October 1944

Eastern Front

The Soviet 8th Army lands on Hiumi. The Germans give up the islands relatively easily, Dago being cleared.

Bitter fighting rages on the road to Belgrade. Elements of the 46th Army, approaching Belgrade from the northeast, reach Pancevo but meet stubborn resistance from Army Group F. Gagen's 57th link up with Tito's partisans at Negotin as the German Serbia Group is defeated.

Between June and September 1944 the Soviet Army had infliceted a series of crushing defeats upon the Ostheer. The loss of Belorussia and Army Group Center dealt a crushing blow to the German Army, but the destruction of Army Group South Ukraine in Romania brought it to its knees. Soviet forces have moved from reconquest of their own territory to conquest of the occupied states of Eastern Europe. However, the 'liberation' did not come soon enough for the Poles in Warsaw. Whether Stalin held back the Soviet armies before the city will remain a matter for debate. What is undeniable was the build up of German forces around the city at the time of the rebellion, and the exhausted state of the Soviet forces.

The defection of Rumania and Bulgaria during the Balkan campaign and the negotiated peace made by Finland had stripped Germany of her eastern allies. Only Hungary remained in the field, press-ganged into the defense of her territory.
For the Soviet Union their objective was in sight. Germany's borders had been breached and Soviet troops were poised to attack from the Baltic to the Adriatic. The massive prepondernance of Soviet arms no longer brought the conclusion into any doubt. It was now merely the application of this force that remained.