Battle of Halbe
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Halbe lasted from April 24 - May 1, 1945 was a battle in which the German Ninth Army
, under the command of Colonel General
Theodor Busse
was destroyed as a fighting force by the Red Army
during the Battle for Berlin.
The Ninth Army, trapped in a large pocket
in the Spree
Forest
region south-east of Berlin, attempted to break out of the pocket westwards through the village of Halbe
and the pine forests south of Berlin to link up with the German Twelfth Army
commanded by General Walther Wenck
with the intention of heading west and surrendering to the Western Allies. To do this the Ninth Army had to fight their way through three lines of Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front
under the command of Marshal Ivan Konev
, while at the same time units of the 1st Belorussian Front
, under the command of Marshal Georgy Zhukov
, attacked the German rearguard from the north east.
After very heavy fighting about 30,000 German soldiers—one third of those trapped in the pocket—managed to reach the comparative safety of the Twelfth Army's front lines. The rest were either killed or captured by the Soviets.
with a three Soviet Front attack across the Oder-Neisse line
. By April 21 they had broken through the German front line in two places and had started to surround Berlin. The German Ninth Army covered the defenses of the Seelow Heights
against Marshal Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front
but its position was unhinged by the successful attack of Marshal Ivan Konev
's 1st Ukrainian Front
(against Army Group Centre
) on the Neisse. By April 20 it had to withdraw south-east of Berlin, opening the way for 1st Belorussian Front.
Because of the high speed of the advance of Konev's forces this meant Ninth Army was now threatened with envelopment by the two massive Soviet pincers that were heading for Berlin from the south and east. The southern pincer consisted of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies which had penetrated the furthest and had already cut through the area behind the German Ninth Army's front lines.
trapped with the Ninth Army north of Forst, passed from 4th Panzer Army
(part of Army Group Centre
) to the Ninth Army (part of Army Group Vistula
under the command of General Gotthard Heinrici
). The corps was still holding on to Cottbus
. While the bulk of Army Group Centre was being forced, by the advance of the 1st Ukrainian Front, to withdraw along its lines of communication to the south-west towards Czechoslovakia
, the southern flank of 4th Panzer Army had some local successes counter attacking north against the 1st Ukrainian Front, Hitler gave orders which showed that his grasp of military reality had gone. He ordered Ninth Army to hold Cottbus and set up a front facing west then they were to attack into the Soviet columns advancing North. This would allow them to form the northern pincer which would meet with the 4th Panzer Army coming from the south and envelop the 1st Ukrainian Front before destroying it. They were to anticipate an attack south by the 3rd Panzer Army
and to be ready to be the southern arm of a pincer attack which would envelop the 1st Belorussian Front, which would then be destroyed by SS Lieutenant-General Felix Steiner's
III SS Corps advancing from the north of Berlin. Later in the day, Steiner made it plain that he did not have the divisions to make this effort. Heinrici then explained to Hitler's staff that unless the Ninth Army retreated immediately it was about to be enveloped by the Soviets. He stressed it was already too late for the unit to move north-west to Berlin and would have to retreat west. Heinrici went on to say that if Hitler did not allow it to move west he would ask to be relieved of his command.
At his afternoon situation conference on April 22, Hitler fell into a tearful rage when he realised that his plans of the day before were not going to be implemented. He declared that the war was lost, he blamed the generals and announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then kill himself. In an attempt to coax Hitler out of his rage, the Chief of Staff of the OKW, General Alfred Jodl
, speculated that the Twelfth Army which was facing the Americans could move to Berlin because the Americans already on the Elbe
river were unlikely to move further east. Hitler immediately grasped the idea and within hours the army's commander, General Walther Wenck
, was ordered to disengage from the Americans and move Twelfth Army north-east to support Berlin. It was then realised that if the Ninth Army moved west it could link up with the Twelfth Army. In the evening Heinrici was given permission to make the link up.
Although in Hitler's mind the Twelfth Army was going to break through to Berlin and the Ninth Army, once it had broken through to the Twelfth Army, was going to help them, there is no evidence that Generals Heinrici, Busse or Wenck thought that this was at all possible. However, Hitler's agreement to allow the Ninth Army to break through to the Twelfth Army would allow a window through which sizable numbers of German troops could escape to the west and surrender to the Americans, which is exactly what Wenck and Busse agreed to do. This was made easier when shortly after midnight on April 25 Busse was given authority "to decide for himself the best direction of attack".
. It is estimated that at the start of the encirclement it had fewer than 1,000 guns and mortars, 79 tanks and probably a total of 150-200 combat-ready armoured fighting vehicles left. In all there were about 80,000 men in the pocket, the majority of whom were members of the Ninth Army consisting of the XI SS Panzer Corps, V SS Mountain Corps
and the newly acquired V Corps, but there were also the Frankfurt Garrison. The number of tanks reported included 36 tanks in XI SS Panzer Corps, including up to 14 King Tigers of the 502nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. Air supply was attempted on April 25 and 26, but could not be carried out because the planes that had taken off could not find the drop point for supply, and no contact to the encircled army could be established.
The pocket into which the Ninth Army had been pushed by troops of the 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front was a region of lakes and forest in the Spree Forest south-east of Fürstenwalde. The Soviets, having broken through and surrounded their primary objective of Berlin then turned to mopping up those forces pushed into the pocket. On the afternoon of April 25 the Soviet 3rd
, 33rd
, and 69th Armies as well as the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps (which was a formation capable of infiltration through difficult terrain such as forests), following orders issued by Marshal Georgy Zhukov
the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, attacked the pocket from the north east. Konev knew that to break out to the west the Ninth Army would have to cross the Berlin–Dresden autobahn south of a chain of lakes starting at Teupitz
and running north-east. On the same day as Zhukov's attack in the north-east, he sent the 3rd Guards Army to support the 28th Army which was ready to close the likely breakout route over the Berlin–Dresden autobahn.
