Fully illustrated account of how the Third Reich's Army Group South
was defeated in 1944-45 by the Red Army.
Following the destruction of Sixth Army at Stalingrad in February 1943,
Army Group South slowly withdrew westwards, using the Dnieper as a
fortified position. In late 1943, the Soviet 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
Ukrainian Front launched a strategic offensive against the German Army
Group South A--one of the largest operations of the war. In May 1944,
Red Army troops defeated Army Group South and Army Group A on the
Dnieper. Many thousands of German troops evacuated across the Black Sea.
In July, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched an operation into
the Crimea. The offensive coincided with other Red Army operations
further north, including the Lublin-Brest Offensive--part of Operation
Bagration. Slowly and inexorably, the powerful Russian attacks forced
the tattered German army group to retreat hundreds of miles west, into
Eastern Poland and Romania. Here German forces defended their positions
and built defenses in Hungary and Austria to try to slow down the
overwhelming might of the Red Army. There, the Germans would fight a
series of desperate battles until the remnants surrendered in early May
1945.
Drawing on rare and previously unpublished images accompanied by
detailed captions and text, the book gives a fascinating analysis of the
destruction of Army Group South in southern Russia between 1944 and
1945.
