tank
Specialist
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2012
- Messages
- 310
operation “Overlord”
The next day, August 21, the Canadian infantry broke through to help the Poles shortly after noon, and in the evening the SS tank divisions Das Reich and Hohenstaufen began to retreat east to the River Seine. On the evening of August 21, tanks of the 4th Canadian Division met with Polish positions at Kudear; The 3rd and 4th Canadian divisions are located in Saint-Lambert and the northern passage to Chambois. The Falese "cauldron" was sealed. By August 22, all German soldiers east of Chambois were killed or captured. The losses of the Germans were enormous: for example, only one tank division of the SS Hitler Youth lost 94 percent of tanks, almost all artillery and 70 percent of trucks; having at the beginning of the Norman campaign 20,000 people and 150 tanks, after leaving the "boiler" it was reduced to 300 people and 10 tanks. Despite the fact that many German units managed to retreat east, they lost most of the equipment: about 500 tanks and self-propelled guns were destroyed in the "boiler", only 24 tanks were transported to the east bank of the Seine.
As a result of the liquidation of the Thalesian “cauldron", our allies opened an unhindered path to Paris.
After the Thalesian "cauldron" ceased to exist, and it became clear that the Anglo-Americans could not be stopped on the way to Paris, Adolf Hitler ordered to keep Paris at all costs, and in case of impossibility to destroy the city.
Initially, the plans of the "allies" included the encirclement of Paris and the coercion of German forces there to surrender. However, General Charles de Gaulle and his entourage convinced the Allied command to storm the city. This general was the leader of the French Resistance: like the Polish, Slovak, and many other "illegitimate" governments of Hitler-occupied countries, they fled to London and simulated violent activity while the Soviet Army and its "partners" were engaged in the liberation of their countries ( as we will see later). However, this De Gaulle team was the only one of the “London party-goers” that the USSR government officially recognized: in all other countries we put our people in, declaring those in London “illegitimate,” but we couldn’t reach France.
On August 15, 1944, in connection with the approach of the Anglo-American army to the city, a general popular strike of Parisians began, which completely paralyzed the work of almost all instances of the city by August 18.
On August 17, the German military commandant of Paris, General Dietrich von Holtitz, issued an order to mine the most important objects, historical and religious buildings, including the Eiffel Tower. It was, in the past, a military officer: his troops stormed Sevastopol in 1942, and the Kursk Bulge in the 43rd. And in 1944 he was transferred to Western Europe; he fought in Italy (Anzio-Nettun operation) and then in Normandy, and on August 7 he was appointed military commandant of Paris, instead of the previous commandant who took part in the unsuccessful attempt on Hitler on July 20 (known as Operation Valkyrie).
On August 18, rumors began to spread about the approach of the Allies to the city, the fighters of the French Resistance intensified their activities, on the walls of houses and almost everywhere they put up posters calling for a general armed uprising of persons from 18 to 60 years old, capable of holding weapons against the Germans, as well as a warning about soon retaliation for collaborators and those German soldiers and officers who do not lay down their arms.
On the evening of August 18, some German units, employees of the occupation administration and local German supporters began to spontaneously leave Paris. In the city there remained a garrison of 20,000 people supported by 200 guns of various calibers and 80 obsolete tanks and aircraft. 15,000 soldiers of the garrison were Germans, another 5,000 police and armed groups of local Hitler supporters.
On the morning of August 19, the first armed clashes began between the fighters of the French Resistance on the one hand and the Germans on the other. The first trenches and barricades began to appear on the streets, arranged by both Germans and French.
From minor skirmishes, the confrontation turned into full-blown street battles throughout Paris on August 20. The French Resistance forces pressed the Germans, and in the liberated territories volunteer guards from local residents were introduced. In the afternoon of August 20, during the assault, the city prison of Paris and the prison camp, which operated from October 1940, were cleared of the Germans.
Despite the successes, the resistance fighters still lacked ammunition and weapons. The Germans, on the other hand, wanted to regroup their remaining forces, get reinforcements from the front, and crush the uprising with one counterattack. Therefore, on the evening of August 20, with the mediation of the Consul General of Sweden in Paris, Raul Nordling, a temporary truce was concluded between the Germans and the French.
