Jabłonków Incident

Jablunkov Incident
Date 26 August 1939 Location Jablunkov Pass, now Czech Republic Result Polish victory
Belligerents
Nazi Germany Slovakia	Poland
Commanders and leaders
Hans Albrecht Herzner
Casualties and losses
2 wounded

Jabłonków Incident (Polish: Incydent jabłonkowski, Czech: Jablunkovský incident) refers to the events of the night of August 25/26, 1939, along the Polish - Slovak border, when a group of German Abwehr agents attacked a rail station in Mosty. The main purpose of the attack was to capture the Jablunkov Pass, with its strategic railroad tunnel, until the arrival of the German armed forces. The attackers were repelled by units of the Polish Army, and the incident is regarded as a prelude to the German invasion of Poland. The Jabłonków Incident has been named the first commando operation of the Second World War.

According to Adolf Hitler's order, the invasion of Poland was planned for 4:25 a.m., on August 26, 1939. However, on August 25, the attack was delayed because on that day Hitler learned that Britain had signed a new treaty with Poland, in which it promised military support if Poland was attacked.

Part of Germany's plan to invade Poland, Fall Weiss (Case White), involved small groups of Germans dressed in Räuberzivil ("robbers' civvies" - inconspicuous, rugged casual clothing) crossing the border the night before and seizing key strategic points before dawn on the day of the invasion. The secret Abwehr battalion detailed to undertake these operations was given the euphemistic title of "Construction Training Company 800 for Special Duties". A group under the command of Lieutenant Dr. of Abwehrstelle Breslau, who later became commandant of the Nachtigall Battalion, the first foreign legion of the Wehrmacht, was instructed to prepare the way for the assault of the 7th Infantry Division by infiltrating the border. They were to capture a railway station at Mosty in the Jablunka Pass in the Carpathian Mountains to prevent the destruction of the single-track railway tunnel which was the shortest connection between Warsaw and Vienna.

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Wikipedia