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83rd Infantry Division (Germany)
The 83rd Infantry Division, (), was a German reserve and security formation during World War II. Operational history The division was formed December 1, 1939, at Bergen, and consisted of reservists from the north of Germany. The division took part in the Nazi German invasion of France in 1940 and spent 1941 on occupation duty. In early 1942 it was sent to the Eastern Front and was attached to the Third Panzer Army of Army Group Centre. Initially, the division was split up and used in various sectors, some elements being employed in Nazi security warfare in the rear. The division was present at Velikiye Luki in late 1942. The town itself was garrisoned by the division's Infantry Regiment 277, along with the divisional artillery and pioneer battalion, under the command of a Lieutenant-Colonel von Saß. This force was encircled by units of Kuzma Galitsky's 3rd Shock Army in the Battle of Velikiye Luki and destroyed in fighting that lasted two months. During 1943-4 the 83rd Divisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Army (Wehrmacht)
The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the German Air Force, ''Luftwaffe'' (German Air Force). , the German Army had a strength of 63,047 soldiers. History Overview A German army equipped, organized, and trained following a single doctrine and permanently unified under one command was created in 1871 during the unification of Germany under the leadership of Prussia. From 1871 to 1919, the title ''German Army (German Empire), Deutsches Heer'' (German Army) was the official name of the German land forces. Following the German defeat in World War I and the end of the German Empire, the main army was dissolved. From 1921 to 1935 the name of the German land forces was the ''Reichswehr, Reichsheer'' (Army of the Realm) and from 1935 to 1945 the name ''German Army (We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Velikiye Luki
The Battle of Velikiye Luki, also named Velikiye Luki offensive operation (), started with the attack by the forces of the Red Army's Kalinin Front against the Wehrmacht's 3rd Panzer Army during the Winter Campaign of 1942–1943 with the objective of liberating the Russian city of Velikiye Luki as a previous part of the northern pincer of the Rzhev-Sychevka Strategic Offensive Operation (Operation Mars). Sometimes known as "The Little Stalingrad of the North", the Soviet forces encircled the city on 27 November 1942, but were unable to make much progress against German units further west nor retake a key railway to Leningrad. The German garrison in the city was ordered to hold out for a relief force and put up a concerted defense. As was the case at Stalingrad, repeated German counterattacks were unable to reach the city, and the garrison surrendered on 16 January 1943. Background As part of Operation Barbarossa, the German army took Velikiye Luki on 19 July 1941, but was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Greif
Operation Greif ( () was a special operation commanded by ''Waffen-SS'' commando Otto Skorzeny during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. The operation was the brainchild of Adolf Hitler, and its purpose was to capture one or more of the bridges over the Meuse (river), Meuse river before they could be destroyed. German soldiers, wearing captured British and United States Army uniforms in World War II, U.S. Army uniforms and using captured Allied vehicles, were to cause confusion in the rear of the Allied lines. A lack of vehicles, uniforms and equipment limited the operation and it never achieved its original aim of securing the Meuse bridges. Skorzeny's post-war trial set a precedent clarifying article 4 of the Geneva Convention: as the German soldiers removed the Allied uniforms before engaging in combat, they were not to be considered ''francs-tireurs''. There was an earlier Nazi military operation that used this name, namely an counter-insurgency, anti-partisan operation c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hel Peninsula
Hel Peninsula (; ; ; 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 is 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 to the town at the furthest point, Hel, a popular tourist destination. Other towns, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Henke (general)
Karl Henke (22 July 1896 in Berlin – 27 April 1945 in Neutief) was an engineer officer in the '' Reichsheer'' during World War I, in the German inter-war army, the ''Reichswehr'', and in the ''Wehrmacht''. Military service, World War I Henke's military service began in 1914 as a cadet with a pioneer battalion. He was promoted to officer in 1915, but in 1916 was seriously wounded and unable to return to frontline service. Posted to Libau, he became involved in developing landing operations, an area in which he specialised for the remainder of his career. Continuing to serve with the ''Reichswehr'' and then the ''Wehrmacht'', by 1939 Henke had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel. Military service, World War II On September 1, 1939, Henke was involved in the first major battle of Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, the Battle of Westerplatte, where he led the assault engineer company. Henke was intended to lead Operation ''Nordlicht'', the attempt to take Leningrad in 1942, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maximilian Wengler
