Hitler's Panzer Armies on the Eastern Fron (44 page)

60. Spaeter,
Die Geschichte des Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland
, pp. 622–23.

61. Mitcham and Mueller,
Hitler’s Commanders
, p. 151; Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, pp. 298–99; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 407–8.

62. Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, p. 365, n. 32; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, pp. 223–24; Mitcham and Mueller,
Hitler’s Commanders
, p. 151. Scheibert,
Die Gespenster Division
, p. 148.The Kriegsmarine evacuated Memel 23–28 January. Spaeter,
Die Geschichte des Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland
, p. 659.

63. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 421; Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, pp. 228–29; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, pp. 225–29; Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, pp. 301, 309; Spaeter,
Die Geschichte des Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland
, p. 604; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 409. Third Panzer strength does not include XXVIII Corps (95th and 58th Infantry Divisions) holed up in Memel.

64. Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, p. 247; Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, pp. 307–8, 312–13, 315–16; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
,p.419.

65. Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, p. 248; Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, pp. 316–17; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 430–31.

66. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, pp. 468–69; Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, pp. 247–49; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 279; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 245, 248. Counter-intuitively, Raus is fairly complimentary of Himmler as a commander. Germans in the Samland pocket continued to fight until the last day of the war. Evidently ‘to confuse students of the war’, the Germans renamed most army groups in the northern theater on 26 January, Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 426.

67. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 559; Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, pp. 325, 327–29; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 459.

68. Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 298–99; Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, p. 340; Seaton,
The Russo-German War
, p. 542; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 459–60. Less well known, during the Seven Years War, the Russians had besieged Kolberg three times, but only captured it once. Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p.460.

69. Max Hastings,
Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944–1945
, Vintage, 2005, p. 457; Read and Fisher,
The Fall of Berlin
, p. 284; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 471.

70. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, pp. 574–75; Tony Le Tissier,
The Battle for Berlin, 1945
, St Martin’s Press, 1988, p. 66; Read and Fisher,
The Fall of Berlin
, pp. 331.

71. Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 477.

72. Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, p. 261; Read and Fisher,
The Fall of Berlin
, pp. 339, 379; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 477–80.

73. Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 486.

74. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 594; Le Tissier,
The Battle for Berlin
, pp. 120, 143, 155; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 483–87.

75. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 621; Le Tissier,
The Battle for Berlin
, pp. 143, 174, 225; Read and Fisher,
The Fall of Berlin
, p. 431; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 495–96.

Chapter 5

1. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 538–39; Gerhard Dieckhoff,
Die 3. Infantrie-Division
, HW Blick, 1960, p. 90; Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, pp. 108, 112; Friedrich–Christian Stahl,
Geschichte der ostpreussischen 121. Infantrie-Division
, Traditionsverband, 1970, p. 14; Stoves,
Die 1. Panzer-Division
, pp. 181, 185. Despite its age (causing repair part shortages), the 35(t) did have a high-velocity 37mm gun and its light weight was well suited for the weak bridges throughout much of the area.

2. Dieckhoff,
Die 3. Infantrie–Division
, p. 92; Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, pp. 103, 110, 113; Werner Haupt,
Army Group North: The Wehrmacht in Russia, 1941–1945
, Schiffer Military History, 1997, pp. 30, 33; Walter Hubatsch,
Die 61. Infantrie-Division
, Podzun Verlag, 1960, p. 18.

3. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 133; Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, p. 142; Georg Meyer (ed.),
Generalfeldmarshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
, Beitrag zur Militar und Kriegsgeschichte, 1976, diary entry 23 June; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter VII, pp. 18, 37; Hermann Plocher,
German Air Force versus Russia
, Arno Press, 1968, p. 145; Stoves,
Die 1. Panzer-Division
, pp. 186–87, 189–90, 192. Hitler viewed his first KV 1 on 28 June, Meyer (ed.),
Generalfeldmarshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
.

4. Paul,
Brennpunkte,p
. 108.

5. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 539; Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 142; Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, pp. 96, 103, 116, 142; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter VII, p. 15; Paul,
Brennpunkte
,p.108.

6. Von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter VII, pp. 31–33.

7. Ibid., Chapter VII, p. 35.

8. Ibid, Chapter VII, p. 54.

9. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 539; Glantz,
Barbarossa
, p. 43; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter VII, p. 35.

10. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 145; Haupt,
Army Group North
, pp. 39, 43; Meyer (ed.),
Generalfeldmarshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
, 29 June; Stoves,
Die 1. PanzerDivision
, p. 198.

