DOCSLIB.ORG

THE BATTLE of FRANCE (July 19 to August 29, 1944)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
THE BATTLE of FRANCE (July 19 to August 29, 1944) THE BATTLE OF FRANCE (July 19 to August 29, 1944) N our last issue's review of the invasion battle 31. This breakthrough decided the entire cam­ we pointed out two remarkable facts. viz.• paign. Another wave of US troop. advanoe!l I (1) that only one major landing operation had east from Granville to Villedieu to CO-<lperate been carried out during the first six weeks, and with formatioJlB furt,her t.o the northeast ill (2) that the number of troops pumped into the protecting the left Bank of the main thruli,. comparatively narrow bridgehead was out of Several German attacks against this flank in the proportion to the area then at the disposal of the area of Tessy. VilJedieu. and Mortain. which u Allied Command. Although this seemed to indicate one time narrowed the American corridor of that General Eisenhower intended to concentrate Avranches to twenty kilometers. had to be aban. all hi' available forces for a push from this one doned, as the sout.hward advance of the Britilh bridgehead. the German High Command could not 2nd Army from the region of Caumont threatened be sure of that and had therefore to maintain con· the rear of the German divisioJlB. The fate of the siderable forces all along the far·Bung coasts of campaign in FTance was sealed: what was at stake Europe. a factor which limited the forces opposing now was no longer tbe fat.e of French territory the Normandy invaders and gave the Allies a vast but that of the German armiCl in France. superiority in the bridgehead area. The two Through the breach at AvranchCl the mobile German armies. the 5th and ith, under the supreme wing of the US forces poured like a flood via Dinan, command first of :Jo'ield Marshal von Rundstedt RennCl, and Fougl!res toward the west and south· and since July 6 of Field Marshal von Kluge, wit·h west coasts of Brittany. toward the lower Loire. Field Marshal RQmmel as second-in-command. had and toward the upper reaches of the Mayenne to deal with four Allied armies: the Canadian 1st River. acro88 which a spearhead was driven to Army under Lieutenant General Crear operating ~ Mans with the obvious intention of enveloping from the easternmost wing of the Normandy and destroying the German formatioJlB in Nor. bridgehead: the British 2nd Army under Lieut.enant mandy. Thence powerful spearheads were driven General Dempsey slightly further west: l.he US 1st toward OrIeaJlB, Chart.res. and Dreux to protec\ Army under Lieut~nant General Bradley. which the southern flank of the first operation 88 well .. maintained contact with the British 2nd Army; to outfiank the German armies in northern France. and Lieutenant General Patton's US 3rd Army, consisting of armored and mechanized divisions At the end of the t~nth week of the invasion, and forming the mobile western wing, The when t.he Canadian 1st Army succeeded in fighting strongest reinforcements were sent to this latter its way to the area north and northeaat of Falai8e, army. the Germ8JlB found their westernmost divisiona While the British and Canadian armies. forming the 21st Army Group. remained under the command of General Montgomery. who has since been pro· moted to the rank of field marshal. Lieutenant General Bradley later took over the oommand of the US 1st and 3rd Armies, which formed the 12th Army Group, being succeeded in the com· mand of the US 1st Army by Lieutenant General Hodgee. On July 24, following upon a violent artillery and air oombardment. the Amer. icans began their offensive southwest of Carentan and northwest of St. 1.6. In the course of heavy fighting the in. vaders succeeded in gaining ground in a loutherly and lOuthwest~rly direction. The German troops in the Lessay and Periers sector were temporarily cut off, but managed to break through toward the south and establish themselves in new positioJlB. However, US pre88ure did not subside. The coastal area in front of the Allied west wing aa far as AvranchCl was bare of natural obstacles and covered by a network of excellent roads. thus fa,-oring mobile warfare. Af· ter an attack from Coutances along the highway to Avranches and along the coastal road to Granville the Americans broke through the German lines im. The Battle of France. The red lines show the mediately south of Avranches on July approximate course of the front for each week Tl:IE MARCH OF WAR 229 eaoght in a pocket formed by the triangle Fala.iseJ garrisons of St. Malo and Ctlzembre, they withstood llers/Argent.IUl, a pocket sWI open to the east heavy Allied attacks. So did the garrison of Le bet.ween FaJaiBe LIJld Argentan. In a grim st.ruggle Havre. the defenders defeated aU Allied hopes of closing ,the pocket, frust.rating successive outflanking The breakthrough at Avranches made it impera­ tive for the Germans to wit.hdraw t heir forces P!IJleuvcrs. When the Falaise/Argent.au gap WllB stationed in western and southern France. es· J!