|
Central Europe Campaign
The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied invasion of Germany east of the Rhine, a series of offensive operations were designed to seize and capture the east and west bank of the Rhine: Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade in February 1945, and Operation Lumberjack and Operation Undertone in March 1945, these are considered separate from the main invasion operation. The Allied invasion of Germany east of the Rhine started with the Western Allies crossing the river on 22 March 1945 before fanning out and overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to the Alpine passes in the south, where they linked up with troops of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy.On 3 May the 85th and 88th nfantryDivisions sent task forces north over ice and snow 3 feet deep to seal the Austrian frontier and to gain contact with the American Seven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Front (World War II)
The Western Front was a military theatre of World War II encompassing Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The Italian front is considered a separate but related theater. The Western Front's 1944-1945 phase was officially deemed the European Theater by the United States, whereas Italy fell under the Mediterranean Theater along with North Africa. The Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale combat operations. The first phase saw the capitulation of Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, and France during May and June 1940 after their defeat in the Low Countries and the northern half of France, and continued into an air war between Germany and Britain that climaxed with the Battle of Britain. The second phase consisted of large-scale ground combat (supported by a massive strategic air war considered to be an additional front), which began in June 1944 with the Allied landings in Normandy and continued until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Montgomery
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the Second World War. Montgomery first saw action in the First World War as a junior officer of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. At Méteren, near the Belgian border at Bailleul, he was shot through the right lung by a sniper, during the First Battle of Ypres. On returning to the Western Front as a general staff officer, he took part in the Battle of Arras in AprilMay 1917. He also took part in the Battle of Passchendaele in late 1917 before finishing the war as chief of staff of the 47th (2nd London) Division. In the inter-war years he commanded the 17th (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers and, later, the 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment before becoming commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade and then General officer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fifteenth United States Army
The Fifteenth United States Army, commonly known as Fifteenth Army, was a field army of the United States in the European Theater of World War II. It was the last United States field army to see service in northwestern Europe during the war and was commanded by General George S. Patton until his death in December 1945. The Fifteenth Army served two separate missions while assigned to the area. During the later stages of the war its mission was the training and rehabilitation of units and acting as a defensive line against counterattacks. After World War II its mission was to carry out occupation duties and to gather historical information related to the European Theater of Operations. Fifteenth Army was inactivated at Bad Nauheim, Germany, in 1946. Formation Fifteenth Army was first activated August 21, 1944 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, by a transfer of a group of personnel from the Fourth United States Army. No general officer was included in the transfer. Major General John ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army Central
The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf War, and in the coalition occupation of Iraq. It is best known for its campaigns in World War II under the command of General George S. Patton. Third Army is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina with a forward element at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. It serves as the echelon above corps for the Army component of CENTCOM, US Central Command, whose area of responsibility (AOR) includes Southwest Asia, some 20 countries of the world, in Africa, Asia, and the Persian Gulf. Activation and World War I The Third United States Army was first activated as a formation during the First World War on 7 November 1918, at Chaumont, France, when the General Headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) issued General Order 198 org ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First United States Army
First Army is the oldest and longest-established field army of the United States Army. It served as a theater army, having seen service in both World War I and World War II, and supplied the US army with soldiers and equipment during the Korean War and the Vietnam war under some of the most famous and distinguished officers of the U.S. Army. It now serves as a mobilization, readiness and training command. History Establishment and World War I The First Army was established on 10 August 1918 as a field army when sufficient American military manpower had arrived on the Western Front during the final months of World War I. The large number of troops assigned to the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) required the activation of subordinate commands. To fill this need, First Army was the first of three field armies established under the AEF. The first commander was General John J. Pershing, who also served as Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the AEF. The headquarters planne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twelfth United States Army Group
