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Samland Offensive
The Samland offensive was a Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front in the final stages of World War II. It took place in Sambia (german: Samland); (russian: земланд, translit=Zemland). The East Prussian offensive, which commenced on January 13, 1945, had seen the Red Army clear German forces from much of East Prussia. The defenders had been driven into a series of pockets on the Baltic coast and in the city of Königsberg, in which they were besieged. Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky, who had taken over command of the 3rd Belorussian Front in February, incorporated General Hovhannes Bagramyan's 1st Baltic Front into his command from February 22, redesignating it as the Zemland Army Group (or Samland Front).Duffy, p.203 Bagramyan's forces initially laid siege to Königsberg; the city was eventually stormed on April 9. They were then given the task of overcoming the substantial German force still remaining in Sambia. German planning German defence efforts had largely focused o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Front Of World War II
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Southeast Europe (Balkans) from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945. It was known as the Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union – and still is in some of its successor states, while almost everywhere else it has been called the ''Eastern Front''. In present-day German and Ukrainian historiography the name German-Soviet War is typically used. The battles on the Eastern Front of the Second World War constituted the largest military confrontation in history. They were characterised by unprecedented ferocity and brutality, wholesale destruction, mass deportations, and immense loss of life due to combat, starvation, exposure, disease, and massacres. Of the estimated 70–85 million deaths attributed to World War II, around 30 million occurred on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3rd Belorussian Front
The 3rd Belorussian Front () was a Front of the Red Army during the Second World War. The 3rd Belorussian Front was created on 24 April 1944 from forces previously assigned to the Western Front. Over 381 days in combat, the 3rd Belorussian Front suffered 166,838 killed, 9,292 missing, and 667,297 wounded, sick, and frostbitten personnel while advancing from the region some 50 kilometers southeast of Vitebsk in Russia to Königsberg in East Prussia. Operations the 3rd Belorussian Front took part in include the Belorussian Offensive Operation, the Baltic Offensive Operation, and the East Prussian Offensive Operation. Although costly, the advance of the 3rd Belorussian Front was in great part victorious, with one of the few defeats occurring during the Gumbinnen Operation in October 1944. 3rd Belorussian Front was formally disbanded on 15 August 1945.David Glantz, ''Companion to Colossus Reborn'', p. 36, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005 Commanders * Colonel Gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porfiry Chanchibadze
Porfiry Grigorevich Chanchibadze ( ka, პორფილე ჩანჩიბაძე, russian: Порфи́рий Гео́ргиевич Чанчиба́дзе); 13 December 1901 - 14 March 1950) was a Soviet Colonel General and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Biography Chanchibadze was born in Ozurgeti, present-day Georgia. He participated in the Russian Civil War. At the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he was in command of the 120th Rifle Regiment in the Far East, which was transferred in July 1941 to the Western Front. In July 1941, he was appointed commander of the 107th Motor Rifle Division, which, as part of the 30th Army, fought in the Battle of Smolensk (1941), defended itself in October 1941, and from December 1941 launched a counteroffensive during the Battle of Moscow. For the successful completion of complex command tasks and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, the division was renamed the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle (12 January 1942). Subsequently, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd Guards Army
The 2nd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army that fought in World War II, most notably at Stalingrad. History The 2nd Guards Army was formed according to the order of the Staff of the Supreme High Command (Stavka) from October 23, 1942, on the basis of the 1st Reserve Army. Formation and training took place in Tambov, Michurinsk and Morshansk areas. On 1 November 1942 the Combat composition of the Soviet Army lists 1st Reserve Army with the 1st Guards Rifle Corps – 24th Guards, 33rd Guards and 98th rifle divisions nder Guards General-Major I. I. Missan and the 13th Guards Rifle Corps with the 49th Guards, 3rd Guards and 387th divisions. By the time of the Battle of Stalingrad, the 2nd Guards Army had become one of the most powerful units in the Red Army. The 2nd Guards Army appeared on the scene after the Soviet Operation Uranus had successfully encircled the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad in November 1942. In December 1942, as preparations s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the and the , of the , the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945. In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the grew rapidly during German naval rearmament in the 1930s. The 1919 treaty had limited the size of the German navy and prohibited the building of submarines. ships were deployed to the waters around Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) under the guise of enforcing non-intervention, but in reality supported the Nationalists against the Spanish Republicans. In January 1939, Plan Z, a massive shipbuilding