Showing posts with label Defeat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Defeat. Show all posts

30 September 2014

Operation Market Garden: Fiasco to Equal Dunkirk ? Part 1 The Protagonists

Market Garden: The "Bridge Too Far" Fiasco

Battle of Arnhem: dropping in on a bridge too far

I first saw the movie of the same name (A Bridge Too Far, in 1975. I was 10 years old. The movie gripped me so much that I remember it too the day, and have seen it several times since then)

Having recently played the D-Day Landings, the natural follow-on would be the race and battle for Caen , the Falaise gap, and then Hell's Highway and The Bridges at Nijmegen, Eindhoven and Arnhem. I had occasion to visit the area in the late 80s .

Operation Market Garden (17–25 September 1944) was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time.

The Allied forces that had landed on the Normandy beaches on June 6 had already liberated Brussels and were hovering on the Belgian-Dutch border like those arrows in the opening credits of Dad’s Army.

Monty’s plan was for them to make a swift, narrow thrust up through the Netherlands, bypassing the Germans’ defensive “Siegfried Line”, then swing east to advance on Berlin. Airborne troops would pave the way, capturing and holding bridges for the ground forces to pass over. The Nazis would be crushed by Christmas.

Codenamed Operation Market Garden, it was an ambitious plan – too ambitious, feared Lt General Frederick Browning, who is said to have remarked (perhaps apocryphally) that Arnhem, the northernmost bridge the Allies were required to capture and defend, was “a bridge too far”.

Order of Battle:

Allied Forces


1st Allied Airborne Army
Commander : Lieutenant-General Lewis H. Brereton



1st British Airborne Corps
Commander : Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning

  • 1st Airborne Division and attached units
  • 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade Group
  •  52nd (Lowland) Division (NOT USED)
18th U.S. Airborne Corps
Commander : Lieutenant-General Matthew B. Ridgway

  • 82nd U.S. Airborne Division
  • 101st U.S. Airborne Division
Air Transport Forces
  • 38 and 46 Groups RAF, RASC Air Despatch Units
  • 52nd Troop Carrier Wing, USAAF
  • IX Troop Carrier Command (Less 52nd Wing), USAAF
21st Army Group
Commander : Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery



2nd British Army
Commander : General Sir Miles Dempsey


Dempsey, Front row 2nd from R
  • XXX Corps
  • VIII Corps
  • XII Corps

  
German Forces

Armed Forces Command (AFC) Netherlands
Commander : General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen


II S.S. Panzer Korps
  • Kampfgruppe 'Von Tettau'
The Commander-in-Chief German Armed Forces In Holland at the time was Luftwaffe General Christiansen (above)  and it was he who ordered Lt. General Hans Von Tettau to form a 'Battle Group' to combat the Airborne landings.


Lt Gen Hans von Tettau

 In the initial stages of the battle, fought around the landing zones, Von Tettau was able to collect the following forces.
S.S.- N.C.O. School Arnheim (Col. M. Lippert)
S.S.- Training and Replacement Battalion 4 (Lt. Labahn)
Naval Manning Battalion 10 (Kapitan Lieutnant Zaubzer)
S.S.- Surveillance Battalion 3 ( Sturmbannführer Paul Anton Helle)
Tank Company 224  
Fliegerhorst Battalion 3  
Soesterberg Fliegerhorst Battalion  
Regiment Knoche 
S.S.- Battalion Eberwein 
Regiment 42 

Heeresgruppe B {Army Group B}
Commander : Feldmarschall Walther Model


Fifteenth Army
Commander : General Gustav von Zangen


  • LXVII Korps (General Otto M. Hitzfeld)

        346th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Erich Diester)
        711th Static Division (Generalleutnant Josef Reichert)
        719th Coastal Division (Generalleutnant Karl Sievers)
  • LXXXVIII Korps


First Parachute Army

Commander : General Kurt Student

  • II Fallschirmjäger Korps
  • XII S.S. Korps 
Arnhem


German SS Polizei in position in the woods outside Arnhem ready to repulse Allied Airborne troops. 

