1 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,920 Autumn 1943. Following the Red Army s great victory at Kursk, 2 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,160 General Vatutin and Konev lead the Soviet counterattack in Ukraine. 3 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,360 Their first goal is to cross the mighty Dnieper River and liberate the city of Kiev. 4 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,280 From there the road leads west, into the heart of Europe 5 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:02,040 Dawn on a summer s day, 1943. The first rays of sunlight 6 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:06,240 revealed a column of grey vehicles and men crossing a bridge over the Dnieper River. 7 00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:11,280 They were moving west. 8 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,480 The column of soldiers and vehicles kept on coming, day after day, night after night. 9 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:20,800 From behind them came the sporadic sound of gunfire. 10 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,880 Each burst caused the retreating Germans 11 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,120 to cast anxious glances over their shoulders. 12 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:31,880 But then they heard a new sound. 13 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,520 The soldiers began to run, and push their comrades aside. 14 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,600 It was the squeal of tank tracks, and the familiar roar of T-34 engines. 15 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:52,440 The tanks approached the bridge at full speed. 16 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:01,000 Then there was a deafening explosion. 17 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,640 German demolition charges had collapsed three sections of the Kanev bridge. 18 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,680 With them, went the Soviet High Command s last chance 19 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:13,760 of getting tanks quickly across the Dnieper. 20 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:20,320 Soviet infantry had crossed the river at several points. 21 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,160 But without tank support, the Germans were able to contain the small bridgeheads. 22 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:32,280 After the German defeat at Kursk in August 1943, 23 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:33,800 the frontline began to race westwards. 24 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,920 The Red Army advanced in overwhelming strength, 25 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:41,800 with more than 2.6 million men and 2,400 tanks. 26 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,920 The German High Command planned to make its stand at the Dnieper River. 27 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:53,520 The army was ordered to dig in on its western bank, 28 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:56,680 to form the so-called Wotan line. 29 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,800 To slow the Soviet advance, von Manstein s Army Group began a "scorched earth" policy. 30 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,680 Anything that could not be carried away was burnt or blown up. 31 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,000 It was nothing less than the systematic destruction of eastern Ukraine. 32 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,480 This was one of the the climactic horrors in a country where the war 33 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:39,000 claimed more than 5 million civilian lives one in eight of the population. 34 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,400 As the Germans retreated westwards, 35 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,520 they destroyed all the bridges, and tore up the railway lines. 36 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,320 The advance across this devastated landscape put a huge strain on Red Army logistics. 37 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,680 Fuel and ammunition had to be delivered by truck over hundreds of miles. 38 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:14,720 Heavy artillery and bridging equipment struggled to keep up. 39 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,520 North of Kiev, Andrey Kravchenko s 5th Guards Tank Corps 40 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,280 became one of the first units to reach the Dnieper. 41 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:31,160 Andrey Grigoryevich Kravchenko was an experienced tank general, 42 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:34,160 whose brigade had played a key part in the Battle of Moscow in 1941. 43 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,440 The following year he commanded a tank corps at the Battle of Stalingrad, 44 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,640 after which his unit was renamed "The Stalingrad Guards Tank Corps". 45 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:49,360 In 1943 he fought at the famous tank battle at Prokhorovka, part of the Kursk offensive. 46 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,480 Kravchenko was rather heavily built for a tank soldier. 47 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,680 In fact he was so large that when he sat in the commander s seat, 48 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:00,160 it was impossible to close the hatch. 49 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,000 The wide Desna river did not stop the tanks of Kravchenko s 5th Guards Tank Corps. 50 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,480 Without waiting for the bridging units, 51 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,400 his men made their tanks water-tight and drove across. 52 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:32,080 But the Dnieper was too deep to be crossed in this fashion. 53 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,960 Only the infantry, using rafts and floats, were able to get acrosss. 54 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:41,440 They established small footholds on the far bank of the river. 55 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,320 South of Kiev, an extraordinary attempt was made 56 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,520 to get the 40th and 3rd Guards Tank Armies across the river. 57 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:06,760 The Dnieper here was about 600 metres wide. 58 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:10,800 Almost a thousand piles were used to build a temporary bridge 59 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:12,960 able to bear the weight of a tank. 60 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,560 The engineers worked under Germany artillery fire and aerial bombing. 