&ITOwed from the north, it was widened again pecially after the large·scale landing along the by a countcmttack toward tho southeast.. While Riviera coast and further west begun by tho US 'lie German detaching movements continued toward 7th Armv under Lieutenant, General Pat.ch on the eost, blurier positions protected the southern August 15. This landing was supported by live lank lUi far 08 the lower Seine. US bridgeheads bat,tleships. 26 cruiilers, 9 aircraft earriers, nearly IDrOSS thl\t river were either eliminated or kept in ~. 100 destroyers, and hosts of other craft, Advancing north and northwest from tho Mediterranean In the melUltime American spearheads advanced coast, t,he Allies immediately cut the main railway born the area of Chartres and Dreux in the direction line linking France and Italy and threat,ened the of t.he middle Seine and Paris, co-ordinated with a only remaining line by way of tho Mont Cenis. dri\'O from Orleans toward Pithiviers and Sens. The German 10th Army under Field Marshal On August 24 they reached the western city limits B1askowitz, which had boon stationed on the ~ the capital. Wishing to spare Paris the fat.e of French l'IfediterrlUlean coast, fought delaying being turned into a battleground, the Germans actions in order to enable the German forees in ii1taJded eVllCuating the eit,y without defenrling it. south and sOllthwestenl France to be withdrawn ut, following upon Allied appeals 1.,0 the French before t,hey could be cut off by an outflanking Populat.ion to take up arms against, t.he Germans, drive on the part of tho US 7th Army or by 1111 ,franc·tireur groups wit,hin the capital--<lonsisting advance of the US 3rd Army to the Swiss border. largely of Communist elements----precipitated fight. The garrisons of Toulon and Marseille, which with. lDg which caused some damage to the city. stood severe attacks from land and sea, had their Southeast of Paris, American mechanized forces full share in protecting the movements of detach· IIad meanwhile driven acroSS the Seine toward tho ment carried out in the Rhone valley. 1o-frer !\farne, while those moving on Sens and Allied act.ion in the area between the Loire and Troyes continued in an easterly direction or the Pyrenees did not begin until the last part of "heeled around. heading northward, The entire August,. when US troops advanced southward :Allied right wing east of Paris moved against the across the Loire and landings were carried out in ih flank of the German diviHions in northern the Bay of Biscay, They encountered the reo Jranee in a new attempt at a large·scale encircle· sistance of German forces in some harbor towns. liIent supported by attacks from the Allied bridge. Considerable assistance was rendered the Allies by !leeds across the Seine northwest of t,he capital. the Maquisards who, especially in the Pyrenees. ~ut once again the Germans foiled their pllUl, included lllany Red Spaniards. The same is true ~ully continuing thair detaching movements of the fighting in southeastern France. where the ICr088 tho lower Seine. On August 29 Rouen was mOlllltainou8 nature of the country favored the ".cuated after the destruction of aU harbor organization of armed bands and their supply by facilities and instnlJations of military importance. the Allies with arms llnd ammunition. Since t.hen, the names of places at which great battles were fought during the first World War • • • and during the German campaign of 1940 have TIle fanatical fighting spirit displayed by the ~ boon appearing in the Army commlllliques: Amiens, Soissons. Arras. Reims, Verdwl, and the German divisions throughout the hard summer ltivers Somme, Oise, Aisne, Marne, Meuse. months has been confirmed by countless Allied no"l's dispatches from all