initially striking utilities and other essential public facilities.  
In France... The first British army corps lands in France.

September 20, 1939

In Poland... Just as the Germans were preparing to leave Lvov to the Red Army, the Poles surrendered.  
On the Western Front... For the first time, RAF and Luftwaffe aircraft engage when a flight of German Me109 fighters attack 3 Fairey Battle reconnaissance bombers over the Siegfried Line, over Aachen; 1 Me109 and 2 Battles are shot down.  
From London... Britain and France vow to keep fighting in response to recent peace offerings by Hitler. They declare that the Allies "will not permit a Hitler victory to condemn the world to slavery and to ruin all moral values and destroy liberty." Meanwhile, the British Conservative Party government, under the leadership of Neville Chamberlain, is denounced by the Labour Party opposition, in the House of Commons, for failing to help Poland enough against the German and Soviet invaders.

September 21, 1939

In Bucharest... The Romanian Prime Minister, Armand Calinescu, is murdered by members of the Iron Guard, a fascist organization. Assassins block the path of his car with a wooden cart and fired pistol shots into him and his bodyguards. The assailants then forcibly enter a radio station and broadcast that "the death sentence on Calinescu has been executed." They are later overpowered and shot to death at the location of the murder of the prime minister. A large crowd is present. Their bodies are left to lie there for the next 24 hours. The assassination is an apparent retaliation for the tolerant, even sympathetic, attitude of the Romanian government toward Poland, exemplified by the acceptance of Polish military and civilian refugees.  
In Poland... German forces intensify the artillery bombardment of key points in Warsaw.
In Occupied Poland... Nazi occupation authorities initiate "The Heydrich Plan" which involves the deportation of 600,000 Jews from Danzig and western Poland to central Poland to be concentrated in urban ghettos.  It is a measure to facilitate the "Final Solution" - the deportation and extermination of European Jewry.
In Washington... President Roosevelt addresses a special joint session of Congress and urges the repeal of the Neutrality Act provisions embargoing arms sales to belligerent countries. "Our acts must be guided by one single hard-headed thought -- keeping America out of this war," the president said. Allowing arms to be sold on a cash-and-carry basis would be "better calculated than any other means to keep us out of war."
In the United States... Newspapers allege that senior Nazis, including Goebbels and Hess, have foreign investments worth over $12 million.

September 22, 1939

In Poland... Rapidly advancing Soviet troops capture Lvov and Bialystok.  In Brest-Litovsk, Soviet and German forces conduct a joint victory parade. Meanwhile, Colonel General von Fritsch, former German Army Commander in Chief and an outspoken opponent of the Nazi government, is killed by a Polish sniper outside Warsaw. Hitler visits the front, observing the shelling of the Warsaw suburb of Praga.
In Sussex... The second meeting of the Allied Supreme War Council takes place. Although the meeting is supposed to be secret, a large crowd gathers outside the building in which the Allied leaders meet.  British Prime Minister Chamberlain, with Lord Halifax, the foreign secretary, and Lord Chatfield, the minister for coordination of defense meet French Primier Daladier, with General Gamelin, the Commander in Chief on the Western Front, Admiral Darlan, the Chief of the French Naval Staff, and M Dautry.
In Britain... Gasoline is rationed. Meanwhile, a report by the Metropolitan Police Commission in London indicates that road accidents have tripled in the three weeks since the blackout began. Also, courts are packed with cases of blackout violations.