Blitzkrieg literally translated means "Lighting War" and that is what Poland experienced on September 1, 1939. From dawn, concentrated columns of fast moving armour, infantry and artillery punched holes through the static Polish defenses and advanced deep into the country. At the same time airfields, railway functions and communications centers were attacked by Goering's Luftwaffe and left in ruins. Refugees fleeing the battles and the reinforcements trying to move forward were constantly bombed and strafed from the air which spread further panic. All of this combined to confuse the Polish defenders and enable the German attackers to surround and destroy their opposition... almost at will. This was "Blitzkrieg" working with a vengeance. By September 12th virtually all of western Poland and most of its army was in German hands. However, Poland was only a preliminary... the real test of Blitzkrieg was still to come. The attacks, by the Germans on Holland, Belgium and France demonstrated the effectiveness of this strategy. As 1939 ended and 1940 began, the German High Command and Hitler planned, schemed and fine-tuned their Blitzkrieg tactics. Even they could not have dreamed how successful they would be in the early stages of World War II. 

HISTORICAL / EDUCATIONAL NOTE:  THE K98k (KARABINER 98k)

The Karabiner 98 often abbreviated Kar98k or K98k is a bolt-action rifle chambered for the 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridge that was adopted on 21 June 1935 as the standard service rifle by the German Wehrmacht.  It was one of the final developments in the long line of Mauser military rifles. Although supplemented by semi- and fully automatic rifles during World War II, it remained the primary German service rifle until the end of the World War II in 1945. Millions were captured by the Soviets at the conclusion of the war and were widely distributed to other communist countries.

The Karabiner 98k is a controlled-feed bolt-action rifle based on the Mauser M98 system. Its internal magazine can be loaded with five 7.92x57mm Mauser cartridges from a stripper clip or one-by-one. A turned-down bolt handle on the Karabiner 98k replaced the straight bolt handle, found on earlier models. This change made it easier to rapidly operate the bolt reduced the amount the handle projected beyond the receiver, and enabled mounting of aiming optics directly above the receiver. 

The Mauser Karabiner 98k rifle was widely used by all branches of the armed forces of Germany during World War II. It saw action in every theatre of war involving German forces, including occupied Europe, North Africa, the Soviet Union, Finland, and Norway. Although comparable to the weapons fielded by Germany's enemies at the beginning of the War, its disadvantages in rate of fire became more apparent as American and Soviet armies began to field more semi-automatic weapons among their troops. Still, it continued to be the main infantry rifle of the Wehrmacht with over 14.5 million being produced by the end of the War. 

HISTORICAL NOTE: THE GERMAN INVASION OF POLAND SEPTEMBER 1939

The German invasion of Poland began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union had approved the pact. The German Invasion of Poland, also known in Germany as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, War of Poland of 1939 and the Polish Defensive War of 1939, was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Germany. The Slovak Republic and the Soviet Union followed with their own invasion of Poland on 17 September 1941. These invasions by Germany and the Soviet Union marked the beginning of World War II. 

HISTORICAL NOTE: THE GERMAN INVASION OF FRANCE MAY 1940 - JUNE 1940

The Battle of France (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (German: Westfeldzug), and the Fall of France, during the Second World War, was the German invasion of France, that notably introduced tactics referred to as Blitzkrieg (Lighting War). France and the Low Countries were conquered, ending land operations on the Western Front until the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944.

On 3 September 1939, France declared war on Germany following the German invasion of Poland. In early September 1939, France began the limited Saar Offensive but by mid-October had withdrawn to their start lines. German armies invaded Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France on 10 May 1940.

In Fall Gelb (“Case Yellow”), German armored units made a surprise push through the Ardennes and then along the Somme valley, cutting off and surrounding the Allied units that had advanced into Belgium to meet the German armies there. British, Belgian and French forces were pushed back to the sea by the Germans; the British and French navies evacuated the encircled elements of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French and Belgian armies from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo.

German forces began Fall Rot (“Case Red”) on 5 June 1940. The sixty remaining French divisions and the two British divisions in France made a determined stand on the Somme and Aisne rivers but were defeated by the German combination of air superiority and armored mobility. German armies outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France, occupying Paris unopposed on 14 June. After the flight of the French government and the collapse of the French Army, German commanders met with French officials on 18 June to negotiate an end to hostilities. Italy entered the war on the German side on 10 June 1940 and attempted an invasion of France.

On 22 June 1940, the Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed by France and Germany. The neutral Vichy government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain replaced the Third Republic and German military occupation began along the French North Sea and Atlantic coasts and their hinterlands. The Italian invasion of France over the Alps took a small amount of ground and after the armistice, Italy occupied a small area in the south-east. The Vichy regime retained the zone libre (free zone) in the south. Following the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942, in Case Anton, the Germans and Italians took control of the zone until France was liberated by the Allies in 1944.