In the area to the west of the encirclement, Soviet forces were already positioned in depth, with (from the north)
In terms of mechanized formations, 3rd Guards Tank Army's 9th Mechanised Corps had its 71st Mechanized Brigade between Teupitz and Neuhof; 4th Guards Tank Army's 68th Guards Tank Brigade stood near Kummersdorf
Gut; and 3rd Guards Army's 25th Tank Corps near Duben
. Both 3rd Guards Army and 13th Army were to be heavily reinforced throughout the battle, as they were to be in the line of the German break-out. A reinforcement of particular note was the deployment of 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division under command of 3rd Guards Army in the sector Teurow to Briesen
.
. The next day the Scharnhorst Division started to engage the Soviets in and around Beelitz
and caught 4th Guards Tank Army's 6th Guards Mechanized Corps in an open flank, overrunning rear area units. While the Ulrich von Hutten Division tried to reach Potsdam
with Scharnhorst Division on its eastern flank, to open a corridor into Berlin, other elements of the Twelfth Army, as Wenck had agreed with Busse, pushed east to meet the Ninth Army.
In the words of Busse to Wenck, Ninth Army was planning to push west "like a caterpillar". According to General Busse's plan the heavy King Tiger tanks of 502nd SS heavy Panzer battalion should lead this caterpillar. The metaphor is quite apt because as the head lead the way the rear-guard in the tail was going to be engaged in just as heavy fighting trying to disengage from following Soviet forces.
In the night of April 25/26 a new order was issued to Ninth and Twelfth Armies from Hitler. It stipulated that:
The final army conference of Ninth Army took place at 1500 hours on April 28. At this point contact had been lost with V Corps, and V SS Mountain Corps. The conference found that the only possible break-out route had to lead through Halbe. This was not difficult to deduce for the Soviet command as well, while on the other hand Ninth Army had virtually no information about the Soviet disposition of forces between it and Twelfth Army. From the conference onward, command and control in Ninth Army collapsed. There was almost no contact between Ninth Army Headquarters (HQ) and Army Group Vistula, and little contact with formations under Ninth Army command. There were few or no maps to guide planning and combat operations.
In his book Slaughter at Halbe Tony le Tissier, accused General Busse of failing to exercise effective command and control of the encircled army, thereby contributing to the failure of successive break-out attempts. Le Tissier writes that Busse's initial move of his HQ put him into a situation where he lost the ability to control all formations in the pocket, and in his break-out plan Ninth Army HQ was to be placed immediately behind the spearhead of the breakout, the 502nd SS Heavy Tank Battalion, this effectively reduced his ability to exercise command to the local level. He also accuses Busse of failing to adequately support the first breakout attempt (see below). The spearhead for the Ninth Army breakout plan on April 28 was to be 502nd SS heavy Panzer battalion with remaining elements of the Panzer Division Kurmark. These units were split into two wedges. The northern wedge included 502nd SS heavy Panzer battalion, Ninth Army HQ, XI SS Panzer Corps HQ, and Panzer Division Kurmark HQ. Remnants of 21st Panzer Division were to cover in a north-westerly direction, while remnants of 32nd SS Division 30. Januar were to cover the east and provide the rearguard.
von Luck
, consisting of 21st Panzer Division
. and Kampfgruppe Pipkorn
, containing 35th SS and Police Grenadier Division
, both named after their commanders, to attempt a break-out in the direction of the road centre of Baruth
to obtain the use of roads to Luckenwalde and Jüterbog. von Luck consisted mainly of 125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment and tanks from 22nd Panzer Regiment and started from Halbe, while Pipkorn consisted of the remains of the 35th SS Division with tanks from 10th SS Panzer Division, and started from Schleepitz. The orders to Colonel von Luck were to open a corridor and keep it open for the sole use of military units of Ninth Army. No civilians were to be allowed to use it. von Luck made good progress across the Berlin–Dresden autobahn until it hit the Soviet defenses of 50th Guards Rifle Division at Baruth, which had been reinforced by dug-in Stalin tanks. Pipkorn hit defenses of 329th Rifle Division early on and the battle group was scattered, with some armoured elements including Panther tanks reaching Baruth. A pitched battle
developed at Baruth, which was impossible for the German battlegroups to win. Busse ordered von Luck to stay near Baruth but discontinue the attack when informed of this, however von Luck disobeyed the order and disbanded his battle group, allowing soldiers to try to attempt a breakout individually.
On the following day battle continued around Baruth, and tank-hunting teams blew up some of the dug-in Soviet tanks. Some supply canisters were delivered by air, but the strength of the battle group was insufficient to hold off a Soviet counter-attack. Heavy air attacks, a strike by 4th Bomber Air Corps around noon with 55 aircraft, and repeated strikes by 1st and 2nd Air Assault Corps with 8-10 aircraft each, a total of ca. 500 missions, caused heavy casualties and chaos. The forces of the two battle groups were destroyed, with Soviet reports claiming 5,000 prisoners (POW) taken, 40 tanks and self-propelled guns destroyed, and almost 200 guns and mortars captured. These forces and weapons were severely missed during later break-out attempts. Pipkorn, the commander of the other battle group, was killed during the battle, and von Luck taken prisoner by the Soviets on April 27. Few of the survivors of the battle reached the Elbe.
and north of Baruth
; where it was spotted by a Luftwaffe plane. Hitler was furious when he realised that Busse was attempting to break out west and not aid him in Berlin. His command sent several messages demanding that the army turn towards Berlin, but received no answer.
During the night and the next day (April 27), the Germans renewed their attack along two axes south from the village of Halbe towards Baruth, and in the north from Teupitz
. This attack failed to produce a mass breakout although, like the day before, some groups did manage to slip through Soviet lines.
