Wehrmacht
Tag
(297)1939
1940
January
February
March
April
- 09
- Key eventGermany invades NorwayOn 9 April 1940 Germany landed troops in Norwegian ports and took Oslo from the air. The king, government and gold left the capital, and Norway fought on.
- Germany occupies DenmarkOn 9 April 1940 the Wehrmacht invaded neutral Denmark. After skirmishes in Jutland and at Amalienborg the king and government ended resistance within hours.
May
- 10
- Key eventGermany attacks in the WestOn 10 May 1940 the Wehrmacht struck the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The Allies advanced into Belgium as Kleist's tanks entered the Ardennes.
- The capture of Fort Eben-EmaelOn 10 May 1940 gliders carrying German parachute sappers landed on the roof of the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael. The garrison surrendered the next day.
- The Battle for The HagueOn 10 May 1940 German airborne troops landed near The Hague to seize the Dutch Queen and government. By nightfall the Dutch had retaken three airfields.
- 13
- Key eventThe breakthrough at SedanOn 13 May 1940, after eight hours of bombing, Guderian’s infantry crossed the Meuse at Sedan and Rommel at Dinant. On 15 May they broke into open country.
- The battles of the Grebbeberg and the AfsluitdijkOn 13 May 1940 the Germans broke the Dutch Grebbe Line on the Grebbeberg. In the north the Kornwerderzand works on the Afsluitdijk held out to the end.
June
July
October
December
1941
February
March
April
- 06
- Key eventGermany attacks YugoslaviaOn 6 April 1941 Germany invaded Yugoslavia without declaring war and the Luftwaffe bombed Belgrade. The partly mobilised army quickly fell apart.
- Key eventGermany attacks GreeceOn 6 April 1941 the 12th Army struck Greece from Bulgaria. The Metaxas Line forts beat off the first attacks; at night an ammunition ship blast wrecked Piraeus.
- 25
- Rommel takes the Halfaya PassOn 25–26 April 1941 Colonel von Herff's group drove the British from Sollum and the Halfaya Pass. Axis forces stood in Egypt but went no further.
- The Battle of Thermopylae (1941)On 24 April 1941 New Zealanders at Molos and Australians on the Brallos Pass held the Germans all day, then withdrew at night to the evacuation ports.
May
June
- 23
- Hitler at the Wolf’s LairOn 23 June 1941 Hitler left Berlin for a new headquarters in a forest near Rastenburg. From the Wolf’s Lair he ran the war on the USSR for over three years.
- The Ablinga massacreOn 23 June 1941 Wehrmacht soldiers shot 42 people from the Samogitian village of Ablinga and neighbouring Žvaginiai, and burned Ablinga to the ground.
July
August
September
October
November
- 28
- The Red Army retakes RostovOn 28 November 1941 the Germans began leaving Rostov under attack by three Soviet armies; next day it was free. Rundstedt fell back to the Mius and was sacked.
- The Germans reach the Moscow–Volga CanalOn the night of 27–28 November 1941 a 7th Panzer Division battlegroup crossed the Moscow Canal at Yakhroma. A 1st Shock Army counter-attack threw it back.
December
1942
January
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
- 22
- The retreat from the Caucasus beginsIn late December 1942 defeats at Stalingrad and on the Don threatened to cut off Army Group A. On 28 December Hitler agreed to a withdrawal from the Terek.
- The Battle of Longstop HillOn 22–25 December 1942 British and US troops fought for Longstop Hill near Tunis. The Germans retook it on Christmas Day; Eisenhower postponed his offensive.
1943
January
February
March
April
May
July
August
- 05
- Sweden ends the German transit trafficOn 5 August 1943 Sweden announced it had terminated the agreement allowing German troops and war material to travel by rail between Norway and the Reich.
- The liberation of Oryol and BelgorodOn 5 August 1943 the Red Army retook Oryol and Belgorod at opposite ends of the Kursk salient. That night Moscow fired its first victory salute of the war.
September
October
November
December
1944
January
February
- 16
- Operation FischfangOn 16 February 1944 the German Fourteenth Army struck down the Albano road at the Anzio beachhead. After five days the Allies held and the attack collapsed.
- The breakout from the Korsun pocketOn the night of 16/17 February 1944 the German corps trapped at Korsun broke out of the pocket. About two-thirds of the men escaped; their equipment was lost.
March
April
May
June
July
- 03
- Key eventThe liberation of MinskOn 3 July 1944 Soviet troops entered ruined Minsk. East of the city some 100,000 soldiers of the German Fourth Army were trapped in a pocket.
- The Battle of the HedgerowsOn 3 July 1944 the US First Army attacked through the Normandy hedgerows towards La Haye-du-Puits and Saint-Lô. Every kilometre cost hundreds of casualties.
- The capture of SienaOn 3 July 1944 soldiers of the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division of the French Expeditionary Corps entered Siena, which the Germans had abandoned overnight.
- 24
- Key eventOperation CobraOn 24 July 1944 bombs from Operation Cobra's first raid fell on Americans near Saint-Lô. On 25 July First Army attacked; on 28 July it took Coutances.