61 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,320 But after ten days, the bridge was ready. 62 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:46,560 T-34s from the 3rd Guards Tank Army began to roll across the Dnieper. 63 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:57,800 Meanwhile, the Germans had been busy strengthening their defences. 64 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:03,320 The Ukrainian capital Kiev lay on the far side of the river, 65 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,520 and would be almost impossible to capture by frontal assault. 66 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,400 Therefore General Vatutin, commanding the Voronezh Front, 67 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,160 decided on two flanking attacks from his bridgeheads across the river. 68 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,600 Throughout October, Vatutin s troops struggled 69 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:23,520 to fight their way out of the bridgeheads. 70 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,360 As winter came, it seemed the frontline itself had frozen solid. 71 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,880 So Vatutin decided to change the plan. He would target just one bridgehead, 72 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,160 and use all his armoured formations to smash his way out. 73 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:41,160 About 40,000 soldiers of the 3rd Guards Tank Army, 74 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:45,960 and hundreds of tanks, moved north under cover of darkness. 75 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,680 On the morning of 5th November the Red Army attacked, 76 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:10,840 immediately cutting the highway between Kiev and Zhytomir. 77 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,720 The Germans only escape route was blocked. Soon the first T-34s were in Kiev, 78 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,520 entering by the twisting road that runs through the ravines of the Nivki district. 79 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,400 Today this street is still called Tank Street. 80 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:31,880 In the city itself burning buildings, 81 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:35,800 tracer rounds and flares turned night into day. 82 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,080 The Red Army tank crews smashed their way into downtown Kiev. 83 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,440 The surviving Germans made a hasty exit. 84 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:58,720 By dawn the city was clear. 85 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,480 General Kravchenko s 4th Stalingrad Guards Tank Corps 86 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,320 could add another battle honour to their standard Kiev. 87 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,800 The Red Army liberated Kiev just one day 88 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,280 before the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, on 7th November. 89 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:30,680 There were rumours that Stalin had given Vatutin a clear order   90 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,960 take Kiev by the anniversary of the Revolution, at any cost. 91 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,240 But this was probably not true. 92 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:41,480 Otherwise Vatutin would have sent his tanks straight into Kiev. 93 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:45,440 But instead, he d chosen to first cut off the German escape route 94 00:10:46,680 --> 00:10:48,680 by encircling the city from the west. 95 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,320 That winter, Ukraine was to be the scene of ferocious fighting. 96 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,560 The vast open steppe, once frozen hard, was ideal terrain for tanks. 97 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,400 Both sides poured in their armoured reserves. 98 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,840 The Red Army s 6th Tank Army, the last to be created in the war, 99 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:16,880 was formed in January 1944. 100 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,800 It was to be led by the liberator of Kiev, General Andrey Kravchenko. 101 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,480 His new army received its basptism of fire within days. 102 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:39,080 By the beginning of 1944, 103 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:43,080 the Red Army had advanced as far as Zhytomir and Kirovograd. 104 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,240 But the Germans still held a bulge stretching east around the city of Kanev. 105 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,080 Hitler, with total disregard for the facts, 106 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:56,440 believed this could form a launchpad for a future German counter-offensive. 107 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,240 The Soviet High Command had its own plans for this bulge. 108 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,960 The Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Offensive began on 24th January 1944. 109 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:12,760 The attack was led by the 2nd Ukrainian Front. 110 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,880 Two days later, the 1st Ukrainian Front joined in on the opposite flank. 111 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,280 The attack was led by the 245 tanks 112 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:26,680 and self-propelled guns of Kravchenko s 6th Tank Army. 113 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,520 Self-propelled guns, or SPGs, 114 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:34,760 were heavy guns mounted on the chassis of a tank or some other vehicle. 115 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:39,640 They were a mobile form of artillery, 116 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:41,880 used to provide fire support to infantry and tanks. 117 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:47,600 Heavy versions like the Soviet SU-152 118 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,240 were also effective at knocking out German heavy tanks like the Tiger. 