Download or read book Panzers in the Defence of Festung Posen 1945 written by Maciej Karalus and published by Helion. This book was released on 2018-02 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Panzers in Defence of Festung Poznan 1945 by Maciej Karalus and Jarosław Jerzak is the first book published in English to describe the bitter battle for Festung Poznań in 1945. That Polish city, occupied by the Nazis since almost the very beginning of the Second World War in 1939, was declared a fortress (Festung) on January 20, 1945, and for the whole month it saw heavy fighting between Wehrmacht and Waffen SS troops and the Red Army advancing directly towards Berlin. Among the garrison of the fortress a special part was played by a small heavy Panzer unit which possessed just one Tiger tank, two Panthers, one Panzer IV and a handful of Sturmgesch�tze. Despite the difficulty and sparsity of sources, the authors were able to acquire an impressive wealth of information and memoirs, as well as rich iconography.Before Poland was able to regain her full political autonomy in 1990, the fighting in Poznań was described only by Zbigniew Szumowski and Stanisław Okęcki. These, however, were poor compilations, only marginally touching upon the participation of German Wehrmacht. These authors looked upon this subject through the lenses of Soviet documentations and historiographical propaganda of their times. Sadly, they could not or would not make use of the documents in German archives. Their cardinal mistake was to overestimate the strength of the forces at play (especially on the German side), and the glorification of the Soviet victory, foregoing an honest analysis of the losses of human life as well as equipment on both sides. This is the first book in English that allows the reader to follow the street fighting in Poznań through the eyes of the Wehrmacht soldiers, documenting the story of the German armored forces engaged in the battles for the city.
Download or read book Festung Posen written by Fredrik Nilsson and published by Leandoer and Eckholm. This book was released on 2009-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reveals a rare perspective of World War II in its closing stages.The battle for Posen 1945 is one of World War II's most desperate, yet forgotten battles. In a moment of panic Adolf Hitler declared it a "Festung platz" (fortress site) when the Soviet forces closed in on the town in late January 1945. Defending Posen were a mixture of soldiers from more than a dozen different units. Defeat was inevitable but nonetheless the battle had to be fought and the Fuhrer's orders had to be carried out. Six soldiers in the German armed forces tells their story of the preparations, the fighting, the fear and the despair they felt as the war rapidly moved towards its brutal finale.
Download or read book Tanks in the Battle of Germany 1945 written by Steven J. Zaloga and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-11-24 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new history and analysis of the German and Soviet tank forces that battled on eastern German soil in the final months of World War II. The final months of World War II on the Eastern Front saw the Wehrmacht fighting with exhausted armoured divisions, albeit now armed with the most advanced and heaviest tanks of the war, to slow the Soviet advance. The Red Army meanwhile was rolling relentlessly westwards, with its own highly developed tank forces now equipped with T34/85s and the huge IS-2 heavy tanks, intent on taking Berlin and as much German territory as possible. This book is a history and analysis of the state of these two mighty armoured forces, as their battles decided the fate of Germany. It covers their initial encounters on the German frontier in 1944 (East Prussia), the fighting of the Oder-Vistula offensive in January 1945 and describes the condition of the German tank forces and their Hungarian allies as they were beaten back. It also considers the huge impact of The Red Army and other significant Allied forces such as those from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania on the outcome of victory in the war.
Download or read book Red Army into the Reich written by Simon Forty and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated history of how the Red Army pushed west and into Berlin in 1945 during World War II. The last year of the war saw Russian offensives that cleared the Germans out of their final strongholds in Finland and the Baltic states, before advancing into Finnmark in Norway and the east European states that bordered Germany: Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. By spring 1945 the Red Army had reached to Vienna and the Balkans, and had thrust deep into Germany where they met American, French and British troops advancing from the west. The final days of the Third Reich were at hand. Berlin was first surrounded, then attacked and taken. Hitler’s suicide and his successors’ unconditional surrender ended the war. For writers and historians who concentrate on the Western Allies and the battles in France and the Low Countries, the Eastern Front comes as a shock. The sheer size of both the territories and the forces involved; the savagery of both weather and the fighting; the appalling suffering of the civilian populations of all countries and the wreckage of towns and cities—it’s no wonder that words like Armageddon are used to describe the annihilation. Red Army into the Reich combines a narrative history, contemporary photographs and maps with images of memorials, battlefield survivors and then & now views. It may come as a surprise to the western reader to see how many memorials there are to Russia’s Great Patriotic War and those to the losses suffered by the countries who spent so long under the murderous Nazi regime. Praise for Red Army into the Reich “If you have any interest in understanding the final cataclysm that overtook the Third Reich and delineated the hows and whys of the Cold War—and Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union—Red Army into the Reich will give you a glimpse into a generally underreported past...a small slice of heaven for the East Front fan.” —ARMOR Magazine “Carries the reader into the Eastern Front with clear writing, good maps, and lavish illustration. Many of the photographs are accompanied by images of how the scene they depict appears today.” —WWII History Magazine “A better-illustrated recent volume would be hard to find, especially one that covers the breadth of Red Army combat operations in the third period of the war.” —Journal of Slavic Military Studies
Download or read book Panzers on the Vistula written by Hans Schäufler and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This WWII memoir of a Nazi officer is one of the most revealing firsthand accounts of the German retreat on the Eastern Front. A second lieutenant of the 4th Panzer division, Hans Schäufler commanded a Jagdpanther tank destroyer in rearguard actions against the Red Army in East Prussia in 1945. Then, as an infantryman, he took part in the doomed defense of Danzig before escaping across the Baltic in a small boat. His personal story offers a rare glimpse into the chaos and suffering endured by tens thousands of soldiers and civilians during the collapse of the Third Reich in the east. Along with vivid descriptions of the appalling conditions in Danzig and the fear and panic that gripped the city, Schäufler’s account provides valuable insight into the German army’s tactics as they fell back before the Soviet advance. While acute shortages of men, equipment, ammunition and fuel crippled the defense, the soldiers went on fighting for a lost cause in the face of certain defeat.