fronts. The German Far t{) the rear of the Allied front, some of the soldier's determination is due on the one hand to Poups maJlning the original dike were still holding his knowledge of what defeat would mean IUld. out, although swamped by the flood. The Ger­ on the other, to his convict,ion-strengthened by ID&II fonnations in Brittwly. which had been cut many a statement from authoritative German oft by the breakthrough of Avranches, withdrew quarters-that new divisions and weapons are to the ports of Brest, Lorient, and St. Nazaire. being forged day and night by t.he concerted action Here, fired by the eJtample set by t,he German of the entire nation. [J{erbs and tJIledicine During the war the cultivation and gathering of medicinal herbs have increaeed considerably in Germany.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Western Front the First World War Battlefield Guide: World War Battlefield First the the Westernthe Front
    Ed 2 June 2015 2 June Ed The First World War Battlefield Guide: Volume 1 The Western Front The First Battlefield War World Guide: The Western Front The Western Creative Media Design ADR003970 Edition 2 June 2015 The Somme Battlefield: Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont Hamel Mike St. Maur Sheil/FieldsofBattle1418.org The Somme Battlefield: Lochnagar Crater. It was blown at 0728 hours on 1 July 1916. Mike St. Maur Sheil/FieldsofBattle1418.org The First World War Battlefield Guide: Volume 1 The Western Front 2nd Edition June 2015 ii | THE WESTERN FRONT OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR ISBN: 978-1-874346-45-6 First published in August 2014 by Creative Media Design, Army Headquarters, Andover. Printed by Earle & Ludlow through Williams Lea Ltd, Norwich. Revised and expanded second edition published in June 2015. Text Copyright © Mungo Melvin, Editor, and the Authors listed in the List of Contributors, 2014 & 2015. Sketch Maps Crown Copyright © UK MOD, 2014 & 2015. Images Copyright © Imperial War Museum (IWM), National Army Museum (NAM), Mike St. Maur Sheil/Fields of Battle 14-18, Barbara Taylor and others so captioned. No part of this publication, except for short quotations, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the permission of the Editor and SO1 Commemoration, Army Headquarters, IDL 26, Blenheim Building, Marlborough Lines, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 8HJ. The First World War sketch maps have been produced by the Defence Geographic Centre (DGC), Joint Force Intelligence Group (JFIG), Ministry of Defence, Elmwood Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex, TW13 7AH. United Kingdom.
    [Show full text]
  • The German Army, Vimy Ridge and the Elastic Defence in Depth in 1917
    Journal of Military and Strategic VOLUME 18, ISSUE 2 Studies “Lessons learned” in WWI: The German Army, Vimy Ridge and the Elastic Defence in Depth in 1917 Christian Stachelbeck The Battle of Arras in the spring of 1917 marked the beginning of the major allied offensives on the western front. The attack by the British 1st Army (Horne) and 3rd Army (Allenby) was intended to divert attention from the French main offensive under General Robert Nivelle at the Chemin des Dames (Nivelle Offensive). 1 The French commander-in-chief wanted to force the decisive breakthrough in the west. Between 9 and 12 April, the British had succeeded in penetrating the front across a width of 18 kilometres and advancing around six kilometres, while the Canadian corps (Byng), deployed for the first time in closed formation, seized the ridge near Vimy, which had been fiercely contested since late 1914.2 The success was paid for with the bloody loss of 1 On the German side, the battles at Arras between 2 April and 20 May 1917 were officially referred to as Schlacht bei Arras (Battle of Arras). In Canada, the term Battle of Vimy Ridge is commonly used for the initial phase of the battle. The seizure of Vimy ridge was a central objective of the offensive and was intended to secure the protection of the northern flank of the 3rd Army. 2 For detailed information on this, see: Jack Sheldon, The German Army on Vimy Ridge 1914-1917 (Barnsley: Pen&Sword Military, 2008), p. 8. Sheldon's book, however, is basically a largely indiscriminate succession of extensive quotes from regimental histories, diaries and force files from the Bavarian War Archive (Kriegsarchiv) in Munich.
