Autumn 1943. Following
the Red Army’s great victory at Kursk, General Vatutin and Konev
lead the Soviet counterattack in Ukraine. Their first goal is to cross the mighty
Dnieper River and liberate the city of Kiev. From there the road leads west,
into the heart of Europe… Dawn on a summer’s day, 1943.
The first rays of sunlight revealed a column of grey vehicles and men
crossing a bridge over the Dnieper River. They were moving west. The column of soldiers and vehicles kept on
coming, day after day, night after night. From behind them came
the sporadic sound of gunfire. Each burst caused the retreating Germans to cast anxious glances
over their shoulders. But then they heard a new sound. The soldiers began to run,
and push their comrades aside. It was the squeal of tank tracks,
and the familiar roar of T-34 engines. The tanks approached
the bridge at full speed. Then there was a deafening explosion. German demolition charges had collapsed
three sections of the Kanev bridge. With them, went the Soviet High
Command’s last chance of getting tanks quickly
across the Dnieper. Soviet infantry had crossed
the river at several points. But without tank support, the Germans
were able to contain the small bridgeheads. After the German defeat
at Kursk in August 1943, the frontline began to race westwards. The Red Army advanced in
overwhelming strength, with more than 2.6 million men
and 2,400 tanks. The German High Command planned
to make its stand at the Dnieper River. The army was ordered to dig in
on its western bank, to form the so-called Wotan line. To slow the Soviet advance, von Manstein’s
Army Group began a "scorched earth" policy. Anything that could not be carried
away was burnt or blown up. It was nothing less than the systematic
destruction of eastern Ukraine. This was one of the the climactic
horrors in a country where the war claimed more than 5 million civilian
lives – one in eight of the population. As the Germans retreated westwards, they destroyed all the bridges,
and tore up the railway lines. The advance across this devastated landscape
put a huge strain on Red Army logistics. Fuel and ammunition had to be delivered
by truck over hundreds of miles. Heavy artillery and bridging
equipment struggled to keep up. North of Kiev, Andrey Kravchenko’s
5th Guards Tank Corps became one of the first units
to reach the Dnieper. Andrey Grigoryevich Kravchenko
was an experienced tank general, whose brigade had played a key part
in the Battle of Moscow in 1941. The following year he commanded
a tank corps at the Battle of Stalingrad, after which his unit was renamed
"The Stalingrad Guards Tank Corps". In 1943 he fought at the famous tank battle
at Prokhorovka, part of the Kursk offensive. Kravchenko was rather heavily
built for a tank soldier. In fact he was so large that
when he sat in the commander’s seat, it was impossible to close the hatch. The wide Desna river did not stop the tanks
of Kravchenko’s 5th Guards Tank Corps. Without waiting for the bridging units, his men made their tanks
water-tight and drove across. But the Dnieper was too deep
to be crossed in this fashion. Only the infantry, using rafts and floats,
were able to get acrosss. They established small footholds on
the far bank of the river. South of Kiev, an extraordinary
attempt was made to get the 40th and 3rd Guards
Tank Armies across the river. The Dnieper here was about 600 metres wide. Almost a thousand piles were used
to build a temporary bridge able to bear the weight of a tank. The engineers worked under Germany
artillery fire and aerial bombing. But after ten days, the bridge was ready. T-34s from the 3rd Guards Tank Army
began to roll across the Dnieper. Meanwhile, the Germans had been
busy strengthening their defences. The Ukrainian capital Kiev
lay on the far side of the river, and would be almost impossible
to capture by frontal assault. Therefore General Vatutin,
commanding the Voronezh Front, decided on two flanking attacks
from his bridgeheads across the river. Throughout October,
Vatutin’s troops struggled to fight their way out of the bridgeheads. As winter came, it seemed
the frontline itself had frozen solid. So Vatutin decided to change the plan.
He would target just one bridgehead, and use all his armoured
formations to smash his way out. About 40,000 soldiers
of the 3rd Guards Tank Army, and hundreds of tanks, moved north
under cover of darkness. On the morning of 5th November
the Red Army attacked, immediately cutting the highway
between Kiev and Zhytomir. The Germans’ only escape route was blocked.
