Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Crushing of Army Group North 1944–1945 on the Eastern Front
    The Crushing of Army Group North 1944–1945 on the Eastern Front
    The Crushing of Army Group North 1944–1945 on the Eastern Front
    Ebook194 pages1 hour

    The Crushing of Army Group North 1944–1945 on the Eastern Front

    By Ian Baxter

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Crushing of Army Group North 1944-45 on the Eastern Front tells the story in words and images of the last bitter months fought on Russian soil and the battle of the Baltic States that ensued. Drawing on rare and unpublished photos it reveals in detail how remnants of Army Group North were driven back to the borders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In the battles that followed, the retreating German Panzer and infantry divisions were encircled and annihilated. With the remnants were pushed back into East Prussia, and then fought to the death in the last few small pockets of land surrounding three ports of Libau in Kurland, Pillau in East Prussia and Danzig at the mouth of the River Vistula. It was here that the final battle of Army Group North would take place after Hitler ordered his troops to `stand and fight` and wage an unprecedented battle of attrition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPen and Sword
    Release dateJan 30, 2017
    ISBN9781473862579
    The Crushing of Army Group North 1944–1945 on the Eastern Front
    Author

    Ian Baxter

    Ian Baxter is a military historian who specialises in German twentieth-century military history. He has written more than fifty books. He has also reviewed numerous military studies for publication, supplied thousands of photographs and important documents to various publishers and film production companies worldwide, and lectures to various schools, colleges and universities throughout the United Kingdom and Southern Ireland.

    Read more from Ian Baxter

    Related to The Crushing of Army Group North 1944–1945 on the Eastern Front

    Related ebooks

    Wars & Military For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Last Stand Of The Waffen-ss

      Nov 24, 2022

      Last Stand Of The Waffen-ss
      12 min read

    • Article

      Stalingrad Nazi Graveyard

      Jan 22, 2018

      Stalingrad Nazi Graveyard
      15 min read

    • Article

      Hill 262

      Oct 3, 2019

      Hill 262
      13 min read

    • Article

      Battle For Kharkiv

      Apr 14, 2022

      Battle For Kharkiv
      1 min read

    • Article

      Spearhead To The Meuse

      Feb 26, 2020

      Spearhead To The Meuse
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Volkssturm

      Dec 4, 2020

      The Volkssturm
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Chenogne massacre

      Feb 26, 2020

      The Chenogne massacre
      3 min read

    • Article

      Sturmpanzerwagen A7v

      Apr 19, 2018

      Sturmpanzerwagen A7v
      4 min read

    • Article

      Moscow In The Crosshairs

      Jul 6, 2021

      Moscow In The Crosshairs
      13 min read

    • Article

      Battle Of Villers-bocage

      Jul 16, 2020

      Battle Of Villers-bocage
      7 min read

    • Article

      Tiger vs T-34

      Jul 12, 2018

      Tiger vs T-34
      9 min read

    • Article

      5 Best Books On Waterloo

      Oct 4, 2018

      Many books were released for the bicentennial of Waterloo, but few were as clearly written and as challenging as Glover’s monograph. Highlighting many myths about the battle, the author provides convincing evidence to support his version of the event

      1 min read

    • Article

      Is-3 Heavy Tank

      Dec 29, 2020

      Is-3 Heavy Tank
      3 min read

    • Article

      Bell P-39 Airacobra

      Feb 17, 2022

      Bell P-39 Airacobra
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Nazi Invasion Of Poland

      Aug 8, 2019

      The Nazi Invasion Of Poland
      1 min read

    • Article

      America’s “Few”

      Jan 20, 2022

      America’s “Few”
      8 min read

    • Article

      Hardware M4A3E8 Sherman

      Dec 22, 2020

      Hardware M4A3E8 Sherman
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Battle Of St Vith

      Feb 26, 2020

      The Battle Of St Vith
      6 min read

    • Article

      Operation Bodenplatte

      Feb 26, 2020

      Operation Bodenplatte
      2 min read

    • Article

      Always Forward

      Aug 9, 2022

      Always Forward
      13 min read

    • Article

      Ss Panzers The Last Stand

      May 17, 2018

      Ss Panzers The Last Stand
      13 min read

    • Article

      Wwii’s Forgotten V-2 Heist

      Jun 8, 2023

      Wwii’s Forgotten V-2 Heist
      6 min read

    • Article

      Assault On The Reich

      Oct 1, 2021

      Assault On The Reich
      9 min read

    • Article

      Jagdpanz er 38

      Aug 5, 2021

      Jagdpanz er 38
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Crushing of Army Group North 1944–1945 on the Eastern Front

    3/5

    5 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Lots of great photos but the captions on many are just blatantly wrong. Its pretty bad when for instance, referring to a series of 3 photographs the caption reads that all 3 photos are of the same type of vehicle when it's very clear that one of the photos is a completely different type. This author very much needs someone to come behind them and verify the information. What a joke.
    • 5/5
      amazing pictures. as good as other images of wars series

