World War 2
The Fall of Berlin
The Soviet offensive into central Germany had two objectives in Stalin's mind; Stalin did not believe his Western Allies would hand over the territory occupied by them in the post-war Soviet zone, so he began the offensive on a broad front and moved rapidly to meet the Western Allies as far west as possible; the overriding objective was to capture Berlin and defeat Hitler.
On the12th of January 1945 the Red Army burst out of its bridgeheads on the Vistula and drove to the line of the Oder, bringing Zhukov's First Belorussian Front to within 50 miles of Berlin. Fleeing before the Red Army onslaught was a tidal wave of ethnic German refugees, driven from their homes in the East.
Hitler had declared Berlin a fortress, but it was a stronghold that only existed in his imagination; by this time his mental state was awash with all kinds of illegal and pharmaceutical drugs. The truth was Berlin was defended by shattered formations with little resources, there were roughly 100'000 Germans and 1'200 tanks and guns. Also the boys and old men of the German Home Guard, the Volkssturm, were dug-in ready to defend the city. In desperate measures German civilians of any kind including women and children were quickly shown how to use assault rifles and Panzerfaust's; hand-held recoilless anti-tank weapons to help with the defending of the capital.
On the 6th of April, after massive preparations, Stalin launched his final drive on Berlin, secure in the knowledge that the British and Americans had abandoned the race to seize the German capital and concentrated their efforts in liberating the rest of Europe. By the 27th of April Berlin's defenders had been squeezed into a narrow east-west corridor about three miles wide and twelve miles long. Almost one million Red Army soldiers and more than 20'000 tanks were deployed to break through the 'Gates to Berlin'. Soviet forces led by Zhukov broke through the German defensive positions, poised on the very edge of Berlin.
The city was cut off from the outside world. Thousands of Russian shells rained down on the city centre, shaking it to its very core and destroying 75% of its buildings and architecture, Hitler would have been able to feel the thumping of the shells in his underground bunker in which he had taken refuge.
In the meantime, RAF Mosquitos were conducting large tactical air raids against German positions inside Berlin on the nights of the 15th of April with a formation of 105 British bombers; on the 17th of April using 61 bombers; again on the 18th of April 57 bombers strong; on the 19th of April with another 79 bombers and finally on the 20th of April with a formation of 78 British bombers.
In taking the city the Red Army lost nearly 305'000 men killed, wounded or missing - the heaviest casualties it suffered in any battle during the war. At least 100'000 German soldiers and civilians tragically died in the battle they were never going to win.
On the 30th of April the Fuhrer committed suicide in his Berlin underground bunker; although certain conspiracy theorist believe this is not the case at all - backed up with conflicting information given by the Russians and the secrecy behand the exposure of 'Hitler's remains' - They believe, Hitler fled the bunker, along with other high-ranking Nazi generals through a network of underground tunnels spanning the under-belly of Berlin. Several other high-ranking Nazi's were MIA, although Hitler's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels committed suicide taking his wife and children with him, in Hitler's bunker on the 1st of May. On the afternoon of the 2nd of May, General Weidling, the commander of what was left of Berlin's garrison, surrendered to the Red Army. A general surrender of German forces was accepted on the 4th of May by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, which was then followed on the 7th of May, the unconditional surrender of German forces at Eisenhower's HQ at Rheims. Stalin wanted his own ceremony, so at Berlin on the 8th of May, a further document of surrender was signed.