 | The Lost Evidence "Sicily" 1/5 British and American forces invade the island of Sicily. Nearly 300,000 poorly trained and lead Italians defend Sicily. However, the real hitting power lay with the German 14th Corps. British and Americans fight very experienced and high motivated panzer grenadiers, Fallschirmj�ger, and the Herman G�ring Panzer Division |
 | The Lost Evidence "Sicily" 2/5 British and American forces invade the island of Sicily. Nearly 300,000 poorly trained and lead Italians defend Sicily. However, the real hitting power lay with the German 14th Corps. British and Americans fight very experienced and high motivated panzer grenadiers, Fallschirmj�ger, and the Herman G�ring Panzer Division |
 | The Lost Evidence "Sicily" 5/5 British and American forces invade the island of Sicily. Nearly 300,000 poorly trained and lead Italians defend Sicily. However, the real hitting power lay with the German 14th Corps. British and Americans fight very experienced and high motivated panzer grenadiers, Fallschirmj�ger, and the Herman G�ring Panzer Division |
 | The Lost Evidence "Sicily" 3/5 British and American forces invade the island of Sicily. Nearly 300,000 poorly trained and lead Italians defend Sicily. However, the real hitting power lay with the German 14th Corps. British and Americans fight very experienced and high motivated panzer grenadiers, Fallschirmj�ger, and the Herman G�ring Panzer Division |
 | The Lost Evidence "Sicily" 4/5 British and American forces invade the island of Sicily. Nearly 300,000 poorly trained and lead Italians defend Sicily. However, the real hitting power lay with the German 14th Corps. British and Americans fight very experienced and high motivated panzer grenadiers, Fallschirmj�ger, and the Herman G�ring Panzer Division |
 | WW2 - Gumbinnen Operation (Nov 1944) WW2 footage. German Wartime Newsreel (Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 739, 02-Nov-1944) The Gumbinnen Operation, also known as the Goldap Operation (or Goldap-Gumbinnen Operation), was a Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front late in 1944, in which forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front attempted to penetrate the borders of East Prussia. The offensive failed, due to strong resistance by the Wehrmacht. As a result it is largely known through German accounts of the defence and because of the atrocities that were alleged to have been committed by troops of the 11th Guards Army, the so-called Nemmersdorf massacre. On 16 October, the 5th and 11th Guards Armies went onto the offensive and initially penetrated some 11 km into the German defensive belt. The flanking armies commenced operations the next day, by which time units of the 11th Guards Army had crossed the East Prussian border. The Soviet troops ran into extremely strong resistance, however. It took them four days to penetrate the initial tactical defences, while the second defence line was so strong that Chernyakhovsky was compelled to commit the 2nd Guards Tank Corps to break it. Casualties were extremely heavy. On 20 October, the second line was ruptured by the 11th Guards Army and 2nd Guards Tank Corps east of Gumbinnen, defended by the guns of the 18th Anti-Aircraft Division and the Fallschirm-Panzerkorps Hermann Göring, which had been redeployed in the area to counter the Soviet advance. On 21 October, the Soviets' reserve, the 28th Army, was committed, but the offensive in the north was fought to a standstill in the region of Stalluponen thanks to some effective German counter-attacks. Gumbinnen was taken by 22 October, but retaken by German forces on the 24 October, after the Germans committed the 5th Panzer Division, and Heavy Panzer Detachment 505 (equipped with Tiger IIs). Units of 11th Guards Army found themselves cut off in the area of Großwaltersdorf, and were involved in intense fighting. In the meantime, the Germans had pressed more reserves, including the 102nd Panzer and Führer Grenadier Brigades into counter-attacks at Goldap, on the southern sector of the Soviet penetration. The town was retaken on 25 October. The Soviet attacks continued until 27 October, as the flanking armies sought to close up to the 11th Guards Army. There was more fighting in the operation's immediate aftermath: on 28 October, the 31st Army retook Goldap in a surprise attack; the town was again taken by the 5th Panzer Division, which was redeployed from the Gumbinnen area, on 3 November. |
 | WW2 - Goldap is retaken from Soviets (Nov 1944) WW2 footage. German Wartime Newsreel (Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 741, 16-Nov-1944) The Gumbinnen Operation, also known as the Goldap Operation (or Goldap-Gumbinnen Operation), was a Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front late in 1944, in which forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front attempted to penetrate the borders of East Prussia. The offensive failed, due to strong resistance by the Wehrmacht. As a result it is largely known through German accounts of the defence and because of the atrocities that were alleged to have been committed by troops of the 11th Guards Army, the so-called Nemmersdorf massacre. On 16 October, the 5th and 11th Guards Armies went onto the offensive and initially penetrated some 11 km into the German defensive belt. The flanking armies commenced operations the next day, by which time units of the 11th Guards Army had crossed the East Prussian border. The Soviet troops ran into extremely strong resistance, however. It took them four days to penetrate the initial tactical defences, while the second defence line was so strong that Chernyakhovsky was compelled to commit the 2nd Guards Tank Corps to break it. Casualties were extremely heavy. On 20 October, the second line was ruptured by the 11th Guards Army and 2nd Guards Tank Corps east of Gumbinnen, defended by the