Download or read book Against the Panzers written by Allyn R. Vannoy and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2006-02-16 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eight World War II battles are examined here from the perspective of the U.S. Army infantrymen who were facing German Panzers. The battles were chosen from those fought from August 1944 through January 1945, a time of rapid advances and intense combat. They include a variety of engagements: river crossings, defensive operations, assaults on towns, and others.
Download or read book Last Laurels written by Georg Gunter and published by Helion. This book was released on 2002 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By January 1945, Upper Silesia had become Germany's key industrial region, with its coal mines, blast furnaces, arms factories and hydrogenation plants. Not surprisingly, when the Soviets launched a series of powerful offensives aimed at capturing the region, the German defence was bitter, bordering on the suicidal. Soviet reactions were brutal, the Red Army committing widespread atrocities, which have received little coverage until now. In this readable and fast-paced translation from the German edition, the author presents a penetrating description of the events which occurred in Silesia during the first five months of 1945 - from the massive Soviet offensive on 12th January, through to the final German defensive actions around Ratibor five months later. The translation and publication of Last Laurels represents a major contribution to the military history of the Eastern Front in the English language, filling a yawning gap in our knowledge of the most titanic armed struggle the world has yet seen. Key topics covered include: Prelude to the Soviet offensive / Opening of the Soviet Vistula-Oder offensive, 12 January 1945 / Initial German counter-attacks / Defence of Gleiwitz, Oppeln, and many other smaller locations recounted in detail / Eventual Soviet capture of the industrial district / Attack and counter-attack at Ratibor and the Glatzer Neisse / 1st Panzer Army's successful defence against Soviet attacks, February 1945 / German XI Corps counter-attacks / Soviet Schwarzwasser offensive, March 1945 / Decisive events in western Upper Silesia / The loss of Neisse and Leobschütz / Final Soviet offensive actions around Jägerndorf and Troppau . Main Selling Points - Contains a great number of German personal accounts Many small-unit actions recounted in detail Includes orders-of-battle for both German and Soviet forces
Download or read book Panzers of the Wehrmacht written by Alexander Ludeke and published by Fact File. This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Each vehicle is presented with a short description, images and a reference table of key technical data, supplemented by colour drawings with camouflage and identification numbers."--Back cover.
Download or read book Facing the Red Army in Festung Posen written by Hans Klapa and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2023-11-30 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Facing the Red Army in Festung Posen features the stories of two German soldiers who took part in the battles for Festung Posen (Pozna? Fortress) in January and February 1945. Never before published in English, the accounts of Hans Klapa, written immediately after the war (1946) and Alfred Kriehn, a little later (early 1990s) provide details relating to the course of the battle, as well as the armaments of the German garrison, its morale and even first-hand descriptions of individual actions during bloody street fighting. Although describing the same battle, both memoirs are completely different as they represent different branches of the armed forces and each takes place in different parts of the city. While Hans Klapa fought only in the eastern part, Alfred Kriehn describes the fighting on the western side. However, what separates the two accounts the most is the fate of both heroes immediately after the battle, with Klapa describing his epic, months-long struggle with his comrades not to fall into the hands of the enemy and to avoid being taken prisoner by the Soviets at any cost.
Download or read book Hungary 1944 1945 written by Philippe Guillemot and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2011-02-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the dramatic destruction of Army Group Centre and overshadowed by Koniev’s and Zhukov’s rush on Berlin, this particular theater of operations has been somewhat ignored. This monograph is an opportunity to go into the details of these clashes whose last convulsions one month and three weeks before the German capitulation at Reims were definitively the Panzers’ last lunge.
