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Battle of the Seelow Heights

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Battle of the Seelow Heights
Part of World War II
File:Soviet artillery firing on berlin april 1945.jpg
Soviet artillery bombarding German positions during the battle for Seelow Heights. Initial barrage was conducted at night.
Date16 – 19 April 1945
Location
Seelow Heights, Germany
Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
 Germany  Soviet Union
Poland
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Gotthard Heinrici Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov
Strength
~91,000[1]
587 Tanks
2625 Guns		 1,000,000
3,059 Tanks
16,934 Guns and mortars
Casualties and losses
12,000 killed[2] 30,000 killed[2]

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The Battle of the Seelow Heights (German: Schlacht um die "Seelower Höhen"), was a part of the Seelow-Berlin Offensive Operation (16 April - 2 May, 1945); one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions of World War II. It was fought over three days, from 16 to 19 April, 1945. Close to one million Soviet soldiers of the 1st Belorussian Front (including 78,556 soldiers of the 1st Polish Army), commanded by Marshal Georgi Zhukov, attacked the position known as "Gates of Berlin". They were opposed by about 91,000 German soldiers of the Ninth Army[1], commanded by General Theodor Busse, as part of Army Group Vistula.

This battle is often incorporated into the Battle of the Oder-Neisse. Seelow Heights was where the most bitter fighting in the overall battle took place, but it was only one of several crossing points along the Oder and Neisse rivers where the Soviets attacked. The Battle of the Oder-Neisse was itself only the opening phase of the Battle of Berlin.

The result was the encirclement of the Ninth Army and Battle of Halbe.

Buildup

On 9 April 1945, Königsberg in East Prussia fell to the Soviet Army. This freed up 2nd Belorussian Front under Marshal Rokossovsky to move to the east bank of the Oder. During the first two weeks of April the Soviets performed their fastest Front redeployment of the war. 2nd Belorussian Front relieved 1st Belorussian Front along the lower Oder, from Schwedt to the Baltic Sea. This allowed 1st Belorussian Front to concentrate in the southern half of its former front, opposite the Seelow Heights. To the south, 1st Ukrainian Front, under Marshal Konev) shifted its main force from Upper Silesia north-west to the Neisse.

The three Soviet Fronts together had 2.5 million men, 6,250 tanks, 7,500 aircraft, 41,600 artillery pieces and mortars, 3,255 truck-mounted Katyusha rocket launchers, and 95,383 motor vehicles.[3]

1st Belorussian Front had 9 regular and 2 tank armies consisting of 77 rifle divisions, 2 cavalry, 5 tank and 2 mechanized corps, 8 artillery and 1 guards mortars divisions, and a mixture of more artillery and rocket launcher brigades. The Front had 3,059 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 18,934 artillery pieces and mortars.[4] 8 of the 11 armies were posted along the Oder. In the north, 61st Army and 1st Polish Army held the river line from Schwedt to the meeting with the Finow Canal. On the Soviet bridgehead at Kustrin, 47th Army, 3rd Shock Army, 5th Shock Army, and 8th Guards Army were concentrated for the attack. 69th Army and 33rd Army covered the river line south to Guben. 2nd Guards Tank Army, 3rd Army, and 1st Guards Tank Army were in reserve. 5th Shock and 8th Guards were posted directly opposite the strongest part of the defenses, where the Berlin autobahn passed through the Heights.[5]

The German Ninth Army held the front from about the Finow Canal to Guben, which included the Seelow Heights. It had 14 divisions and festung Frankfurt, 587 tanks (512 operable, 55 in repair, 20 in transit), 2625 artillery pieces (including 695 anti-aircraft guns.[6] Further south the front was held by the Fourth Panzer Army, opposing the 1st Ukrainian Front. General Gotthard Heinrici replaced Himmler as commander of Army Group Vistula on 20 March. Heinrici was one of the best defensive tacticians in the German army. He correctly predicted that the main Soviet thrust would be made over the Oder river and along the main east-west autobahn - at Seelow Heights. He decided to defend the riverbank with only a light skirmishing screen. Instead he fortified the Seelow Heights, which rise about 48 meters above the Oder and overlook the river where the autobahn crossed it. He thinned out the line in other areas to put more men at the Heights. The Oder's flood plain was saturated by the spring thaw; German engineers released water from a reservoir upstream, which turned the plain into a swamp. Behind this they built three lines of defenses, spreading back towards Berlin. The last line of defense was the Wotan Line, 10 to 15 miles behind the front line. These lines consisted of anti-tank ditches, anti-tank gun emplacements, and an extensive network of trenches and bunkers.[7][8]

Battle

In the early hours of 16 April, the offensive began with a massive bombardment by thousands of artillery pieces and Katyushas. Well before dawn, 1st Belorussian Front attacked across the Oder. 1st Ukrainian Front attacked across the Neisse before dawn the same morning. 1st Belorussian Front was the stronger force but it had the more difficult assignment and was facing the majority of the German forces.[9][10]

The initial assault by 1st Belorussian Front was disastrous. Heinrici and Busse anticipated the attack and withdrew their defenders from the first line of trenches just before the Soviet artillery obliterated them. The swampy ground proved to be a great hindrance, and under a German counter-barrage, Soviet casualties were heavy. Frustrated by the slow advance, Zhukov threw in his reserves, which in his plan were to be held back to exploit the expected breakthrough. By early evening an advance of four-six kilometers had been achieved in most areas (77th Rifle Corps from 3rd Shock Army was advanced even eight kilometers), but the second German defensive line remained intact. Zhukov was forced to report that his battle was not going as planned. However, in the south the attack by Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front was keeping to plan. To spur Zhukov, Stalin told him that he would let Konev wheel his tank armies north, towards the great prize of Berlin.[11][12]

Losses of 16 April[13]

Armies 1st Gds Tank 2nd Gds Tank 61st 47th 3rd Shock 5th Shock 8th Gds 69th 33rd
Killed 26 ? 94 169 158 369 ? 312 ?
Wounded 117 ? 204 977 483 1,298 ? 1,417 ?

Armour losses: 71 tanks and SPGs knocked out, 77 damaged, 40 by other causes (break down, got stuck etc.).

On the second day, 1st Belorussian Front's troops continued advance with the former purposes. At nightfall on April 17, the German second defensive line (Stein Stellung) was broken by 5th Shock Army together with 2nd Gds Tank Army. The right-flank 4th Gds Rifle Corps of the 8th Gds Army together with 11th Tank Corps of 1st Gds Tank Army has taken advantage of neighbours' success having broken through the second defensive line and having advanced on 8 kilometres. Progress of 47th and 3rd Shock Armies was 4–8 km, they have put in the second defensive line.

Losses of 17 April[14]

Armies 1st Gds Tank 2nd Gds Tank 61st 47th 3rd Shock 5th Shock 8th Gds 69th 33rd
Killed 38 ? 119 210 113 615 ? 308 ?
Wounded 175 ? 284 1,251 417 2 034 ? 1,276 ?

Armour losses: 79 tanks and SPGs knocked out, 85 damaged, 15 by other causes.

To the south, however, 1st Ukrainian Front was pushing back Fourth Panzer Army, the left flank of Army Group Centre under Schörner. Schörner kept his two reserve panzer divisions in the south covering his centre, instead of using them to shore up Fourth Panzer. This was the turning point in the battle, because the positions of both Army Group Vistula and the center and right sectors of Army Group Centre were becoming untenable. Unless they fell back in line with Fourth Panzer, they faced envelopment.

In effect Konev's successful attack on Schörner's poor defense, to the south of Seelow Heights, were unhinging Heinrici's brilliant defense.

On 18 April, a development of the success reached on a border of the 5th Shock and 8th Gds Armies was a task of the main shock grouping. The Seelow Heights was bypassed from the north, during which Soviet troops met counter attacks from German reserves (11th SS Panzergrenadier Division Nordland and 23rd SS Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland). By nightfall an advance of 3–5 km on the right flank and 3–8 km in the center had been achieved and the 1st Belorussian Front had reached the third and final German line of defense.

Losses of 18 April[15]

Armies 1st Gds Tank 2nd Gds Tank 61st 47th 3rd Shock 5th Shock 8th Gds 69th 33rd
Killed 90 ? 95 156 119 ? ? 88 ?
Wounded 355 ? 365 625 416 ? ? 297 ?

Armour losses: 65 tanks and SPGs knocked out, 86 damaged, 13 by other causes.