119 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:00,240 In just five days, Kravchenko s tanks had linked up 120 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:03,200 with Rotmistrov s 5th Guards Tank Army near the village of Zvenigorodka. 121 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,920 Almost 60,000 Germans had been encircled. 122 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,360 The trapped forces became known as Group Stemmermann, 123 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:14,480 after the general commanding them. 124 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:23,080 Two Soviet tank armies now turned south, prepared to repel any German rescue attempt. 125 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,960 The encircled Germans fought on, in the firm belief that help would arrive. 126 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:38,320 But all remembered the fate of Paulus s Sixth Army 127 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:39,400 at Stalingrad the previous winter. 128 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:51,720 General Konev, commanding the 2nd Ukrainian Front, 129 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:54,960 had promised Stalin just such another victory. 130 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,000 But Hitler was equally adamant that no such thing would occur. 131 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,920 He told the encircled men: You can rely on me as on a stone wall. 132 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,400 But for the present, stand firm and shoot as long as you have ammunition. 133 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,240 General Hube, commanding 1st Panzer Army, 134 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:16,720 radioed to Stemmermann simply: I shall release you. Hube. 135 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,600 Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe was able to resupply Group Stemmermann by air. 136 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,640 Relying on air resupply had been disastrous during the Battle of Stalingrad. 137 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,720 The Luftwaffe had not been able to get in enough supplies for 300,000 men. 138 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,280 But Group Stemmermann was a fifth of that size. 139 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:45,400 Meanwhile, von Manstein was assembling armoured units to make a rescue attempt. 140 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,760 He turned to the 3rd and 47th Panzerkorps, 141 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:57,560 commanded by Generals Nikolaus von Vormann and Herman Breith. 142 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,920 Hermann Breith was a highly experienced, 51 year old panzer general. 143 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,680 He was a veteran of the campaigns in Poland and France, 144 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:11,680 and had served with the Army General Staff during the invasion of the Soviet Union. 145 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,160 He then commanded a panzer division, 146 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:16,240 before leading 3rd Panzerkorps during the Battle of Kursk. 147 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:25,400 The Soviets came under attack from four German panzer divisions, 148 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:31,440 reinforced by 80 Tigers and Panthers of Heavy Panzer Regiment Bäke. 149 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:44,520 In February 1944, the Red Army s main tank was still the T-34 150 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,400 armed with a 76 millimetre gun. It was no match for these German heavy tanks. 151 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:56,840 The Germans captured the village of Lysianka, 152 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:00,800 but they were still a few miles short of breaking through to Group Stemmermann. 153 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:07,640 And now Red Army reinforcements arrived General Bogdanov s 2nd Tank Army. 154 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,520 Both sides found it extremely difficult to manoeuvre. 155 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,840 If previous winters had been unusually severe, this winter was remarkably mild. 156 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:21,080 Already the thaw had turned roads into rivers of mud. 157 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,880 The Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket 158 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:31,960 had become the decisive phase of the winter campaign. 159 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,600 And it was here that a fearsome new Soviet tank 160 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,200 made its first appearance the Iosef Stalin. 161 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:48,720 The Iosef Stalin or IS (EES) 2 tank was developed 162 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:50,160 as a direct response to the German Tiger. 163 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:56,520 Its front armour was 120mm thick, comparable to a Tiger. 164 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,160 And although less accurate and with a slower rate of fire, 165 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:04,040 its powerful 122 millimetre gun was a serious threat to German heavy tanks. 166 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:09,920 The IS-2 tanks were grouped into independent heavy tank regiments, 167 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,480 and assigned to crucial sectors of the front where a breakthrough was required. 168 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,240 They were particularly effective at storming German towns and cities in 1945. 169 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,320 Versions of the IS-2 tank were still in service 170 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:26,520 with the Russian army as late as 1995. 171 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,240 The first combat between IS-2s and Tigers and Panthers ended in stalemate. 172 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,400 The Germans held onto their gains, but could advance no further. 173 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:54,680 Group Stemmermann was bombarded with leaflets urging them to surrender. 174 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,320 General Seydlitz-Kurzbach, who d been captured at Stalingrad, 175 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,480 appealed to them by loudspeaker. He was now a committed anti-Nazi. 176 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,880 A Soviet envoy was despatched with proposed terms of surrender. But he was sent back. 177 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,680 Group Stemmermann knew it was now up to them to fight their way out of the pocket. 