March 1945

Eastern Front

The 3rd Belorussian Front captures Heiligenbeil after a long battle. Muller's 4th Army is pressed back into a narrow strip of land against the Baltic coast. The main points of resistance are around the small settlements of Laysuhnen, Rosenberg and Balga.

The 19th Army attacks the outer defenses at Gotenhafen while the 2nd Shock Army hits Danzig.

The German 8th Army is hit by a new attack as the 2nd Ukrainian Front, launching an offensive across the Hron River aimed at Bratislava. Units of the 53rd, 7th Guards and 1st Rumanian Armies cross the river and establish a strong bridgehead, enabling Mobile Group Pliev to break through the main line of German resistance and press into the interior. The 5th Air Army provides overwhelming air support, hitting anything that moved on the German side of the line. On the far right wing, the 40th and 4th Rumanian Armies also attack, their target being the Hron at Banska Bystrica.

In Hungary Papa falls to leading units of the 6th Guards Tank Army. Fighting also develops in Devecser as the 26th Army advances and at Pecel as the 27th pushes along lake Balaton. Tata also falls to the 46th Army. With Army Group South broken and routed, Hitler relieves Wohler of command and appoints Gen Rendulic in his place. However, Rendulic is in Kurland and will not be able to take up his new post until the middle of April, by which time Army Group South, renamed Army Group Ostmark, will have lost Vienna and eastern Austria to the Red Army.