The SS IX and X Panzer Divisions of the II SS Panzer Korps were, as Dutch Intelligence had reported, refitting and regrouping to the north and east of Arnhem and proved a formidable opponent despite the surprise of the airborne landings
  • LXXXVI Korps
  • Wehrkreis VI
Luftwaffe West



9 August 2013

Kursk Order of Battle: Protagonists Part 2: The Russians

Kursk Protagonists Part 2: Soviet Forces 



Western Front 
(Vasily Sokolovsky)


50th Army (Ivan Boldin)
11th Guards Army (Ivan Bagramyan)
1st Air Army (Mikhail Gromov)

Bryansk Front 
(Markian Popov)



3rd Army (Alexander Gorbatov)
61st Army (Pavel Belov)
63rd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi)
15th Air Army (Nikolai Naumenko)


Central Front 
(Konstantin Rokossovsky)


13th Army (Nikolay Pukhov)
48th Army (Prokofy Romanenko)
60th Army (Ivan Chernyakhovsky)
65th Army (Pavel Batov)
70th Army (Ivan Galanin)
2nd Tank Army (Alexei Rodin)
16th Air Army (Sergei Rudenko)

Voronezh Front 
(Nikolai Vatutin)



6th Guards Army (Ivan Chistiakov)
7th Guards Army (Mikhail Shumilov)
38th Army (Nikandr Chibisov)
40th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)
69th Army (Vasily Kriuchenkin)
1st Tank Army (Mikhail Katukov)
2nd Air Army (Stepan Kravsovsky)


Steppe Front 
(Ivan Konev)



5th Guards Army (Alexei Zhadov)
5th Guards Tank Army (Pavel Rotmistrov)
5th Air Army (Sergei Goriunov)

 Composition of forces: 

1. Western Front 
(Vasily Sokolovsky)

50th Army (Ivan Boldin)


 38th Rifle Corps (Alexei Tereshkov)

17th Rifle Division
326th Rifle Division
413th Rifle Division
49th Rifle Division
64th Rifle Division
212th Rifle Division
324th Rifle Division

11th Guards Army 


(Ivan Bagramyan)


8th Guards Rifle Corps
11th Guards Rifle Division
26th Guards Rifle Division
83rd Guards Rifle Division
16th Guards Rifle Corps
1st Guards Rifle Division
16th Guards Rifle Division
31st Guards Rifle Division
169th Rifle Division
36th Guards Rifle Corps
5th Guards Rifle Division
18th Guards Rifle Division
84th Guards Rifle Division
108th Rifle Division
217th Rifle Division

1st Air Army (Mikhail Gromov)


2nd Assault Air Corps
2nd Fighter Air Corps
8th Fighter Air Corps

1st Independent Tank Corps (Vasily Butkov)
5th Independent Tank Corps (Mikhail Sakhno)


2. Bryansk Front (Markian Popov)

3rd Army (Alexander Gorbatov)

image


41st Rifle Corps (Viktor Urbanovich)
235th Rifle Division
308th Rifle Division
380th Rifle Division
269th Rifle Division
283rd Rifle Division
342nd Rifle Division

61st Army (Pavel Belov)

Portrait of Colonel-General Pavel Alekseevich Belov

9th Guards Rifle Corps (Arkady Boreiko)

12th Guards Rifle Division
76th Guards Rifle Division
77th Guards Rifle Division
97th Rifle Division
110th Rifle Division
336th Rifle Division
356th Rifle Division
415th Rifle Division


63rd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi)

5th Rifle Division
41st Rifle Division
129th Rifle Division
250th Rifle Division
287th Rifle Division
348th Rifle Division
397th Rifle Division


15th Air Army (Nikolai Naumenko)

1st Guards Fighter Air Corps
3rd Assault Air Corps

 25th Rifle Corps
186th Rifle Division
283rd Rifle Division
362nd Rifle Division


1st Independent Guards Tank Corps

3. Central Front (Konstantin Rokossovsky)

17th Guards Rifle Corps (Andrei Bondarev)
6th Guards Rifle Division
70th Guards Rifle Division
75th Guards Rifle Division

18th Guards Rifle Corps (Ivan Afonin)
2nd Guards Airborne Division
3rd Guards Airborne Division
4th Guards Airborne Division


15th Rifle Corps (Ivan Liudnikov)
8th Rifle Division
74th Rifle Division
148th Rifle Division

29th Rifle Corps (Afanasy Slyshkin)
15th Rifle Division
81st Rifle Division
307th Rifle Division

48th Army (Prokofy Romanenko)


