1939 - Battle of Westerplatte — Poland
A garrison of 182 Polish soldiers holds Westerplatte Peninsula against 3,400 German troops for seven days — becoming the first symbol of Polish resistance at the war's very outbreak.
The German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on Westerplatte at 4:47 AM on 1 September 1939 — the first shots of World War II. Major Henryk Sucharski's garrison, supplied for a 12-hour defence, held out for seven days under constant assault before surrendering with ammunition exhausted on 7 September. The site remains Poland's most visited WWII memorial.