Belostok Offensive
The Belostok offensive (russian: Белостокская наступательная операция) was part of the third and final phase of the Belorussian strategic offensive of the Red Army in summer 1944, commonly known as Operation Bagration. The Belostok offensive was part of the third, or 'pursuit' phase of Operation Bagration, and was commenced after the completion of the encirclement and destruction of much of Army Group Centre in the Minsk offensive. ''Belostok'' (russian: Белосток) is the Russian name of the Polish city of Białystok. Planning Operational goals After completing its mission of liquidating the pocket east of Minsk, in which the Fourth Army had been trapped, the bulk of the 2nd Belorussian Front was issued new objectives: initially, to capture Volkovysk and advance towards Białystok.Glantz, p.167 The 49th Army, however, was further employed in reducing the encirclement until mid-July. The 4th Air Army continued its mission of providing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная операция «Багратион», Belorusskaya nastupatelnaya Operatsiya ''Bagration''), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern Front of World War II, just over two weeks after the start of Operation Overlord in the west, causing the Germans to have to fight on two major fronts at the same time. The Soviet Union destroyed 28 of 34 divisions of Army Group Centre and completely shattered the German front line. It was the biggest defeat in German military history, with around 450,000 German casualties, while 300,000 other German soldiers were cut off in the Courland Pocket. On 22 June 1944, the Red Army attacked Army Group Centre in Byelorussia, with the objective of encirclin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Friedrich Hoßbach
Friedrich Hossbach (22 November 1894 – 10 September 1980) was a German staff officer in the Wehrmacht who in 1937 was the military adjutant to Adolf Hitler. Hossbach created the document that later became known as the Hossbach Memorandum. Career Hossbach created the document that later became known as the Hossbach Memorandum, a report of a meeting held on 5 November 1937 between Hitler and Feldmarschall Werner von Blomberg, General Werner von Fritsch, Admiral Erich Raeder, Generaloberst Hermann Göring, Baron Konstantin von Neurath and Hossbach. The account of Hossbach was found among the Nuremberg papers, where it was an important piece of evidence. In early 1938, Hossbach was present when Hitler was presented by Goering with a file purporting to show that General von Fritsch, the commander-in-chief of the Army, was guilty of homosexual practices. In defiance of Hitler's orders, Hossbach took the file to Fritsch to warn him of the accusations that he was about to face. Fri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ivan Boldin
Ivan Vasilievich Boldin (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич Бо́лдин; in Vysokaya – March 28, 1965 in Kiev) was a senior Red Army general and war hero during the Second World War. Early military and political career A son of a landed peasant, Boldin was fortunate enough to attend primary and two years of secondary school before beginning work with his father. In 1914 he moved into the village of Vysokaya where he worked in grain processing and bread making. He was drafted into the Russian Imperial Army on July 28, 1914, during World War I. He received several months of infantry training before his regiment, the 23rd Rifle Regiment, was deployed to Sarakomysh on the Turkish front. He served for three years on this front against the Turks, taking part in operations around Erzurum and Kars, and also completing his secondary schooling.Glantz, p 46 Following the February Revolution in 1917, Boldin became politically active. He served as an elected member of his regi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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50th Army (Soviet Union)
The 50th Army was a Soviet field army during World War II. It was formed in mid-August, 1941 and deployed on the southwest approaches to Moscow. Partly encircled and destroyed by German Second Panzer Army in the opening stages of Operation Typhoon, enough of the army escaped that it could be reinforced to successfully defend the city of Tula in November. It was at this time that the 50th came under the command of Lt. Gen. Ivan Boldin, who continued in command until February, 1945. During most of its career the army was relatively small and accordingly served in secondary roles. It finished the war in East Prussia, under the command of Lt. Gen. Fyodor Ozerov, as part of 3rd Belorussian Front. Formation The Army became active on August 16, 1941, along the Desna River as part of the newly-forming Bryansk Front. The Army's first commander, Major General Mikhail Petrov, issued his Combat Order No. 1 on that date. In it, he recorded the composition of the 50th Army as follows: * 217th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ivan Grishin
Ivan Tikhonovich Grishin (Russian: Иван Тихонович Гришин; 16 December 1901 – 20 June 1951) was a Soviet Army Colonel general and Hero of the Soviet Union. Grishin enlisted in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and fought against the Tambov Rebellion. He became an officer and graduated from the Frunze Military Academy in 1936. In October 1940, he became the commander of the 137th Rifle Division, which he led through the World War II battles of Smolensk and Moscow. Grishin became 50th Army chief of staff and in April 1943 transferred to the same position in the 11th Guards Army. Soon after, he became 49th Army commander and led the army through the Smolensk Operation, Operation Bagration, the East Prussian Offensive and the Berlin Offensive at the end of the war. Postwar, Grishin commanded the 6th Guards Army. In 1946, he became the head of combat training for the Ground Forces. Grishin died in 1951 in Moscow. Early life Ivan Grishin was born on 16 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gyorgy Zakharov
