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VI Corps (Germany)
The VI Corps (german: VI. Armeekorps (VI.AK)) was an infantry corps of the German Army. It fought in several notable actions during World War II. The corps was originally formed around the 6th Division of the ''Reichswehr'' in October 1934 in Münster. Wartime service 1940 Organisation (June 1940): 15th and 205th Infantry Divisions Under the command of Otto-Wilhelm Förster, the Corps took part in the German Invasion of France, when it was part of the Twelfth Army of Army Group A. For the remainder of the year it was stationed on the coast as part of the occupation forces. 1941, 1942 Organisation (January 1942): 6th, 26th, 110th, 161st and 256th Infantry Divisions; 1st Panzer Division; heavy artillery, ''Nebelwerfer'', anti-tank and pioneer detachments In Operation Barbarossa, the VI Corps became part of Army Group Centre, to which it remained attached until the very final period of the war. As part of the Ninth Army, it took part in the costly series of battle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
110th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 110th Infantry division of German Army (Wehrmacht) was formed in April 1940 in Lüneburg under the ''11. Armee'' and was commanded by ''Generalleutnant'' Ernst Seifert. Until June 1941 and the commencement of Operation ''Barbarossa'' on the 22nd day of that month, it was stationed in Poland. It fought on the Eastern Front as part of Army Group Centre, VI Corps and had, by the end of the war, nine Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross holders, four of whom received their awards in November 1943. The division was destroyed by Soviet forces in July 1944. The division itself consisted of three infantry regiments and an artillery regiment. Commanding officers *''Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of ...'' Ernst Seifert, 10 December 1940 – 24 January 1942 * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest city. It is served by Vitebsk Vostochny Airport and Vitebsk Air Base. History Before 1945 Vitebsk developed from a river harbor where the Vićba River (Віцьба, from which it derives its name) flows into the larger Daugava River, Western Dvina, which is spanned in the city by the Kirov Bridge. Archaeological research indicates that Baltic tribes had settlements at the mouth of Vitba. In the 9th century, Slavic settlements of the tribal union of the Krivichs replaced them. According to the ''Chronicle of Michael Brigandine'' (1760), Princess Olga of Kiev founded Vitebsk (also recorded as Dbesk, Vidbesk, Videbsk, Vitepesk, or Vicibesk) in 974. Other versions give 947 or 914. Academician Boris Rybakov and historian Leonid Alekseyev ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
211th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 211th Infantry Division (german: 211. Infanterie-Division) was a German infantry division of the German Heer during World War II, active from 1939 to 1944. In 1944, it was redeployed as 211th Volksgrenadier Division, which was active until 1945. Operational history 211th Infantry Division The 211th Infantry Division was deployed as part of the third ''Aufstellungswelle'' as 26 August 1939 in Wehrkreis VI (Münster). It consisted of Artillery Regiment 211 as well as the Infantry Regiments 306, 317 and 365, which were raised from Euskirchen, Cologne and Bonn respectively. It was initially deployed as part of VI Army Corps ( Otto-Wilhelm Förster) under 5th Army (Curt Liebmann), which was part of Army Group C (Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb). The initial divisional commander was Kurt Renner. The Artillery Regiment 211 was transferred to 162nd Division on 1 January 1940. The Regiment 306 was transferred to 557th Infantry Division on 6 February 1940. The division served in Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
246th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 246th Infantry (later ''Volksgrenadier'') Division (german: 246. Infanterie-Division later ) was a division of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. Operational history The 246th Infantry Division was formed in Trier (Wkr. XII) and initially stationed on the Saar Line, later in South-western France from August 1941 until January 1942. On formation, it consisted of 313th, 352nd and 404th infantry regiments; an artillery regiment; a pioneer battalion; an anti-tank battalion; a signals battalion, and other subunits. The division lacked 50mm anti-tank guns, and used trophy French vehicles. From February 1942 to January 1943 the division served in the area of Vitebsk and was a part of the 9th Army. Most of the operations in which the division participated were in the area of Bely and south-west of it, the sector extending to Smolensk. The division's most active period was during the Winter-Spring of 1942, but from May it was transferred to the ''Kampfgruppe Esebeck'' (Genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
