1 September 1939

The armed forces of Adolf Hitler's Germany invaded Poland on this day, 70 years ago. The invasion triggered the cascade of alliances which was to lead to the declaration of war two days later. Great Britain and France had pledged to come to the aid of the Poles, and sent an ultimatum to Berlin to withdraw or else. Poland fought back valiantly, but its army had no chance. After a month, Poland was overrun from west and east - the Soviet Union taking its cut as a result of the pact between it and Nazi Germany, signed in August 1939.

The lights went out 70 years today. It would be nearly 6 years before they were on again.

Tuesday 1 September

Summer is over with September on the calendar. Not that August was much of a summer month here at any rate. The only real vestige of summer was the midges. Anyway, not complaining: I prefer moderate temperatures to the heatwaves they've been having on the European continent. And I prefer it even more to the hurricane conditions that will affect the south of the Baja California peninsula later today. Hurricane Jimena is bearing down with winds of 155 mph near its centre. That will decrease somewhat, but it's not going to be a teaparty.

I quote the relevant paragraph from the NHC website: "Interests in the hurricane warning area are advised that strong winds will precede the arrival of the center by several hours, so preparations need to be completed very soon. Remember not to focus on the exact forecast track since dangerous impacts extend some distance from the center. Jimena will be approaching the Baja peninsula at an oblique angle, and small deviations left or right of the forecast track could result in large errors in both the location and timing of landfall."