Georgiy Fedorovich Zakharov (23 April 1897 – 26 January 1957) () was a Soviet general officer, mainly notable for his service in World War II. Early life Zakharov was born on April 23, 1897 in the village of Shilov, Russia (now in the Saratov region), and began military service in 1915. Early career Zakharov participated in the First World War with the rank of second lieutenant, having completed training at a school for ensigns in 1916. In October 1917, he was elected a regimental commander. During the Russian Civil War, from August 1919 he became a company commander in the Red Army, and was in combat on the Eastern Front. Zakharov continued his training throughout the 1920s, including the officer training courses known as '' Vystrel'' (1923). He also took a teaching assignment at the Frunze Military Academy from 1933, and underwent further training at the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1939. From 1939–1941 Zakharov served as Chief of Staff of the Ural ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Walter Model
Otto Moritz Walter Model (; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German field marshal during World War II. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare. His relative success as commander of the Ninth Army in the battles of 1941–1942 determined his future career path. Model first came to Hitler's attention before World War II, but their relationship did not become especially close until 1942. His tenacious style of fighting and loyalty to the Nazi regime won him plaudits from Hitler, who considered him one of his best field commanders and repeatedly sent him to salvage apparently desperate situations on the Eastern Front. Their relationship broke down by the end of the war after the German defeat at the Battle of the Bulge. In the aftermath of the encirclement and defeat of Army Group B at the Ruhr Pocket, Model committed suicide on 21 April 1945. Early life and career ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa). On 25 January 1945, after it was encircled in the Königsberg pocket, Army Group Centre was renamed Army Group North (), and Army Group A () became Army Group Centre. The latter formation retained its name until the end of the war in Europe on 11 May after VE Day. Formation The commander in chief on the formation of the Army Group Centre (22 June 1941) was Fedor von Bock. Order of battle at formation Campaign and operational history Operation Barbarossa On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies launched their surprise offensive into the Soviet Union. Their armies, totaling over three million men, were to advance in three geographical directi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Friedrich Herrlein
__NOTOC__ Eckner's reception in Lübeck in 1925. Top row far right Friedrich Herrlein (27 April 1889 – 28 July 1974) was a German general (General der Infanterie) in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the LV Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of by Nazi Germany. Herrlein surrendered to the British troops in 1945 and was interned until 1948. Awards * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 22 August 1941 as '' Generalmajor'' and commander of 18. Infanterie-Division Fellgiebel 2000, p. 185. References Citations Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrlein, Friedrich 1889 births 1974 deaths Military personnel from Koblenz German Army generals of World War II Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) German Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom People from the Rhine Province Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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LV Army Corps (Wehrmacht)
LV Army Corps (LV. Armeekorps) was a corps in the German Army during World War II. Operations The LV. Army Corps was created on 6 January 1941 in military district V (Stuttgart). It participated in Operation Barbarossa as part of the 6th Army. It fought in the Battle of Brody (1941) and Battle of Kiev (1941). On 24 October 1941, it reached the city of Charkov of which commander General Vierow became governor. On December 27, the corps was hastily transferred to Maloarkhangelsk in the area northeast of Kursk, where the city of Liwny was lost on December 25 by a Soviet counteroffensive. In 1942 the corps, now under the 2nd Army, was located in the region east of Maloarchangelsk in defensive/contention battles with the 13th Soviet Army (General Nikolai Pukhov) in the spring of 1942. In June 1942, the Corps advanced towards Liwny, but was halted and converted to trench warfare. In July 1942, the Corps as the left wing of the 2nd Army, was positioned on the border of Hee ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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3rd SS Division Totenkopf
The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (german: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for "death's head"the skull and crossbones symboland it is thus sometimes referred to as the Death's Head Division. The division was formed through the expansion of ''Kampfgruppe Eicke'', a battle group named – in keeping with German military practice – after its commander, Theodor Eicke. Most of the battle group's personnel had been transferred to the Waffen SS from concentration camp guard units, which were known collectively as "SS-Totenkopfverbände"; others were former members of ''Selbstschutz'': ethnic German militias that had committed war crimes in Poland. The division became notorious for its brutality, and committed numerous war crimes, including the Le Paradis massacre. The remnants of the division surrendered on 9 Ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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5th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
The 5th Panzer Division ( en, 5th Tank Division) was an armoured division of the German Army during World War II, established in 1938. The division fought in Poland, France, the Balkans and in the Soviet Union; first as part of Army Group Centre (1941–44) and then Army Group North. The division surrendered to Soviet and Western Allied forces in April and May 1945. History The 5th Panzer Division was formed in Oppeln, now Opole in Poland, on 15 November 1938 as part of a second wave of new armoured divisions in Germany following the creation of the original three tank divisions in 1935. Alongside the 5th Panzer Division the 4th had been formed in Würzburg five days earlier. The personnel of the division was mainly made up of Silesians and Sudeten Germans, the Sudetenland having been annexed by Germany shortly before.Mitcham, p. 65. The division took part in the invasion of Poland in 1939 but played no major role in it, being part of the southern thrust of the German advance ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |