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jnevin said:
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BlueBird said:That's Clint Howard, isn't it?
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Chaka!~
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The Siege of Budapest was a siege of the Hungarian capital city of Budapest, fought towards the end of World War II in Europe, during the Soviet Budapest Offensive. The siege started when Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, was first encircled on 29 December 1944 by the Red Army. The siege ended when the city was unconditionally surrendered on 13 February 1945.
In January of 1945, the Germans launched a three part offensive codenamed Operation Konrad. Operation Konrad was a joint German-Hungarian effort to relieve the encircled garrison of Budapest.
On 1 January, Operation Konrad I was launched. The German IV.SS-Panzerkorps attacked from Tata through hilly terrain north of Budapest in an effort to break the Soviet siege. Simultaneously, Waffen-SS forces struck from the west of Budapest in an effort to gain tactical advantage. On 3 January, the Soviet command sent four more divisions to meet the threat. This Soviet action stopped the offensive near Bicske less than 20 kilometers north of Budapest. On 12 January, the German forces were forced to withdraw.
On 7 January, the Germans launched Operation Konrad II. The German IV.SS-Panzerkorps attacked from Esztergom towards the Budapest Airport. They tried to capture the airport in order to improve air supply of the city. This offensive was halted near the airport.
On 17 January, the last part of Operation Konrad was launched - Operation Konrad III. The German IV.SS-Panzerkorps and the III. Panzerkorps attacked from the south of Budapest and attempted to encircle ten Soviet divisions. This encirclement attempt failed.
Operation Spring Awakening (Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen) (6 March 1945 – 16 March 1945) was the last major German offensive launched during World War II. This offensive, also known as the Lake Balaton Offensive, was launched by the Germans in great secrecy on 6 March 1945. The Germans launched attacks in Hungary near the Lake Balaton area on the Eastern Front. This area included some of the last oil reserves still available to the Germans.
Operation Spring Awakening involved many German units withdrawn from the failed Ardennes Offensive on the Western Front including the 6th SS Panzer Army.
In January of 1945, the Germans launched a three part offensive codenamed Operation Konrad. Operation Konrad was a joint German-Hungarian effort to relieve the encircled garrison of Budapest.
On 1 January, Operation Konrad I was launched. The German IV.SS-Panzerkorps attacked from Tata through hilly terrain north of Budapest in an effort to break the Soviet siege. Simultaneously, Waffen-SS forces struck from the west of Budapest in an effort to gain tactical advantage. On 3 January, the Soviet command sent four more divisions to meet the threat. This Soviet action stopped the offensive near Bicske less than 20 kilometers north of Budapest. On 12 January, the German forces were forced to withdraw.
On 7 January, the Germans launched Operation Konrad II. The German IV.SS-Panzerkorps attacked from Esztergom towards the Budapest Airport. They tried to capture the airport in order to improve air supply of the city. This offensive was halted near the airport.
On 17 January, the last part of Operation Konrad was launched - Operation Konrad III. The German IV.SS-Panzerkorps and the III. Panzerkorps attacked from the south of Budapest and attempted to encircle ten Soviet divisions. This encirclement attempt failed.
Operation Spring Awakening (Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen) (6 March 1945 – 16 March 1945) was the last major German offensive launched during World War II. This offensive, also known as the Lake Balaton Offensive, was launched by the Germans in great secrecy on 6 March 1945. The Germans launched attacks in Hungary near the Lake Balaton area on the Eastern Front. This area included some of the last oil reserves still available to the Germans.
Operation Spring Awakening involved many German units withdrawn from the failed Ardennes Offensive on the Western Front including the 6th SS Panzer Army.
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The Battle for Buda
Unlike Pest, which is built on flat terrain, the city of Buda is built on hills. This allowed the defenders to place artillery and fortifications above the attackers, greatly slowing Soviet advance. The main citadel, Gellért Hill was defended by elite Waffen-SS troops that successfully repelled several Soviet assaults. Nearby, Soviet and German forces were fighting for the city cemetery. Fights on the shell-opened tombs would last for several days. Fighting on Margaret Island, in the middle of the Danube, was particularly merciless. The island was still attached to the rest of the city by the remaining half of the Margaret Bridge and was used as parachuting area as well as for covering improvised airstrips set up in the downtown.
On 11 February 1945, the Gellért Hill finally fell after a vicious Soviet attack launched from three points of compass simultaneously, after six weeks of fighting. Soviet artillery was finally able to dominate the entire city and to shell the remaining Axis defenders, who were concentrated in less than two square kilometres and suffering from malnutrition and diseases. Daily rations were reduced to 150 grams of bread and meat from slaughtered horses. Nevertheless, the defenders refused to surrender and defended every street and house, fighting Soviet troops and tanks. At this time some Hungarian soldiers who had defected ("The Volunteer Regiment of Buda") were fighting on the Soviet side against the Germans and their Nazi-allied fellow Hungarians.
After capturing the southern railway station during a two-day bloodbath, Soviet troops advanced to the Castle hill. On 10 February 1945, after a violent assault, Soviet marines established a bridgehead on the Castle hill, while almost cutting the remaining garrison in half.
Unlike Pest, which is built on flat terrain, the city of Buda is built on hills. This allowed the defenders to place artillery and fortifications above the attackers, greatly slowing Soviet advance. The main citadel, Gellért Hill was defended by elite Waffen-SS troops that successfully repelled several Soviet assaults. Nearby, Soviet and German forces were fighting for the city cemetery. Fights on the shell-opened tombs would last for several days. Fighting on Margaret Island, in the middle of the Danube, was particularly merciless. The island was still attached to the rest of the city by the remaining half of the Margaret Bridge and was used as parachuting area as well as for covering improvised airstrips set up in the downtown.
