What did our soldiers wear in World War II, what did they ride and what did they use? Whose soldiers were the best in World War II.

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GaryHinkle

Which country had the most skilled soldiers in World War II? Many times I heard that Finnish troops were the best. They eventually crushed the superior Russian forces in the winter war.

hotelend

This is a question that will never be answered.

On the one hand, the answer may be completely different if we compare the actions of national armies, or the actions of selected units within each army. Even poorly performing armies had at their disposal certain elite forces that showed great capabilities.

It is possible that the best soldiers of the war were the Gurkha soldiers in the British Army. But they were a very small force.

On the other hand, the issue of weapons and support must be taken into account. American forces won many decisive victories, crushing all opposing forces - but some commentators say this was only because US troops had more weapons and tanks, and especially more ammunition, which they used generously.

Personally, I think this is a great way to participate in war - rather than having to show great bravery, get wounded or killed, etc. To quote General Patton: You win a war by making other sons of bitches die for their country.

Also, what kind of “skill” are we discussing? Mastery of infantry weapons in small-scale warfare? Or mastery of an expanded array of weapon systems such as aircraft, tanks, radio-controlled artillery? The skill of building roads and bridges, or airfields in hard-to-reach places is as important as the skill of moving a truly enormous amount of supplies to the front.

Finnish forces continually pushed back Soviet forces during the Winter War, but it would be equally true to say that Soviet forces crushed the Finnish army. After all, it was the Soviet troops that advanced into Finland, and not the other way around. The Finnish defenders were destroyed by the Soviets around Viipuri, and the Finnish government made peace on terms favorable to the USSR.

Finland achieved a moral victory by holding off the much superior USSR for many months and retaining its independence, but in absolute terms the USSR was

Brenda Wiks

If man is against man, then it is almost certainly Germans. Better trained, better led, better disciplined (etc., etc.) than almost any other national army. What is especially significant in this regard, IMHO, is how capable they were of hastily patching up and regrouping “specially created” formations from a devastating defeat, such as the destruction of Army Group Center and the defeat at Mortein/Falais.

Also high on my list would be the six USMC units stationed in the Pacific.

Brad Meyer "This is a story that teaches us hope."

OK, to put it in a short and simplified way: I think it is difficult to say which country had the most qualified soldiers in World War II. It also depends on various factors: what do you mean? Infantry, air force, tank formations? Ordinary soldiers or military leaders? In most of these factors, the German soldiers were the best - they had much less weapons (in number) than their opponents, and not so many people; despite this, they were able to defend themselves for years. They were also capable of advancing despite the obstacles put in their way (in North Africa, for example). The Germans may have had the best tactical commanders in World War II, but they lacked a qualified strategic leader. In any case, this is a difficult question, because the Poles, like the Finns, fought very bravely. Italian troops also often fought bravely, but they had poor weapons and bad leaders (my friend's grandfather sometimes said that if the Italians had fought for the Russians, we would have won the war). The US troops were very skilled at achieving their objectives without many casualties on their part. The Germans were in the lead in terms of the number of casualties in the European theater of operations; one of their dead soldiers accounts for the majority of war casualties - but you have to remember that a lot of people were killed after being imprisoned and not during combat, and then it was claimed that they were killed during combat. So I would say that it depends on your point of view, the question is of an emotional nature, like the debate about which combat aircraft was the best Spitfire/Hurricane or Messerschmitt/Focke Wulf.

Sincerely,

Frank Plambock

Heath Patrie

The Red Army in the Finnish war was hardly a military organization. If man is against man: Germans and British.

dfc2soft

The same can be said about the battalion expeditionary group in 1940.

I would choose the Soviets. They fought to the brink of annihilation to liberate their country and all of Eastern Europe, and then went and took the capital of a country that was trying to destroy them.

Lalalalar

Rommel is said to have spoken of the Maori Battalion from New Zealand as the most powerful fighting force he had ever encountered.

Of course the Finns were the best. Hitler was so impressed that he called them honorary Aryans. The Americans began to talk about the miracle of the winter war. Stalin could not believe what happened. Superiority can also be verified by statistics. I'm biased!

All arguments seem to be exercises in demonstrating the absurdity of personal opinion as an objective (or even subjective) method of evaluation.

Firstly, the height of stupidity is the debate about the nature of apples and oranges... Why the fuck are we comparing individual soldiers head to head as if they were gladiators in an arena, like a Thrasian foot soldier versus a Balearic slinger?

