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Polesskoe Offensive
The Polesskoe offensive (Russian: Полесская наступательная операция, Polesskaya nastupatelnaya operatsiya), also known as the Battle of Kovel, was a World War II Soviet offensive operation, launched by the 2nd Belorussian Front at the junction of Army Group South and Army Group Center, with the goal to strike deep into the flank and the rear of Army Group Center. It was part of a greater Dnieper-Carpathian strategic offensive on the right-bank Ukraine. The offensive started out successfully, with the Red Army forces penetrating the German defenses in depth and pushing them back towards the then Polish city of Kovel, a key town declared to be a fortress (Festung) by the Germans, which was encircled by Soviet units on 18 March 1944. The German High Command, recognizing the danger to the rear of Army Group Center and the possible consequences of the fall of Kovel Garrison, took energetic measures to reinforce this sector. All told, between March–A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polesie
Polesia, also called Polissia, Polesie, or Polesye, is a natural (geographic) and historical region in Eastern Europe within the East European Plain, including the Belarus–Ukraine border region and part of eastern Poland. This region should not be confused with parts of Russia also traditionally called "Polesie". Extent One of the largest forest areas on the continent, Polesia is located in the southwestern part of the Eastern-European Lowland, the Polesian Lowland. On the western side, Polesia includes the crossing of the Bug River valley in Poland and the Pripyat River valley of Western Ukraine. The westernmost part of the region, located in Poland and around Brest, Belarus, historically also formed part of the historic region of Podlachia, and is also referred to as such. The modern Polish part was not considered part of Polesia by the late 19th-century ''Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland'', which defined the region as roughly a triangle between the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), major or a Captain (armed forces), captain. The typical battalion is built from three operational companies, one weapons company and one headquarters company. In some countries, battalions are exclusively infantry, while in others battalions are unit-level organizations. The word ''battalion'' has its origins in the Late Latin word ''battalion'', which is derived from ''battalia'', meaning "battle" or "combat." The term was used to describe a large group of soldiers ready for battle. Over time, its meaning evolved in military terminology. The word "battalion" came into the English language in the 16th century from the French language, French , meaning "battle squadron" (similar to the Italian language, Italian meaning the same thing) and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stokhid
The Stokhid (also written Stokhod, according to the Russian name; ) is a river in Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. It is a right tributary of the Pripyat River. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . Description Stokhid is the longest and cleanest river in Volyn. The valley in the upper reaches is clearly delineated, up to 4-4.5 km wide. Below it is more indistinct, up to 7–10 km wide. The floodplain is two-sided, swampy, from 0,4 km wide in the upper reaches to 2,5 km wide in the lower reaches. The heights are found mainly to the upper reaches, where the width is 20–25 m, and the depth is 0.5-1.5 m. Especially below the village of Zayachivka it is divided into numerous sleeves (hence the name - "stoop") in the width of 5– 15 m (at most - 60 m), depth up to 8–26 m (on plyas). The largest depth is 16.4 m, which is located between Lyubeshiv and the village. Zinov, the depth formed by the sources that feed the river; there are many elders. The largest settleme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rasputitsa
''Rasputitsa'' (from ; literally "season of bad roads") is the mud season that occurs in various rural areas of Eastern Europe, when the rapid snowmelt or thawing of frozen ground combined with wet weather in spring, or heavy rains in autumn lead to muddy conditions that make travel on unpaved roads problematic and even treacherous. Rasputitsa has repeatedly affected wars by causing military vehicles and artillery pieces to become mired in the mud. In conjunction with the Russian Winter, general conditions of winter, rasputitsa has been credited with encumbering the military campaigns of First French Empire, Napoleonic France in 1812 and Nazi Germany during Operation Barbarossa, as well as all belligerents in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In countries of the former Soviet Union, the concept is applied to two periods during the year – spring and autumn – and also refers to impassable road conditions during such a period, specifically the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marsh
In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general, the word can be used for any low-lying and seasonally waterlogged terrain. In Europe and in agricultural literature low-lying meadows that require draining and embanked polderlands are also referred to as marshes or marshland. Marshes can often be found at the edges of lakes and streams, where they form a transition between the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They are often dominated by grasses, rushes or reeds. If woody plants are present they tend to be low-growing shrubs, and the marsh is sometimes called a carr. This form of vegetation is what differentiates marshes from other types of wetland such as swamps, which are dominated by trees, and mires, which are wetlands that have accumulated deposits of acidic peat. Marshes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see differences between British, American and Australian English explained below). Some savannas may also be woodlands, such as ''savanna woodland'', where trees and shrubs form a light canopy. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of primary or secondary succession. Higher-density areas of trees with a largely closed canopy that provides extensive and nearly continuous shade are often referred to as forests. Extensive efforts by conservationist groups have been made to preserve woodlands from urbanization and agriculture. For example, the woodlands of Northwest Indiana ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bergepanther
