In Poland... The German 10th and 14th Armies cross the Vistula River, breaking through the cordon of Polish armies. Polish rear guards and armed civilians offer determined resistance at Bydgoszcz, on the southern end of the Polish corridor, before yielding to the units of the German 3rd Corps. Germans troops find hundreds of German residents of the city massacred by the fleeing Poles. Such incidents are used to provide support for earlier claims by Hitler justifying the invasion. On entering Piotrkow, German forces set fire to the Jewish district. The Polish supreme command orders a general retreat behind the Vistula. Meanwhile, German bombers destroy the town of Sulejow, southwest of Warsaw.

In Britain... The Ministry of Information is formed.

In Washington... The United States government proclaims its neutrality.

In Pretoria... General Jan Christian Smuts is named prime minister of South Africa after the legislature defeats a proposal that the country declare its neutrality. Many South Africans of Dutch descent are sympathetic to German racial policies and are not disposed to aid the British war effort. Smuts replaces pro-German Prime Minister Herzog.