http://stonebooks.com/archives/030330.shtml
Rather than detailing the deployments of opposing forces and following the battles of panzers against mounted lancers and dive bombers against a nation without effective anti-aircraft defenses, Rossino views the rapid German advances from the vantage of how SS troops, special police units, and the regular Army dealt with pockets of die-hard defenders, snipers in rear areas, Polish paramilitary and militia troops, and civilian caught in the battle zones:
The ferocity of Polish resistance soon made it clear that the available military security forces could not deal with the problem. On 2 September, therefore, General Busch instituted measures to counter the danger posed by Polish irregulars. Assigning the SS-Standarte "Germania" to guard artillery positions, Busch alerted his subordinates that "special Einsatzkommandos" were being deployed the next day "to prevent attacks on rear area troops, their communications, and command posts." He then issued an order to the entire VIII Corps, demanding that "any guerilla activity [Freischarlerunwesen] be dealt with severely using the harshest means available." In addition, Busch ordered General Neuling to shift his 239th Infantry Division from west of Katowice to the south behind the 8th Infantry Division. By late in the day on 2 September, Neuling's troops had moved into place near VIII Corps headquarters in Orzesze and initiated pacification actions. These resulted in the first executions of civilians by the army in East Upper Silesia as troops with the 239th Infantry Division shot thirty-seven Poles in Laziska Gorne, seventeen in Laziska Dolne, thirteen in Gostyn, and eleven in Laziska Srednie.
...
SS chief Heinrich Himmler apparently agreed with Wagner's assessment of the situation and took the opportunity to issue a directive on 3 September calling for "insurgents" to be "shot on the spot." At the same time, Hitler instructed General Brauchitsch to warn "the population of Upper Silesia that mayors and city councilors, as well as all other community leaders, would guarantee with their lives that no sabotage of any kind, nor attacks by snipers will occur in their hometowns." The following day, Major General Otto von Knobelsdorff, the chief of staff for the 3d Frontier Guards, suspended standing regulations for the troops to capture snipers when possible for trial before a court-martial. Ordering instead that "the troops can only spare themselves bloody losses if irregulars are fought using the most ruthless and severe measures," Knobelsdorff demanded that "civilians found bearing arms be shot immediately!" His orders also stated, however, that German soldiers were only to return fire "when the target is clear," perhaps revealing concern that such an order could have a detrimental effect on the behavior of his men.
Despite occasional efforts by Army officers to prevent atrocities by special killing squads that accompanied the advance, in almost every case these orders were overruled.
..the rank and file of the regular Army was in September 1939 already far from blameless in shedding innocent blood in the name of security, collective punishment, and operational necessity.
