books about pre "Bagration" operations against 'Mitte'

[michalst]

I'm looking for books dealing with Soviet operations conducted in late 1943 and early 1944 against H.Gr 'Mitte'. One could maybe call those operations as "pre Bagration" ? Anyway looking for books mostly in English.

[Marc Rikmenspoel]

David Glantz has been preparing one, or at least talking about writing one, for many years. I don't know if, or when, it is scheduled to appear, but the failed Soviet offensive to take Vitebsk and destroy HG Mitte in early 1944 is one of his "lost battles of the Eastern Front."

The much-maligned Franz Kurowski writes some about this campaign, particularly in his chapter about Albert Ernst in Panzer Aces I.

[donwhite]

More immediately, try Glantz's existing book on 'Soviet Military Deception" which examines some of the Soviet offensive operations in late '43 early '44 in particular around the Army Group Centre/North boundaries (Nevel offensive etc).

Cheers

[Leo Niehorster]

Sorry, the only ones I know are in German:
  Otto Heidkämper
  "Witebsk"
  Scharnhorst, 1954, Heidelberg.
  (Wehrmacht im Kampf 1) [No ISBN]
Deals with the 3. Panzer-Armee from September 1943 through June 1944.

Volume 8 of the Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweiten Weltkrieg:
  Karl-Heinz Friesner (Ed.)
  = Die Ostfront 1943/44=
  DVA, München, 2007.
  (Militärgeschichtlichen Forschungsamt)
  ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2
The volumes of this quasi-official German WWII history are being translated into English. Don't know if they have reached this book yet.
Some 1300 pages dealing with the the East Front in 1943/1944.

Cheers
Leo

[michalst]

hm..seems that we will have to wait for mr Glantz to finish his volume (series?) about Vitebsk. Im not a fan of Kurowskis books, so I will skip that one. Regarding 'Soviet Military Deception', hm this book is from the late 80-ies, so I don't know, maybe if I get it cheap someplace.