    [Show full text]
  • Military Tribunal, Indictments
    MILITARY TRIBUNALS Case No. 12 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA -against- WILHELM' VON LEEB, HUGO SPERRLE, GEORG KARL FRIEDRICH-WILHELM VON KUECHLER, JOHANNES BLASKOWITZ, HERMANN HOTH, HANS REINHARDT. HANS VON SALMUTH, KARL HOL­ LIDT, .OTTO SCHNmWIND,. KARL VON ROQUES, HERMANN REINECKE., WALTERWARLIMONT, OTTO WOEHLER;. and RUDOLF LEHMANN. Defendants OFFICE OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT FOR GERMANY (US) NORNBERG 1947 • PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/c6a171/ TABLE OF CONTENTS - Page INTRODUCTORY 1 COUNT ONE-CRIMES AGAINST PEACE 6 A Austria 'and Czechoslovakia 7 B. Poland, France and The United Kingdom 9 C. Denmark and Norway 10 D. Belgium, The Netherland.; and Luxembourg 11 E. Yugoslavia and Greece 14 F. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 17 G. The United states of America 20 . , COUNT TWO-WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: CRIMES AGAINST ENEMY BELLIGERENTS AND PRISONERS OF WAR 21 A: The "Commissar" Order , 22 B. The "Commando" Order . 23 C, Prohibited Labor of Prisoners of Wal 24 D. Murder and III Treatment of Prisoners of War 25 . COUNT THREE-WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: CRIMES AGAINST CIVILIANS 27 A Deportation and Enslavement of Civilians . 29 B. Plunder of Public and Private Property, Wanton Destruc­ tion, and Devastation not Justified by Military Necessity. 31 C. Murder, III Treatment and Persecution 'of Civilian Popu- lations . 32 COUNT FOUR-COMMON PLAN OR CONSPIRACY 39 APPENDIX A-STATEMENT OF MILITARY POSITIONS HELD BY THE DEFENDANTS AND CO-PARTICIPANTS 40 2 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/c6a171/ INDICTMENT
    [Show full text]
  • Filming the End of the Holocaust War, Culture and Society
    Filming the End of the Holocaust War, Culture and Society Series Editor: Stephen McVeigh, Associate Professor, Swansea University, UK Editorial Board: Paul Preston LSE, UK Joanna Bourke Birkbeck, University of London, UK Debra Kelly University of Westminster, UK Patricia Rae Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada James J. Weingartner Southern Illimois University, USA (Emeritus) Kurt Piehler Florida State University, USA Ian Scott University of Manchester, UK War, Culture and Society is a multi- and interdisciplinary series which encourages the parallel and complementary military, historical and sociocultural investigation of 20th- and 21st-century war and conflict. Published: The British Imperial Army in the Middle East, James Kitchen (2014) The Testimonies of Indian Soldiers and the Two World Wars, Gajendra Singh (2014) South Africa’s “Border War,” Gary Baines (2014) Forthcoming: Cultural Responses to Occupation in Japan, Adam Broinowski (2015) 9/11 and the American Western, Stephen McVeigh (2015) Jewish Volunteers, the International Brigades and the Spanish Civil War, Gerben Zaagsma (2015) Military Law, the State, and Citizenship in the Modern Age, Gerard Oram (2015) The Japanese Comfort Women and Sexual Slavery During the China and Pacific Wars, Caroline Norma (2015) The Lost Cause of the Confederacy and American Civil War Memory, David J. Anderson (2015) Filming the End of the Holocaust Allied Documentaries, Nuremberg and the Liberation of the Concentration Camps John J. Michalczyk Bloomsbury Academic An Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc LONDON • OXFORD • NEW YORK • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2014 Paperback edition fi rst published 2016 © John J.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Trenches: a First World War Diary
    In the Trenches: A First World War Diary By Pierre Minault Translated by Sylvain Minault Edited by Gail Minault Edited for Not Even Past by Mark Sheaves Originally published on Not Even Past <notevenpast.org> Department of History, The University of Texas at Austin September 22-November 16, 2014 © Not Even Past In the Trenches Pierre Minault’s Diary of the First World War Not Even Past is marking the centennial of the outbreak of the first World War with a very special publication. Our colleague, Gail Minault, a distinguished professor of the history of India, has given us her grandfather’s diary, a near daily record of his experiences in the trenches in France. Pierre Minault made his first diary entry on this very day, September 22, one hundred years ago, in 1914. We will be posting each of his entries exactly one hundred years after he wrote them. You will be able to follow Pierre’s progress and read his thoughtful and moving personal observations of life on the front as day follows day. Sylvain Minault originally translated the diary from French. Gail Minault edited this translation and added the following introduction. We are extremely grateful to her for sharing her grandfather’s diary with all of us. Introduction By Gail Minault This year we commemorate the outbreak of World War I, which began in August 1914, with all the powers of Europe declaring war on each other in a domino effect born of alliances and ententes. Reading the history of the war, one becomes aware of the carnage, the stalemate, the sacrifice of an entire generation of young men to great power politics.
