Battle In The Baltics 1944 45

Battle in the Baltics 1944 - 1945 is an exclusive insight into the last frantic months of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front 1944 - 1945. From mid-August 1944 there was nothing but a drum-beat of defeats for the German Army as it fought to the grim death to try and hold back the overwhelming might of the Russians from reaching the borders of the Reich. It was in the Baltic`s where Army Group North played a decisive role in trying to stem the rout and preventing the fragile lines from finally being smashed to pieces. Drawing on a host of rare and unpublished photographs accompanied by in-depth captions, the book provides a revealing insight into the last desperate months of the war. It reveals in detail how the remnants of Army Group North were driven back across a scarred and devastated wasteland to the borders of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, East Prussia and Pomerania. What followed was the Battle of the Baltic`s where exhausted and undermanned German forces fought to almost near extinction against the constant hammer blows of Soviet ground and aerial bombardments. Everywhere disintegrating German forces tried to cling onto vital ground. Eventually after many precious German Panzer and infantry divisions were encircled and annihilated the remnants of Hitler`s once vaunted force was pushed back through the Baltic states into East Prussia, and then fought to the death in the last few small pockets of land surrounding three ports: Libau in Kurland, Pillau in East Prussia and Danzig at the mouth of the River Vistula. It was here that the final battle of the Baltic`s would take place where German troops were ordered to `stand and fight` and wage an unprecedented battle of attrition.

A fully illustrated account of the Soviet offensive in the Baltics and the desperate German attempts to hold back the Red Army. This is a compelling account of the German defense of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Against overwhelming Soviet forces the book shows how the German Army Group North was driven across the Baltics from Leningrad and fought a number isolated battles including the defense of Narva, Memel and the Kurland pocket. The book outlines in dramatic detail how Hitler forbade his troops to withdraw, ordering them to follow his Halt Order Decree and fight to the death. However, exhausted and demoralized by continuous Soviet assaults, Army Group North became cut-off and isolated, fighting fanatically to hold the capital cities of Tallin, Vilnius and Riga. What followed were German forces fighting to the death in the last few small pockets of land surrounding three ports: Libau in Kurland, Pillau in East Prussia and Danzig at the mouth of the River Vistula. In the Kurland, German divisions became surrounded and fought a vicious defense until May 1945. Drawing on a host of rare and unpublished photographs accompanied by in-depth captions and text, the book provides an absorbing read of the Red Army’s conquering of the Baltics.

From an expert on the Eastern Front of World War II, this book chronicles the cataclysmic experience of the region that includes modern-day Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic States suffered more than almost any other territory during World War II, caught on the front-line of some of the war's most vicious battles and squeezed between the vast military might of the German Wehrmacht and the Soviet Red Army. Combining new archival research and numerous first-hand accounts, this is a magisterial description of conquest and exploitation, of death and deportation and the fight for survival both by countries and individuals.

A fully illustrated account of the Soviet offensive in the Baltics and the desperate German attempts to hold back the Red Army.

An engrossing history of the last year of the Second World War, charting the battles fought between the Soviet Red Army and the Nazis across German soil. The terrible months between the arrival of the Red Army on German soil and the final collapse of Hitler's regime were like no other in the Second World War. The Soviet Army's intent to take revenge for the horror that the Nazis had wreaked on their people produced a conflict of implacable brutality in which millions perished. From the great battles that marked the Soviet conquest of East and West Prussia to the final surrender in the Vistula estuary, this book recounts in chilling detail the desperate struggle of soldiers and civilians alike. These brutal campaigns are brought vividly to life by a combination of previously untold testimony and astute strategic analysis recognising a conflict of unprecedented horror and suffering.

"This work is primarily about the land, naval and air operations that took place in and around the Baltic Sea from 1918-1945... Because this book is about military campaigns, [the author has] not touched on matters such as the Holocaust and its effects on the populations of the Baltic Region, nor... , except in passing, the atrocities inflicted on civilians by both sides during the years 1941 to 1945, which have been well documented elsewhere"--Introd.

"Drawing on a superb collection of rare photographs this sequel to Battle in the Baltic States 1944-45 covers the last battles fought by the Wehrmacht and their SS counterparts in East Prussia, Pomerania and the West Prussian city of Danzig ... The book provides ... insight into this long, most bitter and most unknown Eastern Front campaign. It reveals how the remnants of Hitler's once-vaunted forces were hurled out of the Baltic States and ordered to wage an unprecedented war of attrition against an overwhelming foe. Here is East and West Prussia, Pomerania and the ancient city of Danzig the Germans stood on the fringes of the Reich and fought a series of colossal battles ... The Last Rally is a unique study of a struggling German Army trying in vain to avoid being sucked into a maelstrom of destruction. It was the final desperate attempt by the German forces to hold onto land conquered by the Reich during its conquest through Poland five years earlier. Now, as tension, turmoil and tragedy reached its peak in the ruined villages, towns and cities, the ethnic Germans, or so-called Volksdeutche, fled their homes to avoid the Red Army's advance. What followed was a mass exodus of men, women and children intermingled with withdrawing German troops trying to stave off defeat"--Page 7.

The purpose of this text is to provide the Army with a factual account of the organization and operations of the Soviet resistance movement behind the German forces on the Eastern Front during World War II. This movement offers a particularly valuable case study, for it can be viewed both in relation to the German occupation in the Soviet Union and to the offensive and defensive operations of the Wehrmacht and the Red Army. The scope of the study includes an over-all picture of a quasi-military organization in relation to a larger conflict between two regular armies. It is not a study in partisan tactics, nor is it intended to be. German measures taken to combat the partisan movement are sketched in, but the story in large part remains that of an organization and how it operated. The German planning for the invasion of Russia is treated at some length because many of the circumstances which favored the rise and development of the movement had their bases in errors the Germans made in their initial planning. The operations of the Wehrmacht and the Red Army are likewise described in considerable detail as the backdrop against which the operations of the partisan units are projected. Because of the lack of reliable Soviet sources, the story has been told much as the Germans recorded it. German documents written during the course of World War II constitute the principal sources, but many survivors who had experience in Russia have made important contributions based upon their personal experience.

An engrossing history of the last year of the Second World War, charting the battles fought between the Soviet Red Army and the Nazis across German soil. The terrible months between the arrival of the Red Army on German soil and the final collapse of Hitler's regime were like no other in the Second World War. The Soviet Army's intent to take revenge for the horror that the Nazis had wreaked on their people produced a conflict of implacable brutality in which millions perished. From the great battles that marked the Soviet conquest of East and West Prussia to the final surrender in the Vistula estuary, this book recounts in chilling detail the desperate struggle of soldiers and civilians alike. These brutal campaigns are brought vividly to life by a combination of previously untold testimony and astute strategic analysis recognising a conflict of unprecedented horror and suffering.

Explores how the Wehrmacht's defensive conduct contributed to the radicalisation of behavioural patterns in Germany during the war's final months.