178 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,040 Fighting desperately, they got as far as Shenderovka 179 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,280 just 5 kilomeres short of 3rd Panzerkorps. 180 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:28,520 A furious Stalin telegraphed Zhukov: 181 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:33,600 The reason for the enemy s breakthrough was that the weak 27th Army 182 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,360 was not reinforced in a timely manner. , claimed Stalin. 183 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,160 Rotmistrov s tank army was hurriedly redeployed to ensure there was no breakout. 184 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,520 A February frost had frozen the ground hard, restoring momentum to operations. 185 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,600 Breith was able to renew his advance on Shenderovka. 186 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,960 At the forefront of the fighting was the 5th SS Panzer Divison "Viking", 187 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:02,880 recruited largely from Scandinavian volunteers. 188 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,920 But one by one, its vehicles were knocked out. 189 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,640 Fuel resupply by air was erratic, and often interrupted by bad weather. 190 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,200 Field Marshal von Manstein, commander of Army Group South, 191 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:23,840 well remembered the Stalingrad disaster. 192 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,440 There had been no attempt by the encircled troops to fight their way out. 193 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,400 This time, without consulting Hitler, he gave Stemmermann clear orders: 194 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,400 Group Stemmermann must make the breakthrough itself 195 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:39,520 to the line Zhurzhentsy Hill 239. 196 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:43,120 There it will link up with the 3rd Panzer Corps . 197 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:49,200 The encircled divisions prepared for the last stage of their breakout. 198 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:57,400 On the evening of 16 February, they destroyed heavy equipment and supplies, 199 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,600 and at dusk, began their advance. 200 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,120 The Belgian Nazi Léon Degrelle, 201 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:16,920 who commanded the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien, described the scene: 202 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,640 At 22.00, the Soviet batteries shelled the centre of the village. 203 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:26,040 The burning houses lit up the retreating troops as if it were daytime. 204 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,840 This made it easier for the Soviet artillery spotters to do their job. 205 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,360 Their shells fell onto our huge column. 206 00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:37,600 To survive, we had to drop into the snow every second. 207 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,840 That night, several units slipped through the lines to the 3rd Panzerkorps. 208 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:49,080 The next day Soviet attack aircraft were grounded by bad weather. 209 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,960 But most units had still not reached safety. 210 00:20:56,280 --> 00:21:00,160 Even worse, they found their rendez-vous at Hill 239 211 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,400 was still in Soviet hands, and heavily defended by T-34s. 212 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,320 The Germans were forced to bypass Hill 239, 213 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,640 but this put the Gniloy Tikich river between them and the safety of their own lines. 214 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,160 20,000 men were trapped on the wrong side of a fast-flowing river. 215 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:24,560 It was 30 metres wide, freezing cold, and there were no bridges. 216 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:41,600 T-34s were approaching from the north. 217 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:47,000 Desperate to escape, some men improvised rafts and lifelines to get across. 218 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,760 But many panicked, and hurled themselves into the icy water. 219 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,240 Hundreds were drowned. Many succumbed to shock or hypothermia. 220 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,920 In all, about half of Group Stemmermann managed to escape. 221 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:08,440 But there had been 30,000 German casualties. 222 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,680 Amongst them General Stemmermann himself, killed commanding the rearguard. 223 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,760 It could have been much worse for the Germans. 224 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,960 The "Stalingrad on the Dnieper" that Konev had promised had failed to materialise. 225 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,360 But it was still a heavy defeat for the Wehrmacht. 226 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:48,160 Step by step, river by river, the Red Army was forcing the invader back. 227 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:17,040 The Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket 228 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,160 was only a prologue to Soviet success in Ukraine. 229 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,560 The heavy losses sustained there by German panzer divisions 230 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:27,200 meant Army Group South could no longer mount effective counterattacks. 231 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:34,080 As the battle raged around the pocket, the 1st Ukrainian Front 232 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:38,320 was fighting its way westwards, to liberate the cities of Rovno and Lutsk. 233 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,560 Instead of tanks, General Vatutin was able to exploit 234 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:48,360 his success with old fashioned cavalry. 