Soon the first T-34s were in Kiev, entering by the twisting road that runs
through the ravines of the Nivki district. Today this street is still
called Tank Street. In the city itself burning buildings, tracer rounds and flares
turned night into day. The Red Army tank crews smashed
their way into downtown Kiev. The surviving Germans made a hasty exit. By dawn the city was clear. General Kravchenko’s 4th
Stalingrad Guards Tank Corps could add another battle honour
to their standard – Kiev. The Red Army liberated Kiev just one day before the anniversary of the Bolshevik
Revolution, on 7th November. There were rumours that Stalin
had given Vatutin a clear order – take Kiev by the anniversary
of the Revolution, at any cost. But this was probably not true. Otherwise Vatutin would have
sent his tanks straight into Kiev. But instead, he’d chosen to first cut off
the German escape route by encircling the city from the west. That winter, Ukraine was to be
the scene of ferocious fighting. The vast open steppe, once frozen hard,
was ideal terrain for tanks. Both sides poured in their
armoured reserves. The Red Army’s 6th Tank Army,
the last to be created in the war, was formed in January 1944. It was to be led by the liberator of Kiev,
General Andrey Kravchenko. His new army received
its basptism of fire within days. By the beginning of 1944, the Red Army had advanced
as far as Zhytomir and Kirovograd. But the Germans still held a bulge
stretching east around the city of Kanev. Hitler, with total disregard for the facts, believed this could form a launchpad
for a future German counter-offensive. The Soviet High Command
had its own plans for this bulge. The Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Offensive
began on 24th January 1944. The attack was led
by the 2nd Ukrainian Front. Two days later, the 1st Ukrainian Front
joined in on the opposite flank. The attack was led by the 245 tanks and self-propelled guns
of Kravchenko’s 6th Tank Army. Self-propelled guns, or SPGs, were heavy guns mounted on the chassis
of a tank or some other vehicle. They were a mobile form of artillery, used to provide fire support
to infantry and tanks. Heavy versions like the Soviet SU-152 were also effective at knocking out
German heavy tanks like the Tiger. In just five days,
Kravchenko’s tanks had linked up with Rotmistrov’s 5th Guards Tank Army
near the village of Zvenigorodka. Almost 60,000 Germans had been encircled. The trapped forces became known
as Group Stemmermann, after the general commanding them. Two Soviet tank armies now turned south,
prepared to repel any German rescue attempt. The encircled Germans fought on,
in the firm belief that help would arrive. But all remembered
the fate of Paulus’s Sixth Army at Stalingrad the previous winter. General Konev, commanding
the 2nd Ukrainian Front, had promised Stalin
just such another victory. But Hitler was equally adamant
that no such thing would occur. He told the encircled men:
“You can rely on me as on a stone wall. But for the present, stand firm
and shoot as long as you have ammunition.” General Hube, commanding 1st Panzer Army, radioed to Stemmermann simply:
“I shall release you. Hube.” Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe was able
to resupply Group Stemmermann by air. Relying on air resupply had been
disastrous during the Battle of Stalingrad. The Luftwaffe had not been able
to get in enough supplies for 300,000 men. But Group Stemmermann was
a fifth of that size. Meanwhile, von Manstein was assembling
armoured units to make a rescue attempt. He turned to the 3rd and 47th Panzerkorps, commanded by Generals Nikolaus
von Vormann and Herman Breith. Hermann Breith was a highly experienced,
51 year old panzer general. He was a veteran of the campaigns
in Poland and France, and had served with the Army General Staff
during the invasion of the Soviet Union. He then commanded a panzer division, before leading 3rd Panzerkorps
during the Battle of Kursk. The Soviets came under attack
from four German panzer divisions, reinforced by 80 Tigers and Panthers
of Heavy Panzer Regiment Bäke. In February 1944, the Red Army’s
main tank was still the T-34 armed with a 76 millimetre gun. It was
no match for these German heavy tanks. The Germans captured
the village of Lysianka, but they were still a few miles short
of breaking through to Group Stemmermann. And now Red Army reinforcements arrived –
General Bogdanov’s 2nd Tank Army. Both sides found it
extremely difficult to manoeuvre. If previous winters had been unusually
severe, this winter was remarkably mild. Already the thaw had turned
roads into rivers of mud. The Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket had become the decisive
phase of the winter campaign. And it was here
that a fearsome new Soviet tank made its first appearance –
the Iosef Stalin. The Iosef Stalin
or IS (EES) 2 tank was developed as a direct response to the German Tiger. Its front armour was 120mm thick,
comparable to a Tiger. And although less accurate
and with a slower rate of fire, its powerful 122 millimetre gun was
a serious threat to German heavy tanks. The IS-2 tanks were grouped
into independent heavy tank regiments, and assigned to crucial sectors of the
front where a breakthrough was required. They were particularly effective at
storming German towns and cities in 1945. Versions of the IS-2 tank
were still in service with the Russian army as late as 1995. The first combat between IS-2s
and Tigers and Panthers ended in stalemate. The Germans held onto their gains,
but could advance no further. Group Stemmermann was bombarded
with leaflets urging them to surrender. General Seydlitz-Kurzbach,
who’d been captured at Stalingrad, appealed to them by loudspeaker.