- The fall of NarvaOn 24 July 1944 the Leningrad Front attacked Narva. It was repulsed at Auvere, but the Germans fell back to the Tannenberg Line; on 26 July it took the ruins.
August
- 15
- Key eventOperation DragoonOn 15 August 1944 the US VI Corps landed in Provence between Cavalaire and Saint-Raphaël. Resistance was weak, and losses on the first day were light.
- The Allies before the Gothic LineIn mid-August 1944 the Allies stood on the Arno and Metauro, before the Gothic Line's outworks. Eighth Army was secretly regrouping on the Adriatic to attack.
September
- 08
- The liberation of OstendOn 8 September 1944 Canadian armoured cars entered Ostend, abandoned by the Germans without a fight. On 9 September Canadian infantry occupied the town.
- Key eventThe first V-2 rocketsOn 8 September 1944 Germany first used V-2 rockets in combat. The first fell near Paris; that evening two struck England, killing three people in Chiswick.
- 15
- The Lapland War beginsOn 15 September 1944 the deadline for German troops to leave Finland expired and the Kriegsmarine attacked Suursaari. Former allies turned on each other.
- The liberation of NancyOn 15 September 1944 Patton's Third Army entered Nancy. Fighting went on along the Moselle, and from 18 September a tank battle raged at Arracourt.
- 22
- The capture of TallinnOn 22 September 1944 the Red Army entered Tallinn, abandoned by the Germans. By 26 September it held mainland Estonia; on 27 September it moved on the islands.
- The surrender of BoulogneOn 22 September 1944 the Boulogne garrison surrendered to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. Calais fell on 30 September; Dunkirk was besieged until May 1945.
October
- 02
- The attack on AachenOn 2 October 1944 the US XIX Corps attacked the West Wall on the Wurm north of Aachen, opening the manoeuvre to encircle the city.
- The Allies in Crete and the PeloponneseIn autumn 1944 the British entered Patras and Corinth, while the Germans on Crete fell back around Chania, where they held out until May 1945.
- 06
- At the Dukla PassOn 6 October 1944 troops of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps and the 38th Army crossed the Dukla Pass into Slovakia after a month of bloody fighting.
- The Battle of Debrecen beginsOn 6 October 1944 the 2nd Ukrainian Front advanced on Debrecen. Pliyev's group broke the Hungarian Third Army, but the Germans held Oradea.
November
December
1945
January
February
- 13
- The end of the siege of BudapestOn 13 February 1945 the last units in Buda surrendered. Of 28,000 soldiers in the breakout of 11 February, only some 700 reached the German lines.
- The siege of Breslau beginsOn 13 February 1945 troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front closed the ring around Breslau (Wrocław). The siege of Festung Breslau lasted until 6 May.
March
- 20
- Heinrici replaces HimmlerOn 20 March 1945 Hitler gave command of Army Group Vistula to General Gotthard Heinrici, a master of defence, in place of Himmler, to hold the Oder.
- The capture of MainzOn 20 March 1945 infantry of Patton’s Third Army reached the hills above Mainz. The ruined city fell on 22 March as German defence west of the Rhine collapsed.
- 29
- The Red Army enters AustriaOn 29 March 1945 tanks of the 3rd Ukrainian Front crossed Austria's old border at Klostermarienberg in Burgenland. The road to Vienna lay open.
- The capture of Frankfurt am MainOn 29 March 1945 Third Army troops completed the capture of ruined Frankfurt am Main. From their Rhine bridgeheads the Allies were driving deep into Germany.
April
- 24
- The encirclement of BerlinOn 24 April 1945 Zhukov's and Konev's troops met south-east of Berlin, and on 25 April they closed the ring around the capital of the Reich.
- The end of the fighting in ItalyOn 21 April 1945 the Poles entered Bologna, and on 22–24 April the Allies crossed the Po. The German armies in Italy ceased to exist as a fighting force.
May
- 02
- Key eventThe surrender of BerlinOn 2 May 1945 General Helmuth Weidling surrendered Berlin to General Chuikov and ordered the garrison to lay down arms. Krebs's talks the day before had failed.
- The surrender of German forces in ItalyAt 2 p.m. local time on 2 May 1945 the Caserta surrender came into force. German forces in Italy were the first whole front of the Reich to lay down arms.
- 08
- The surrender of CourlandOn 8 May 1945, on Dönitz's orders, General Carl Hilpert's Army Group Courland surrendered to the Leningrad Front. Some 190,000 men went into captivity.
- Key eventThe surrender at KarlshorstOn 8 May 1945 in Berlin-Karlshorst, Keitel, Friedeburg and Stumpff signed Germany's final act of unconditional surrender before Zhukov and Tedder.
- 09
- The Red Army in PragueOn the morning of 9 May 1945 Konev's tanks entered Prague. By 11 May Army Group Centre had surrendered, while the Americans halted on a line near Plzeň.
- The surrender on BornholmOn 9 May 1945 a Soviet landing party accepted the surrender of the German garrison of the Danish island of Bornholm, a day after air raids on Rønne and Nexø.