    [Show full text]
  • The French Military During 1870
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 1964 The rF ench military during 1870,: in light of the tradition and strategy of Napoleon Bonaparte. Robert Fernand Forest University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Forest, Robert Fernand, "The rF ench military during 1870,: in light of the tradition and strategy of Napoleon Bonaparte." (1964). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 1519. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/1519 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FIVE COLLEGE DEPOSITORY THE FRENCH MILITARY DURING 1870 IN LIGHT OF THE TRADITION AND STRiVTEGY OF NAPOLEON 30NAPi\RTE by Robert F. Forest B.S.E. Westfield State College M.Ed. University of Massachusetts Thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. University of Massachusetts, Amherst May, 1964 In the preparation of this paper, I am indebted to my wife, Barbara, for her patience and assistance and to Paul A, Gagnon, whose guidance and suggestions were indispensable for the completion of this thesis. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. NAPOLEONIC ARMIES ... ' • »••• 3 III. CHANGES FROM NaPOLEON I TO 1870 13 Changes in Prussia 13 Material and Technological Developments ....oo,. •••• 20 Changes in French Military Doctrine Before 1851 26 Changes During the Second Empire , 32 IV.
    [Show full text]
  • The Battle of the Marne in Memoriam N
    THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE IN MEMORIAM N. F. P. + E. L. P. fhetmnfi Douat# POSITIONS firms'* Bonchx t& ARMIES Doultzris Camb onifk'&xtf die. Battle*- mndt&c «<rvtml vtrtMtiv GB*man Armies. I-Von Kliick. H-Von Biilow. HI-Von Hansen. IV-Duke of Wurtemberg. V~ Imperial Crown Prince. VPC. Princa of Bavaria. (& troops from Metz) VTT Vbn Heeringen French & BritL-sh Annies: 6-Maimoupy-.. B.E.E British. 5-F.d'Espcrey-.. 9-Foch 4-DeLanole deCary. 3-SarraiL 2-DeCa5*elnau.. f-DubaiL... vr eLcLpgae-rmms Plia.lsboLWgr '8 0 Save l]Jt::£lainon ,MI DONON _ ST!/ ? — SchMtskadt*tstao 51.Marie 'jVisLri^A'ay --.uns'ter V. THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE BY GEORGE HERBERT PERRIS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF "THE DAILY CHRONICLE" WITH THE FRENCH ARMIES, 1914-18 WITH TWELVE MAPS JOHN W. LUCE & CO. BOSTON MCMXX PREFACE HE great war has entered into history. The restraints, direct and indirect, which it imposed being gone with it, we return to sounder tests of what should be public knowledge—uncomfortable truths may be told, secret places explored. At the same time, the first squall of controversy in France over the opening of the land campaign in the West has subsided; this lull is the student's opportunity. No complete history of the events culminating in the victory of the Marne is yet possible, or soon to be expected. On the German side, evidence is scanty and of low value ; on that of the Allies, there is yet a preliminary work of sifting and measuring to undertake ere definitive judgments can be set down.