He was now a committed anti-Nazi. A Soviet envoy was despatched with proposed
terms of surrender. But he was sent back. Group Stemmermann knew it was now up to
them to fight their way out of the pocket. Fighting desperately,
they got as far as Shenderovka – just 5 kilomeres short of 3rd Panzerkorps. A furious Stalin telegraphed Zhukov: “The reason for the enemy’s breakthrough
was that the weak 27th Army was not reinforced in a timely manner.”,
claimed Stalin. Rotmistrov’s tank army was hurriedly
redeployed to ensure there was no breakout. A February frost had frozen the ground
hard, restoring momentum to operations. Breith was able to renew
his advance on Shenderovka. At the forefront of the fighting
was the 5th SS Panzer Divison "Viking", recruited largely
from Scandinavian volunteers. But one by one,
its vehicles were knocked out. Fuel resupply by air was erratic,
and often interrupted by bad weather. Field Marshal von Manstein,
commander of Army Group South, well remembered the Stalingrad disaster. There had been no attempt by the encircled
troops to fight their way out. This time, without consulting Hitler,
he gave Stemmermann clear orders: “Group Stemmermann
must make the breakthrough itself to the line Zhurzhentsy – Hill 239. There it will link up
with the 3rd Panzer Corps”. The encircled divisions prepared
for the last stage of their breakout. On the evening of 16 February, they
destroyed heavy equipment and supplies, and at dusk, began their advance. The Belgian Nazi Léon Degrelle, who commanded the 5th SS Volunteer
Sturmbrigade Wallonien, described the scene: “At 22.00, the Soviet batteries
shelled the centre of the village. The burning houses lit up the retreating
troops as if it were daytime. This made it easier for the
Soviet artillery spotters to do their job. Their shells fell onto our huge column. To survive, we had to drop
into the snow every second.” That night, several units slipped
through the lines to the 3rd Panzerkorps. The next day Soviet attack aircraft
were grounded by bad weather. But most units
had still not reached safety. Even worse, they found
their rendez-vous at Hill 239 was still in Soviet hands,
and heavily defended by T-34s. The Germans were forced to bypass Hill 239, but this put the Gniloy Tikich river between
them and the safety of their own lines. 20,000 men were trapped on
the wrong side of a fast-flowing river. It was 30 metres wide, freezing cold,
and there were no bridges. T-34s were approaching from the north. Desperate to escape, some men improvised
rafts and lifelines to get across. But many panicked,
and hurled themselves into the icy water. Hundreds were drowned.