235 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:52,680 As they swept forwards through the villages of Ukraine, 236 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,080 another salient was formed, hanging over German Army Group South. 237 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:05,560 The Soviet High Command moved two tank armies into this salient, 238 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:09,600 intending to launch them southwards against the rear of General Hube s 1st Panzer Army. 239 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,040 The offensive began on 22nd March 1944. 240 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:25,040 Three days later, 200,000 men of 1st Panzer Army were encircled. 241 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,280 This new German pocket was centred on the city of Kamenets-Podolsky. 242 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:36,320 Hitler ordered the Second SS panzer corps to be sent from France 243 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,400 to rescue Hube s Panzer Army. 244 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:48,680 With the help of these reinforcements, and Hube s skillful handling of his troops, 245 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:50,600 the 1st Panzer Army fought its way out the trap. 246 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,440 But most of their vehicles and heavy equipment had to be left behind. 247 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:01,920 The rampant success of the Red Army in Ukraine 248 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:04,800 had dramatic strategic implications. 249 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,520 One was that the German High Command became convinced 250 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,560 that the great Soviet summer offensive of 1944 would be launched in Ukraine. 251 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,840 So it was here that they rushed their tank and aircraft reserves. 252 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,320 But the Red Army s summer offensive, codenamed Operation Bagration, 253 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:32,000 would be launched in Byelorussia. 254 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,280 It resulted in the liberation of Minsk, 255 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,120 and the annihilation of German Army Group Centre. 256 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,640 German panzer reserves had to be rushed north to shore up the line. 257 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:57,120 The two remaining German panzer divisions in Ukraine 258 00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:00,000 were moved to the rear and put under General Breith s command. 259 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,000 They were to be held back to counterattack any Soviet offensive. 260 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:15,160 On 14th July 1944, the 1st Ukrainian Front attacked towards the city of Lvov. 261 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,880 Breith s armoured reserve moved forward to counterattack 262 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,480 But the Soviets now also controlled the air. 263 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,560 On the march , wrote General von Mellenthin, 264 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:36,320 the 8th Panzer Division, moving in long columns, was attacked by Russian aviation. 265 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,960 It sustained great losses. Many tanks and trucks were burned. 266 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,280 All hopes of a counterattack collapsed. 267 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,320 The 1st Ukrainian Front s advance 268 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,400 led to the encirclement of the German 8th Army Corps near the town of Brody. 269 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:06,760 Amongst its units was the 14th Waffen SS Grenadier Division "Galicia . 270 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:14,320 The 14th SS Division was called in German Galizien , in Ukrainian Halychyna . 271 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,280 Its recruits were anti-Bolshevik volunteers from Galicia, 272 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:21,400 a historic region of western Ukraine. 273 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:26,440 In July 1944 the division was 15,000 strong. 274 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:31,040 It was commanded by a German SS-Brigadefuhrer Fritz Freitag. 275 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:40,280 In 1943 it had been engaged in anti-partisan operations. 276 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,640 In the summer of 1944, it was at the front for the first time. 277 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,240 General von Mellenthin described how: 278 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,600 The SS Division Galicia, holding positions in the woods, could not hold firm, 279 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,240 so the Russians penetrated deeply into the left flank of our corps. 280 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:11,200 There was to be no breakout from the Brody pocket. 281 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,280 The survivors surrendered to the Red Army 4 days after their encirclement. 282 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,960 The SS Division Galicia was reformed around the 3,000 men 283 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:24,280 who escaped the catastrophe at Brody. 284 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:27,840 It was later used to fight partisans in Yugoslavia. 285 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,600 The division surrendered to the western Allies in May 1945. 286 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,000 Thanks to the influence of the Vatican, which viewed the men of the Galicia division 287 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,560 as good Catholics and devoted anti-communists, 288 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:44,800 its members were able to avoid extradition to the Soviet Union. 289 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,680 Instead many settled in Britain and Canada. 290 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:55,120 Now Soviet tank armies raced towards Lvov. 291 00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,680 But the Germans had reorganised their defences, 292 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,760 and were able to repel a direct assault on the city. 293 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:06,400 Soviet forces began to outflank the city from north and south. 