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Allied campaign in Central Europe from March 22 to May 8, 1945 (1)

At the beginning of the spring of 1945, the situation in Europe clearly developed in favor of Allied troops. By January, Anglo-American troops had consolidated the front after the German December offensive in the Ardennes, known as the " Battle of the Bulge ." The failure of this last German offensive exhausted much of the remaining combat power of the Third Reich, which was now completely unprepared to resist the final advance of the Allies in Europe.
🕔︎ 18.05.2003 👁︎ 31.114

Allied campaign in Central Europe from March 22 to May 8, 1945 (2)

Shortly after noon on March 23, there were already three complete regiments of the 5th Infantry Division on the bridgehead, which were further strengthened by one regiment of the 90th Infantry Division. The tanks, together with the tank destroyers, supported the infantry with fire from the other bank throughout the morning, and in the evening of the same day, a pontoon bridge over the Rhine was put into operation. By midnight, the infantry had widened the bridgehead boundaries more than 9 km in depth, achieving unexpectedly easy success on the first violent crossing of the Rhine in modern history.
🕔︎ 18.05.2003 👁︎ 20.163

Allied campaign in Central Europe from March 22 to May 8, 1945 (3)

At the tip of attack of VII. Corps towards Paderborn was the 3rd Tank Division, whose strike divisions were equipped with several new M-26 Pershing heavy tanks. Behind the advancing 3rd Tank Division, supported by one regiment of the 104th Infantry Division, the rest of the 104th Infantry Division advanced, making it the VII. the corps is ready to secure the entire occupied territory. Literally, the rolling armored units advanced 72 km to the north without stopping, and when they stopped their advance at midnight on the same day, they were only 24 km from their destination - Paderborn.
🕔︎ 18.05.2003 👁︎ 24.929

Allied campaign in Central Europe from March 22 to May 8, 1945 (4)

While the 12th Army Group made its cut across Germany, General Devers' 6th Army Group operating in the south had two tasks. In addition to covering the right wing of the advancing 12th Army Group, it was to eliminate German attempts to organize a fight to the last man in the Alps in southern Germany and western Austria.
🕔︎ 18.05.2003 👁︎ 21.573

Allied operations in the Rhineland from 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945 (I)

In September 1944, it seemed that the final victory over Nazi Germany was already within reach. In the east, the Red Army advanced uncompromisingly towards the German border. From the sky over the Third Reich and its occupied countries, the Allied air force wreaked havoc on the German army, German industry and communications. In the west, three army groups, deployed from the North Sea to Switzerland, were ready for a final assault on Germany.
🕔︎ 02.11.2002 👁︎ 36.470

Allied operations in the Rhineland from 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945 (II)

On September 17, thousands of aircraft engines of a large Allied air force erupted at all airports in southern England, which, in support of Operation MARKET-GARDEN, were to clear the skies over the Netherlands. More than 1,000 heavy bombers attacked flak positions, while 1,100 Allied fighters tried to find signs of German Luftwaffe activity. The bomber fighters were to pave the way for 1,545 transport aircraft and 478 gliders, which were concentrated for this largest airborne operation in history. Shortly after noon, over 20,000 paratroopers began landing at designated landing zones near Arnhem, Grave, and Veghel, and XXX. the corps launched its attack on Eindhoven.
🕔︎ 02.11.2002 👁︎ 34.056

Allied operations in the Rhineland from 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945 (III)

The Hürtgen Forest was an area made up of densely planted tall fir trees, deep ravines, high ridges and narrow paths, in short, an ideal terrain for long-term defense. The Germans thoroughly reinforced this natural obstacle by deploying large minefields and carefully preparing their positions, as they were well aware that the loss of Schmidt would open the way for the Allies to the Roer dams. As long as the Germans controlled the dams on Roer, they could flood the river valley, destroying the Allies' artificial bridges built over Roer, cutting off troops that had already crossed it.
🕔︎ 02.11.2002 👁︎ 26.340

Allied operations in the Rhineland from 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945 (IV)

Before the Allies could realize their intentions planned at the meeting in Maastricht, the Germans attacked the Ardennes. On December 16, Hitler sent the 5th Tank Army, 6th Tank Army, and 7th Infantry Army to launch an ambitious attack to cross the Mass River, occupy Antwerp, and divide Allied troops into two.
🕔︎ 02.11.2002 👁︎ 30.869

Allied operations in the Rhineland from 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945 (V)

Finally, when the 12th Army Group in its area controlled the west bank of the Roer River, Bradley could concentrate fully on preparations for Operation LUMBERJACK. Bradley's plan called for an attack by the 1st Army to the southeast toward the confluence of the Rhine and Ahr rivers, after which it was to turn south and join Patton, who would be advancing northeast across the Eifel region with his 3rd Army.
🕔︎ 02.11.2002 👁︎ 34.247

Attack on Bordeaux - Operation Frankton

Operation Frankton was one of the boldest and most unorthodox actions undertaken during World War II. It involved the submarine HMS Tuna and 10 Royal Navy men in 5 canoes. The target of the attack was merchant ships anchored in the French port of Bordeaux - ships that had successfully broken the Allied blockade.

🕔︎ 21.10.2002 👁︎ 36.976

Attack on Dieppe - Operation Jubilee

The situation of the Allies was gloomy in mid-1942. German troops penetrated deep into Russia, the British 8th Army was pushed back to Egypt in North Africa, and in the west, Allied troops stood facing the German, stationed on the other side of the English Channel.
🕔︎ 24.08.2002 👁︎ 41.643

Attack on St.Nazaire - Operation Chariot

The first months of 1942 were some of the darkest in the history of England. Her troops were pushed out of positions on all battlefields. There were constant reports of retreats and defeats from North Africa, Burma or Malaysia. Britain's survival depended on supplies being transported by slow and vulnerable convoys from the United States, which tried to slip through the lurking packs of Dönitz's submarines. The submarine war culminated.