At 9:00 a.m. on August 22, German artillery and tanks, breaking the ceasefire, opened massive fire on the districts of the city occupied by the resistance fighters and their supporters. A few hours later Hitler personally gave the order to go on the offensive and crush the uprising, but the Germans still did not have enough human reserves for a counterattack, and the execution of the order was postponed. Exactly 24 hours later, at 9:00 on August 23, the Germans repeated shelling and in some areas even tried to go on the offensive, but the Resistance fighters managed to repel them and return the attackers to their previous positions.
inally, on August 24, at 9.20 p.m., the 4th US Infantry Division and the 2nd Free France armored division with a total of 16 thousand people began to enter the city from two sides at once. With the help of artillery and tanks, they were able to almost completely suppress enemy resistance. By the end of the day, fighting with varying success continued only in the center of Paris and on several eastern outskirts.
Enraged Hitler ordered the city to be blown up, but General von Holtitz refused to do this, for which he was subsequently declared the savior of Paris (and not, say, hanged by the Nuremberg Tribunal). Around 3:30 a.m., on August 25, the last German opornik at the Hôtel Meurice hotel, which housed the headquarters of von Holtitz, was suppressed; the latter surrendered to the Allies. 11,800 German soldiers and about 4,000 of their "local" accomplices laid down their arms with him.
In the days following the liberation of the city, several parade processions of the Allied forces took place on the Champs Elysees in Paris. Charles de Gaulle, the future President of France, whose name is the airport of Paris, took part in them.
Despite the general surrender of the Germans, the city was still unsafe, as several dozen snipers continued to resist in parts of the city. Several dozen soldiers and civilians were killed and injured from their actions. A case is known when, on the afternoon of August 29, a German sniper from a roof of a house in the center of Paris near the Hôtel de Crillon fired a shot at Charles de Gaulle speaking at the parade, but missed and was destroyed by return fire. De Gaulle calmly finished his speech and left the podium.
On August 30, the last German units in France retreated to the east bank of the Seine.
This date is considered the official day of the completion of Operation Overlord.
The next day, August 21, the Canadian infantry broke through to help the Poles shortly after noon, and in the evening the SS tank divisions Das Reich and Hohenstaufen began to retreat east to the River Seine. On the evening of August 21, tanks of the 4th Canadian Division met with Polish positions at Kudear; The 3rd and 4th Canadian divisions are located in Saint-Lambert and the northern passage to Chambois. The Falese "cauldron" was sealed. By August 22, all German soldiers east of Chambois were killed or captured. The losses of the Germans were enormous: for example, only one tank division of the SS Hitler Youth lost 94 percent of tanks, almost all artillery and 70 percent of trucks; having at the beginning of the Norman campaign 20,000 people and 150 tanks, after leaving the "boiler" it was reduced to 300 people and 10 tanks. Despite the fact that many German units managed to retreat east, they lost most of the equipment: about 500 tanks and self-propelled guns were destroyed in the "boiler", only 24 tanks were transported to the east bank of the Seine.
As a result of the liquidation of the Thalesian “cauldron", our allies opened an unhindered path to Paris.
After the Thalesian "cauldron" ceased to exist, and it became clear that the Anglo-Americans could not be stopped on the way to Paris, Adolf Hitler ordered to keep Paris at all costs, and in case of impossibility to destroy the city.
Initially, the plans of the "allies" included the encirclement of Paris and the coercion of German forces there to surrender. However, General Charles de Gaulle and his entourage convinced the Allied command to storm the city. This general was the leader of the French Resistance: like the Polish, Slovak, and many other "illegitimate" governments of Hitler-occupied countries, they fled to London and simulated violent activity while the Soviet Army and its "partners" were engaged in the liberation of their countries ( as we will see later). However, this De Gaulle team was the only one of the “London party-goers” that the USSR government officially recognized: in all other countries we put our people in, declaring those in London “illegitimate,” but we couldn’t reach France.
On August 15, 1944, in connection with the approach of the Anglo-American army to the city, a general popular strike of Parisians began, which completely paralyzed the work of almost all instances of the city by August 18.