    Book preview

    The Crushing of Army Group North 1944–1945 on the Eastern Front - Ian Baxter

    Chapter One

    A Brief History

    At dawn on 22 June 1941, along an 1,800-mile-long invasion front, 3 million German soldiers on the frontier of the Soviet Union unleashed one of the most brutal conflicts of the twentieth century – Operation Barbarossa. Directing this invasion of Russia was Feldmarschall Ritter von Leeb, commander of Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North), Feldmarschall Fedor von Bock in the centre and Feldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt in the south. Von Leeb’s Heeresgruppe Nord was given the task of destroying the Red Army fighting in the Baltic region. Hitler stipulated on the eve of the invasion that the German objective was to thrust across East Prussia, smashing Soviet positions along the Baltic, liquidating the bases of the Baltic Fleet, destroying what was left of Russian naval power and capturing Kronstadt and Leningrad. Once the city had been razed to the ground, the German armies could sweep down from the north while the main force closed in from the west. With 500,000 men at Leeb’s disposal, comprising almost thirty divisions, six of them armoured and motorized with 1,500 Panzers and 12,000 heavy weapons, plus an air fleet of nearly 1,000 planes, he was determined to strike along the Baltic coast and dispose of the Russian force once and for all.

    Leeb’s rapid two-pronged offensive along the Baltic opened up at first light on the morning of 22 June 1941. His force, consisting of 16th and 18th Armies, smashed through the Soviet defences. Russian soldiers stood helpless in its path, too shocked to take action. Over the coming weeks, German troops of Army Group North continued to chew through enemy positions, heading through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, straight towards their objective – Leningrad. Fortunately, the earth was baked under the blistering summer heat and Leeb’s army was able to advance rapidly through the Baltic states.

    By 10 July, Leeb’s units broke south of Pskov and rolled toward Luga. At the rate they were advancing, they would need no more than nine or ten days to reach the outskirts of Leningrad. But following their surge of success, the Wehrmacht were losing momentum. Not only were their supply lines being overstretched, but enemy resistance began to stiffen on the road to Leningrad. In a desperate attempt to blunt the German advance and prevent them from reaching the imperial city, brigades of Russian marines, naval units, and more than 80,000 men from the Baltic Fleet were hastily sent into action against Leeb’s forces. These Russian soldiers were now the sole barrier between Leningrad and the Germans. Although the advance was hampered by these Russian forces, by the end of August 1941, Leeb’s Panzers were finally within sight of Leningrad. The terrified civilians left inside the city walls were now going to endure one of the most brutal sieges in twentieth century history.

    As the summer of 1941 passed and the Germans drew closer to the city gates, Leningraders were given the grim order to defend their city to the death. Although Leeb’s forces had arrived within shelling distance of Leningrad, the advance had not gone as planned. Already units had been badly disrupted and were mired on the Leningrad Front by stiffening resistance.

    By 17 September, the Moscow Front could wait no longer for victory in the north. The shift of the main weight, the powerful 41. Panzer-Korps which Leeb required to sledgehammer his way to the outskirts of Leningrad, was taken out of line and ordered to the Moscow Front. Without the 41st Panzer Corps the whole dynamics of Army Group North had altered. There would now be no attack on Leningrad. Instead, Hitler ordered that the city would be encircled and the inhabitants defending inside would be starved to death. During October and November 1941, some ten German divisions were tied down around the city. For the next year German troops of Army Group North fought a series of bloody battles to hold their positions around Leningrad. Although they had managed to blunt Russian penetrations through their lines with the sacrifice of thousands of men killed and wounded, the battle had in fact absorbed all the available resources of the 18th Army and elements of the 11th Army, which had resulted in the planned assault on Leningrad being abandoned.

    Now, a sense of futility and gloom gripped the German soldier in Army Group North. Thousands of soldiers had been killed and by mid-October 1942, they found themselves substantially in the same position they had been in spring. From the Volkhov River to the Gulf of Finland the front was reminiscent of the First World War – with a string of trenches and shell holes in which gains and losses could be measured only in yards. Because of defeats in southern Russia, German forces were now compelled to go on the defensive against growing resistance. Despite the prevailing conditions and the daily shelling, Leningrad gradually regained strength and became a strong fortress, capable of withstanding a further year and a half of siege and every enemy attempt to destroy it. Costly as this defence was, it managed to pin down huge parts of Army Group North that were desperately needed elsewhere to plug the crumbling front. When news of the Red Army’s breakthrough came on 18 January 1943, it was greeted by soldiers of Army Group North with trepidation. From their relatively inactive front they watched anxiously as the Russians began increasing their attacks. Commanders in the field were well aware that if the hold on Leningrad were broken, Army Group North would eventually lose control of the Baltic Sea. Finland would be isolated; supplies of iron ore from Sweden would be in danger, and the U-boat training programme would be seriously curtailed. It was now imperative that the troops held the front and waged a static battle of attrition until other parts of the Russian front could be stabilized.

    By the summer of 1943, the front continued to hold. Frontline German strength in July was 710,000 men. Army Group North was also building up a huge number of reserves echeloned in depth behind the northern fronts in the Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia. Both the Germans and Soviets in northern Russia were almost equal in strength, but the Red Army was also known to have substantial reserves and were building up significant forces to weaken Army Group North’s defensive battles around

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1