42nd Rifle Corps (Konstantin Kolganov)
16th Rifle Division
202nd Rifle Division
399th Rifle Division
73rd Rifle Division
137th Rifle Division
143rd Rifle Division
170th Rifle Division

60th Army (Ivan Chernyakhovsky)
24th Rifle Corps
42nd Rifle Division
112th Rifle Division
30th Rifle Corps
121st Rifle Division
141st Rifle Division
322nd Rifle Division

Independent 55th Rifle Division

65th Army (Pavel Batov)
18th Rifle Corps
69th Rifle Division
149th Rifle Division
246th Rifle Division
27th Rifle Corps
60th Rifle Division
193rd Rifle Division
37th Guards Rifle Division
181st Rifle Division
194th Rifle Division
354th Rifle Division

70th Army (Ivan Galanin)
28th Rifle Corps (Aleksandr Nechaev)
132nd Rifle Division
211th Rifle Division
280th Rifle Division
102nd Rifle Division
106th Rifle Division
140th Rifle Division
162nd Rifle Division
354th Rifle Division

2nd Tank Army (Alexei Rodin)
3rd Tank Corps
16th Tank Corps


16th Air Army (Sergei Rudenko)
3rd Bombing Air Corps
6th Mixed Air Corps
6th Fighter Air Corps

Independent 9th Tank Corps

Independent 19th Tank Corps

4. Voronezh Front (Nikolai Vatutin)

6th Guards Army (Ivan Chistiakov)
22nd Guards Rifle Corps
67th Guards Rifle Division
71st Guards Rifle Division
90th Guards Rifle Division
23rd Guards Rifle Corps
51st Guards Rifle Division
52nd Guards Rifle Division
375th Rifle Division
Independent 89th Guards Rifle Division

7th Guards Army (Mikhail Shumilov)
24th Guards Rifle Corps (Nikolai Vasilev)
15th Guards Rifle Division
36th Guards Rifle Division
72nd Guards Rifle Division

25th Guards Rifle Corps (Gany Safiulin)
73rd Guards Rifle Division
78th Guards Rifle Division
81st Guards Rifle Division
Independent 213th Rifle Division


38th Army (Nikandr Chibisov)
50th Rifle Corps
167th Rifle Division
232nd Rifle Division
340th Rifle Division
51st Rifle Corps (Petr Avdeenko)
180th Rifle Division
240th Rifle Division
Independent 204th Rifle Division

40th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)
47th Rifle Corps
161st Rifle Division
206th Rifle Division
237th Rifle Division

52nd Rifle Corps (Frants Perkhorovich)
100th Rifle Division
219th Rifle Division
309th Rifle Division
Independent 184th Rifle Division

69th Army (Vasily Kriuchenkin)
48th Rifle Corps (Zinovy Rogozny)
107th Rifle Division
183rd Rifle Division
307th Rifle Division
49th Rifle Corps
111th Rifle Division
270th Rifle Division

1st Tank Army (Mikhail Katukov)
6th Tank Corps (Andrey Getman)
31st Tank Corps
3rd Mechanized Corps

2nd Air Army (Stepan Kravsovsky)
1st Bombing Air Corps
1st Assault Air Corps
4th Fighter Air Corps
5th Fighter Air Corps


35th Guards Rifle Corps
92nd Guards Rifle Division
93rd Guards Rifle Division
94th Guards Rifle Division

Independent 2nd Guards Tank Corps
Independent 3rd Guards Tank Corps

Steppe Front (Ivan Konev)
This order of battle does not show the complete composition of the Steppe Front.
 In addition to the units listed below, there are also 
the 4th Guards, 27th, 47th and 53rd Armies.

5th Guards Army (Alexei Zhadov)
32nd Guards Rifle Corps (Aleksandr Rodimtsev)
13th Guards Rifle Division
66th Guards Rifle Division
6th Airborne Guards Rifle Division
33rd Guards Rifle Corps (Iosif Popov)
95th Guards Rifle Division
97th Guards Rifle Division
9th Airborne Guards Rifle Division
Independent 42nd Guards Rifle Division
Independent 10th Tank Corps

5th Guards Tank Army (Pavel Rotmistrov)


5th Guards Mechanized Corps
29th Tank Corps


5th Air Army (Sergei Goriunov)
7th Mixed Air Corps
8th Mixed Air Corps
3rd Fighter Air Corps

7th Fighter Air Corps