Timeline 1945

12th Jan: Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front launches a major winter offensive from its Vistula bridgehead at Baranov in southern Poland. The 3rd Guards and 4th Tank Armies advance up to 20km.

13th Jan: Forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front begin their assault into East Prussia.

14th Jan: Bursting out of the Magnuszew bridgehead over the Vistula River south of Warsaw, the 1st Guards Tank Army drives towards the Polish cities of Lodz and Poznan. The attack achieves a breakthrough, which the 5th Shock Army manages to exploit, advancing up to 12km, seizing a bridge over the Pilitsa River.Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front begins an offensive from its Narev bridgehead against Elbing in East Prussia.

17th Jan: The Russian 47th Army assaults across the Vistula, forcing the Germans to evacuate Warsaw, which is liberated the same day by the 1st Polish Army. The German defenders encircled at Budapest withdraw to Buda on the western bank of the Danube.

18th Jan: German troops of the 17th Army begin to evacuate Krakow. A German offensive begins from Lake Balaton, with the aim of lifting the Red Army's siege of Budapest.

19th Jan: The Russians cross the 1939 Poland-Silesia frontier capturing Krakow. Red Army forces of the 8th Guards Army capture Lodz.

20th January: Elements of the 3rd Guards Tank and 52nd Armies cross the German frontier in Upper Silesia.

21st Jan: Tannenburg is captured by the Red Army, but only after the Germans removed Hindenburg's coffin and destroy the war memorial.

22nd January: Elements of the 8th Guards Army encircle 60,000 Germans in the city of Poznan.

23rd Jan: The 5th Guards Tank Army enters Elbing on the Baltic coast and Konev reaches the river Oder in Silesia. The Kriegsmarine begins the evacuation by sea of hundreds of thousands of civilian refugees from East Prussia and the Danzig area, the Red Army having cut all land communications with the rest of Germany.

24th Jan: German forces begin evacuating Slovakia. The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Oppeln and Gleiwitz in Upper Silesia.

25th Jan: Zhukov cuts off the Fortress city of Posen, encircling some 66,000 German troops.

26th Jan: Hitler gives Himmler command of Army Group Vistula. The Russians isolate three German armies in East Prussia. The Red Army captures Kattowitz in Upper Silesia.

27th Jan: Russians troops of the 1st Baltic Front capture Memel on Baltic Coast after the German evacuation, which now leaves the whole of Lithuania in Russian hands. German forces begin evacuating the vital coal mining and industrial region of Upper Silesia.

30th Jan: On the twelfth anniversary of his coming to power, Hitler calls for fanatical resistance by soldiers and civilians alike.

31st Jan: The 1st Belorussian Fronts 2nd Guards Tank Army, establishes a bridgehead on the Oder, to the north of Küstrin and less than 40 miles from Berlin.

1st Feb: Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front surround the fortress town of Küstrin. The same Fronts 1st Guards tank Army secures a further bridgehead on the Oder to the north of Frankfurt. Since the 20th January, the Kriegsmarine has evacuated 140,000 civilian refugees and 18,000 wounded soldiers by sea from East Prussia.

2nd Feb: The 1st Belorussian Front reaches the Oder to the South of Frankfurt. Forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front trap the 3rd Panzer Army in the area of Konigsberg and the Samland Peninsula.

4th Feb: A summit conference between Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt opens at Yalta in the Crimea. There they discuss plans for the treatment of post war Germany, its division into zones of occupation, reparations and the future Polish western border.

6th Feb: The 1st Belorussian Front makes further advances, reaching the Oder between Küstrin and Frankfurt.

7th Feb: Russian attacks north of Königsberg are blocked with the help of naval gunfire by the cruisers Scheer and Lützow.

8th Feb: Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front breaks out of its Oder bridgehead north of Breslau.

10th Feb: The 2nd Belorussian Front attacks from its bridgeheads on the Vistula River towards Neustett. The 1st Ukrainian front reaches the Neisse River, encircling Glogau and capturing Liegnitz. The remaining defenders of Budapest, some 16,000 men, try to break out from the city, although most are killed or captured.

11th Feb: The Yalta Conference ends. The Red Army encircles the fortress city of Küstrin on the Oder.

12th Feb: Thus far, the Kriegsmarine has evacuated 374,000 German refugees by sea from East and West Prussia.

13th Feb: The Russians finally capture Budapest. The Red Army also captures Schneidemül in Pomerania.

14th Feb: The 1st Ukrainian Front encircles Breslau, which has been declared a fortress under the command of Gauleiter Hanke.