Many succumbed to shock or hypothermia. In all, about half of Group
Stemmermann managed to escape. But there had been
30,000 German casualties. Amongst them General Stemmermann
himself, killed commanding the rearguard. It could have been much
worse for the Germans. The "Stalingrad on the Dnieper" that Konev
had promised had failed to materialise. But it was still a heavy defeat
for the Wehrmacht. Step by step, river by river,
the Red Army was forcing the invader back. The Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket was only a prologue
to Soviet success in Ukraine. The heavy losses sustained there
by German panzer divisions meant Army Group South could no longer
mount effective counterattacks. As the battle raged around the pocket,
the 1st Ukrainian Front was fighting its way westwards,
to liberate the cities of Rovno and Lutsk. Instead of tanks,
General Vatutin was able to exploit his success with old fashioned cavalry. As they swept forwards
through the villages of Ukraine, another salient was formed,
hanging over German Army Group South. The Soviet High Command moved
two tank armies into this salient, intending to launch them southwards against
the rear of General Hube’s 1st Panzer Army. The offensive began on 22nd March 1944. Three days later, 200,000 men
of 1st Panzer Army were encircled. This new German pocket was centred
on the city of Kamenets-Podolsky. Hitler ordered the Second SS panzer
corps to be sent from France to rescue Hube’s Panzer Army. With the help of these reinforcements,
and Hube’s skillful handling of his troops, the 1st Panzer Army
fought its way out the trap. But most of their vehicles
and heavy equipment had to be left behind. The rampant success
of the Red Army in Ukraine had dramatic strategic implications. One was that the German
High Command became convinced that the great Soviet summer offensive
of 1944 would be launched in Ukraine. So it was here that they rushed
their tank and aircraft reserves. But the Red Army’s summer offensive,
codenamed Operation Bagration, would be launched in Byelorussia. It resulted in the liberation of Minsk, and the annihilation
of German Army Group Centre. German panzer reserves had to be
rushed north to shore up the line. The two remaining German
panzer divisions in Ukraine were moved to the rear
and put under General Breith’s command. They were to be held back
to counterattack any Soviet offensive. On 14th July 1944, the 1st Ukrainian
Front attacked towards the city of Lvov. Breith’s armoured reserve
moved forward to counterattack… But the Soviets
now also controlled the air. “On the march”,
wrote General von Mellenthin, “the 8th Panzer Division, moving in long
columns, was attacked by Russian aviation. It sustained great losses.
Many tanks and trucks were burned. All hopes of a counterattack collapsed.” The 1st Ukrainian Front’s advance led to the encirclement of the German
8th Army Corps near the town of Brody. Amongst its units was the 14th
Waffen SS Grenadier Division "Galicia”. The 14th SS Division was called in German
“Galizien”, in Ukrainian “Halychyna”. Its recruits were anti-Bolshevik
volunteers from Galicia, a historic region of western Ukraine. In July 1944 the division
was 15,000 strong. It was commanded by a German –
SS-Brigadefuhrer Fritz Freitag. In 1943 it had been engaged
in anti-partisan operations. In the summer of 1944,
it was at the front for the first time. General von Mellenthin described how: “The SS Division Galicia, holding positions
in the woods, could not hold firm, so the Russians penetrated deeply
into the left flank of our corps.” There was to be no breakout
from the Brody pocket. The survivors surrendered to the Red Army
4 days after their encirclement. The SS Division Galicia
was reformed around the 3,000 men who escaped the catastrophe at Brody. It was later used to fight
partisans in Yugoslavia. The division surrendered
to the western Allies in May 1945. Thanks to the influence of the Vatican,
which viewed the men of the Galicia division as good Catholics
and devoted anti-communists, its members were able to avoid
extradition to the Soviet Union. Instead many settled in Britain and Canada. Now Soviet tank armies raced towards Lvov. But the Germans
had reorganised their defences, and were able to repel
a direct assault on the city. Soviet forces began to outflank
the city from north and south. The news that Soviet tanks had been
sighted west of the city caused panic. The Germans abandoned the city. The Red Army crossed the border
of the USSR almost unopposed. At the end of July, they captured
the Sandomierz bridgehead across the Vistula river. This would become the launch pad
for the final offensive into Germany. The southern flank of the Eastern Front
might have become a sideshow, if it hadn’t been for the vital factor
of the Romanian oil fields. They were essential
to the German war machine. Hitler would defend
this resource at any cost. But he rejected a proposal to retreat to a
new line based on the Carpathian mountains, as suggested by Hitler’s ally,
the Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu. The only way through the mountains
was an 80 kilometre-wide valley, known as the Focsani Gate. Here, Antonesu
was building 1,500 concrete pillboxes. Romania could have been turned
into a formidable fortress. But Hitler was utterly inflexible
on all questions of retreat. In the summer of 1944, the Romanian
front followed the Dniester river. It was held by the German 6th Army. The 6th Army was formed in October 1939. The next year it marched into France,
and helped to seize the French capital. In 1941 it led Army Group
South’s invasion of Ukraine, but 19 months later
it was destroyed at Stalingrad. The army was re-formed the following
month under General Hollidt. It might have been thought that
the Number 6 was unlucky for the Germans. But the army wanted to forget the
catastrophe it had suffered at Stalingrad, and instead, revive the fighting
spirit of its first years. This was the army that had marched
victoriously through Paris, and advanced fearlessly through Ukraine.
