Did World War II start 55 mins earlier than believed?
28 Aug 2013 5:11 AM IST
Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler had lied about the time the World War II started, according to the German gunner who fired the first shots, saying the war got underway 55 minutes earlier than the Fuhrer claimed.
Sailor Hermann Gerdau, now 100, was a 26-year-old gunner on Nazi battleship Schleswig-Holstein when it targeted a Polish navy base on September 1, 1939, the 'Mirror' reported.
‘Hitler told the world the bombardment began at 5.45am, but that was untrue. It began at 4.50am - I know because I was there,’ Gerdau said.
‘We were so close it was impossible to miss. I was bound up in the euphoria of victory,’ he said.
‘We were all seized by the Nazi regime but I was not enthusiastic about the war in general. Soon there was only horror,’ said Gerdau.
Sailor Hermann Gerdau, now 100, was a 26-year-old gunner on Nazi battleship Schleswig-Holstein when it targeted a Polish navy base on September 1, 1939, the 'Mirror' reported.
‘Hitler told the world the bombardment began at 5.45am, but that was untrue. It began at 4.50am - I know because I was there,’ Gerdau said.
‘We were so close it was impossible to miss. I was bound up in the euphoria of victory,’ he said.
‘We were all seized by the Nazi regime but I was not enthusiastic about the war in general. Soon there was only horror,’ said Gerdau.
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