Feldgrau.net

The commander of the Hungarian corps under the German 9th Army reported that Hungarian troops were inclined to fraternise with the locals and their officers were having difficulty controlling them. No purpose would be served by employing his reserve division to block the supply of Polish reserves in...

The Rumanian Government signed an economic treat with Germany on March 23rd 1939. From then on it was half in Germany’s pocket and it would not be long before it was fully in Germany’s pocket. On September 12 Ribbentrop demanded a number of things from Rumania. These were that it would not grant asy...

Aid for Poland through Rumania belongs in the realm of fantasy. It first of all suposes that Rumania would be prepared to risk war with Germany by siding with the allies something Rumania had no intention of going. Secondly given the transportation links through Rumania to Poland a large scale suppl...

I read an account many years ago of a German unit charged by Soviet cavalry outside Moscow unfortunately I have forgotten the title. They were mowed down with machine guns and they continued charging with the same result till none were left. I do not know about Soviet cavalry doctrine but the Polish...

The idea that a bridgehead could be held on the Rumanian frontier was a fantasy and gives cause to wonder about the mental state of Smigly. The bridgehead would be held by remnants of forces that had proved unable to hold the German invasion but now lacking in equipment and with few supplies they wo...

Hitler said he would crush Poland in three weeks unfortunately my source does not say when he made the remark he may have got the idea from General Halder Chief of the General Staff. Halder told senior officers in April 1939 that the Polish army “forms no serious opponent” and that “we must be finis...

Rydz-Smigly issued orders (in what I’m reading) on the 11th for a withdrawal to the Rumanian bridgehead he clearly accepted that the campaign was lost after 11 days. In Rumania it seems he said that he thought Poland would be over run but it would be re formed after the allied victory. He may have j...

The unknown German staff officer was right for in the manner of a chess game that can go on a long time but has been decided in the opening moves the Polish front had cracked wide open after five days. On the evening of the 5th Smigly ordered the withdrawal of Army Krakov, Army Prusy, Army Poznan an...

According to the version I am reading the Polish attacks had bogged down by the 12th and by then the Germans had restored numerical superiority artillery superiority and armoured vehicle superiority. The strategy of the OKW was not to meet the Polish forces frontally but to encircle them. Kutrzeba d...

I think your draft topic should be against Communism not against Russia and certainly not against Poland. There were many reasons why people fought on the German side. Some people like Kaminsky and his bunch were mercenaries others were hoping to get some sort of independence for their countries som...

It is something of a myth that if the Germans had attempted an invasion the RN would have steamed in to destroy this invasion attempt. The diary of Field Marshall Allenbrooke makes clear that the RN did not intend launching a major operation in the event of a German landing. If Germany established a...

The numbers of fighting units recruited from the conquered eastern territories was very small in the overall context, a few divisions made no difference overall. There is no doubt that Hitler because of his bizarre racial beliefs missed a great opportunity. Vlassov had been sure that he could have f...

The officers involved in the coup may have resented the, as they saw it, pro German line of the king which would have placed Yugoslavia in a client state position to Germany. The British were involved in the planning of the coup though perhaps not unexpectidly given the results of the coup informati...

Catherine Andreyev in her very impressive book Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement makes no mention of this Leningrad episode. She says Vlasov was deputy commander of the 72nd Division Kiev Military Region prior to going to China in 1938. Wilfred Strik-Strikfeldt the German liason officer wit...

The accusation that Vlasov was sentencing people to death in Leningrad during the purges is one I have not come across before. In 1930 Vlasov was a tactics instructor at the Leningrad Officers School then he went to Moscow on an instructor’s course and back to Leningrad as assistant to the chief ins...