On 19 April 19, the fourth day, 1st Belorussian Front broke through the final line of the Seelow Heights, and nothing but broken German formations lay between them and Berlin. The remnants of Ninth Army and Fourth Panzer Army were enveloped by 1st Belorussian Front and elements of 1st Ukrainian Front which had broken through and turned north. Other armies of 1st Ukrainian Front raced west towards the Americans. By the end of the 19th the German eastern front line had ceased to exist. All that remained were pockets of resistance.[16]

Losses of 19 April[17]

Armies 1st Gds Tank 2nd Gds Tank 61st 47th 3rd Shock 5th Shock 8th Gds 69th 33rd
Killed 135 ? 86 287 166 ? ? 204 ?
Wounded 678 ? 363 1,112 594 ? ? 652 ?

Armour losses: 105 tanks and SPGs knocked out, 76 damaged, 8 by other causes.

Losses of 33rd Army 15-20 April: 1,687 killed, 7,213 wounded, 128 missing, 13 non-battle, 206 diseased.[18]

Losses of 5th Shock Army 11-30 April: 3,628 killed, 13,702 wounded, 60 missing, 476 by other causes.[19]

Losses of 8th Gds Army 16-20 April: 12-13,000 total casualties.[20]

Losses of 2nd Gds Tank Army (only three Corps without army troops) 16-21 April: 265 killed, 1,530 wounded. [21]

Aftermath

Statue at Seelow Heights.

The defensive line on the Seelow Heights was the last major defensive line outside Berlin. Gen. Heinrici had said before the battle that the Seelow Heights could be held for only three or four days without reinforcements, which he didn't have. From April 19, the fourth day, the road to Berlin (90 kilometers westward) lay open. By 23 April, Berlin was fully encircled and the Battle for Berlin entered its last stage. Within two weeks Hitler was dead and the war in Europe was effectively over.

After the war, Zhukov's critics asserted that he should have stopped 1st Belorussian Front's attack by the direct line to Berlin along the autobahn, and moved by way of 1st Ukrainian Front's breakthrough over the Neisse. This would have bypassed the strong German defences at Seelow Heights, and avoided many casualties and the delay in the Berlin advance. However, 1st Belorussian Front was drawn up on a very narrow front, so such a maneuver may not have been possible. The other Front commanders could and did bypass the main defenses.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Le Tissier, Tony (1996). Zhukov at the Oder. New York: Praeger. ISBN 9780275952303. Page 273.
  2. ^ a b Berkel, Alexander, Guido Knopp, Jörg Müllner, and Sönke Neitzel. Hitler's Last Army. Germany's war. OCLC 224844518.
  3. ^ Ziemke, Earl F. (1968). The Battle for Berlin: End of the Third Reich. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-356-02960-3. page 71.
  4. ^ Bitva za Berlin: Zavershayuschee srazhenie Velikoy Otechestvennoy Voyny (Battle for Berlin: Finishing battle of the Great Patriotic War). Moscow: AST. 2007. ISBN 978-5-17-039116-5. pages 170, 171, 550.
  5. ^ Goodenough, Simon (1982). War Maps. Macdonald. ISBN 0-312-85584-2. page 116
  6. ^ Isaev, Aleksey (2007). Berlin 45-go.Srazheniya v logove zverya (in Russian). Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo. ISBN 978-5-699-20927-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help) pages 293-295.
  7. ^ Ziemke, page 76.
  8. ^ Zuljan, Ralph, Battle for the Seelow Heights - Part II Originally published in "World War II" at Suite101.com on May 1, 1999. Revised edition published in "Articles On War" at OnWar.com on 1 July 2003.
  9. ^ Beevor, Antony (2002). The Fall of Berlin, 1945. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-03041-4. page 217
  10. ^ Ziemke, page 81.
  11. ^ Beevor, pages 217-233.
  12. ^ Ziemke, page 82
  13. ^ Isaev, page 400
  14. ^ Isaev, page 415
  15. ^ Isaev, page 426
  16. ^ Ziemke, page 84.
  17. ^ Isaev, page 438, 439
  18. ^ Isaev, page 438
  19. ^ Isaev, page 673
  20. ^ Isaev, page 665
  21. ^ Isaev, page 456

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