The Twelfth United States Army Group was the largest and most powerful United States Army formation ever to take to the field, commanding four field armies at its peak in 1945: First United States Army, Third United States Army, Ninth United States Army and Fifteenth United States Army. Formed eight days after the Normandy landings, it initially controlled the First and the Third US Armies. Through various configurations in 1944 and 1945, the Twelfth US Army Group controlled the majority of American forces on the Western Front. It was commanded by General Omar Bradley with its headquarters established in London on 14 July 1944. During the first week of the Normandy landings and the Battle of Normandy, Bradley's First US Army formed the right wing of the Allied lines. They were joined during July by the Third US Army, under the command of General George S. Patton, to form the Twelfth Army Group. Twelfth Army Group became operational in France on 1 August 1944. With General ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernst Busch (field Marshal)
Ernst Bernhard Wilhelm Busch (6 July 1885 – 17 July 1945) was a German Generalfeldmarschall during World War II who commanded the 16th Army (as a Generaloberst) and later the massive Army Group Centre. During World War I, Busch served as an infantry officer and was retained in the postwar army of the Weimar Republic. He steadily rose in seniority and by 1936 was a general and commander of the 23rd Infantry Division. During the invasion of Poland, he commanded VIII Army Corps. In 1940, he was appointed commander of the 16th Army; he led it during the 1940 Battle of France and Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. By October 1943, Busch was a field marshal and commander of Army Group Centre. He was dismissed in June 1944 after the collapse of his command during the Red Army's Operation Bagration. He was later the commander of Army Group Northwest in the final months of the war and died as a prisoner of war in England. Early life and World War I Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johannes Blaskowitz
Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz (10 July 1883 – 5 February 1948) was a German ''Generaloberst'' during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. After joining the Imperial German Army in 1901, Blaskowitz served throughout World War I, where he earned an Iron Cross for bravery. During WWII, Blaskowitz led the 8th Army during the Invasion of Poland and was the Commander in Chief of Occupied Poland from 1939 to 1940. He wrote several memoranda to the German high command speaking out against SS atrocities, and he handed out death sentences to SS members for crimes against Polish civilians. Based upon these actions against the SS, Adolf Hitler personally limited Blaskowitz's future advancement. He commanded Army Group G during the Allied invasion of Southern France and Operation Nordwind, the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. Blaskowitz later commanded the remnants of Army Group H as it with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friedrich Schulz
__NOTOC__ Friedrich Schulz (15 October 1897 – 30 November 1976) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. Awards * 1914 Iron Cross 2nd Class (2 June 1916) 1st Class (27 January 1918)Thomas 1998, p. 301. * 1939 Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd Class (6 April 1940) & 1st Class (14 June 1940) * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords ** Knight's Cross on 29 March 1942 as ''Oberst im Generalstab'' and chief of the general staff of the XXXXIII. Armee-KorpsScherzer 2007, p. 690. ** 428th Oak Leaves on 20 March 1944 as ''Generalleutnant'' and acting commander of the III. Panzer-Korps ** 135th Swords on 26 February 1945 as ''General der Infanterie General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Hausser
Paul Hausser also known as Paul Falk after taking his maiden name post war (7 October 1880 – 21 December 1972) was a German general and then a high-ranking commander in the Waffen-SS who played a key role in the post-war efforts by former members of the Waffen-SS to achieve historical and legal rehabilitation. Hausser served as an officer in the Prussian Army during World War I and attained the rank of general in the inter-war '' Reichsheer''. After retirement, he joined the SS and was instrumental in forming the Waffen-SS. During World War II, he rose to the level of army group commander. He led Waffen-SS troops in the Third Battle of Kharkov, the Battle of Kursk and the Normandy Campaign. Hausser was the highest-ranking officer in the Waffen-SS alongside Sepp Dietrich. Unlike Dietrich, Hausser was a trained staff officer before joining the SS. After the war he became a founding member and the first spokesperson of HIAG, a lobby group and a revisionist veterans' organisat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' of the Luftwaffe during World War II who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. In a military career that spanned both world wars, Kesselring became one of Nazi Germany's most highly decorated commanders, being one of only 27 soldiers awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Kesselring joined the Bavarian Army as an officer cadet in 1904 and served in the artillery branch. He completed training as a balloon observer in 1912. During World War I he served on both the Western and Eastern fronts and was posted to the General Staff, despite not having attended the War Academy. Kesselring remained in the army after the war, but was discharged in 1933 to become head of the Department of Administration at the Reich Commissariat for Aviation, where he became involved in the re-establishment of the German aviation industry and the laying of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