294 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,080 The news that Soviet tanks had been sighted west of the city caused panic. 295 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,160 The Germans abandoned the city. 296 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,800 The Red Army crossed the border of the USSR almost unopposed. 297 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,800 At the end of July, they captured the Sandomierz bridgehead 298 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:30,120 across the Vistula river. 299 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,920 This would become the launch pad for the final offensive into Germany. 300 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:45,640 The southern flank of the Eastern Front might have become a sideshow, 301 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,000 if it hadn t been for the vital factor of the Romanian oil fields. 302 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:53,080 They were essential to the German war machine. 303 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:57,080 Hitler would defend this resource at any cost. 304 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,520 But he rejected a proposal to retreat to a new line based on the Carpathian mountains, 305 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:09,800 as suggested by Hitler s ally, the Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu. 306 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:14,960 The only way through the mountains was an 80 kilometre-wide valley, 307 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:22,240 known as the Focsani Gate. Here, Antonesu was building 1,500 concrete pillboxes. 308 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,720 Romania could have been turned into a formidable fortress. 309 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,160 But Hitler was utterly inflexible on all questions of retreat. 310 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:40,160 In the summer of 1944, the Romanian front followed the Dniester river. 311 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:43,520 It was held by the German 6th Army. 312 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:47,640 The 6th Army was formed in October 1939. 313 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:53,400 The next year it marched into France, and helped to seize the French capital. 314 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,800 In 1941 it led Army Group South s invasion of Ukraine, 315 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,640 but 19 months later it was destroyed at Stalingrad. 316 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,440 The army was re-formed the following month under General Hollidt. 317 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,400 It might have been thought that the Number 6 was unlucky for the Germans. 318 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:15,840 But the army wanted to forget the catastrophe it had suffered at Stalingrad, 319 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:19,760 and instead, revive the fighting spirit of its first years. 320 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,640 This was the army that had marched victoriously through Paris, 321 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,840 and advanced fearlessly through Ukraine. Now it would defend Romanian oil. 322 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,080 Ironically, the 6th Army had the same neighbours as it had at Stalingrad. 323 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,760 Its flanks were held by the Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies. 324 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:52,160 The Stavka High Command planned another massive encirclement. 325 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,480 The 2nd Ukrainian Front under General Malinovsky 326 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:01,400 and the 3rd Ukrainian front under General Tolbukhin were to deliver 327 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,880 converging thrusts in order to encircle German troops on the Dniester River. 328 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,680 Kravchenko s 6th Tank Army was transferred to the 2nd Ukrainian Front. 329 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:17,000 It had not been in action for several months. It was rested and re-equipped, 330 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,920 bristling with more than 400 tanks and self-propelled guns. 331 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,320 This was the only Soviet tank army in south-eastern Europe. 332 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,360 Its role was to make the breakthough to the Romanian oil fields, 333 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:32,640 before leading the advance on Hungary and Austria. 334 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:40,800 Meanwhile the other Soviet tank armies would lead the advance into Germany. 335 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:45,720 Soviet preparations were made in complete secrecy. 336 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,600 The Stavka s main concern was that the enemy would withdraw to the Focsani Gate 337 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,240 before the offensive was unleashed. 338 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:04,120 By 1944 the Red Army were masters of camouflage and concealment. 339 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:07,400 The Germans on the Dniester River detected no build up of Soviet strength. 340 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:17,640 In mid August, General Fretter-Pico, commander of the German 6th Army, 341 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:19,760 reported that all was quiet on his front. 342 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,040 Little did he realise it was the calm before the storm. 343 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:42,920 The Soviet offensive across the Dniester began on 20th August 1944. 344 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,080 One German officer remembered, 345 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,720 The divisional headquarters came under heavy Soviet artillery fire. 346 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,040 From our vantage point, it seemed the entire Dniester valley was covered 347 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:59,240 with a dense cloud of smoke. The sun was completely blotted out. 348 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:14,000 Romanian and German units were soon in complete disarray. In particular, 349 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,640 they lacked the anti-tank defences to meet this onslaught of Soviet armour. 