🕔︎ 25.09.2002 👁︎ 48.642

German snipers in Normandy in 1944

Immediately after landing in Normandy in June 1944, the Allies encountered a new phenomenon - German snipers. Well-trained snipers, especially members of the Waffen-SS, spread fear among Allied soldiers due to their insidiousness and insidiousness.
🕔︎ 29.10.2003 👁︎ 65.278

Hellish forrest

Description of the combat deployment of the 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division in one of the bloodiest battles during World War II on the Western Front, in the Hürtgen Forest.
🕔︎ 09.10.2003 👁︎ 40.434

Hitler's order regarding Commandos

For a long time now, our enemies have been focusing on waging war with methods that are contrary to the international Geneva Convention. Members of the units, called Commandos and characterized by special brutality and intrigue, are recruited from criminal elements in their homeland, or even from exiles liberating enemy territory ...

🕔︎ 21.10.2002 👁︎ 39.565

Khe Sanh Base - 1968

After the defeats inflicted on the Communists by Allied troops in 1967, the Allies had a unique, and never again unique, opportunity to crush the Communist forces in Indochina altogether. Or at least to their long-term paralysis. In the end, everything turned out completely differently. Much of the American command succumbed to the false impression that the enemy was in retreat, because in mid-January 1967, the situation did appear to be on the brink of force. During this period, the Communists showed combat activity only in the north of the I.CTZ ( Corps Tactical Zone ). On January 21, the Khe Sanh Marine Corps base was surrounded by two NVA divisions, and the base had to be supplied by air.
🕔︎ 20.08.2003 👁︎ 33.497

Markings of the German vehicles and tanks in the period 1939-1945

It must have happened to you that you found the same photograph of a German tank in two different books or magazines, but each time it had a label with the text assigning the vehicle to a different tank division. Since I am an inquisitive creature, I did not give it and I tried to collect basic data on the marking of tanks, both at the level of higher organizational units such as divisions, and within lower units, at the level of battalions, companies and platoons. Also, a number of photographs of German technology show a large number of different identification marks or flags, which in most cases are often ignored by the authors and some of us are interested in what this means.
🕔︎ 07.10.2003 👁︎ 85.791

Operation Nordwind - Part 1

In the last hours of 1944, German troops launched a fanatical attack on American positions in Alsace. At the head of one of the assault points was the 17th SS Armored Grenadier Division, and its main target was the town of Rohrbach in the eastern part of the Sarre Valley. The last German offensive in the West began.
🕔︎ 26.11.2004 👁︎ 31.208

Operation Nordwind - Part 2

Another strike by German troops advancing as part of Operation Nordwind fell on members of the 45th Infantry Division and the Hudelson Combat Group, who were stationed near the town of Bitch in the Low Vosges.
🕔︎ 26.11.2004 👁︎ 25.031

Operation Nordwind - Part 3

Operation NORDWIND was only the first in a series of German attacks on the 6th Army Group, which US troops collectively called the " New Year's Offensive ." Although most of these attacks were hastily planned and carried out with undue dexterity, some managed to surprise the Americans and threatened to overwhelm the tired and exhausted units of the 7th Army.
🕔︎ 26.11.2004 👁︎ 27.366

Operation Nordwind - Part 4

January 16, XXXIX. tank corps, together with the 10th SS Tank Division and the 7th Airborne Division, the 384th and 667th Assault Brigades, and even the Reichsführer's armed escort on the tip, launched the final German attack from the Lauterbourg area south along the west bank of the Rhine ... The last part of the article devoted to Operation NORDWIND ends with the liquidation of the Colmar pocket and the stabilization of the Allied front in Alsace.
🕔︎ 26.11.2004 👁︎ 22.444

Panzergrenadieren

After World War I, the Allies removed much of their armaments from their arsenal, disbanded a number of troops and radically reduced armaments spending. The last war was over, and many officials and military officials did not see much sense in spending significant resources on developing new weapons or tactics.

🕔︎ 06.08.2002 👁︎ 45.084

Panzerkampfwagen T-34(r) - the soviet T-34 tank in German service

"Fearful," Colonel General Heinz Guderian, commander of the 2nd Panzer Army.
"We didn't have anything like that," Major General FW Mellenthin, Chief of Staff of the XLVIII. Tank Corps.
"The best tank in the world", Field Marshal Ewald von Kleist, 1st Tank Army.
"This tank adversely affected the morale of the German infantry," General G. Blumentritt.
🕔︎ 30.12.2002 👁︎ 96.950

Vimy Ridge, April 9, 1917

Fight for the ridge of Vimy 9.-12. April 1917 was the first successful attack on the German Hindenburg Line during World War I. The Vimy ridge in northern France was one of the most heavily defended places on the entire western front and was considered an impregnable fortress. Until the Canadians came ...
🕔︎ 26.11.2004 👁︎ 40.427

Zimmerit

At the end of 1942, the German army began to apply a new protective layer to its tanks. This layer was developed to reduce the effectiveness of the use of magnetic mines against armored vehicles, which were used by Russian attack units. Mines were placed on tanks, where they were held by a magnet built into their bottom. The principle of zimmerite was simple. Create a non-magnetic layer on the tank, which would eliminate the properties of the magnet, ie the attachment of a magnetic mine to the surface of the tank
🕔︎ 06.08.2002 👁︎ 50.845

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