15th Feb: Russian troops are now covering the approaches to Danzig. The Red Army captures Sagan in Silesia. The German 11th SS Army begins a counterattack 'Operation Sonnenwende' with three Corps, the 39th Panzer, 3rd SS Panzer and the 10th SS. However, only the 3rd SS Panzer Corps is ready and begins its attack against the 47th and 61st Armies near Stargard.

16th Feb: The remaining Corps of the 11th SS Army launch their attacks in support of 'Operation Sonnenwende'.

18th Feb: The Red Army encircles Graudenz on the Vistula. Troops of the 11th SS Army are brought to a standstill by stiffening Russian resistance to 'Operation Sonnenwende'.

19th Feb: German forces re-establish communications between Königsberg and the port of Pillau, thus again enabling tens of thousands of German refugees to be evacuated to the west by ships of the Kriegsmarine. 'Operation Sonnenwende' is finally suspended in the face of ever strengthening Red Army resistance.

20th Feb: Red Army attacks against the lines of Army Group Courland fail in the face of stubborn German resistance.

23rd Feb: The Russians capture the fortress of Posen after a month-long siege.

24th Feb: A German counter attack wipes out the Russian Hron bridgehead over the Danube to the northwest of Budapest. The
2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts renew their offensives towards the Baltic coast.

26th Feb: Army Group Courland repulses heavy Red Army attacks in the area of Prekuln.

27th Feb: Under Russian pressure, Rumanian King Michael the 1st, is forced to appoint a Communist government.

28th Feb: The 2nd Belorussian Front captures Neustettin. The Red Army suspends all further offensive operations against the lines of Army Group Courland.

March

1st March: Units of Army Group Centre launch a limited counter attack and recapture Lauban in lower Silesia.

4th March: The First Belorussian Front breaks through at Stargard and drives towards Stettin, establishing a new bridgehead across the Oder to the South of Frankfurt.

5th March: The German 2nd Army is cut off in Pomerania as the Russian 19th Army reaches the Baltic. The fortress city of Graudenz on the Vistula surrenders to troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front.

6th March: The 6th Army and 6th SS Panzer Armies launch a major counter-attack against the 3rd Ukrainian Front from Lake Balaton towards Budapest.

8th March: The Red Army penetrates into the southern suburbs of Breslau.

10th March: Elements of the 2nd Belorussian Front capture Zoppot, during its attack towards Danzig. The Kriegsmarine evacuates 25,000 civilian refugees from the besieged Baltic fortress of Kolberg in Pomerania.

11th March: The Red Army advances towards Gotenhafen, a vital port of embarkation for tens of thousands of refugees from East Prussia.

13th March: The 2nd Belorussian Front launches an offensive against the Braunsberg pocket to the South of Königsberg.

14th March: German counterattacks to recapture the oilfields near Lake Balaton come to an end. The Red Army cuts all communications between Königsberg and the German forces fighting in the Braunsberg pocket.

15th March: The 1st Ukrainian Front begins an offensive in the Ratibor area of Upper Silesia.

16th March: The 3rd Ukrainian Front counter attacks the German offensive towards Budapest.

18th March: Kolberg falls to the Polish 1st Army, of the 2nd Belorussian Front, although the Germans manage to evacuate 80,000 refugees and wounded first.

20th March: German troops of Army Group Weichsel evacuate their bridgehead across the Oder at Stettin. Elements of the 2nd Belorussian Front capture Braunsberg, 40 miles South of Königsberg.

21st March: The Russians capture Stuhlweissenburg in Hungary, as the German 44th Infantry Division retreats from the town.

22nd March: The 8th Guards Army encircles the fortress city of Kustrin.

23rd March: Elements of the 2nd Belorussian Front reach the outskirts of Danzig and Gotenhafen.

24th March: The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Neisse in Upper Silesia.

26th March: Russians forces capture Papa and Devecser, both German strong points covering the approaches to the Austrian border. The Reichsführer-SS is replaced by General Heinrici as Commander in Chief of Army Group Weichsel.

27th March: Bitter street fighting in Danzig as the Russians force their way into the city's defenses. A counterattack by elements of the German 9th Army, from the Frankfurt bridgehead toward Küstrin, advances to within a few miles of the city's outskirts.

28th March: The 1st Belorussian Front captures Gotenhafen (Gdynia) north of Danzig, along with 9,000 prisoners, after a long struggle. Hitler replaces General Guderian with General Krebs as chief of OKH.