206th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The German 206th Infantry Division (German designation ''206. Infanterie-Division'', nickname ''Pique As'', 'Ace of spades', after the divisional emblem), was a military unit that served during World War II. Like most German infantry units it had no motorization, and relied on leg and horse mobility. History The 206th Infantry Division was raised on 17 August 1939 in Insterburg, East Prussia. It served during the invasion of Poland in 1939 as a reserve division for Army Group North. The 206th Infantry Division participated in Operation Typhoon as part of the XXIII Corps under the Ninth Army. At this time, the division was under the command of Lieutenant General Hugo Höfl. At the time of the Soviet Rzhev-Vyazma strategic offensive operation (8 January – 20 April 1942), Operation Mars, the division now led by Lieutenant General Alfons Hitter was again serving in XXIII Corps under the Ninth Army in the Molodoi Tud sector of the Rzhev salient. Here it came under attack by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
14th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 14th Infantry Division (German: ''14. Infanterie-Division''; nickname: the ''Sächsische Division'' or Saxonian Division) was a formation of the Germany Army (Wehrmacht) which fought during World War II. History and Organisation The division was formed in 1934 in Leipzig, by expanding the 11th (Saxonian) Infantry Regiment of the 4th Division of the old Reichswehr. As this was a direct breach of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, its existence was initially concealed; it was formally designated as the 14th Infantry Division in October 1935. This history, particularly of Infantry Regiment 11, made it one of the prestige infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht. Mobilised in the 1st wave in 1939, the division was involved in the German invasion of Poland, where it attacked towards Częstochowa and Lublin, and the following year's invasion of France. In October 1940 it was 'motorised', i.e. provided with motor transport as opposed to the usual horse and foot mobility of We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battles Of Rzhev
The Battles of Rzhev (russian: Ржевская битва, Rzhevskaya bitva) were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place in the northeast of Smolensk Oblast and the south of Tver Oblast. Due to the high losses suffered by the Soviet Army, the campaign became known by veterans and historians as the "Rzhev Meat Grinder" (russian: link=no, Ржевская мясорубка, Rzhevskaya myasorubka). Overview The major operations that were executed in this area of the front were: # #Rzhev–Vyazma strategic offensive operation (8 January – 20 April 1942) (russian: link=no, Ржевско-Вяземская стратегическая наступательная операция) of the Kalinin Front, Western Front, Bryansk Front, and Northwestern Front #* Sychyovka–Vyazma offensive operation (russian: link=no, Сычёвско-Вяземская нас ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
9th Army (Wehrmacht)
The 9th Army (german: 9. Armee) was a World War II field army. It was activated on 15 May 1940 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command. History 1940 The 9th Army first saw service along the Siegfried Line during its involvement in the invasion of France. It was kept as a strategic reserve and saw little combat. 1941 By 1941, the 9th Army was heavily strengthened and was deployed with Army Group Center for the invasion of the Soviet Union. During the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa the 4th Army formed the Southern pincer of a massive encirclement of Soviet troops deployed at Białystok, with the German 9th Army forming the Northern pincer. It continued its advance, and soon launched another pincer movement of Soviet troops at Smolensk. Even though successful in encircling Soviet troops, many Soviet troops escaped the pockets due to the large distances it had to secure. Hitler then sent the Panzer forces from Army Group Center to the northern and southern fronts to infli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after Frederick Barbarossa ("red beard"), a 12th-century Holy Roman emperor and German king, put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goal of conquering the western Soviet Union to repopulate it with Germans. The German aimed to use some of the conquered people as forced labour for the Axis war effort while acquiring the oil reserves of the Caucasus as well as the agricultural resources of various Soviet territories. Their ultimate goal was to create more (living space) for Germany, and the eventual extermination of the indigenous Slavic peoples by mass deportation to Siberia, Germanisation, enslavement, and genocide. In the two years leading up to the invasion, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed political and economic pacts for st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nebelwerfer
The Nebelwerfer (smoke mortar) was a World War II Nazi Germany, German series of weapons. They were initially developed by and assigned to the German Army (Wehrmacht), Wehrmacht's "smoke troops" (''Nebeltruppen''). Initially, two different mortars were fielded before they were replaced by a variety of rocket launchers ranging in size from . The thin walls of the rockets had the great advantage of allowing much larger quantities of gases, fluids or high explosives to be delivered than artillery or even mortar shells of the same weight. With the exception of the Balkans Campaign (World War II), Balkans Campaign, ''Nebelwerfer'' were used in every campaign of the German Army during World War II. A version of the 21 cm calibre system was adapted Werfer-Granate 21, for air-to-air use against Allied bombers. Weapons 10 cm Nebelwerfer 35 The lower muzzle velocity of a mortar meant that its shell walls could be thinner than those of artillery shells, and it could carry a larger pay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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