Westerplatte is often described as the opening battle of World War II, but it was only one of many battles in the first phase of the German invasion of Poland known as the Battle of the Border. British historian I. C. B. Dear described the Schleswig-Holstein'''s salvos as having occurred "minutes after Luftwaffe attacks on Polish airfields" and other targets. A bridge in nearby Tczew had been bombed around 04:30, and the false-flag Operation Himmler had begun hours earlier. The Polish historian Krzysztof Komorowski writes that "Westerplatte has become one of the symbols of the Polish struggle for independence, and is inscribed in the list of the most heroic battles of modern Europe." For both sides, the battle had mostly political, rather than tactical, importance. It tied up substantial German forces for much longer than anyone had expected, preventing Schleswig-Holstein from lending fire support in the nearby battles of Hel and Gdynia. Westerplatte's defence inspired the Polish Army and people even as German advances continued elsewhere; beginning on 1 September 1939, Polish Radio repeatedly broadcast the phrase that made Westerplatte an important symbol: "Westerplatte broni się jeszcze" ("Westerplatte fights on"). On 16 September Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński penned a poem, , voicing a subsequent myth that all of Westerplatte's defenders had died in the battle, fighting to the last man. The battle became a symbol of resistance to the invasion – a Polish Battle of Thermopylae. As early as 1943, a Polish People's Army unit was named for Westerplatte's soldiers (the Polish 1st Armoured Brigade of the Defenders of Westerplatte). That same year, the Polish Underground State named a street after Westerplatte; and the following year, during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, an insurgent stronghold was named Westerplatte. Controversy Controversy surrounds the Polish garrison's commanding officer, Sucharski. Early historiography considered him to have been in command throughout the battle, and so early accounts portrayed him as a heroic figure. More recent accounts from the early 1990s have presented evidence that Sucharski's officers had vowed not to disclose in their lifetimes that their commander had been shell-shocked for most of the battle and had advocated surrender as early as 2 September and several times thereafter and that his second-in-command, Dąbrowski, had effectively taken command following Sucharski's breakdown on the second day of the siege. Sucharski's conduct is still debated by historians. Remembrance Westerplatte is a common venue for state remembrance ceremonies relating to