guns of the 18th Anti-Aircraft Division and the Fallschirm-Panzerkorps Hermann Göring, which had been redeployed in the area to counter the Soviet advance. On 21 October, the Soviets' reserve, the 28th Army, was committed, but the offensive in the north was fought to a standstill in the region of Stalluponen thanks to some effective German counter-attacks. Gumbinnen was taken by 22 October, but retaken by German forces on the 24 October, after the Germans committed the 5th Panzer Division, and Heavy Panzer Detachment 505 (equipped with Tiger IIs). Units of 11th Guards Army found themselves cut off in the area of Großwaltersdorf, and were involved in intense fighting. In the meantime, the Germans had pressed more reserves, including the 102nd Panzer and Führer Grenadier Brigades into counter-attacks at Goldap, on the southern sector of the Soviet penetration. The town was retaken on 25 October. The Soviet attacks continued until 27 October, as the flanking armies sought to close up to the 11th Guards Army. There was more fighting in the operation's immediate aftermath: on 28 October, the 31st Army retook Goldap in a surprise attack; the town was again taken by the 5th Panzer Division, which was redeployed from the Gumbinnen area, on 3 November. |
 | Newsreel of the Estonian and Latvian Waffen-SS in Action This unit had its origins in the Estonian SS Legion which was first formed on the 28th of August, 1942. Wikipedia: Division - Battles at Narva In January 1944, the 20. Estnische SS-Freiwilligen-Division began formation. The majority of the troops were drawn from the 3. Estnische SS-Freiwilligen Brigade, however elements from Ost Battalions Nr. 658, also known as Pups of Rebane (="Fox") and Nr. 659, the 287.Polizei-Füsilier-Bataillon and the returned Estonian volunteers of the Finnish army unit Infantry Regiment 200 were also absorbed into the division. On 8 February 1944, the division was attached to SS-Gruppenführer Felix Steiner's III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps, currently defending the heavily pressured Narva bridgehead. The division was to replace the remnants of the 9. and 10.Luftwaffe-Feld-Divisions, which were struggling to hold the line against a Soviet bridgehead near Siivertsi. Upon arriving at the front on 20 February, the Estonians were immediately ordered to eradicate the threatening Siivertsi Soviet bridgehead. In nine days of heavy fighting, the division had pushed the Soviets back across the river, and restored the line. The division remained stationed in the Ssivertsi sector, being engaged in heavy combat. In May, the division was pulled back and reformed as the 20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr.1), and the returned Narwa battalion was absorbed into the division as the reconnaissance abteilung. By that time active conscription of Estonian men into the German armed forces was well under way, in violation of the international law of war. By spring 1944, approximately 32 000 men were drafted into the German forces, with the 20. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (estnische Nr.1) consisting of some 15 000 men. When Steiner ordered a withdrawal to the Tannenbergstellung on July 25, the division was deployed on the Kinderheim-höhe, the first line of defence for the new position. Over the next month, the division was engaged in heavy defensive battles on the Kinderheim and Grenadier-höhe. In mid-August, the division's 45th Estland and 46th regiments were formed into Kampfgruppe Vent and sent south to help defend the Emajogi river line, seeing heavy fighting. When Hitler authorised a full withdrawal from Estonia in mid September, all men who wished to stay to defend their homes were released from service. Many chose this offer, fighting the Soviets alongside other Estonians and then withdrawing into the forests to become the Forest Brothers. Severely weakened by this, the division was withdrawn to Neuhammer to be refitted. Vistula-Oder Offensive - Final battles Eventually, the reformed division numbered roughly 11,000 Estonians and 2,500 Germans. It was returned to the line in late February, just in time for the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive. This offensive forced the German forces back behind the Oder and Neisse rivers. The division was pushed back to the Neisse, taking heavy casualties. The division was then trapped with the XI. Armeekorps in the Oberglogau - Falkenberg - Friedberg area. On 17 March, the division launched a major escape attempt, but despite making headway, the attempt failed. On 19 March, the division tried again, this time succeeding but leaving all heavy weapons and equipment behind in the pocket. In April 1945, the shattered remnants of the division were moved south to the area around Goldberg. After the final Soviet offensive, the division attempted to break out in the west, in order to surrender to the western Allies. After marching over the Reichenberg and Annaberg mountains, the division was encircled by Russian forces and capitulated on May 8. Some of the Estonians who had reached the western allies were handed back to the Soviets. The survivors could, at best, expect a lengthy stay in the Gulags. In contrast, some veterans of the Estonian Legion served as guards under American leadership at the Nuremberg Nazi war crimes trials. -- The Baltic Schutzmannschaft found themselves in a unique situation, they saw the Germans as liberators from Bolshevism. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were occupied by the Soviet Union for slightly over a year and had experienced the brutality of the Soviets hence a passionate zeal against Bolshevism. The fighting in and around Narva, Estonia was also known as the "Battle of the European SS" since it involved a great number of foreign members in the Waffen-SS. |
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