The front lines were not continuous because the dense forest terrain meant that visibility was down to metres, so the danger of ambush and sudden assault was a problem for both sides. Smoke from burning sections of the forest, set alight by shell fire, helped the German and hindered the Soviets because it shielded the Germans from aerial reconnaissance and attack. This was cold comfort for any wounded German soldier who could not move fast enough to avoid the flames. It also hindered many German groups because without a compass and no sun, it was very difficult to judge which direction to move. The sandy soil precluded the digging of foxholes and there was no time to construct anything more elaborate, so there was little to no protection from wooden splinters created by artillery and tank HE shells which the Soviet forces deliberately aimed to explode at tree top height.
By this time the Germans were spread over a wide area. The rearguard was at Storkow and the vanguard had linked up with the Twelfth Army at Beelitz. There were large groups around Halbe. The Soviet battle plan was to split the caterpillar into segments and then destroy each segment individually. The German battle plan was to continue moving west as fast as possible keeping the corridor open.
The situation in Halbe was desperate for the Germans, orders were still being issued to recognisable formations, but these were by now all mixed up. There was considerable tension between Waffen-SS
and Wehrmacht
soldiers with both accusing the other of helping their own comrades while ignoring the plight of the other. In Halbe itself some of the civilians took pity on very young soldiers ("kindersoldaten") and allowed them to change out of their uniforms into civilian clothes. In one documented case an SS man appeared at the door of a cellar intending to shoot a Panzerfaust
into a cellar with about 40 civilians and young Wehrmacht soldiers in it, only to be shot dead by one of the soldiers.
During the following days, the fighting became more and more confused. If the Germans came into contact with Soviet forces and overran a Soviet position, the Soviets counter-attacked not only with ground forces, but with artillery and aircraft. Losses on both sides were very high. By the time the fighting was over, (around the end of April, beginning of May), about 25,000 German soldiers had managed to escape to join up with the Twelfth Army on the eastern side of Reichstrasse 2 the road running north south through Beelitz. Although this was the end of the battle it was not the end of the breakout. The Twelfth and Ninth Armies' remnants then fought a fighting retreat westwards towards the Elbe so that they could surrender to the Americans. Most of those that broke out were again surrounded west of Luckenwalde
by the north-westerly thrust of the 4th Guards Tank Army
, only 10 km away from the German 12th Army troops, although unbeknown to them the Ninth United States Army had already halted at Elbe
.
died trying to stop the breakout; most are buried at a cemetery next to the Baruth–Zossen road (Bundesstraße 96
). These are the known dead, but the remains of more who died in the battle are found every year so the total of those who died will never be known. Nobody knows how many civilians died, but it could have been as high as 10,000.
Ground Forces
Air Forces – Chief Marshal of Aviation A.A. Novikov
German Ninth Army
The 9th Army was a World War II field army.The 9th Army was activated on May 15, 1940 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command.-1940:The 9th Army first saw service along the Siegfried Line when it was involved in the invasion of France...
, under the command of Colonel General
Colonel General
Colonel General is a senior rank of General. North Korea and Russia are two countries which have used the rank extensively throughout their histories...
Theodor Busse
Theodor Busse
Ernst Hermann August Theodor Busse was a German officer during World War I and World War II.- Career :...
was destroyed as a fighting force by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
during the Battle for Berlin.
The Ninth Army, trapped in a large pocket
Salients, re-entrants and pockets
A salient is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory. The salient is surrounded by the enemy on three sides, making the troops occupying the salient vulnerable. The enemy's line facing a salient is referred to as a re-entrant...
in the Spree
Spree
The Spree is a river that flows through the Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin states of Germany, and in the Ústí nad Labem region of the Czech Republic...
Forest
Spreewald
The Spreewald is situated about 100 km south-east of Berlin. It was designated a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1991. It is known for its traditional irrigation system which consists of more than 200 small channels within the area. The landscape was shaped during the ice-age...
region south-east of Berlin, attempted to break out of the pocket westwards through the village of Halbe
Halbe
Halbe is a municipality in the Dahme-Spreewald district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated near the capital city Berlin and the SpreewaldFour other villages are part of Halbe: Briesen/Brand with the Tropical Islands Dom, Teurow, Freidorf and Oderin....
and the pine forests south of Berlin to link up with the German Twelfth Army
German Twelfth Army
- History :The 12th Army was activated on October 13, 1939 with General Wilhelm List in command. First seeing defensive action along the Siegfried Line, the army was involved in the invasion and occupation of France...
commanded by General Walther Wenck
Walther Wenck
-Captive, prisoner, and death:Wenck was captured and put in a prisoner of war camp. He was released in 1947. In 1982, Wenck died in a car accident in Bad Rothenfelde.-See also:* Battle of Berlin - 1945* Battle of Halbe - 1945* Hans Krebs, Chief of Staff...
with the intention of heading west and surrendering to the Western Allies. To do this the Ninth Army had to fight their way through three lines of Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front
1st Ukrainian Front
The 1st Ukrainian Front was a front—a force the size of a Western Army group—of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War.-Wartime:...
under the command of Marshal Ivan Konev
Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev , was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, retook much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin....
, while at the same time units of the 1st Belorussian Front
1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during World War II...
, under the command of Marshal Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
, attacked the German rearguard from the north east.
After very heavy fighting about 30,000 German soldiers—one third of those trapped in the pocket—managed to reach the comparative safety of the Twelfth Army's front lines. The rest were either killed or captured by the Soviets.
Prelude
On April 16 the Soviets started the Battle of BerlinBattle of Berlin
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II....
with a three Soviet Front attack across the Oder-Neisse line
Oder-Neisse line
The Oder–Neisse line is the border between Germany and Poland which was drawn in the aftermath of World War II. The line is formed primarily by the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers, and meets the Baltic Sea west of the seaport cities of Szczecin and Świnoujście...
. By April 21 they had broken through the German front line in two places and had started to surround Berlin. The German Ninth Army covered the defenses of the Seelow Heights
Battle of the Seelow Heights
The Battle of the Seelow Heights , was a part of the Seelow-Berlin Offensive Operation ; one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions of World War II. It was fought over three days, from 16–19 April 1945...
against Marshal Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front
1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during World War II...
but its position was unhinged by the successful attack of Marshal Ivan Konev
Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev , was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, retook much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin....