The Bergepanzerwagen V (Sd.Kfz. 179), often referred to as the "Bergepanther", was an armoured recovery vehicle used by the German Army in WWII. It was a variant of the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (Sd.Kfz. 171). Development and production The idea of a Bergepanther came about in 1943 because of problems with the recovery of heavy and medium tanks. The development was carried out by MAN. The half-track vehicles used up to then for recovery (e.g. Sd.Kfz. 9) were rarely able to successfully recover a Panther or a Tiger; towing with another Tiger or Panther was strictly forbidden as this could lead to the loss of both tanks. The first Bergepanthers were almost completed Panthers of the Ausf. D, in which the manufacturer MAN only omitted the turret. Henschel, Daimler-Benz and DEMAG later took on the production one after the other. The specially produced hull of the Bergepanther was largely similar to that of the Panzerkampfwagen Panther, although the modifications of the Ausf. G wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panther Tank
The Panther tank, officially ''Panzerkampfwagen V Panther'' (abbreviated Pz.Kpfw. V) with Sonderkraftfahrzeug, ordnance inventory designation: ''Sd.Kfz.'' 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used in most European theatre of World War II, European theatres of World War II from mid-1943 to the end of the war in May 1945. The Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 medium tank and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the Panzer IV and the heavier Tiger I until the end of the war. While having essentially the same Maybach V12 petrol (690 hp) engine as the Tiger I, the Panther had better gun penetration, was lighter and faster, and could traverse rough terrain better than the Tiger I. The trade-off was weaker side armour, which made it vulnerable to flanking fire, and a weaker high explosive shell. The Panther proved to be effective in open country and long-range engagements. The Panther had excellent firepower, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Nicolussi-Leck
Karl Nicolussi-Leck (14 March 1917 – 30 August 2008) was a mid-ranking Panzer commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. In the post-war years, he helped many Waffen-SS soldiers flee Europe. Political and post-war life In the late interwar period, Nicolussi-Leck helped to found the Nazi movement ''Völkischer Kampfring Südtirol'' which opposed the Fascist attempts to Italianise his native, widely German-speaking region South Tyrol, annexed by Italy in 1919, and backed in 1939 the South Tyrol Option Agreement. In January 1940, Nicolussi-Leck volunteered for the Waffen-SS and served in the SS divisions Das Reich and Wiking. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions during the Soviet Polesskoe offensive and encirclement of the Polish city of Kowel. After the war, Nicolussi-Leck helped many Waffen-SS soldiers leave Europe for South America. He emigrated to Argentina in 1948, but returned in the early 1950s to the South Tyrol, his n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obersturmführer
__NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks, Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the Sturmabteilung, SA, Schutzstaffel, SS, National Socialist Motor Corps, NSKK and the National Socialist Flyers Corps, NSFK. The rank of ''Obersturmführer'' was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and the need for an additional rank in the officer corps. ''Obersturmführer'' also became an Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel, SS rank at that same time. An SA-''Obersturmführer'' was typically a junior company commander in charge of fifty to a hundred men. Within the SS, the rank of ''Obersturmführer'' carried a wider range of occupations including staff aide, Gestapo officer, concentration camp supervisor, and Waffen-SS platoon commander. Within both the SS and SA, the rank of ''Obersturmführer'' was considered the equivalent of an ''Oberleutnant'' in the German ''Wehr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking () or SS Division Wiking was an infantry and later an armoured division among the thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions of Nazi Germany. During World War II, the division served on the Eastern Front. It surrendered on 9 May 1945 to the American forces in Austria. The division contained contingents of foreign volunteers from Northern European countries including, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, the Netherlands and Belgium. Although the role of foreign volunteers was played up by German wartime propaganda, the vast majority of the division’s personnel (over 90% at times) remained German, with the Nordic volunteers being from the “Westland” and “Nordland” SS regiments. Like other Waffen-SS divisions, Division Wiking participated in war crimes in Eastern Europe. Formation, training and demographics After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, sought to expand the Waffen-SS with forei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