Bullshit. After all, it is obvious that comparing one soldier is meaningless, put away your weapon, and my Goliath will give your David a beating. Add weapons, and an eight-pound Napoleon* ( the author apparently means an old cannon - approx. mixednews) my David will not give yours with an 18-inch pike the opportunity to even climb a hill, much less engage in battle.

Now we'll pit these village idiots from the Maori Battalion against some paramilitary security unit. Once again, such comparisons are meaningless. Maori and Gurkhas have noble and memorable records of bravery and basic skill in the use of sidearms, but the list of ace Gurkha pilots is as short as the list of Maori submariners.

In the most basic sense, what has been said is a classic (best represented by Ponty-Python skits) arguments that can be compared to arguments about the size of the phallus, children arguing over who is taller, and teenage bullies fighting.

Moreover, it is common knowledge that in all respects, from naval commanders (Nimitz) to army group commanders (Eisenhower), to torpedo pilots, overcoming early losses (Bush "41st" ( US President - approx. mixednews) storming the forbidding heights (Rudder, Pont du Hoc), what really matters is that they were either born or have ever lived in Texas.

But on the other hand the Australians played a vital role.

Australian militia groups beat back the Japanese at a rate of five to one, even though the Japanese were much better soldiers than the Australian civilian militia.

From the translator:

Since some authors of posts do not bother themselves with punctuation, spelling and coherent presentation, or may not be native speakers of the target language, translation difficulties sometimes arise, and as a result, posts that are not entirely coherent.

War is a monstrous phenomenon invented by humanity, which has brought death, illness and many other sufferings to people. These 10 ordinary soldiers (both foreign and Soviet) performed amazing feats and made the story quite exciting.

1. Dirk J. Vlug

Born in 1916, Dirk J. Vlug served in the " Private First Class ", in the 126th Infantry Division, based in the Philippines. In 1944, his squad and the checkpoint he and his fellow soldiers were defending came under fire from Japanese forces. Leaving his cover, with a rocket launcher and five rounds of ammunition, Dirk rushed into machine-gun fire. Loading a rocket launcher alone, he destroyed an enemy tank.
Not stopping there, he killed the gunner of the second tank with a pistol shot and destroyed the tank with another missile. Seeing 3 more tanks moving along the road, the soldier took aim at the first one and eliminated it. He then destroyed the 4th tank, and finally sent the last tank down the slope. In total, during the day he destroyed 5 enemy tanks single-handedly.

2. Charles Carpenter

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Carpenter was a US intelligence pilot. During the Allied Siege of Lorient in 1944, Charles decided that he had not seen combat and installed rocket launchers designed for infantrymen on his aircraft. There were 6 of them in total. Dubbing the aircraft "Rosie's Rocket", Charles used it in a series of attacks that he carried out alone, destroying as many as 6 enemy tanks and several armored vehicles by the end of the war.

3. James Hill

British officer James Hill commanded the 1st Parachute Brigade deployed to North Africa. While his brigade was trying to liberate the town of Goo Hill from the Italians, he accomplished an insane feat. His battalion encountered a fortified area of ​​300 Italian soldiers and 3 light tanks.

Hill planned to force the enemy to retreat into a minefield behind them that a group of Royal Engineers would lay, but a faulty grenade in their weaponry resulted in an explosion and the death of 25 of the 27 engineers before they could set up the minefield. Now under fire from Italian soldiers and tanks, James had to think quickly or risk his subordinates. Armed with only a revolver, he took aim at the tanks. Skillfully avoiding fire, the officer was able to subdue the commands of two tanks by threatening a revolver at the observation hole. During the attack on the third tank, he was wounded three times, but survived.

4. Fritz Kristen

Fritz was a soldier in the unit Totenkopf Waffen-SS during the war. In 1941, Christen manned an anti-tank fortification. During a shootout with Soviet soldiers, most of the soldiers who worked on this very fortification were killed. Fritz had only a 50-mm gun left, and on top of that, there were no soldiers left, no food or any help. During the 3 days that the struggle lasted, he managed to destroy 13 Soviet tanks and kill almost a hundred soldiers.