's 1st Ukrainian Front
1st Ukrainian Front
The 1st Ukrainian Front was a front—a force the size of a Western Army group—of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War.-Wartime:...
(against Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct German strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union...
) on the Neisse. By April 20 it had to withdraw south-east of Berlin, opening the way for 1st Belorussian Front.
Because of the high speed of the advance of Konev's forces this meant Ninth Army was now threatened with envelopment by the two massive Soviet pincers that were heading for Berlin from the south and east. The southern pincer consisted of the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies which had penetrated the furthest and had already cut through the area behind the German Ninth Army's front lines.
German dispositions
The command of the V SS Mountain CorpsV SS Mountain Corps
V SS Mountain Corps was a Waffen SS, formation at the end of World War II.The Corps fought on the Oder line as part of the 9th Army, in the Frankfurt am Oder area and in the Battle of Berlin that followed...
trapped with the Ninth Army north of Forst, passed from 4th Panzer Army
German Fourth Panzer Army
The 4th Panzer Army was, before being designated a full army, the Panzer Group 4 , a German panzer army that saw action during World War II. Its units played a part in the invasion of France, and then on the Eastern Front.-Early history:The 4th Panzer Group's predecessor was the XVI Corps formed...
(part of Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct German strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union...
) to the Ninth Army (part of Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula was an Army Group of the Wehrmacht, formed on January 24, 1945. It was put together from elements of Army Group A , Army Group Centre , and a variety of new or ad-hoc formations...
under the command of General Gotthard Heinrici
Gotthard Heinrici
Gotthard Heinrici was a general in the German Army during World War II.-Personal life:Heinrici's was born in Gumbinnen , East Prussia, on Christmas Day, 1886, to Paul Heinrici, a local Lutheran minister of the Prussian Church, and his wife Gisela, née von Rauchhaupt, who was of recent Jewish descent...
). The corps was still holding on to Cottbus
Cottbus
Cottbus is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree. As of , its population was .- History :...
. While the bulk of Army Group Centre was being forced, by the advance of the 1st Ukrainian Front, to withdraw along its lines of communication to the south-west towards Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, the southern flank of 4th Panzer Army had some local successes counter attacking north against the 1st Ukrainian Front, Hitler gave orders which showed that his grasp of military reality had gone. He ordered Ninth Army to hold Cottbus and set up a front facing west then they were to attack into the Soviet columns advancing North. This would allow them to form the northern pincer which would meet with the 4th Panzer Army coming from the south and envelop the 1st Ukrainian Front before destroying it. They were to anticipate an attack south by the 3rd Panzer Army
German Third Panzer Army
The 3rd Panzer Army was a German army that saw action during World War II. It was formed from Panzergruppe 3, which had been formed on November 16, 1940....
and to be ready to be the southern arm of a pincer attack which would envelop the 1st Belorussian Front, which would then be destroyed by SS Lieutenant-General Felix Steiner's
Felix Steiner
Felix Martin Julius Steiner was a German Reichswehr and Waffen-SS officer who served in both World War I and World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
III SS Corps advancing from the north of Berlin. Later in the day, Steiner made it plain that he did not have the divisions to make this effort. Heinrici then explained to Hitler's staff that unless the Ninth Army retreated immediately it was about to be enveloped by the Soviets. He stressed it was already too late for the unit to move north-west to Berlin and would have to retreat west. Heinrici went on to say that if Hitler did not allow it to move west he would ask to be relieved of his command.
At his afternoon situation conference on April 22, Hitler fell into a tearful rage when he realised that his plans of the day before were not going to be implemented. He declared that the war was lost, he blamed the generals and announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then kill himself. In an attempt to coax Hitler out of his rage, the Chief of Staff of the OKW, General Alfred Jodl
Alfred Jodl
Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl was a German military commander, attaining the position of Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command during World War II, acting as deputy to Wilhelm Keitel...
, speculated that the Twelfth Army which was facing the Americans could move to Berlin because the Americans already on the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
river were unlikely to move further east. Hitler immediately grasped the idea and within hours the army's commander, General Walther Wenck
Walther Wenck
-Captive, prisoner, and death:Wenck was captured and put in a prisoner of war camp. He was released in 1947. In 1982, Wenck died in a car accident in Bad Rothenfelde.-See also:* Battle of Berlin - 1945* Battle of Halbe - 1945* Hans Krebs, Chief of Staff...
, was ordered to disengage from the Americans and move Twelfth Army north-east to support Berlin. It was then realised that if the Ninth Army moved west it could link up with the Twelfth Army. In the evening Heinrici was given permission to make the link up.
Although in Hitler's mind the Twelfth Army was going to break through to Berlin and the Ninth Army, once it had broken through to the Twelfth Army, was going to help them, there is no evidence that Generals Heinrici, Busse or Wenck thought that this was at all possible. However, Hitler's agreement to allow the Ninth Army to break through to the Twelfth Army would allow a window through which sizable numbers of German troops could escape to the west and surrender to the Americans, which is exactly what Wenck and Busse agreed to do. This was made easier when shortly after midnight on April 25 Busse was given authority "to decide for himself the best direction of attack".
The situation of Ninth Army
Before being encircled, the Ninth Army had already suffered heavy losses in the Battle of the Seelow HeightsBattle of the Seelow Heights
The Battle of the Seelow Heights , was a part of the Seelow-Berlin Offensive Operation ; one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions of World War II. It was fought over three days, from 16–19 April 1945...
. It is estimated that at the start of the encirclement it had fewer than 1,000 guns and mortars, 79 tanks and probably a total of 150-200 combat-ready armoured fighting vehicles left. In all there were about 80,000 men in the pocket, the majority of whom were members of the Ninth Army consisting of the XI SS Panzer Corps, V SS Mountain Corps
V SS Mountain Corps
V SS Mountain Corps was a Waffen SS, formation at the end of World War II.The Corps fought on the Oder line as part of the 9th Army, in the Frankfurt am Oder area and in the Battle of Berlin that followed...
and the newly acquired V Corps, but there were also the Frankfurt Garrison. The number of tanks reported included 36 tanks in XI SS Panzer Corps, including up to 14 King Tigers of the 502nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. Air supply was attempted on April 25 and 26, but could not be carried out because the planes that had taken off could not find the drop point for supply, and no contact to the encircled army could be established.