On August 17, the German military commandant of Paris, General Dietrich von Holtitz, issued an order to mine the most important objects, historical and religious buildings, including the Eiffel Tower. It was, in the past, a military officer: his troops stormed Sevastopol in 1942, and the Kursk Bulge in the 43rd. And in 1944 he was transferred to Western Europe; he fought in Italy (Anzio-Nettun operation) and then in Normandy, and on August 7 he was appointed military commandant of Paris, instead of the previous commandant who took part in the unsuccessful attempt on Hitler on July 20 (known as Operation Valkyrie).
On August 18, rumors began to spread about the approach of the Allies to the city, the fighters of the French Resistance intensified their activities, on the walls of houses and almost everywhere they put up posters calling for a general armed uprising of persons from 18 to 60 years old, capable of holding weapons against the Germans, as well as a warning about soon retaliation for collaborators and those German soldiers and officers who do not lay down their arms.
On the evening of August 18, some German units, employees of the occupation administration and local German supporters began to spontaneously leave Paris. In the city there remained a garrison of 20,000 people supported by 200 guns of various calibers and 80 obsolete tanks and aircraft. 15,000 soldiers of the garrison were Germans, another 5,000 police and armed groups of local Hitler supporters.
On the morning of August 19, the first armed clashes began between the fighters of the French Resistance on the one hand and the Germans on the other. The first trenches and barricades began to appear on the streets, arranged by both Germans and French.
From minor skirmishes, the confrontation turned into full-blown street battles throughout Paris on August 20. The French Resistance forces pressed the Germans, and in the liberated territories volunteer guards from local residents were introduced. In the afternoon of August 20, during the assault, the city prison of Paris and the prison camp, which operated from October 1940, were cleared of the Germans.
Despite the successes, the resistance fighters still lacked ammunition and weapons. The Germans, on the other hand, wanted to regroup their remaining forces, get reinforcements from the front, and crush the uprising with one counterattack. Therefore, on the evening of August 20, with the mediation of the Consul General of Sweden in Paris, Raul Nordling, a temporary truce was concluded between the Germans and the French.
At 9:00 a.m. on August 22, German artillery and tanks, breaking the ceasefire, opened massive fire on the districts of the city occupied by the resistance fighters and their supporters. A few hours later Hitler personally gave the order to go on the offensive and crush the uprising, but the Germans still did not have enough human reserves for a counterattack, and the execution of the order was postponed. Exactly 24 hours later, at 9:00 on August 23, the Germans repeated shelling and in some areas even tried to go on the offensive, but the Resistance fighters managed to repel them and return the attackers to their previous positions.
inally, on August 24, at 9.20 p.m., the 4th US Infantry Division and the 2nd Free France armored division with a total of 16 thousand people began to enter the city from two sides at once. With the help of artillery and tanks, they were able to almost completely suppress enemy resistance. By the end of the day, fighting with varying success continued only in the center of Paris and on several eastern outskirts.
Enraged Hitler ordered the city to be blown up, but General von Holtitz refused to do this, for which he was subsequently declared the savior of Paris (and not, say, hanged by the Nuremberg Tribunal). Around 3:30 a.m., on August 25, the last German opornik at the Hôtel Meurice hotel, which housed the headquarters of von Holtitz, was suppressed; the latter surrendered to the Allies. 11,800 German soldiers and about 4,000 of their "local" accomplices laid down their arms with him.
In the days following the liberation of the city, several parade processions of the Allied forces took place on the Champs Elysees in Paris. Charles de Gaulle, the future President of France, whose name is the airport of Paris, took part in them.
Despite the general surrender of the Germans, the city was still unsafe, as several dozen snipers continued to resist in parts of the city. Several dozen soldiers and civilians were killed and injured from their actions. A case is known when, on the afternoon of August 29, a German sniper from a roof of a house in the center of Paris near the Hôtel de Crillon fired a shot at Charles de Gaulle speaking at the parade, but missed and was destroyed by return fire. De Gaulle calmly finished his speech and left the podium.
On August 30, the last German units in France retreated to the east bank of the Seine.
This date is considered the official day of the completion of Operation Overlord.