350 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:29,280 On the third day of fighting, the 6th Army was ordered to retreat. 351 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:36,680 By then most of its escape routes had already been cut off. And as they withdrew, 352 00:34:36,720 --> 00:34:39,800 columns of German troops were strafed and bombed by Soviet aircraft. 353 00:34:42,720 --> 00:34:46,080 The 6th Army raced to get back across the River Prut. 354 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,960 But as retreating Geman units approached the town of Husi, 355 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:53,640 they ran straight into Red Army T-34s, entering town on the other road. 356 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:02,520 The tanks caused carnage amongst the retreating lorries and wagons. 357 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:18,840 The next day, white flares were greeted with cheers from the Red Army soldiers. 358 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,280 It meant that the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts had linked up. 359 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,080 The Soviets had encircled the German 6th Army once again. 360 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:36,120 The German and Romanian survivors were falling back to the River Siret. 361 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:43,040 The offensive had been a stunning Soviet success. 362 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,400 Meanwhile, the 22 year old King Michael of Romania 363 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:50,440 summoned Marshal Antonescu to his palace. 364 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:55,640 He asked Antonescu to take the country out of its alliance with Nazi Germany. 365 00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,120 When he refused, the king had him arrested. 366 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:06,720 With a guarantee from the USSR that Romanian independence would be respected, 367 00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:08,520 Romania joined the Allies. 368 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,760 Within days, the Romanian Army was fighting the Germans. 369 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:23,680 There were still significant German forces in Romania, 370 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:26,640 particularly guarding the Ploesti oil fields. 371 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:32,400 The Germans used these to try and overturn the Romanian Royalist coup. 372 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:34,320 But they were repulsed by the Romanian army. 373 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:43,360 Now Kravchenko s 6th Tank Army received orders 374 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,040 to advance rapidly on the Focsani Gate, to deny the enemy any chance to regroup. 375 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,400 His tanks raced ahead, 376 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:52,600 passing fortifications abandoned by the Romanian army. 377 00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:05,640 Three days later, T-34s reached the Ploesti oil fields. 378 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,200 The next day, they reached the Romanian capital, Bucharest. 379 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:15,680 The surviving German forces in Romania had one way out: 380 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:18,040 across the Carpathian mountains to Hungary. 381 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:24,840 Few units managed to escape. 382 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:28,320 After several unsuccessful attempts to break out of its encriclement, 383 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,560 German 6th Army was overwhelmed in September 1944. 384 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,480 To defeat Paulus s 6th Army at Stalingrad had taken 2 months. 385 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:45,080 To defeat Fretter-Pico s 6th Army in Romania had taken just 2 weeks. 386 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:50,000 For this brilliant victory, Stalin awarded the 6th Tank Army 387 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:51,840 the coveted title, "Guards". 388 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,120 It was just 8 months since the unit had been formed. 389 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:07,800 That autumn of 1944, while operations wound down on the rest of the Eastern Front, 390 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:10,600 the Battle of Hungary roared into life. 391 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:15,920 Here Hitler was desperate to hang onto his last remaining oil fields. 392 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:22,840 The Soviet advance westwards through the Carpathians 393 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:26,760 was slowed by difficult terrain and bad roads. 394 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:32,360 What s more, Romania used a different railway gauge to the Soviet Union. 395 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:38,800 It meant all supplies arriving by rail had to be transfered onto new wagons. 396 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:44,840 These logistical problems slowed the Red Army s advance more than the enemy. 397 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:49,600 But nevertheless, it rolled steadily onwards, 398 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:51,800 towards the Hungarian capital, Budapest. 399 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,200 Meanwhile, Hitler had ordered his armoured reserves to Hungary. 400 00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:12,000 Amongst them was General Breith s reinforced 3rd Panzer Corps. 401 00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:19,640 With 6th Guards Tank Army leading the way, 402 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:22,080 the 2nd Ukrainian Front was closing in on Budapest. 403 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,360 But a direct attack on the city had been ruled out. 404 00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:34,720 The Hungarian capital was to be encircled. On 29th October 1944, 405 00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:40,680 6th Guards Tank Army began its advance along the right bank of the Danube, 406 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:42,880 scattering the German forces in its path. 407 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:48,520 In the south, the 3rd Ukrainian Front crossed the Danube 408 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:53,880 and encircled Budapest from the west. The trap closed on Christmas Day, 1944. 