The pocket into which the Ninth Army had been pushed by troops of the 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front was a region of lakes and forest in the Spree Forest south-east of Fürstenwalde. The Soviets, having broken through and surrounded their primary objective of Berlin then turned to mopping up those forces pushed into the pocket. On the afternoon of April 25 the Soviet 3rd
Soviet Third Army
The 3rd Army was a Soviet Red Army field army during World War II.The 3rd Army was formed in 1939 in the Belorussian Special Military District from the Vitebsk Army Group. The Third Army saw its first action in September 1939, taking part in the operation in Belarus and Poland. In the operation,...
, 33rd
33rd Army (Soviet Union)
The Red Army's 33rd Army was a Soviet field army during the Second World War. It was disbanded by being redesignated HQ Smolensk Military District in 1945.-Initial Operations:...
, and 69th Armies as well as the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps (which was a formation capable of infiltration through difficult terrain such as forests), following orders issued by Marshal Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov , was a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation...
the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, attacked the pocket from the north east. Konev knew that to break out to the west the Ninth Army would have to cross the Berlin–Dresden autobahn south of a chain of lakes starting at Teupitz
Teupitz
Teupitz is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 29 km northwest of Lübben , and 45 km south of Berlin centre....
and running north-east. On the same day as Zhukov's attack in the north-east, he sent the 3rd Guards Army to support the 28th Army which was ready to close the likely breakout route over the Berlin–Dresden autobahn.
Soviet dispositions
Soviet forces ordered to attack Ninth Army numbered around 280,000 men, 7,400 guns and mortars, 280 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 1,500 aircraft. The force included six Air Corps, and the 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division, which was committed on April 25.In the area to the west of the encirclement, Soviet forces were already positioned in depth, with (from the north)
- Soviet 28th Army's 128th Rifle Corps in the area MittenwaldeMittenwaldeMittenwalde is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 30 km southeast of Berlin ....
and Motzen; - 3rd Guards Rifle Corps in the area Tornow, Radeland, BaruthBaruthBaruth is a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 24 km east of Luckenwalde, and 53 km south of Berlin....
, Golssen; - 3rd Guards Army'sSoviet Third Guards ArmyThe 3rd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II, notably in 1945.It was created in December 1942, as part of the Southwestern Front , according to the order of the Supreme High Command on formation of the 3rd Guards Army...
120th Rifle Corps south of HalbeHalbeHalbe is a municipality in the Dahme-Spreewald district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated near the capital city Berlin and the SpreewaldFour other villages are part of Halbe: Briesen/Brand with the Tropical Islands Dom, Teurow, Freidorf and Oderin....
; - 21st Rifle Corps along the Berlin to Dresden Autobahn to the west of Lübben;
- 13th Army's13th Army (Soviet Union)The 13th Army was a name given to several field armies of the Soviet Union's Red Army, first created during the Russian Civil War...
102nd Rifle Corps with 117th Guards Rifle Division stood near LuckenwaldeLuckenwaldeLuckenwalde is the capital of the Teltow-Fläming district in the German state of Brandenburg. It is situated on the Nuthe river north of the Fläming Heath, at the eastern rim of the Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, about south of Berlin...
, - while 27th Rifle Corps's 280th Rifle Division stood at JüterbogJüterbogJüterbog is a historic town in north-eastern Germany, located in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg. It is located on the Nuthe river at the northern slope of the Fläming hill range, about southwest of Berlin.-History:...
, where the WehrmachtWehrmachtThe Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
's main artillery school was located.
In terms of mechanized formations, 3rd Guards Tank Army's 9th Mechanised Corps had its 71st Mechanized Brigade between Teupitz and Neuhof; 4th Guards Tank Army's 68th Guards Tank Brigade stood near Kummersdorf
Kummersdorf
Kummersdorf is the name of an estate near Luckenwalde at , around 25km south of Berlin, in the Brandenburg region of Germany. Until 1945 Kummersdorf hosted the weapon office of the German Army which ran a development centre for future weapons as well as an artillery range.In 1929 the Army Weapons...
Gut; and 3rd Guards Army's 25th Tank Corps near Duben
Düben
Düben is a village and a former municipality in the district of Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 March 2009, it is part of the town Coswig....
. Both 3rd Guards Army and 13th Army were to be heavily reinforced throughout the battle, as they were to be in the line of the German break-out. A reinforcement of particular note was the deployment of 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division under command of 3rd Guards Army in the sector Teurow to Briesen
Briesen
- In Brandenburg, Germany :* Briesen , in the Spree-Neiße district * Briesen , in the Oder-Spree district,* A part of Friesack, in the Havelland district,* A part of Halbe, in the Dahme-Spreewald district,...
.
Twelfth Army's attack and Ninth Army's plan
The relief attempt by Twelfth Army started on April 24 with General Wenck's XX Corps attacking east and northwards. During the night the Theodor Körner RAD Division attacked the Soviet 5th Guards Mechanised Corps, under the command of General I. P. Yermakov, near TreuenbrietzenTreuenbrietzen
Treuenbrietzen is a town in the Bundesland of Brandenburg, Germany.-History:The town has existed since the Middle Ages and the first written evidence about it is from 1217. During the Reformation, Martin Luther came in 1537 to preach in the town, but his way to the church was blocked...
. The next day the Scharnhorst Division started to engage the Soviets in and around Beelitz
Beelitz
Beelitz is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated about 18 km south of Potsdam, in a glacial sandur plain surrounded by extended pine woods...
and caught 4th Guards Tank Army's 6th Guards Mechanized Corps in an open flank, overrunning rear area units. While the Ulrich von Hutten Division tried to reach Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
with Scharnhorst Division on its eastern flank, to open a corridor into Berlin, other elements of the Twelfth Army, as Wenck had agreed with Busse, pushed east to meet the Ninth Army.
