German attack on Westerplatte

E9186

battle military engagement

The German attack on Westerplatte was the opening military engagement of World War II in Europe, where German forces assaulted a Polish military transit depot near Gdańsk in early September 1939.

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All labels observed (11)

Label	Occurrences
Battle of Westerplatte	15
Defense of Westerplatte	3
defense of Westerplatte	3
German attack on Westerplatte canonical	2
Westerplatte	2
Assault on Westerplatte	1
Beschuss der Westerplatte durch das Linienschiff Schleswig-Holstein	1
Fall of Danzig (1939)	1
Polish Army defenders of Westerplatte	1
Polish Military Transit Depot on Westerplatte	1
Schlacht um die Westerplatte	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T14059 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: German attack on Westerplatte
Context triple: [Invasion of Poland, keyEvent, German attack on Westerplatte]

A. Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland was the 1939 German and Soviet military campaign that triggered the start of World War II in Europe.
B. Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was Nazi Germany’s 1940 military campaign to invade and occupy Denmark and Norway during World War II.
C. Gleiwitz incident
The Gleiwitz incident was a staged 1939 false-flag attack by Nazi Germany on a German radio station, used as propaganda to justify the invasion of Poland and the start of World War II.
D. Battle of Narvik
The Battle of Narvik was a 1940 World War II campaign in northern Norway involving fierce naval and land fighting between German and Allied forces over control of the strategically vital ice-free port of Narvik.
E. Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion was Nazi Germany’s planned but never-executed amphibious invasion of Great Britain during World War II.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: German attack on Westerplatte
Target entity description: The German attack on Westerplatte was the opening military engagement of World War II in Europe, where German forces assaulted a Polish military transit depot near Gdańsk in early September 1939.

A. Invasion of Poland
The Invasion of Poland was the 1939 German and Soviet military campaign that triggered the start of World War II in Europe.
B. Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was Nazi Germany’s 1940 military campaign to invade and occupy Denmark and Norway during World War II.
C. Gleiwitz incident
The Gleiwitz incident was a staged 1939 false-flag attack by Nazi Germany on a German radio station, used as propaganda to justify the invasion of Poland and the start of World War II.
D. Battle of Narvik
The Battle of Narvik was a 1940 World War II campaign in northern Norway involving fierce naval and land fighting between German and Allied forces over control of the strategically vital ice-free port of Narvik.
E. Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion was Nazi Germany’s planned but never-executed amphibious invasion of Great Britain during World War II.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	battle ⓘ military engagement ⓘ
beganWith	naval bombardment by Schleswig-Holstein ⓘ
commemoratedBy	Westerplatte Monument in Gdańsk ⓘ
followedBy	wider German advances into Poland ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	Assault on Westerplatte ⓘ linked to: German attack on Westerplatte Battle of Westerplatte ⓘ linked to: German attack on Westerplatte
hasAttackingForceType	German land, sea, and air forces ⓘ
hasBelligerent	Nazi Germany ⓘ Second Polish Republic ⓘ
hasCasualties	German attackers killed and wounded ⓘ Polish defenders killed and wounded ⓘ
hasCommander	Friedrich Eberhardt ⓘ Gustav Kleikamp ⓘ Heinrich von Lehmann-Willenbrock ⓘ
hasContext	German invasion of Poland launched on 1 September 1939 ⓘ linked to: Invasion of Poland
hasCountryInvolved	Germany ⓘ Poland ⓘ
hasDate	1939-09-01 ⓘ
hasDefensiveForceType	Polish coastal defense garrison ⓘ
hasDefensivePosition	fortified Polish depot and guardhouses ⓘ
hasDuration	7 days ⓘ
hasEndDate	1939-09-07 ⓘ
hasForcesInvolved	German Army units ⓘ German Luftwaffe units ⓘ German naval forces ⓘ Polish garrison of approximately 180 soldiers ⓘ
hasLocation	Free City of Danzig ⓘ Westerplatte ⓘ linked to: German attack on Westerplatte near Gdańsk ⓘ
hasOpposingCommander	Franciszek Dąbrowski ⓘ Henryk Sucharski ⓘ
hasOutcome	German victory ⓘ
hasResult	surrender of Polish garrison ⓘ
hasSignificance	opening battle of World War II in Europe ⓘ symbol of Polish resistance ⓘ
hasStartDate	1939-09-01 ⓘ
hasTarget	Polish Military Transit Depot on Westerplatte ⓘ linked to: German attack on Westerplatte
hasTheater	European theatre of World War II ⓘ
isRememberedFor	prolonged defense against overwhelming odds ⓘ
partOf	Invasion of Poland ⓘ World War II ⓘ
precededBy	political crisis over Danzig and the Polish Corridor ⓘ
tookPlaceIn	Baltic Sea coast region ⓘ
usedShip	German battleship Schleswig-Holstein ⓘ
usedWeapon	air bombardment ⓘ field artillery ⓘ naval artillery ⓘ

How these facts were elicited