Category: Military

Goliath Tracked Mine

The Goliath tracked mine - complete German name: Leichter Ladungsträger Goliath (Sd.Kfz. 302/303a/303b) - was a remote controlled German-engineered demolition vehicle, also known as the beetle tank to the Allies. Employed by the Wehrmacht during World War II, this caterpillar-tracked vehicle was approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) long, 2 feet (0.61 m) wide, and 1 foot (0.30 m) tall. It carried 75–100 kilograms (170–220 lb) of high explosives and was intended to be used for multiple purposes, such as destroying tanks, disrupting dense infantry formations, and demolition of buildings and bridges. [Wikipedia]

Patton 360 Episode 9 (Battle of the Bulge)

The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard and became the costliest battle in terms of casualties for the United States, whose forces bore the brunt of the attack, during all of World War II. It also severely depleted Germany's war-making resources and was the country's final offensive operation of the war. More →

The Battle of Berlin

April 16, 1945-- May 2, 1945
The Battle of Berlin, designated the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, was the final major offensive of the European Theatre of World War II. Starting on 12 January 1945, the Red Army breached the German front as a result of the Vistula–Oder Offensive and advanced westward as much as 40 kilometres (25 miles) a day through East Prussia, Lower Silesia, East Pomerania, and Upper Silesia, temporarily halting on a line 60 km (37 mi) east of Berlin along the Oder River. When the offensive resumed, two Soviet fronts (army groups) attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. The Battle in Berlin lasted from 20 April until the morning of 2 May. [Wikipedia]

The Battle of Kursk

July 5, 1943 -- August 23, 1943
The Battle of Kursk was a World War II engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near the city of Kursk, (450 kilometers or 280 miles southwest of Moscow) in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. The German offensive was code named Operation Citadel (German: Unternehmen Zitadelle) and would lead to one of the largest armoured clashes, the battle of Prokhorovka, in history. The German offensive eventually provoked two Soviet counteroffensives code-named Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev (Russian: Полководец Румянцев) and Operation Kutuzov (Russian: Кутузов). The battle saw the final strategic offensive the Germans were able to mount in the east, and the decisive Soviet victory gave the Red Army the strategic initiative for the rest of the war. [Wikipedia]

The Battle of Stalingrad

August 23, 1942 -- February 2, 1943
The Battle of Stalingrad (August 23, 1942 – February 2, 1943) was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the southwestern Soviet Union. Marked by constant close-quarters combat and lack of regard for military and civilian casualties, it is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. The heavy losses inflicted on the German army make it arguably the most strategically decisive battle of the whole war. Afterwards, the German forces never regained the initiative in war in the East. [Wikipedia]

The War against Japan

December 7, 1941 -- September 2, 1945
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War, was the Pacific theatre of World War II, which was fought in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia. It includes the Pacific Ocean theatre, the South West Pacific theatre, the South-East Asian theatre, and the Second Sino-Japanese War (including the 1945 Soviet-Japanese conflict). [Wikipedia]

The Siege of Sevastopol

October 30, 1941 – July 4, 1942
The Siege of Sevastopol took place on the Eastern Front of the Second World War. The campaign was fought by the Axis powers of Germany, Romania, and Italy against the Soviet Union for control of Sevastopol, a port in the Crimea on the Black Sea. On 22 June 1941 the Axis invaded the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa. Axis land forces reached the Crimea in the autumn of 1941 and overran most of the area. The only objective not in Axis hands was Sevastopol. Several attempts were made to secure the city in October and November, 1941. A major attack was planned for late November, but heavy rains delayed the Axis attack until 17 December 1941. Under the command of Erich von Manstein, Axis forces were unable to capture Sevastopol during this first operation. Soviet forces launched an amphibious landing on the Crimean peninsula at Kerch in December, 1941 to relieve the siege and force the Axis to divert forces to defend their gains. The operation saved Sevastopol for the time being, but the bridgehead in the eastern Crimea was eliminated in May 1942. [Wikipedia]

The Battle for Moscow

October 2, 1941 -- January 7, 1942
The Battle of Moscow (Russian: битва за Москву, romanized: bitva za Moskvu, German: Schlacht um Moskau) is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a 600 km (370 mi) sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the largest Soviet city. Moscow was one of the primary military and political objectives for Axis forces in their invasion of the Soviet Union. [Wikipedia]