__NOTOC__ Maximilian Wengler (14 January 1890 – 25 April 1945) was a German general in the Wehrmacht 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. Wengler took command of the 83rd Infantry Division on 27 March 1945 in the area of Gotenhafen. The division, after escaping the encirclement of the city, fought its way to Oxhöfter Kämpe and Pillau- Neutief, where Wengler and members of his staff were killed by an aerial bomb on 25 April 1945. Awards * Infantry Assault Badge in Silver * Close Combat Clasp in Bronze * Military Order of St. Henry (Knights Cross, 15 October 1914) * Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (20 May 1940) & 1st Class (29 December 1940) * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords ** Knight's Cross on 6 October 1942 as ''Oberstleutnant'' of the Reserves and commander of Infanterie-Regiment 366 ** Oak Leaves on 22 February 1944 as ''Oberst'' of the Reserves and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pillau
Baltiysk ( ); ; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; ; ; is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separating the Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay. It had a population of Baltiysk, the westernmost town in Russia, is a major base of the Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet and is connected to St. Petersburg by ferry. History Old Prussian village Baltiysk was originally the site of an Old Prussian fishing village that was established on the coast of the Vistula Spit at some point in the 13th century. The village was named as "Pile" or "Pil" in several documents, possibly taking its name from ''pils'' the Old Prussian language word for fort. It was eventually conquered by the Teutonic Knights, with the name evolving into the German form of Pillau. In 1497, a storm surge dug a new gat in front of the village, and another large storm create ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sambia Peninsula
Sambia () or Samland () or Kaliningrad Peninsula (official name, , ''Kaliningradsky poluostrov'') is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The peninsula is bounded by the Curonian Lagoon to the north-east, the Vistula Lagoon in the southwest, the Pregolya, Pregolya River in the south, and the Deyma River in the east. As Sambia is surrounded on all sides by water, it is technically an island. Historically it formed an important part of the historic region of Prussia (region), Prussia. Etymology Sambia is named after the Sambians, an extinct tribe of Old Prussians. ''Samland'' is the name for the peninsula in the Germanic languages. Polish language, Polish and Latin speakers call the area ''Sambia'', while the Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name is ''Semba''. Geography and geology Baedeker describes Sambia as "a fertile and wooded district, with several lakes, lying to the north of Königsberg" (since 1946 Kaliningrad). T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd Belorussian Front
The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. It was created in February 1944 as the Soviets were pushing the Germans back towards Byelorussia. General Colonel Pavel Kurochkin was its first commander. On hiatus in April 1944, its headquarters were reformed from the army headquarters of the disbanding 10th Army (Soviet Union), 10th Army. They took part in the Battle of Berlin, capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. History The 2nd Belorussian Front was formed on the western axis on 24 February 1944 in accordance with a Stavka of the Supreme High Command, Stavka directive of 17 February, and included the 47th Army, 47th, 61st Army (Soviet Union), 61st, 70th Army (Soviet Union), 70th Armies, supported by the 6th Air Army and the Dnieper Flotilla. ''General-polkovnik'' Pavel Kur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similarly largely destroyed in the East Prussian Offensive), and a variety of new or ad hoc formations. It was formed to protect Berlin from the Soviet armies advancing from the Vistula River. Establishment and history Heinz Guderian had originally urged the creation of a new army group as an essentially defensive measure to fill the gap opening in German defences between the lower Vistula and the lower Oder. The new Army Group Vistula was duly formed from an assortment of rebuilt, new and existing units. Guderian intended to propose Field-Marshal Maximilian von Weichs as commander. However, in a reflection of Hitler's desire to transfer control of the conflict from the ''Wehrmacht'' to the SS, Heinrich Himmler was appointed. Himmler, who l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