program, was ordered, calling for surface naval parity with the British Royal Navy by 1944. When World War II broke out in September 1939, Plan Z was shelved in favour of a crash building program for submarines (U-boat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabteilung'' of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force. During the interwar period, German pilots were trained secretly in violation of the treaty at Lipetsk Air Base in the Soviet Union. With the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Versailles Treaty, the ''Luftwaffe''s existence was publicly acknowledged on 26 February 1935, just over two weeks before open defiance of the Versailles Treaty through German rearmament and conscription would be announced on 16 March. The Condor Legion, a ''Luftwaffe'' detachment sent to aid Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, provided the force with a valuable testing grou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hel Peninsula
Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Name The name of the peninsula might come from either the Old Polish word ''hyl''/''hel'', meaning "empty or exposed place," or the Germanic word ''heel'', which is derived from the form of the peninsula and the fact that the area was first settled by the Goths, an East Germanic tribe. Geography The width of the peninsula varies from approximately near Jurata to in the most narrow part to over at the tip. Since the peninsula was formed entirely of sand, it is frequently turned into an island by winter storms. Until the 17th century, the peninsula was a chain of islands that formed a strip of land only in the summer. A road and a railroad run along the peninsula from the mainland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in the south of Poland, above sea level in the Silesian Beskids (western part of Carpathian Mountains), where it begins with the Little White Vistula (''Biała Wisełka'') and the Black Little Vistula (''Czarna Wisełka''). It flows through Poland's largest cities, including Kraków, Sandomierz, Warsaw, Płock, Włocławek, Toruń, Bydgoszcz, Świecie, Grudziądz, Tczew and Gdańsk. It empties into the Vistula Lagoon (''Zalew Wiślany'') or directly into the Gdańsk Bay of the Baltic Sea with a delta of six main branches (Leniwka, Przekop, Śmiała Wisła, Martwa Wisła, Nogat and Szkarpawa). The river is often associated with Polish culture, history and national identity. It is the country's most important waterway and natural symbol, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heiligenbeil Pocket
The Heiligenbeil Pocket or Heiligenbeil Cauldron (german: Kessel von Heiligenbeil) was the site of a major encirclement battle on the Eastern Front during the closing weeks of World War II, in which the Wehrmacht's 4th Army was almost entirely destroyed during the Soviet Braunsberg Offensive Operation (13–22 March 1945). The pocket was located near Heiligenbeil in East Prussia in eastern Germany (now Mamonovo, Kaliningrad Oblast), and the battle, part of a broader Soviet offensive into the region of East Prussia, lasted from 26 January until 29 March 1945. Attack on East Prussia The Red Army's East Prussian Operation commenced on 13 January 1945 with the objective of rolling up the substantial German defences in East Prussia and cutting off the provincial capital of Königsberg. The Soviet forces were opposed by the German Army Group Centre, including the Fourth Army, under the command of General Friedrich Hossbach. While the 3rd Belorussian Front initially met strong res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th Army (Wehrmacht)
The 4th Army () was a field army of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Invasions of Poland and France The 4th Army was activated on 1 August 1939 with General Günther von Kluge in command. It took part in the Invasion of Poland of September 1939 as part of Army Group North, which was under Field Marshal Feodor von Bock. The 4th Army contained the II Corps and III Corps, each with two infantry divisions, the XIX Corps with two motorized and one panzer divisions, and three other divisions, including two in reserve. Its objective was to capture the Polish Corridor, thus linking mainland Germany with East Prussia. During the attack on the Low Countries and France, the 4th Army, as part of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group A, invaded Belgium from the Rhineland. Along with other German armies, the 4th Army penetrated the Dyle Line and completed the trapping of the Allied forces in France. The then Major-General Erwin Rommel, who was under Kluge, contributed immensely ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd Army (Wehrmacht)
The 2nd Army () was a field army of the German Army during World War II. History 1939 and 1940 The 2nd Army headquarters was briefly established in Berlin from Group Command 1 on 26 August 1939 and at the beginning of the Invasion of Poland it was renamed Army Group North on 2 September. The 2nd Army was reestablished on 20 October 1939, with ''Generaloberst'' Maximilian von Weichs in command, by renaming the 8th Army, which had been moved from Poland to the west. It was assigned to the reserve of the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH). After the beginning of the Battle of France on 10 May, the army was assigned to Army Group A and marched through Luxembourg, Belgium, and northern France. From 31 May to 4 June it marched to the front north of the Somme, Aisne, and Oise and participated in the expansion of bridgeheads. When it entered battle on 9 June on the Aisne, the army included IX ( 295th and 294th Infantry Divisions), XXVI ( 34th and 45th Infantry Divisions), and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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