In the words of Busse to Wenck, Ninth Army was planning to push west "like a caterpillar". According to General Busse's plan the heavy King Tiger tanks of 502nd SS heavy Panzer battalion should lead this caterpillar. The metaphor is quite apt because as the head lead the way the rear-guard in the tail was going to be engaged in just as heavy fighting trying to disengage from following Soviet forces.
In the night of April 25/26 a new order was issued to Ninth and Twelfth Armies from Hitler. It stipulated that:
- Twelfth Army was to cut off 4th Guards Tank Army by reaching the line Beelitz to Ferch, and to attack eastwards to unite with Ninth Army.
- Ninth Army was to hold on to its eastern front between Spreewald and Fürstenwalde, and to attack westward to link up with Twelfth Army.
- Once both armies were combined, they were to attack northwards and open a corridor through the Red Army's encirclement ring around Berlin.
The final army conference of Ninth Army took place at 1500 hours on April 28. At this point contact had been lost with V Corps, and V SS Mountain Corps. The conference found that the only possible break-out route had to lead through Halbe. This was not difficult to deduce for the Soviet command as well, while on the other hand Ninth Army had virtually no information about the Soviet disposition of forces between it and Twelfth Army. From the conference onward, command and control in Ninth Army collapsed. There was almost no contact between Ninth Army Headquarters (HQ) and Army Group Vistula, and little contact with formations under Ninth Army command. There were few or no maps to guide planning and combat operations.
In his book Slaughter at Halbe Tony le Tissier, accused General Busse of failing to exercise effective command and control of the encircled army, thereby contributing to the failure of successive break-out attempts. Le Tissier writes that Busse's initial move of his HQ put him into a situation where he lost the ability to control all formations in the pocket, and in his break-out plan Ninth Army HQ was to be placed immediately behind the spearhead of the breakout, the 502nd SS Heavy Tank Battalion, this effectively reduced his ability to exercise command to the local level. He also accuses Busse of failing to adequately support the first breakout attempt (see below). The spearhead for the Ninth Army breakout plan on April 28 was to be 502nd SS heavy Panzer battalion with remaining elements of the Panzer Division Kurmark. These units were split into two wedges. The northern wedge included 502nd SS heavy Panzer battalion, Ninth Army HQ, XI SS Panzer Corps HQ, and Panzer Division Kurmark HQ. Remnants of 21st Panzer Division were to cover in a north-westerly direction, while remnants of 32nd SS Division 30. Januar were to cover the east and provide the rearguard.
The first breakout attempt
On the evening of April 25, Busse ordered the two battlegroups: KampfgruppeKampfgruppe
In military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
von Luck
Hans von Luck
Hans-Ulrich von Luck und Witten , usually shortened to Hans von Luck, was a Colonel in the German Armored Forces during World War II. He served with the 7th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division, seeing action in Poland, France, North Africa, Italy and Russia...
, consisting of 21st Panzer Division
German 21st Panzer Division
The 21st Panzer Division was a German armoured division best known for its role in the battles of the North African Campaign from 1941–1943 during World War II when it was one of the two armoured divisions making up the Afrika Korps.-Origins:...
. and Kampfgruppe Pipkorn
Ruediger Pipkorn
Rüdiger Pipkorn was a Oberst , and a temporary Standartenführer in the Waffen SS during World War II. He was killed in action in 1945, while in command of the 35th SS and Police Grenadier Division....
, containing 35th SS and Police Grenadier Division
35th SS and Police Grenadier Division
The 35th SS and Police Grenadier Division was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. It owes its unusual name to the fact that it was created from SS-Police units transferred to the Waffen-SS. It was not formed until the spring of 1945, and its actual...
, both named after their commanders, to attempt a break-out in the direction of the road centre of Baruth
Baruth
Baruth is a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 24 km east of Luckenwalde, and 53 km south of Berlin....
to obtain the use of roads to Luckenwalde and Jüterbog. von Luck consisted mainly of 125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment and tanks from 22nd Panzer Regiment and started from Halbe, while Pipkorn consisted of the remains of the 35th SS Division with tanks from 10th SS Panzer Division, and started from Schleepitz. The orders to Colonel von Luck were to open a corridor and keep it open for the sole use of military units of Ninth Army. No civilians were to be allowed to use it. von Luck made good progress across the Berlin–Dresden autobahn until it hit the Soviet defenses of 50th Guards Rifle Division at Baruth, which had been reinforced by dug-in Stalin tanks. Pipkorn hit defenses of 329th Rifle Division early on and the battle group was scattered, with some armoured elements including Panther tanks reaching Baruth. A pitched battle
Pitched battle
A pitched battle is a battle where both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges....
developed at Baruth, which was impossible for the German battlegroups to win. Busse ordered von Luck to stay near Baruth but discontinue the attack when informed of this, however von Luck disobeyed the order and disbanded his battle group, allowing soldiers to try to attempt a breakout individually.
On the following day battle continued around Baruth, and tank-hunting teams blew up some of the dug-in Soviet tanks. Some supply canisters were delivered by air, but the strength of the battle group was insufficient to hold off a Soviet counter-attack. Heavy air attacks, a strike by 4th Bomber Air Corps around noon with 55 aircraft, and repeated strikes by 1st and 2nd Air Assault Corps with 8-10 aircraft each, a total of ca. 500 missions, caused heavy casualties and chaos. The forces of the two battle groups were destroyed, with Soviet reports claiming 5,000 prisoners (POW) taken, 40 tanks and self-propelled guns destroyed, and almost 200 guns and mortars captured. These forces and weapons were severely missed during later break-out attempts. Pipkorn, the commander of the other battle group, was killed during the battle, and von Luck taken prisoner by the Soviets on April 27. Few of the survivors of the battle reached the Elbe.