    [Show full text]
  • German Air Units, 1916-1918
    German Air Units 1916-1918 "Fokker scourge" There were 55 Fokker E-1 Eindeckers on the western front at the end of October 1915 and 86 by the end of December 1915. They were progressively organized into four aircraft Kampf Einsitzer Kommandos (KEKs) and came under army control In August 1916 the KEKs came under corps control. August 1916 September 1916 1st Army: 1st Army: 1st Jagdstaffel 1st Jagdstaffel 2nd Jagdstaffel 2nd Jagdstaffel 2nd Army: 2nd Army: 3rd Jagdstaffel 3rd Jagdstaffel 4th Jagdstaffel 4th Jagdstaffel 3rd Army: 3rd Army: none none 4th Army: 4th Army: none 8th Jagdstaffel 5th Army: 5th Army: 5th Jagdstaffel 5th Jagdstaffel 6th Army: 6th Jagdstaffel none 7th Jagdstaffel 7th Army: 6th Army: none none Armee Abteilung A 7th Army: none none Armee Abteilung B Armee Abteilung A none none Armee Abteilung C Armee Abteilung B none none Ost Armee Abteilung C none none Madeconia Ost none none Madeconia none 1 October 1916 November 1916 1st Army: 1st Army: 1st Jagdstaffel 1st Jagdstaffel 2nd Jagdstaffel 2nd Jagdstaffel 5th Jagdstaffel 5th Jagdstaffel 2nd Army: 21st Jagdstaffel 3rd Jagdstaffel 2nd Army: 4th Jagdstaffel 3rd Jagdstaffel 6th Jagdstaffel 4th Jagdstaffel 3rd Army: 6th Jagdstaffel 9th Jagdstaffel 20th Jagdstaffel 4th Army: 3rd Army: 8th Jagdstaffel none 5th Army: 4th Army: none 8th Jagdstaffel 6th Army: 18th Jagdstaffel 10th Jagdstaffel 5th Army: 7th Army: 7th Jagdstaffel 12th Jagdstaffel 10th Jagdstaffel Armee Abteilung C 14th Jagdstaffel none 6th Army: Armee Abteilung A 11th Jagdstaffel 13th Jagdstaffel 7th Army: Armee Abteilung
    [Show full text]
  • The Russian Army and the Conduct of Operations in 1914
    British Journal for Military History, Volume 2, Issue 2, February 2016 The Russian Army and the Conduct of Operations in 1914 STEPHEN WALSH Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT The scale of the fighting on the Eastern Front in 1914 is reasonably familiar but the Russian campaign of 1914, apart from Tannenberg, is poorly understood. The Russian Army’s military strategy, the choices it made, what it was trying to achieve, why and how, are not well known. This article will analyse Russian strategy and operations in a thematic rather than narrative manner, placing the Russian conduct of operations in the context of Russian military thinking at the time. It will argue that the relative importance of the East Prussian and Galician Operations has been misunderstood, especially the Russian operations in northern Galicia. In late August 1914, the Russian Army faced strategic catastrophe on the entire Eastern Front, not because of events in East Prussia, but in northern Galicia where the chronic lack of correlation between ends and means in Russian military strategy became acute. The Russian high command’s desire to launch a third operation into eastern Germany, in August 1914, distorted Russian strategy to the point where the Russian Army flirted with catastrophe in northern Galicia, a brush with disaster that rescued Russian strategy from its own illusions, enabling them to defeat the Austrians and force the German Army into a sustained two- front war. ‘The history of the campaign of 1914 is nothing else but the story of the consequences of the strategical errors of the War Plan’1 On 31 July 1914, Tsar Nicholas II authorised the mobilisation of the Russian Army, a defining moment2 in the sequence of events that began the First World War, a war 1 N.N.