5. Ivan Pavlovich

Ivan was a cook in the 91st Tank Regiment of the Red Army. One day, while preparing lunch, he noticed a German tank stopping not far from the field kitchen.
Taking an ax and a rifle, Ivan waited until the soldiers began to leave the tank to refuel it. The team, seeing a Soviet soldier with an ax heading towards them, quickly returned to the tank. When the tank began to load the machine gun, Pavlovich climbed onto it and bent the machine gun bushing with his ax. He covered the observation hole with a piece of tarpaulin and loudly ordered his imaginary comrades to throw him an imaginary grenade, banging on the body of the tank until 4 people gave up, thinking that the entire Red Army was already nearby.

6. Aubrey Cozens

Aubrey served in Queen's Own Rifles Canada during the war. In the city of Muschof, Germany, in 1945, he managed to prove certain Canadian stereotypes wrong - he captured an enemy stronghold single-handedly. After his platoon came under heavy counterattack during an attempted capture of three village houses by the Germans, Cozens took control. The soldier emerged from cover under heavy fire to guide the last remaining Allied tank into the final stand. The tank rammed one of the buildings, killing several residents, and Aubrey captured the rest. And then he continued to kill or capture enemies in the second and third buildings. After capturing all the buildings, he was mortally wounded in the head by an enemy sniper.

7. Havildar Lachiman Gurung

Havildar Lachiman Gurung served as a rifleman in the 8th Gurkha Rifles , units of the Indian Army during World War II. This short (150 centimeters) man was able to withstand the ferocity of the Japanese Empire. When he was sent to the forward post office in Taungdaw, the Japanese, numbering 200, attacked this very office. They started throwing grenades at Gurung; He successfully threw 2 grenades back, but the third exploded next to him and damaged his right hand. The Havildar had to repeatedly reload the rifle with one hand, which he did quite successfully. The soldier fought off the enemy until reinforcements arrived (about 4 hours). Not far from him, 31 dead Japanese soldiers were found - Gurung killed them with one hand.

8. Leo Major

Canadian Leo Major served in the R é giment de la Chaudi è re. On the night of April 1945, to save the city of Zwolle, Holland, from being bombed, he volunteered to liberate the entire city, with only one person volunteering to help him. At midnight, his comrade was killed, and Major went on the attack alone. After capturing the driver of the vehicle that shot his friend, he drove to a bar in the city where the German official was drinking while on leave. He told the official that at 6:00 the artillery would level the city if they did not surrender and ran out into the street. Leo lost his temper and started shooting at the city with a machine gun and throwing grenades. He made so much noise that the Germans thought the Canadians had attacked in great force. Taking advantage of the confusion among the Germans, Leo managed to escort groups of prisoners approximately 10 times to the city limits and the waiting Canadian Forces. When he found the Gestapo headquarters, he set it on fire and fought 8 Nazi soldiers, killing 4 of them before the rest escaped. By 4:30 the Germans had fled the city and Zwolle was saved from the bombardment.

9. Warren G. H. Gracie

The tank commander of the 761st Tank Battalion, after his tank was disabled, commandeered a vehicle armed with a machine gun, throwing out German soldiers who destroyed his tank and a group of forward observers. When Gracie's replacement tank began to sink into the mud, he used a machine gun. Warren single-handedly held the enemy's pass, forcing them to retreat. Described as a "quiet, good-natured, gentle fellow," the soldier was awarded the Medal of Honor.

10. Fazal Din

Fazal Din served in the 7th Battalion of the British Indian Army. His troops were deployed to Burma on March 2, 1945, near Meiktila. Fazal's squad came under machine gun fire during an attack on a Japanese camp, after which Fazal came across a bunker from which 6 Japanese soldiers led by two generals emerged. One of Fazal's soldiers was able to kill one general before he was killed by another. Seeing this, Dean rushed to attack and was wounded in the chest. Despite this, Fazal captured the Japanese general's sword, killing him and another Japanese soldier. Returning back to the camp, Fazal wrote a report before dying of his wounds.

Based on materials:

And seemingly multitasking, Soviet military clothing still remained more practical and comfortable to wear during combat. The military uniform of the Red Army was highly wear-resistant and unpretentious in use. At the same time, officers and soldiers of the Red Army were necessarily issued with everyday, combat and dress uniforms, which were available in summer and winter versions.

Tankers wore a special helmet made of leather or canvas. In summer they used a lighter version, in winter - with a fur lining.
At the beginning of the war, field packs were used, but they were very quickly replaced by the canvas duffel bag of the 1938 model.