The second breakout attempt
The next morning, the German vanguard found a weak point between the two armies and many Germans were able to cross the autobahn before the Soviets managed to plug the gap. The fighting was very heavy and included incessant air attacks by the 2nd Air Army as well as tree-bursting shells which rained wood splinters through the area. During the whole battle the Soviet air force flew 2,459 attack missions and 1,683 bombing sorties. The Germans found that they could not use their armour as well as they had hoped, because it was vulnerable to destruction on the roads and could not get a good grip on the sandy soil of the pine forests in the region. The German vanguard managed to reach and cross the route 96 (Reichstrasse 96), south of ZossenZossen
Zossen is a German town in the district of Teltow-Fläming in Brandenburg, south of Berlin, and next to the B96 highway. Zossen consists of several smaller municipalities, which were grouped together in 2003 to form the city.-Geography:...
and north of Baruth
Baruth
Baruth is a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 24 km east of Luckenwalde, and 53 km south of Berlin....
; where it was spotted by a Luftwaffe plane. Hitler was furious when he realised that Busse was attempting to break out west and not aid him in Berlin. His command sent several messages demanding that the army turn towards Berlin, but received no answer.
During the night and the next day (April 27), the Germans renewed their attack along two axes south from the village of Halbe towards Baruth, and in the north from Teupitz
Teupitz
Teupitz is a town in the Dahme-Spreewald district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 29 km northwest of Lübben , and 45 km south of Berlin centre....
. This attack failed to produce a mass breakout although, like the day before, some groups did manage to slip through Soviet lines.
The front lines were not continuous because the dense forest terrain meant that visibility was down to metres, so the danger of ambush and sudden assault was a problem for both sides. Smoke from burning sections of the forest, set alight by shell fire, helped the German and hindered the Soviets because it shielded the Germans from aerial reconnaissance and attack. This was cold comfort for any wounded German soldier who could not move fast enough to avoid the flames. It also hindered many German groups because without a compass and no sun, it was very difficult to judge which direction to move. The sandy soil precluded the digging of foxholes and there was no time to construct anything more elaborate, so there was little to no protection from wooden splinters created by artillery and tank HE shells which the Soviet forces deliberately aimed to explode at tree top height.
The third breakout attempt
On the night of April 28 the Germans tried another mass breakout from around Halbe. They managed to break through the 50th Guards Rifle Division and created a corridor from Halbe to the west but they paid a very high price. During the 28th and 29th the Soviets reinforced the flanks and attacked from the south, pouring in Katyusha rockets and shells concentrating on the area around the Halbe.By this time the Germans were spread over a wide area. The rearguard was at Storkow and the vanguard had linked up with the Twelfth Army at Beelitz. There were large groups around Halbe. The Soviet battle plan was to split the caterpillar into segments and then destroy each segment individually. The German battle plan was to continue moving west as fast as possible keeping the corridor open.
The situation in Halbe was desperate for the Germans, orders were still being issued to recognisable formations, but these were by now all mixed up. There was considerable tension between Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
and Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
soldiers with both accusing the other of helping their own comrades while ignoring the plight of the other. In Halbe itself some of the civilians took pity on very young soldiers ("kindersoldaten") and allowed them to change out of their uniforms into civilian clothes. In one documented case an SS man appeared at the door of a cellar intending to shoot a Panzerfaust
Panzerfaust
The Panzerfaust was an inexpensive, recoilless German anti-tank weapon of World War II. It consisted of a small, disposable preloaded launch tube firing a high explosive anti-tank warhead, operated by a single soldier...
into a cellar with about 40 civilians and young Wehrmacht soldiers in it, only to be shot dead by one of the soldiers.
During the following days, the fighting became more and more confused. If the Germans came into contact with Soviet forces and overran a Soviet position, the Soviets counter-attacked not only with ground forces, but with artillery and aircraft. Losses on both sides were very high. By the time the fighting was over, (around the end of April, beginning of May), about 25,000 German soldiers had managed to escape to join up with the Twelfth Army on the eastern side of Reichstrasse 2 the road running north south through Beelitz. Although this was the end of the battle it was not the end of the breakout. The Twelfth and Ninth Armies' remnants then fought a fighting retreat westwards towards the Elbe so that they could surrender to the Americans. Most of those that broke out were again surrounded west of Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde
Luckenwalde is the capital of the Teltow-Fläming district in the German state of Brandenburg. It is situated on the Nuthe river north of the Fläming Heath, at the eastern rim of the Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, about south of Berlin...
by the north-westerly thrust of the 4th Guards Tank Army
4th Tank Army (Soviet Union)
The 20th Guards Army, , is a field army, since 1991, part of the Russian Ground Forces.-1st Formation :It was first formed within the Stalingrad Front from July 1942 and...
, only 10 km away from the German 12th Army troops, although unbeknown to them the Ninth United States Army had already halted at Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
.
Aftermath
The casualties on both sides were very high. There are about 30,000 Germans buried in the cemetery at Halbe, making it the largest war cemetery in Germany from World War II. A major part of the buried, about 20,000, are unidentified soldiers killed during the first half of 1945. The Red army claimed to have killed 60,000 German soldiers and taken 120,000 as prisoners, a figure that is considered to be a gross exaggeration. About 20,000 soldiers of the Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
died trying to stop the breakout; most are buried at a cemetery next to the Baruth–Zossen road (Bundesstraße 96
Bundesstraße 96
The Bundesstraße 96 is a federal highway in Germany. It begins in Zittau in the Saxony, close to the border triangle between Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, heads north through Berlin and ends in Sassnitz on the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea...
). These are the known dead, but the remains of more who died in the battle are found every year so the total of those who died will never be known. Nobody knows how many civilians died, but it could have been as high as 10,000.
Soviet Union
Ground Forces
- 1st Belorussian Front1st Belorussian FrontThe 1st Belorussian Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during World War II...