    [Show full text]
  • German Forces, Siege of Novo Georgievsk, August 1915
    German Forces Siege of Novo Georgievsk August 1915 Commanding Officer: General of Infantry von Beseler Northwest Front Dickhuth Corps: Generalleutnant von Dickhuth-Harrach 143rd Infantry (Griepenkerl) Brigade: Leinbach Regiment Ersatz Bn/46th Landwehr Infantry Regiment Ersatz Bn/37th Landwehr Infantry Regiment 1/,2/3rd Landsturm Infantry Regiment 236th Field Machine Gun Platoon (3 MGs) 243rd Field Machine Gun Platoon (3 MGs) Kramsta Regiment Süd (south) Field Battalion Nordost (north east) Field Battalion Bredow Field Battalion Fortress Machine Gun Forces 4th Fortress Gun Troop (4 MGs) 18th Fortress Gun Troop (4 MGs) 6th Fortress Gun Battalion (4 MGs) 14th Fortress Gun Battalion (4 MGs) Cavalry 3rd Ersatz Squadron, 20th Army Corps 2nd Ersatz Squadron, 5th Army Corps Artillery 1/82nd Field Artillery 1st & 3rd Btrys, (4-77mm guns ea) Light Munition Column (2/3rds present) Kynast 90mm Battery (6-90mm guns) 8th Btry, 11th Foot Artillery Battalion (4-100mm? guns) 4th Btry, 2nd Guard Foot Battalion (4-150mm guns) 11th Landsturm Foot Artillery Battalion 3rd & 4th Btrys (4-150mm guns ea) Light Munitions Column (1/2 present) Plantier Detachment Tscheuschner (11th) Landsturm Regiment 1/,2/11th Landsturm Regiment Nordwest (northwest) Feld Battalion 267th Machine Gun Platoon (5 German & 2 Russian MGs) Bülow Regiment Cottbus II Landsturm Battalion Ersatz Bn/104th Reserve Infantry Regiment 259th Field Machine Gun Platoon (3 German & 2 Russian MGs) Fortress Machine Gun Troops 8th Fortress Machine Gun Troop (2 MGs) 11th Fortress Machine Gun Troop (2
    [Show full text]
  • German and Austrian Aviation of World War I a Pictorial Chronicle of the Airmen and Aircraft That Forged German Airpower
    GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN AVIATION OF WORLD WAR I A PICTORIAL CHRONICLE OF THE AIRMEN AND AIRCRAFT THAT FORGED GERMAN AIRPOWER GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN AVIATION OF WORLD WAR I A PICTORIAL CHRONICLE OF THE AIRMEN AND AIRCRAFT THAT FORGED GERMAN AIRPOWER HUGH W. COWIN First published in Great Britain in 2000 by Osprey Publishing Acknowledgements Elms Court, Chapel Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 9LP, UK I am, as usual, indebted to a small band of loyal supporters who have Email: info@ospreypublishing. com provided both moral and material support to sustain me while producing this work: they are Norman R. Bartlett, Andy Bunce of © 2000 Osprey Publishing Limited British Aerospace Systems, John Edwards and Peter Elliott of the RAF © 2000 text + captions Hugh W. Cowin Museum, Ray Funnell, Mike Hooks, Philip Jarrett, Teddy Nevill ofTRH Pictures and Andrew Siddons of Rolls-Royce. A very large vote of All rights reserved. Apart from Any fair dealing for the purpose of private thanks must also go to the many unknown and unsung German and study research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright, Design Austrian World War I photographers, both military and civilian, with- and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored out whose images this book would have needed far more words than in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, it has. Wherever possible picture sources are identified in brackets at electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise the end of the caption. without prior written permission. All enquiries should be addressed to the Publisher Front cover, above left Rumpler C I.
    [Show full text]
  • 29-An Army in an Army
    1 1945 July 16-22 An Army in the Army (La Crosse Tribune, 1945 July 22, page 12) 2 In June and July 1945, there were many newspaper articles about La Crosse County men and women being brought back to the United States for reassignment or being discharged to civilian life. There are undoubtedly more to come the rest of the year. The article above, concerning Private First Class Louis Gueltzow of La Crosse, is typical. Gueltzow was a member of the 345th Infantry Regiment of the 87th Infantry Division. At various times, the 345th Infantry Regiment, as part of the 87th Infantry Division, was part of the 7th, 9th, 1st, and 3rd Armies in the European Theater. The concept of Armies in the Army may be confusing, so what does all of this mean? The key to understanding the nomenclature, and also appreciating the scope of World War II, is decoding the hierarchical structure of the United States armed forces, in this case the United States Army. Since United States Army infantry divisions were the most numerous units in World War II, this analysis will use them as an example. Squad = 8-12 men: commanded by a Corporal or a Sergeant Platoon = 3-4 squads: commanded by a 2nd Lieutenant (48-50 men) Company = 3-4 platoons: commanded by a 1st Lieutenant or Captain (150-200 men) Battalion = 3-4 companies: commanded by a Major (800 men) Regiment = 3 battalions: commanded by a Lt. Colonel (2,400 men) Division = 3 regiments: commanded by a Lt. [3-star] or Major [2-star] General (10,000 - 15,000 men) Corps = 2 or more divisions: commanded by a Lt.
    [Show full text]