Category Archives: Campaigns

Führer Directive 51

Führer Headquarters 3 November 1943 Top Secret The Führer OKW/WFSt/Op.No. 662656/43 g.K. Chefs For the last two and one-half years the bitter and costly struggleagainst Bolshevism has made the utmost demands upon the bulk of ourmilitary resources and energies. This commitment was in keeping with theseriousness of the danger, and the over-all situation. The situation […]

Finnish Winter War 1939-1940

The Finnish Army was raised in the revolutionary year of 1918. On the 16th of January 1918, General-Lieutenant Carl Gustav Mannerheim was commissioned by t…

Order of battle of German Forces in the West, 6.06.44

This order of battle lists the German units of armeegruppe, armee, korps, anddivision size as well as the chief of staff (Cos), as of June 6th, 1944,including the respective commanders and dates of command of all units. OB West: GFM von Rundstedt 3.15.42 – 7.02.44 Chief of Staff: Genlt Blumentritt 9.24.42 – 9.09.44 Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Niederlande: […]

German Command and Tactics in the West, 1944

It may be that the most serious weakness of the German defense in the westwas not the shortage of men and materiel but the lack of a unified command.While Rundstedt was charged with the entire responsibility for the defenseof France and the Low Countries, his powers were far from commensurate withthat responsibility. He had, in […]

The West on the Eve of D-Day, 1944

The scheduled completion date for the winter construction program and alltroop preparations for meeting the expected invasion was 30 April. Up tothat time the Germans made all arrangements to repel a major attack againstthe Kanalkueste. At the end of 1943 Hitler ordered the assembly of allavailable forces behind the front of the Fifteenth Army and […]