On 11 February 1945, the Gellért Hill finally fell after a vicious Soviet attack launched from three points of compass simultaneously, after six weeks of fighting. Soviet artillery was finally able to dominate the entire city and to shell the remaining Axis defenders, who were concentrated in less than two square kilometres and suffering from malnutrition and diseases. Daily rations were reduced to 150 grams of bread and meat from slaughtered horses. Nevertheless, the defenders refused to surrender and defended every street and house, fighting Soviet troops and tanks. At this time some Hungarian soldiers who had defected ("The Volunteer Regiment of Buda") were fighting on the Soviet side against the Germans and their Nazi-allied fellow Hungarians.
After capturing the southern railway station during a two-day bloodbath, Soviet troops advanced to the Castle hill. On 10 February 1945, after a violent assault, Soviet marines established a bridgehead on the Castle hill, while almost cutting the remaining garrison in half.
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Margaret Island today
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Hitler forbade the German commander, Waffen SS General Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch, to abandon Budapest or to attempt a breakout of the encirclement. But the glider flights bringing in supplies had ended a few days earlier and the parachute drops had also been discontinued.
In desperation, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch decided to lead the remnants of his troops out of Budapest. Typically, the German commander did not consult much with the Hungarian commander of the city. Uncharacteristically, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch included the Hungarian commander, General Iván Hindy, in this last desperate breakout attempt.
On the night of 11 February, twenty-eight thousand German and Hungarian troops began to stream down from Castle Hill. They moved in three waves. With each wave were thousands of civilians. Entire families, pushing prams, trod through the snow and ice. Unfortunately for the would be escapees, the Soviets awaited them in prepared positions.
The troops, along with the civilians, used fog to their advantage. The first wave managed to surprise the waiting Soviet soldiers and artillery, and its sheer number allowed many to escape. The second and third waves were less fortunate than the first. Soviet artillery and rocket batteries bracketed the escape area to deadly result. But, despite heavy losses, five to ten thousand people managed to reach the wooded hills northwest of Budapest and escape towards Vienna. Roughly seven hundred German troops escaped.
The majority of the escapees were killed, wounded, or captured by the Soviet troops. Pfeffer-Wildenbruch and Hindy were among the captured.
On 13 February 1945, the remaining defenders finally surrendered. Budapest lay in ruins, with more than 80 percent of its buildings destroyed or damaged, and historical buildings like the Hungarian Parliament Building and the Castle in ruins. All five bridges spanning the Danube were destroyed.
German and Hungarian military losses were high. Whole divisions were destroyed. At a minimum, the Germans lost all or most of the 13.Panzer-Division, the 60.Panzergrenadier-Division Feldherrnhalle, the 8.SS-Kavallerie-Division Florian Geyer, and the 22.SS-Kavallerie-Division Maria Theresa. The Hungarian 1st Corps, including the 10th Infantry Division, the 12th Infantry Division, and the 1st Armored Division, was completely destroyed.
Some 40,000 civilians were killed, with an unknown number dying from starvation and diseases. Mass rapes of women between ages of 10 and 70 were common. In Budapest alone 50,000 are estimated to have been raped by Red Army and Romanian soldiers
In desperation, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch decided to lead the remnants of his troops out of Budapest. Typically, the German commander did not consult much with the Hungarian commander of the city. Uncharacteristically, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch included the Hungarian commander, General Iván Hindy, in this last desperate breakout attempt.
On the night of 11 February, twenty-eight thousand German and Hungarian troops began to stream down from Castle Hill. They moved in three waves. With each wave were thousands of civilians. Entire families, pushing prams, trod through the snow and ice. Unfortunately for the would be escapees, the Soviets awaited them in prepared positions.
The troops, along with the civilians, used fog to their advantage. The first wave managed to surprise the waiting Soviet soldiers and artillery, and its sheer number allowed many to escape. The second and third waves were less fortunate than the first. Soviet artillery and rocket batteries bracketed the escape area to deadly result. But, despite heavy losses, five to ten thousand people managed to reach the wooded hills northwest of Budapest and escape towards Vienna. Roughly seven hundred German troops escaped.
The majority of the escapees were killed, wounded, or captured by the Soviet troops. Pfeffer-Wildenbruch and Hindy were among the captured.
On 13 February 1945, the remaining defenders finally surrendered. Budapest lay in ruins, with more than 80 percent of its buildings destroyed or damaged, and historical buildings like the Hungarian Parliament Building and the Castle in ruins. All five bridges spanning the Danube were destroyed.
German and Hungarian military losses were high. Whole divisions were destroyed. At a minimum, the Germans lost all or most of the 13.Panzer-Division, the 60.Panzergrenadier-Division Feldherrnhalle, the 8.SS-Kavallerie-Division Florian Geyer, and the 22.SS-Kavallerie-Division Maria Theresa. The Hungarian 1st Corps, including the 10th Infantry Division, the 12th Infantry Division, and the 1st Armored Division, was completely destroyed.
Some 40,000 civilians were killed, with an unknown number dying from starvation and diseases. Mass rapes of women between ages of 10 and 70 were common. In Budapest alone 50,000 are estimated to have been raped by Red Army and Romanian soldiers
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WhistleBritches
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BlueBird for President