Not everyone had real duffel bags, so after the war began, many soldiers threw away gas masks and used gas mask bags instead.

According to the regulations, every soldier armed with a rifle was required to have two leather cartridge bags. The bag could store four clips for a Mosin rifle - 20 rounds. Cartridge bags were worn on the waist belt, one on each side. The officers used a small bag, which was made of either leather or canvas. There were several types of these bags, some of them were worn over the shoulder, some were hung from the waist belt. On top of the bag was a small tablet.

In 1943, the army uniform and the system of insignia were radically changed.
The new tunic looked like a shirt and had a stand-up collar fastened with two buttons.

Shoulder straps appeared: field and everyday ones. Field shoulder straps were made of khaki fabric. On the shoulder straps near the button they wore a small gold or silver badge indicating the branch of the military. Officers wore a cap with a black leather chinstrap. The color of the band on the cap depended on the type of troops. In winter, generals and colonels were required to wear hats, and the rest of the officers received ordinary earflaps. The rank of sergeants and foremen was determined by the number and width of the stripes on their shoulder straps. The edging of the shoulder straps had the colors of the military branch.

You can also admire more than a dozen authentic retro cars restored from scratch.

Testimonies of female victims from the official transcript of testimony in the lower house of the Italian Parliament. Meeting of April 7, 1952:
“Malinari Veglia, at the time of the events, she was 17 years old. Her mother gives testimony about the events of May 27, 1944, Valekorsa.
They were walking along the Monte Lupino street when they saw the "Moroccans". The warriors approached the women. They were clearly interested in young Malinari. The women began to beg not to do anything, but the soldiers did not understand them. While the two held the girl's mother, the others took turns raping her. When the last one finished, one of the “Moroccans” took out a pistol and shot Malinari.
Elisabetta Rossi, 55, Farneta, tells how, wounded in the stomach with a knife, she watched as her two daughters, 17 and 18 years old, were raped. She received the wound when she tried to protect them. A group of “Moroccans” left her nearby. The next victim was a five-year-old boy who rushed towards them, not understanding what was happening. The child was thrown into a ravine with five bullets in the stomach. A day later the baby died.
Emanuella Valente, May 25, 1944, Santa Lucia, was 70 years old. An elderly woman walked calmly down the street, sincerely thinking that her age would protect her from rape. But he turned out to be, rather, her opponent. When she was spotted by a group of young "Moroccans", Emanuella tried to run away from them. They caught up with her, knocked her down, and broke her wrists. After this, she was subjected to group abuse. She was infected with syphilis. She was ashamed and difficult to tell the doctors what exactly happened to her. The wrist remained injured for the rest of his life. She perceives her other illness as martyrdom.”
Did other allies or fascists know about the actions of the Franco-African Korps? Yes, since the Germans recorded their statistics, as mentioned above, and the Americans made offers to “get prostitutes.”
The final figures for the victims of the “war against women” vary: DWF magazine, No. 17 for 1993, cites the historian’s information about sixty thousand women raped in less than a year as a result of the “Moroccans” playing the role of police in southern Italy. This number is based on statements from victims. In addition, many women who, after such events, could no longer get married or continue a normal life, committed suicide and went crazy. These are outrageous stories. Antoni Collicki, who was 12 years old in 1944, writes: “... they entered the house, held a knife at the throats of the men, looked for women...”. What follows is the story of two sisters who were abused by two hundred “Moroccans.” As a result, one of the sisters died, the other ended up in a mental hospital.
On August 1, 1947, the Italian leadership submitted a protest to the French government. The answer is bureaucratic delays and chicanery. The issue was raised again in 1951 and in 1993. There are conversations about the Islamic threat, about intercultural communication. This question remains open to this day.

Americans confidently call themselves one of the main victorious countries in World War II. But they remembered this war not only for hard-won victories, but also for painful defeats and the indelible stain of the atomic bombing of Japan.

Introduction

The United States declared entry into World War II on December 7, 1941, six hours after the devastating Japanese air attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor. As a result of the surprise airstrike, the United States lost 4 battleships, 2 cruisers, 188 aircraft and 2,403 military personnel.

The day, which went down in American history as a “symbol of shame,” predetermined the decisive determination of the US leadership to defeat militaristic Japan. However, the first serious clash between American and Japanese troops in the Philippines brought another painful defeat.

