Invasion and Conquest of Poland – Polish Navy in Exile

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and the Polish Army surrendered four weeks later, on September 28. The northern and western provinces, including the free city of Danzig, were annexed to the German Reich, while the remaining nominally independent portion, called the General Government, was ruled by a German governor and occupation force. Captured Polish officers were imprisoned in Offizierlager camps, called Oflags, and enlisted men in Mannschaftsstammlager camps, called Stalags. Three of the Polish Navy’s four destroyers, and one submarine, escaped to Great Britain, and remained in the war on the side of the Allies.