Now it would defend Romanian oil. Ironically, the 6th Army had the same
neighbours as it had at Stalingrad. Its flanks were held
by the Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies. The Stavka High Command
planned another massive encirclement. The 2nd Ukrainian Front
under General Malinovsky and the 3rd Ukrainian front
under General Tolbukhin were to deliver converging thrusts in order to encircle
German troops on the Dniester River. Kravchenko’s 6th Tank Army
was transferred to the 2nd Ukrainian Front. It had not been in action for several
months. It was rested and re-equipped, bristling with more than 400 tanks
and self-propelled guns. This was the only Soviet tank army
in south-eastern Europe. Its role was to make the breakthough
to the Romanian oil fields, before leading the advance
on Hungary and Austria. Meanwhile the other Soviet tank armies
would lead the advance into Germany. Soviet preparations
were made in complete secrecy. The Stavka’s main concern was that the
enemy would withdraw to the Focsani Gate before the offensive was unleashed. By 1944 the Red Army were masters
of camouflage and concealment. The Germans on the Dniester River
detected no build up of Soviet strength. In mid August, General Fretter-Pico,
commander of the German 6th Army, reported that all was quiet on his front. Little did he realise it was the calm
before the storm. The Soviet offensive across
the Dniester began on 20th August 1944. One German officer remembered, “The divisional headquarters came
under heavy Soviet artillery fire. From our vantage point, it seemed
the entire Dniester valley was covered with a dense cloud of smoke.
The sun was completely blotted out.” Romanian and German units were soon
in complete disarray. In particular, they lacked the anti-tank defences
to meet this onslaught of Soviet armour. On the third day of fighting,
the 6th Army was ordered to retreat. By then most of its escape routes had
already been cut off. And as they withdrew, columns of German troops were strafed
and bombed by Soviet aircraft. The 6th Army raced to get back
across the River Prut. But as retreating Geman units
approached the town of Husi, they ran straight into Red Army T-34s,
entering town on the other road. The tanks caused carnage amongst
the retreating lorries and wagons. The next day, white flares were greeted
with cheers from the Red Army soldiers. It meant that the 2nd
and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts had linked up. The Soviets had encircled
the German 6th Army once again. The German and Romanian survivors
were falling back to the River Siret. The offensive had been
a stunning Soviet success. Meanwhile, the 22 year old
King Michael of Romania summoned Marshal Antonescu to his palace. He asked Antonescu to take the country out
of its alliance with Nazi Germany. When he refused, the king had him arrested. With a guarantee from the USSR that
Romanian independence would be respected, Romania joined the Allies. Within days, the Romanian Army
was fighting the Germans. There were still significant
German forces in Romania, particularly guarding
the Ploieşti oil fields. The Germans used these to try
and overturn the Romanian Royalist coup. But they were repulsed
by the Romanian army. Now Kravchenko’s 6th Tank Army
received orders to advance rapidly on the Focşani Gate,
to deny the enemy any chance to regroup. His tanks raced ahead, passing fortifications abandoned
by the Romanian army. Three days later,
T-34s reached the Ploieşti oil fields. The next day, they reached
the Romanian capital, Bucharest. The surviving German forces
in Romania had one way out: across the Carpathian mountains to Hungary. Few units managed to escape. After several unsuccessful attempts
to break out of its encriclement, German 6th Army
was overwhelmed in September 1944. To defeat Paulus’s 6th Army
at Stalingrad had taken 2 months. To defeat Fretter-Pico’s 6th Army
in Romania had taken just 2 weeks. For this brilliant victory,
Stalin awarded the 6th Tank Army the coveted title, "Guards". It was just 8 months since
the unit had been formed. That autumn of 1944, while operations
wound down on the rest of the Eastern Front, the Battle of Hungary roared into life. Here Hitler was desperate to hang
onto his last remaining oil fields. The Soviet advance westwards
through the Carpathians was slowed by difficult
terrain and bad roads. What’s more, Romania used a different
railway gauge to the Soviet Union. It meant all supplies arriving by rail
had to be transfered onto new wagons. These logisitical problems slowed
the Red Army’s advance more than the enemy. But nevertheless,
it rolled steadily onwards, towards the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Meanwhile, Hitler had ordered
his armoured reserves to Hungary. Amongst them was General Breith’s
reinforced 3rd Panzer Corps. With 6th Guards Tank Army leading the way, the 2nd Ukrainian Front
was closing in on Budapest. But a direct attack on the city
had been ruled out. The Hungarian capital was to be encircled.