29th March: Troops of the 1st Belorussian Front finally capture the fortress town of Küstrin against desperate German resistance. The Russians seize the oilfields South of Komorn in Hungary, the last source of petroleum for the German war effort.

30th March: Russians troops finally capture Danzig, along with 45 U-boats and 10,000 prisoners. Breslau and Glogau are surrounded, 180 miles South East of Berlin. Russian troops cross the Austrian border to the North of Koszeg. German troops of Army Group Weichsel evacuate their last remaining bridgehead at Wollin to the North of Stettin.

31st March: The Russians enters German territory near Sopron in Hungary. The Russian capture Ratibor in Upper Silesia.

April

1st April: The 3rd Ukrainian Front captures Sopron in Hungary, a vital road junction between Budapest and Vienna and also reaches Wiener Neustadt as it continues its advance toward Vienna. The fighting in Breslau continues.

2nd April: The 3rd Ukrainian Front and Bulgarian forces capture Nagykanizsa, thereby gaining control of the main Hungarian oil production region. The 2nd Ukrainian front under conquers the industrial area of Mosonmagyarovar and reaches the Austrian border between Dounau and the Neusiedler Lake.

3rd April: The Austrian resistance leader Major Szokoll and Russian military authorities confer about co-operation on the Russian offensive against Vienna. The 2nd Ukrainian Front approaches close to Vienna. The Russians breaches the German defensive lines between Wiener Neustadt and Neusiedler Lake.

4th April: The Russian 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts complete the liberation of Hungary. Troops of the 2nd Ukrainian front capture Bratislava. The Germans forces counterattack in Moravska-Ostrava and Nitra.

5th April: The 3rd Ukrainian Front reaches the railway North West of Vienna, cutting the rail link with Linz.

6th April: Preceded by a tremendous artillery and air bombardment, the 3rd Belorussian Front begins its final assault against Königsberg. The Battle for Vienna also begins.

7th April: Army Group Centre, under General Schörner, continues with its attacks against the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts.

8th April: The 2nd Ukrainian Front continues its advance into northern Czechoslovakia and establishes bridgeheads across the Morava and Donau Rivers. Heavy fighting continues in the centre of Vienna. The Red Air Force drops 1500 tons of bombs on Königsberg.

9th April: The Russians secure Königsberg, after its commander, General Lasch, surrenders.

10th April: With the battle of Vienna ongoing, the German 6th SS Panzer Army succeeds in defeating fierce Russian attacks to the west of Baden. The besieged Germans in Breslau continue to hold out against repeated Russian attacks.

11th April: Russians forces reach the centre of Vienna, capturing the parliament and town hall buildings.

13th April: Elements of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts complete the capture of Vienna.

14th April: The 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts begin reconnaissance in force actions along their main axes, in preparation for the advance towards Berlin.

15th April: The 3rd Ukrainian Front occupies Radkesburg during its offensive against the industrial area of Mührisch-Ostrau in Moravia. The 2nd Ukrainian Front attacks towards Brno in Czechoslovakia.

16th April: The 1st Belorussian Front opens its assault from its Oder bridgeheads against the Seelow Heights, as the final offensive towards Berlin begins.

17th April: The battle for Berlin escalates a breakthrough is made by the 1st Ukrainian Front . However, the 1st Belorussian Fronts offensive against Berlin is stalled by tenacious German resistance on the Seelow Heights, 2 miles West of the Oder, with great losses of troops and tanks for the Russians. The situation for the German 6th SS Panzer Army in Austria is now critical at St.Polten. The Russians occupies Wilhelmsburg.

18th April: Between Stettin and Schwedt, the 2nd Belorussian Front opens its offensive against the 3rd Panzer Army. The 1st Ukrainian Front captures Forst on the Neisse River, north of Frankfurt. The 1st Belorussian Front continues its attack to take the Seelow Heights, gradually wearing down the vastly outnumbered German defenders.

19th April: The 1st Belorussian Front finally breaks through the German defences on the Seelow heights, despite heavy losses in men and material.

20th April: Russian artillery begins to shell Berlin. Elements of the German 9th Army mount desperate counterattacks both north and south of Frankfurt an der Oder. In Czechoslovakia the Russian pressure increases at Moravska-Ostrava and Brno.

21st April: The 1st Ukrainian Front's 3rd Guards Army captures Cottbus, 70 miles southeast of Berlin. German troops still hold out in the port of Pillau.

22nd April: Hitler announces to his staff that he has decided to stay in Berlin to the end. By the end of the day, elements of the 1st Belorussian Front have penetrated into the northern and eastern suburbs of Berlin.