– Marshal G.K. Zhukov- 3rd Army – Colonel General A.V. Gorbatov
- 69th Army – Colonel General V.Y. Kolpakchi
- 33rd Army – Colonel General V.D. Svotaev
- 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps – Lieutenant General V.V.Kruhkov
- 1st Ukrainian Front1st Ukrainian FrontThe 1st Ukrainian Front was a front—a force the size of a Western Army group—of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Second World War.-Wartime:...
– Marshal I.S. Konev- Soviet Third Guards ArmySoviet Third Guards ArmyThe 3rd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II, notably in 1945.It was created in December 1942, as part of the Southwestern Front , according to the order of the Supreme High Command on formation of the 3rd Guards Army...
– Colonel General V.N.Gordov - 13th Army – Colonel General N.P.Phukhov
- 28th Army – Lieutenant General A.A.Luchinsky
- 3rd Guards Tank Army – Colonel General P.S. Rybalko
- 4th Guards Tank Army – Colonel General D.D. Lelyushenko
- Soviet Third Guards Army
Air Forces – Chief Marshal of Aviation A.A. Novikov
Alexander Novikov
Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov was the Chief Marshal of Aviation for the Soviet Air Force during Russia's involvement in the Second World War...
- 2nd Air Army – Colonel General Stepan KrasovskyStepan KrasovskySczyapan Yakimavich Krasuisky Sczyapan Yakimavich Krasuisky Sczyapan Yakimavich Krasuisky (Belorussian: Сцяпан Якімавіч Красоўскі, Russified: Stepan Akimovich Krasovsky [Степан Акимович Красовский];...
- 16th Air Army – Colonel General Sergei RudenkoSergei Rudenko (general)Serhi Gnatovich Rudenko was a Soviet Marshal of the Aviation.-Early life:...
- 18th Air Army – Air Vice Marshal A.Y. GolovanovAlexander GolovanovAlexander Yevgeniyevich Golovanov was a Soviet pilot. On August 3, 1943 he became a Marshal of Aviation and on 19 August 1944 he was promoted to the rank of Chief Marshal of Aviation .-World War II:From the start of the German-Soviet War, he was the commander of an air...
GermanyNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
- Ninth ArmyGerman Ninth ArmyThe 9th Army was a World War II field army.The 9th Army was activated on May 15, 1940 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command.-1940:The 9th Army first saw service along the Siegfried Line when it was involved in the invasion of France...
– GeneralGeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Theodor BusseTheodor BusseErnst Hermann August Theodor Busse was a German officer during World War I and World War II.- Career :...
- XI SS Panzer Corps – SS-General Matthias KleinheisterkampMatthias KleinheisterkampMatthias Kleinheisterkamp was an SS Obergruppenführer and a Heer officer who served in both World War I and World War II. During World War II, Kleinheisterkamp commanded the 3. SS-Division Totenkopf, 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord, 2. SS-Division Das Reich, III. SS-Panzerkorps, VII. SS-Panzerkops,...
- V SS Mountain CorpsV SS Mountain CorpsV SS Mountain Corps was a Waffen SS, formation at the end of World War II.The Corps fought on the Oder line as part of the 9th Army, in the Frankfurt am Oder area and in the Battle of Berlin that followed...
– SS-General Friedrich Jeckeln - V Army CorpsV Army Corps (Germany)-Commanders:* Infantry General Hermann Geyer, 16 May 1935 – 30 April 1939* Infantry General Richard Ruoff, 1 May 1939 – 12 January 1942...
– General Dr. Ing. Kurt Wäger
- XI SS Panzer Corps – SS-General Matthias Kleinheisterkamp
- Army Support Troops
- 21st Panzer Division
- 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg"10th SS Panzer Division FrundsbergThe 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg or 10.SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg was a German Waffen SS panzer division. The division was formed at the beginning of 1943 as a reserve for the expected Allied invasion of France. However, their first campaign was in the Ukraine in April 1944...
- Twelfth Army – General Walther WenckWalther Wenck-Captive, prisoner, and death:Wenck was captured and put in a prisoner of war camp. He was released in 1947. In 1982, Wenck died in a car accident in Bad Rothenfelde.-See also:* Battle of Berlin - 1945* Battle of Halbe - 1945* Hans Krebs, Chief of Staff...
- XX Corps – General Carl-Erik KoehlerCarl-Erik KoehlerCarl-Erik Koehler was a highly decorated General der Kavallerie in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
- XXXIX Panzer Corps – Lieutenant General Karl ArndtKarl ArndtKarl Hermann Arndt was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several divisions. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
- XXXXI Panzer Corps – Lieutenant General Rudolf HolsteRudolf HolsteRudolf Holste was a German officer during World War I and World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
- XXXXVIII Panzer Corps – General Maximilian von EdelsheimMaximilian von EdelsheimKonstanz Johann Georg Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Edelsheim was a German general during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords....
- XX Corps – General Carl-Erik Koehler
Further reading
- Luck, Hans vonHans von LuckHans-Ulrich von Luck und Witten , usually shortened to Hans von Luck, was a Colonel in the German Armored Forces during World War II. He served with the 7th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division, seeing action in Poland, France, North Africa, Italy and Russia...
; Panzer Commander - The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck; ISBN 0-304-36401-0 - Ryan, CorneliusCornelius RyanCornelius Ryan, was an Irish journalist and author mainly known for his writings on popular military history, especially his World War II books: The Longest Day: June 6, 1944 D-Day , The Last Battle , and A Bridge Too Far .-Early life:Ryan was born in Dublin and educated at Synge Street CBS,...
; The Last Battle; ISBN 0-684-80329-1 - Konev, I.S.; Year of Victory; ISBN 1-4102-1999-2
- Remme, Tilman; The Battle for Berlin in World War Two: Battle of Halbe BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
website - Ziemke E.F.; Stalingrad to Berlin; ISBN 1-4102-0414-6
- German defense minister honors Soviet dead in World War II
- Denkwerkstatt Halbe (German language site)