On 29th October 1944, 6th Guards Tank Army began its advance
along the right bank of the Danube, scattering the German forces in its path. In the south, the 3rd Ukrainian
Front crossed the Danube and encircled Budapest from the west.
The trap closed on Christmas Day, 1944. The German reverses near Budapest
caused Hitler to reshuffle his commanders. The 6th Army, reformed once again,
was placed under the command of General Hermann Balck. Its mission
was to lift the siege of Budapest. To achieve this goal, 6th Army
was reinforced with two SS Panzer Corps, redeployed from Poland.
Hitler’s chief of staff, Heinz Guderian, objected strongly to weakening
the central front. But Hitler was adamant. Fierce fighting raged
throughout January 1945, as SS panzer units tried
but failed to break the siege. Soviet ultimatums sent to
the garrison were rejected. The fighting that followed
destroyed most of the city, and killed nearly 40,000 civilians. The garrison finally surrendered
on 13th February, 1945. On 7th January, Soviet tanks reached
the Danube bridges near Komárno, on route to the Hungarian oil refineries. But Hitler, increasingly isolated
and delusional, had not given up hope in Hungary. He planned to send in the massed
elite panzer formations of the Third Reich, now organised into the 6th SS Panzer Army. After securing his oil supplies,
Hitler planned to use the SS Panzer Army to hurl back the Soviets
from the gates of Berlin. Soviet forces in Hungary would face
the best units still left in the Wehrmacht. But by tieing them down in the south,
it meant these elite SS formations would not be available
for the decisive battle around Berlin. The movement of the SS Panzer Army did not
pass unnoticed by Soviet radio intelligence. To counter this threat,
the 3rd Ukrainian Front was hurriedly reinforced
with SU-100 tank destroyers. These vechicles were specifically designed
for taking out German heavy tanks. The 3rd Ukrainian Front
received 80 SU-100s. It now had more than any other Soviet
Front, even those advancing on Berlin. The SU-100 self-propelled gun
was a dedicated tank destroyer. It was built on the same
chassis as the T-34 tank, but had a forward-facing 100 mm gun. This fearsome weapon could penetrate
the front armour of a German Panther at 1500 metres. Mass production
only began in September 1944. The last German offensive of World War II
was launched at Lake Balaton, and stopped by the concentrated
fire of Soviet self-propelled guns. With the German assault blunted,
Soviet tanks launched their counter-attack. The huge numerical advantage
of the Red Army meant that it was able to constantly threaten the enemy
with outflanking and encirclement. The SS panzer army retreated
all the way to Austria, where they prepared
a desperate defence of the capital. But on 13th April, after several
days of fierce street fighting, Vienna fell to the Red Army. But this was not the last battle
for the men of the 6th Guards Tank Army. Even as the Soviet Victory banner fluttered
over the Reichstag in Berlin, Field Marshal Schörner’s Army Group
Centre fought on in Czechoslovakia. The 6th Guards Tank Army
raced on towards Prague. They were joined by tanks of the 1st
Ukrainian Front, advancing from the south. The two Soviet Fronts
met at the Czech capital, encircling Army Group Centre,
and forcing its surrender. In Czechoslovakia, the Red Army
captured 900,000 soldiers of the Wehrmacht, including 60 generals. Victory was complete in the south. But in the meantime, a ferocious and desperate battle
had been raging in the north. It was the climactic battle of the war…
the final objective of the Red Army… the Battle for Berlin.