25th April: The Russian 58th Guards Rifle Division and U.S. 69th Infantry Division meet at Torgau on the Elbe River, 60 miles West of Berlin. Russian units of the 1st Belorussian Front's 47th Army and the 1st Ukrainian Fronts 4th Guards Tank Army meet at Ketzen, to the west of Berlin. In the suburbs, Tegel is captured by elements of the 47th Army and Reinickendorf by the 12th Guards Tank Corps. A relief attack by the 3rd Panzer Corps from the area of Eberswalde, 50 miles northeast of Berlin fails.

26th April: The 2nd Belorussian front captures Stettin on the river Oder, while the 3rd Belorussian Front captures the Baltic port of Pillau, 20 miles West of Königsberg. General Wenck embarks on the last German offensive to relieve Berlin, but only manages to reach Ferch on the 27th April, before the offensive grinds to a halt. The remnants of 9th Army are cut off and surrounded in the Halbe pocket, 30 miles southwest of Frankfurt am der Oder. The 2nd Ukrainian Front captures Brno, in Czechoslovakia.

27th April: The Russian 13th Army reaches Wittenberge on the Elbe River. Russian forces reach the Alexanderplatz in Berlin and Spandau is taken. The 2nd Belorussian front advances in Pomerania, seizing Prenzlau and Angermunde, 70 miles northwest of Berlin. The German 9th Army tries to reach Berlin from the southeast and begins a counterattack at Zossen. The German 20th Army does the same southeast of Belzig.

28th April: Russian forces are fighting in the Wilhelmstrasse and reach the Anhalt Station, which is just half a mile from the Führerbunker.

29th April: During the night Hitler marries Eva Braun, writes a will and appoints Admiral Donitz as his successor. The 2nd Belorussian front advances fast in the Stralsund direction and seizes Anklam. In Berlin furious fighting takes place around the Reichstag, Chancellery and along Potsdamer Strasse.

30th April: With the Red Army only a few hundred yards away, Hitler commits suicide, with Eva Braun, in the Reich Chancellery bunker at 15:30hrs and their bodies are immediately incinerated with gasoline by SS bodyguards. Units of the Red Army erect the Red Flag on top of the Reichstag building. As the final Russian assault on the Tiergarten begins, Goebbels and Bormann send General Krebs, Chief of the General Staff to the headquarters of Marshal Zhukov with a permit to make an armistice. Zhukov refuses and demands an unconditional surrender. Troops of the 4th Ukrainian front capture Moravska Ostrava. Fighting continues in Breslau, as the German garrison refuses to surrender.

May

1st May: Grossadmiral Dönitz, following the death of Hitler, assumes his duties as the new German head of state.

2nd May: General Weidling, commander of the Berlin Garrison, meets with General Chuikov and accepts his terms of unconditional surrender of Berlin. The garrison in Berlin, surrenders to the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts at 3pm local time.

3rd May: The Russians make contact with the British 21st Army in the Wismar area and the U.S. 9th Army at Schwerin.

5th May: A civilian uprising begins in Prague and is aided by defecting units of the anti-Bolshevist Vlasov Army.

6th May: Breslau surrenders after an 82-day siege, during which the Russians inflicted 29,000 civilian and military casualties and took more than 40,000 prisoners.

7th May: The German Chief-of-Staff, General Jodl, signs the unconditional surrender to the Russians and western allies at 2.41am. Operations are to cease 1 minute after 12pm GMT on the 8th of May 1945.

8th May: In deference to the Russians, the surrender ceremony to the western allies at Rheims of the previous day, is repeated before Marshall Zhukov and other Russian generals at Karlshorst, a suburb of Berlin. After radio appeals early in the day for protection against heavy German shelling, the Prague resistance reaches an agreement with the Germans for the capitulation of the city, as the U.S. 4th Armoured Division approaches from the west and Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front approaches from the east. The last convoys of German refugees from Eastern Germany arrive in western Baltic ports, ending the largest rescue operation by sea in history. Since the 25th January, a total of 420,000 civilians and wounded soldiers have been evacuated.

9th May: Stalin announces the end of war. German forces of Army Group Courland surrender.

11th May: The Red Army launches a final assault against the remnants of Army Group Centre, which is still holding out in Moravia.

13th May: The last pockets of German resistance in Czechoslovakia are crushed by the Red Army.

June

24th June: A great victory parade in Moscow's Red Square, sees Zhukov takes the salute in Stalin's presence.