Over five months of fighting, the joint US-Philippine forces lost 2,500 soldiers and another 100,000 were captured. By June 1942, the Philippine archipelago, which was of great strategic importance in the Pacific theater of operations, was completely captured by Japan.

The main culprit for the defeat was General Douglas MacArthur, who was accused of poor knowledge of the theater of military operations and a love of posing. Nevertheless, as historian Vitaly Ovcharov noted, “the battle for the Philippines showed that the Japanese would not have an easy ride in the Pacific Ocean.”

First victory

While one part of the American troops capitulated in the Philippines, the other, far to the east, fought back the Japanese military machine. For Tokyo, the capture of the American naval base at Midway Atoll was an excellent opportunity to expand the defensive perimeter and neutralize the main forces of the US Pacific Fleet.

The expectation of surprise did not justify itself. American cryptographers were able to obtain information that the next attack of the Japanese army would be the target "AF". But where is it? Assuming that it was Midway, the Americans sent a message about the lack of water on the atoll. A Japanese code immediately followed: “Problems with water supply at AF.”

Despite the great destruction caused by the first Japanese air raid, American anti-aircraft artillery managed to shoot down about a third of the enemy bombers attacking the base. American aircraft, which left their deployment site in a timely manner, were not damaged.

The main confrontation took place at sea. The first strike was carried out by US carrier-based aircraft on three aircraft carriers of the Imperial Navy at once, and a few hours later American ships were attacked. As a result of mutual attacks that lasted from June 4 to June 7, 1942, the United States was more successful, sinking all four Japanese aircraft carriers and one cruiser. After the heavy defeat, Japan lost the strategic initiative and was forced to focus on defense.

Hot Pacific Ocean

Since the end of 1942, the United States and Japan have been embroiled in a protracted confrontation in the South Pacific - in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The New Guinea campaign was especially successful for the United States, where the American army, with the support of three Australian divisions, dealt a very significant blow to the Japanese Navy. In the hot tropics, the Imperial Army lost more than 200 thousand soldiers as a result of battles and epidemics, while the United States lost only 7 thousand people.

Since November 1943, the epicenter of the Pacific battles has moved to the Marshall Islands. But it was not until February 1 that American troops began landing on the coast. 217 ships of the 5th American Fleet carried out a massive shelling of the landing territories. Most of the Japanese defenses were destroyed. With virtually no resistance, the Japanese command relocated its main forces to the Palau Islands.

In October 1944, Japan suffered a real disaster. In Leyte Gulf near the Philippines, she suffered an unconditional defeat from the American Navy in the largest naval battle in history. It was then that the Japanese army first used the tactics of kamikaze pilots. However, more than 2,000 deadly suicide attacks failed to demoralize the US military. By spoiling and sinking the flagship of the Japanese fleet, the battleship Musashi, the Americans deprived the enemy of the opportunity to conduct major operations.

On the Japanese Islands

In the summer of 1944, the US Army captured the Mariana Islands, from where the US Air Force was able to launch air raids on the Japanese archipelago. However, a “web of island bases” prevented the start of a large-scale bombing of Japan, and the first on this list was Iwo Jima.

On February 19, an impressive American landing force of 110,000 marines and 880 ships struck with all its might a small volcanic island with an area of ​​only 23.16 km², which was defended by 22 thousand Japanese troops. Only at the cost of almost 7 thousand lives did the Americans manage to subjugate the most important stronghold.

Even more difficult battles awaited the Americans on the island of Okinawa, which was separated from the coast of Japan by only 544 kilometers. The Americans faced incredibly fierce resistance from the Japanese defenders, each of whom was ready to send a dozen enemies with them to the next world. During 82 days of bloody fighting (from April 1 to June 22, 1945), the Japanese sank or disabled 186 US Navy ships. Of the 182 thousand American soldiers, more than 12 thousand were killed, over 36 thousand were wounded, and about 26 thousand were “psychiatric losses.”

On the occasion of the victory, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent a message to American President Harry Truman: “This battle is among the most intense and famous in military history. We salute your soldiers and commanders who participated in it.”

"Baby" and "Fat Man"

The result of three and a half years of US participation in World War II was more than 200 thousand killed soldiers and officers. The American command reported that after the invasion of Japan these losses would increase many times over. On July 16, 1945, a new weapon, the atomic bomb, was successfully tested at a test site in New Mexico. This predetermined the choice of means by which Japan could be forced to capitulate.