Download or read book Last Panzer Battles in Hungary written by Norbert Számvéber and published by Peko Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-20 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last phase of the Second World War the Sixth Panzer Army was the last army available to the German military leadership which was more or less intact and was capable of launching a major offensive. After it had been withdrawn from the Western front in the aftermath of the failed Ardennes counter offensive, it was replenished with men and gears as fully as was possible in the given circumstances, and as a result it almost regained its 1944 autumn strength. It would not have been a surprise if it had been deployed on German territory against the Allied troops advancing to Rhine, or in Silesia or in the Baltics or even if it had been sent as a reinforcement to the Army Group Vistula to defend the distant approaches to Berlin against the advancing Soviet army - reinforcement and fresh troops capable of launching counter offensives were desperately needed everywhere. But it happened otherwise: the Sixth Army was deployed in Hungary and participated in the Operation Spring Awakening, launched in the western part of the country on 6th of March, 1945. This was the last German "big offensive" in the course of the Second World War. Several questions come to mind about the operation. What were the goals originally set to be achieved by this seemingly pointless attack? What role was assigned to the once formidable German Panzer Corps? Is it true that the Soviet command used the same defense directives as had been used during the battle of Kursk in 1943 because they had proved to be viable then? What types of tanks and armored vehicles fight in West Hungary and in what numbers? How did the American made M4A2 tanks manned by Soviet crews fare against the much heavier German Panther and Tiger B tanks on the Hungarian soil? What were the losses on both sides in tanks and armored vehicles? To what extent can be the prompt and powerful response of the Soviet side - the offensive towards Vienna - evaluated as being successful? How did the Germans, the Soviets, the Hungarians and the Bulgarians use their tanks and armored vehicles in this operation? Besides giving a detailed chronological description of the events, the book tries to find answers to these questions. The facts extracted from the operational documents of the fighting sides have been supplemented with excerpts from diaries and memoirs, and even the maps have been drawn on the basis of the original ones. The author has explored some new archival sources kept in Russian archives and also incorporated some published Russian materials into his research that was neglected up until now by other researchers, along with some newly published German memoirs - all this has made possible to create a narrative of the events related to us by the author in hitherto unprecedented detail.
Download or read book Festung Posen written by Eric Linderholm and published by Leandoer and Eckholm. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book An Illustrated Guide to German Panzers 1935 1945 written by Wolfgang Fleischer and published by Schiffer Publishing. This book was released on 2002 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This concise history of Germany's panzers and panzerkorps features a generous selection of period photos showing the variety of German tank types used during World War II - from Panzer 1 to Maus. Included is analysis of the technical and operational use of German armor on a variety of war fronts."
Download or read book Die Siebente Panzerdivision Engl written by Hasso von Manteuffel and published by Schiffer Pub Limited. This book was released on 2000 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 7th Panzer Divison was one of the outstanding armored units of World War II, and became famous during the Battle of France in 1940 with Erwin Rommel as its commander. This photographic chronicle, by famed Knights Cross holder Hasso v. Manteuffel, traces the path of the 7th PD through its entire war history on a variety of fronts.
Download or read book Panzers 1936 1945 written by Bob Carruthers and published by Archive Media Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Edited and compiled by Emmy Award winning historian Bob Carruthers this is the compendium edition featuring five complete reprints from the series entitled 'Hitler's War Machine.' Comprising a varied range of materials drawn from original writings covering the strategic, operational and tactical aspects of the Panzers in action, this single volume edition is designed to provide the well-read and knowledgeable reader with an interesting compilation of primary sources combined with the best of what is in the public domain to build a comprehensive picture of the tanks and the men who fought in them. Featured here are wartime intelligence reports which contain an intriguing series of contemporary articles on weapons and tactics. Many of the articles are written in, what was then, the present tense and they produce a unique a sense of what was happening at the face of battle as events unfolded.
Download or read book The Last Attack written by William Webb and published by . This book was released on 2017-01-30 with total page 67 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A short introduction to the actions of 6th SS Panzer Army in 1945. Following defeat in the Ardennes Offensive, Adolf Hitler and the German leadership faced the question of how best to use what little offensive firepower remained to them, as represented by the Sixth SS Panzer Army. Hitler's obsession with protecting the last source of natural oil available to the Reich compelled this decision, one made against the strong opposition of his military advisers. The resulting offensive, code-named Operation Spring Awakening, was a disaster for Nazi Germany, but a boon for postwar Europe. Heavily outnumbered and lacking supplies, especially fuel, the Sixth SS Panzer Army nevertheless delayed the Red Army long enough for American and British forces to occupy much of western and southern Austria. There is, therefore, a strong likelihood the presence in Austria of Sixth SS Panzer Army saved that country from being overrun completely by the Red Army, and possibly being included in the Warsaw Pact as a Soviet satellite.Heavily researched and with extensive end-notes.
Download or read book Endkampf Um Das Reichsgebiet 1944 45 Ostfront written by Axel Urbanke and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