11. Dieckhoff,
Die 3. Infantrie–Division
, p. 98; Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 146; Glantz,
Barbarossa
, p. 45; Haupt,
Army Group North
, p. 44; Paul,
Brennpunkte
, p. 113; Albert Seaton,
Stalin
, Combined Publishing, 1998, p. 106.

12. Bergstrom and Mikhailov,
Black Cross, Red Star
, p. 78; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter VII, pp. 56–58, 60; Stoves,
Die 1. Panzer-Division
, pp. 203–4.

13. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 542; Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 147; Glantz,
Barbarossa
, p. 99; Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, p. 51.

14. Stoves,
Die 1. Panzer–Division
, p. 223.

15. Bergstrom and Mikhailov,
Black Cross, Red Star
, p. 79; Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 543; Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, p. 153; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XXVIII, pp. 30–37; Paul,
Brennpunkte
, pp. 118, 125; Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, p. 54.

16. Dieckhoff,
Die 3. Infantrie-Division
, p. 101; Glantz,
Barbarossa
, pp. 100–1; Glantz,
Forgotten Battles
, Vol. I, p. 28; Haupt,
Army Group North
, p. 57; Meyer (ed.),
Generalfeldmarshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
, 16 July.

17. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 633; Meyer (ed.),
Generalfeldmarshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
, 21 July. The decision on XXXIX Panzer was still a month away, Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 592.

18. Haupt,
Army Group North
, p. 75.

19. Ellis,
Brute Force
, p. 54; Haupt,
Army Group North
, p. 75; Paul,
Brennpunkte
, p. 121.

20. Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, p. 80.

21. Haupt,
Army Group North
, pp. 75, 77–78; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XXIX, pp. 3–5; Raus,
Panzer Operationen
, p. 79.

22. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 637; Dieckhoff,
Die 3. Infantrie-Division
, p. 109; Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 187; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XXVIII, pp. 8–11, 13.

23. Haupt,
Army Group North
, p. 92; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XXVIII, pp. 54–58.

24. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 641; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XXVIII, pp. 59–61.

25. On the concept of the large force defending a major city as the ideal blitzkrieg objective, see Citino,
The Death of the Wehrmacht
, p. 37.

26. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 691; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XXX, p. 24.

27. Schrodek,
Ihr Glaube galt dem Vaterland
, p. 178.

28. Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, p. 79; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, pp. 81–3; Hayward,
Stopped at Stalingrad
, p. 142; Hinze,
Hitze, Frost und Pulverdampf
, p. 77; Anton von Plato,
Die Geschichte der 5. Panzerdivision
, Walhalla, 1978, pp. 143, 148; Reinhardt,
Moscow
, p. 84. The 5th Panzer was a latecomer to Barbarossa. It was uncommonly powerful for this late stage of the campaign with 55 Pz IIs, 105 Pz IIIs and 20 Pz IVs, von Plato,
Die Geschichte der 5
, pp. 139–40.

29. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 681; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 89; Hayward,
Stopped at Stalingrad
, p. 144; Reinhardt,
Moscow
, n. 100.

30. Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 95.

31. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 257; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 97; von Plato,
Die Geschichte der 5
, pp. 165, 169, 173; Willmott,
The Great Crusade
, p. 156. The 5th Panzer was originally intended for Africa and its vehicles were painted sand color, hence the nickname.

32. Reinhardt,
Moscow
, p. 218.

33. Von Bock,
The War Diary
, 7, 8, 14 December 1941; Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 274; Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, p. 89; von Plato,
Die Geschichte der 5
, p. 180; Schrodek,
Ihr Glaube galt dem Vaterland
, p. 199; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 70, 73, 77, 80, 82.

34. Otto Weidinger,
Das Reich
, Fedorowicz, 1990, p.278.

35. Ibid., pp. 262–63.

36. Von Bock,
The War Diary
, 16 December; Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 285; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 111; Nitz,
Die 292
, pp. 93–94; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 85, 92–93, 101–2, 118.

37. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 310; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 119, 127–28.

38. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 312; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 133–34, 164, 166, 171.

39. Dieckhoff,
Die 3. Infantrie-Division
, pp. 162–63.

40. Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, p. 182.

41. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 312; Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, pp. 93, 108; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 116; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, p. 182.

42. Von Bock,
The War Diary
, 4 June; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 322–24.

43. Speater,
Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland
, pp. 439–40.