Rail station in Mosty (in 1939 Poland, today Ceska Republika)

Jabłonków Incident (Polish: Incydent jabłonkowski) refers to the events of the night of August 25/26, 1939, along the Polish - Slovak border. On that night, a group of German Abwehr armed agents of the Brandenburg Regiment attacked a rail station in Mosty. The main purpose of the attack was to capture the Jablunkov Pass, with its strategic railroad tunnel, until the arrival of the German armed forces. The attackers were repelled by units of the Polish Army, and the incident is regarded as a prelude to the German invasion of Poland. The Jabłonków Incident has been named the first commando operation of the Second World War.

Jabłonków Incident August 1939 #1

Iwo Jima Memorial atop of Mt.Suribachi with a fly by.(rudeerude)

Iwo Jima Memorial

Jablonkow Pass tunnel

According to Adolf Hitler's order, the invasion of Poland was planned for 4:25 a.m., on August 26, 1939. However, on August 25, the attack was delayed because on that day the German Chancellor learned that Britain had signed a new treaty with Poland, in which it promised military support if Poland was attacked. Nevertheless, the situation along the Polish - German and Polish - Slovak border was tense, as a number of German agents were ready to take action against Polish outposts (see Operation Himmler). One of these groups was commanded by Abwehr officer Lieutenant Hans Albrecht Herzner of Abwehrstelle Breslau, who later became commandant of the Nachtigall Battalion, the first foreign legion of the Wehrmacht. The task of the Herzner's unit that was to capture the strategic Jablonkow Pass, protect the tunnel from destruction, and keep it open for the advancing units of the Wehrmacht.
The Jabłonków Pass, which separates mountain ranges of Moravian-Silesian Beskids and the Silesian Beskids, is one of the most important transport routes in the Western Carpathians. In the fall of 1938, together with the territory of Zaolzie, it was annexed by the Second Polish Republic; therefore, Poland controlled a key railroad connection, the Košice-Bohumín railway line. The rail tunnel and the station at Jabłonków are part of the line. The Germans knew that failure to capture the line and the tunnel would seriously affect Wehrmacht moves in southern Poland