On August 6, the Little Boy atomic bomb, with the equivalent of 13 to 18 kilotons of TNT, fell on Hiroshima, and on August 9, the Fat Man bomb, with a yield of 21 kilotons, fell on the city of Nagasaki. More than 300 thousand Japanese became victims of monstrous explosions.

The American command planned to continue dropping bombs, but on August 10, Japan conveyed to the allies a proposal to surrender. Some Western researchers argue that the atomic bombing was the only way to force Japan to peace and avoid heavy losses among the Allies. But others see in a nuclear attack only the US intention to demonstrate its power.

From Kasserine to Marseille

In November 1942, American troops under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower landed in Morocco and Algeria. In a matter of days, the American landing forced the forces controlled by the Vichy puppet government to lay down their arms.

From the beginning of next year, the epicenter of events moved to Tunisia. The 2nd American Corps fought here under the command of Major General Lloyd Fredendall. The first clash between German and American troops took place at the Kasserine Pass, as a result of which the latter were thrown back more than 80 kilometers. However, by May 1943, together with British troops, the American corps liberated the cities of Bizerte and Tunis - the last stronghold of Italian-German troops in North Africa.

During the entire North African campaign, 2,715 American soldiers were killed and 15,506 were wounded.

Since July 1943, United States troops have been participating in the Italian Campaign. Only by May 1944 was it possible to turn the tide of events in the Apennines. On June 4, the Americans entered Rome without a fight, which the day before had been declared an “open city” to avoid destruction.

Churchill hoped that the breakthrough would open the way for the Allied armies to the northeast - to Hungary and Austria, which caused disapproval in Washington. Western and Southern Europe were much more important to the American leadership. The British prime minister gave in.

In southern France, the main strategic point was Marseille. Eisenhower believed that the capture of this port city would speed up the arrival of American divisions from the United States and would provide some support for Allied operations in the north "operationally and strategically." The liberation of Marseille was very timely, since by the autumn of 1944 the Allies began to experience supply difficulties.

Normandy barrier

On June 6, 1944, according to the agreements adopted by the allies at the Tehran Conference (1943), the Second Front was opened. On this day, US, British and Canadian troops under the command of General Eisenhower landed in Normandy. It is curious that before the operation, code-named “Overlord,” the American military leader left an envelope in which he said that he took full responsibility for the possible failure.

The American landing site - an 8-kilometer stretch of beach near the city of Longueville - became a real hell for the brave Yankees. Despite the fact that more than half of the 352nd German Infantry Division defending this sector were teenagers and veterans, they were able to hold back the onslaught of the 5th American Corps until the evening, inflicting serious damage on it. The US Army lost over 50 tanks, about 60 ships and more than 3,000 soldiers. Of the 2,400 tons of supplies intended for the D-Day landings, only 100 tons were unloaded.

At the end of July, American troops under the command of General Omar Bradley took part in Operation Cobra, which led to the creation of a pocket and sealed the defeat of the German army in Normandy. The Normandy operation, which lasted throughout the summer, cost the United States 20,668 dead.

Bloody Ardennes

But the most difficult test for the United States, not only on the European front, but throughout the entire period of the war, was the Ardennes operation (December 16, 1944 - January 29, 1945). And this despite the fact that the 90,000-strong American group was attacked by a more modest 67,000-strong German corps. US intelligence knew about the impending German offensive in the Ardennes region, however, the shock wave of the German attack was so strong that it easily broke through the American defenses.

Journalist Ralph Ingersoll recalled how “the Americans fled headlong along all the roads leading to the west.” At least 30 thousand American soldiers were captured by the Germans at that time. According to the US Department of Defense, over a month and a half of fighting, American troops lost 19,000 killed and 47,500 wounded in the Ardennes.

In those days, the Allies pinned great hopes on the Soviet Union. From Churchill’s letter to Stalin: “We and the Americans are throwing everything we can into the battle. The news you have conveyed to me will greatly encourage General Eisenhower, as it will give him confidence that the Germans will have to divide their reserves between our two burning fronts."

On January 12, 1945, Soviet troops launched a broad offensive operation along the entire Soviet-German front, which largely prevented the Wehrmacht from building on its success in the Ardennes and predetermined the early end of the war.