4. Final Defeat 1944-1945

Question 1

After Russian counteroffensive, what was it a matter of time of?

Answer 1

before German forces collapsed

Question 2

despite Allies success, what major setbacks did they face?

Answer 2

Montgomery’s attempt to drop airborne troops behind German lines at Arnhem, which proved disastrous; and Hitler’s counter-attack against Allied forces in Ardennes

Question 3

Operation Market Garden: by mid-sept, allied forces controlled?

Answer 3

Belgium and Netherland

Question 4

Operation Market Garden: who launched operation?

Answer 4

General Montgomery

Question 5

Operation Market Garden: aim?

Answer 5

to outflank German defences in Netherlands by seizing bridgeheads over the Rhine (behind Siegfried Line)

Question 6

Operation Market Garden: however, was the operation too optimistic?

Answer 6

as *Allied intelligence in region poor,

• can’t use Enigma machine as used different radio frequencies,
• maps outdated and no back up plan

Question 7

Operation Market Garden: how did campaign start?

Answer 7

well with paratroopers dropped with aim of capturing bridgeheads on rivers Meuse, Rhine and lower Rhine

Question 8

Operation Market Garden: when did things begin to go wrong?

Answer 8

British airbone division and Polish brigade dropped at Arnhem but many landed kms from their target,
ground forces could not make way to Arnhem to meet other British forces,
forces at Arnhem faced heavy German resistance,
force at Arnhem was there for 10 days (not 2) against strong German forces and Germans found Allied plans in a downed plane

Question 9

Operation Market Garden: how many casualties?

Answer 9

18 000 killed, captured or wounded

Question 10

Operation Market Garden: what did Germans do on Dutch people?

Answer 10

German took revenge on hundred of Dutch people who they thought were behind the planned attack

Question 11

Operation Market Garden: what was Allied progress in region now like?

Answer 11

slow and costly

Question 12

The Battle of the Bulge: what was allied advance stopped by?

Answer 12

the Germans by a counter offensive through the Ardennes forest on the 16th of December.

Question 13

The Battle of the Bulge: what did Hitler think would allow him to win and seek a negotiated peace?

Answer 13

by capturing Antwerp (the main allied supply base)

Question 14

The Battle of the Bulge: by capturing Antwerp, he may be able to focus on?

Answer 14

Russian front

Question 15

The Battle of the Bulge: what was the battle known as?

Answer 15

Operation ‘Watch on the Rhine’

Question 16

The Battle of the Bulge: British and American taken by?

Answer 16

surprise

Question 17

The Battle of the Bulge: German pushed through?

Answer 17

Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg but failed to make it to the Meuse River

Question 18

The Battle of the Bulge: succeeded in?

Answer 18

creating a bulge in the American line

Question 19

The Battle of the Bulge: Allies dealt with the attack, and by late December?

Answer 19

allied air power became decisive due to improved weather conditions, Germany had lost the battle

Question 20

The Battle of the Bulge: benefit of Germany?

Answer 20

benefit surprise

Question 21

The Battle of the Bulge: why it would not have succeeded from start?

Answer 21

German panzers had inadequate fuel, the mountain roads made advance difficult and exposed to Allied air attack when weather clear in 2nd week

Question 22

The Battle of the Bulge: casualties?

Answer 22

Allied = 82 400 casualties, Germans = more than 100 000

Question 23

The Battle of the Bulge: when did retaking bulge occur?

Answer 23

until early Feb

Question 24

The Battle of the Bulge: effect of battle on Germany?

Answer 24

weakened Germany’s fighting ability = used last of his reserves and fuel

Question 25

The Battle of the Bulge: what does AJP Taylor state about last chance of this battle?

Answer 25

“…This was Hitler’s last gamble – brilliant in conception, impossible to execute”

Question 26

The Battle of the Bulge: why does Hugh Sole criticise Hitler’s decision for this battle?

Answer 26

it was “to seize the initiative for its own sake without a viable strategic objective in view”

Question 27

what allowed Allies to bomb Germany into submission?

Answer 27

Allied control of air in both the East and West

Question 28

March 1945?

Answer 28

Allied crossed Rhine into Germany and a month later the Soviets took Berlin

Question 29

Dorothea Schwanenfluegel:

Answer 29

“…Our nightmare had become a reality…These final days were hell… We were a city in ruins…” - tried to survive bombed out Berlin as Red Army attempted to take city.

Question 30

25 April, 1945?

Answer 30

US and Soviet forces met at River Elbe

Question 31

why was the US and Soviet force contact sig?

Answer 31

contact between the Soviets, advancing from the East, and the Americans, advancing from the West, meant that the two powers had effectively cut Germany in two

Question 32

when did Hitler commit suicide?

Answer 32

30 April, two days after Mussolini had been executed by resistance fighters

Question 33

when did Germany surrender?

Answer 33

8 May, now referred to as the VE Day (Victory in Europe)