409 00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:01,120 The German reverses near Budapest caused Hitler to reshuffle his commanders. 410 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:07,200 The 6th Army, reformed once again, was placed under the command 411 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:10,720 of General Hermann Balck. Its mission was to lift the siege of Budapest. 412 00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:19,440 To achieve this goal, 6th Army was reinforced with two SS Panzer Corps, 413 00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:24,600 redeployed from Poland. Hitler s chief of staff, Heinz Guderian, 414 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:28,360 objected strongly to weakening the central front. But Hitler was adamant. 415 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:34,320 Fierce fighting raged throughout January 1945, 416 00:40:35,720 --> 00:40:38,520 as SS panzer units tried but failed to break the siege. 417 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,960 Soviet ultimatums sent to the garrison were rejected. 418 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:47,480 The fighting that followed destroyed most of the city, 419 00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:49,560 and killed nearly 40,000 civilians. 420 00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:54,640 The garrison finally surrendered on 13th February, 1945. 421 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:01,680 On 7th January, Soviet tanks reached the Danube bridges near Komárno, 422 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,240 on route to the Hungarian oil refineries. 423 00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:08,960 But Hitler, increasingly isolated and delusional, 424 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:11,440 had not given up hope in Hungary. 425 00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:17,480 He planned to send in the massed elite panzer formations of the Third Reich, 426 00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:19,960 now organised into the 6th SS Panzer Army. 427 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:26,640 After securing his oil supplies, Hitler planned to use the SS Panzer Army 428 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:30,120 to hurl back the Soviets from the gates of Berlin. 429 00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:35,560 Soviet forces in Hungary would face the best units still left in the Wehrmacht. 430 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,720 But by tieing them down in the south, it meant these elite SS formations 431 00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:44,760 would not be available for the decisive battle around Berlin. 432 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:53,120 The movement of the SS Panzer Army did not pass unnoticed by Soviet radio intelligence. 433 00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:57,640 To counter this threat, the 3rd Ukrainian Front 434 00:41:57,640 --> 00:42:00,720 was hurriedly reinforced with SU-100 tank destroyers. 435 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:05,760 These vechicles were specifically designed for taking out German heavy tanks. 436 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:12,680 The 3rd Ukrainian Front received 80 SU-100s. 437 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:18,040 It now had more than any other Soviet Front, even those advancing on Berlin. 438 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:23,600 The SU-100 self-propelled gun was a dedicated tank destroyer. 439 00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,240 It was built on the same chassis as the T-34 tank, 440 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,400 but had a forward-facing 100 mm gun. 441 00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:35,160 This fearsome weapon could penetrate the front armour of a German Panther 442 00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:39,840 at 1500 metres. Mass production only began in September 1944. 443 00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:48,840 The last German offensive of World War II was launched at Lake Balaton, 444 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:52,040 and stopped by the concentrated fire of Soviet self-propelled guns. 445 00:42:56,360 --> 00:43:00,720 With the German assault blunted, Soviet tanks launched their counter-attack. 446 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:10,760 The huge numerical advantage of the Red Army meant that it was able 447 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:12,640 to constantly threaten the enemy with outflanking and encirclement. 448 00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:19,240 The SS panzer army retreated all the way to Austria, 449 00:43:19,240 --> 00:43:21,280 where they prepared a desperate defence of the capital. 450 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:31,240 But on 13th April, after several days of fierce street fighting, 451 00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:34,040 Vienna fell to the Red Army. 452 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:39,760 But this was not the last battle for the men of the 6th Guards Tank Army. 453 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:53,040 Even as the Soviet Victory banner fluttered over the Reichstag in Berlin, 454 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:58,160 Field Marshal Scörner s Army Group Centre fought on in Czechoslovakia. 455 00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:07,640 The 6th Guards Tank Army raced on towards Prague. 456 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:12,680 They were joined by tanks of the 1st Ukrainian Front, advancing from the south. 457 00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:22,040 The two Soviet Fronts met at the Czech capital, 458 00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:25,160 encircling Army Group Centre, and forcing its surrender. 459 00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:41,680 In Czechoslovakia, the Red Army captured 900,000 soldiers of the Wehrmacht, 460 00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:44,280 including 60 generals. 461 00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:49,080 Victory was complete in the south. 462 00:44:49,960 --> 00:44:52,680 But in the meantime, a ferocious 463 00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:56,440 and desperate battle had been raging in the north. 464 00:44:56,440 --> 00:45:00,480 It was the climactic battle of the war the final objective of the Red Army 465 00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:04,880 the Battle for Berlin.