Westerplatte, a narrow peninsula framing the Bay of Gdańsk, was the scene of one of the first battles of World War II in Europe. On September 1, 1939, the German battleship
Schleswig-Holstein
opened fire on the small Polish garrison at Westerplatte, expecting that the vastly outnumbered and outgunned Poles would run up a white flag. That was a misimpression. The Poles—mostly youngsters with no combat experience—not only resisted the offshore bombardment but repelled amphibious assaults by German marines, taking serious casualties as a result. Finally, on September 7, the Polish garrison surrendered; but they had so impressed the aggressors that the German commander allowed the Polish officer leading the Westerplatte garrison to keep his ceremonial sword.