MG Singh · Follow
5 min read · Sep 29, 2023
The Wehrmacht in World War II represented the development of the German army from its Prussian ancestry. Unfortunately, it is a fact of history that the professional officer corps of the German army can be accused of dereliction of their sense of duty to the ethics of war and indulging in atrocities on the eastern front. When the tide turned against the German army in the east they were haunted by the atrocities they had committed on the POWs and feared retribution from the advancing Red Army. This was one of the main reasons that conditioned the military thought of the German generals towards the fa*g end of the war. They did not wish to surrender to the Red Army and preferred to lay down arms before the Americans. During the last days of WWII, it was apparent to everyone including the German Army that the lives of their soldiers were being sacrificed at the altar of the fanatical ideas of their leader, Adolf Hitler. One can say that the realization came very late at the end of the day.
On April 24, 1945, the battle of Halbe Pocket commenced. The ninth army which had fought the battle of Berlin under General Busse was surrounded in a pocket south of the German capital. The only thought in the mind of the commander of the ninth army was to save the lives of his soldiers and to try and see they do not surrender to the Russians but to the Americans.
General Theodor Busse, thus ignored the orders of the Fuhrer and during the next seven days attempted a breakthrough from the pocket hoping to escape the dragnet of the Red Army. He wished to surrender to the Allies in the hope of better treatment as POWs.
The battle commenced on April 24 and lasted till 1 May 1945. By all accounts, it was a bloody battle and the 9th Army took heavy casualties. It can be termed as a bloodbath as the 9th Army was surrounded by superior forces of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts led by, Marshal Ivan Konev. In addition, the German troops were at the end of the tether with injuries and low morale.
After the German army’s defeat in the battle of Seelow Heights, they were cut off and encircled. The 9th Army had been reduced to 80,000 but had only 79 tanks and about 150 armored vehicles. The German army was trapped in an area called the Spree forest. The terrain of this area was extremely unforgiving and consisted of lakes, forests, and marshes.
Marshal Konev’s aim was to capture the entrapped Germans. Accordingly, he planned to encircle the 9th Army leaving it no room to escape. The German army made two unsuccessful attempts to break out but on the night of April 28, they had some success.
Busse was now getting desperate. The Germans put all they had into the offensive on the 28th and broke through the 50th Guards rifle division. They were able to open a small but bloody corridor and more important their morale went up.
The Soviets realized what had happened and sent in reinforcements to man the flanks while an artillery barrage along with Katyusha rockets, rained on the retreating troops escaping through the corridor.
The creation of the corridor led to a breakdown of discipline as everybody wanted to rush through the corridor toward the Elbe. Rearguard troops were holding the rampaging Russians at Storkow while the other soldiers tried to link up with the 12th army of General Walther Wenck at Beelitz. The distance between the two was about 80 km but it was open space
Russian Marshal Konev was aware of the heavy casualties suffered by the ninth army because of the artillery barrage and he hoped to break them into smaller groups so they could be mopped up. On the other hand, the only strategy of the Germans was to escape as quickly as possible from the clutches of the Red Army to reach the front line on the west.
The situation was tense and fluid and there are reports that there was infighting between the SS and the Wehrmacht shoulders in their desire to be the first to escape.
The professionalism of the German army now went for a toss. There was only bitter fighting with the Russians in some pockets as there was no proper chain of command.
Through this maze of smoke and guns, a column of about 25,000 troops was able to reach the shattered 12th army and Beelitz.
Hitler had ordered the Ninth Army and the 12th Army to link up for the defense of Berlin. Both the commanders of the Ninth and the 12th army had other important things on their minds than to obey Hitler. Remnants of both armies now decided to make a concerted break to reach the American lines. There was bitter fighting still going on and the ninth army was once again surrounded west of Luckenwalde, 10 kilometers from the 12th Army. The Soviet 4th Guards Tank Army mounted heavy assaults leaving many dead on both sides. Despite the ferociousness of the Russian assault both Busse and Walther Wenck could combine and establish a corridor towards Allied positions.
The remnants of German troops reached the bridge at Tangermünde between May 4 and May 7, 1945, and surrendered to the American forces.
This entire tale of battle is very astonishing because against overwhelming odds the ninth army along with remnants of the 12th army was able to escape the dragnet of the Soviet army and if figures have a meaning 25,000 German soldiers and thousands of civilians escaped. This is a wonder but the sacrifice was heavy and 55,000 German soldiers were either killed or captured.
Busse surrendered to the Americans and was a POW and released in 1948. he was appointed director of civil defense, retired, and died in 1986 at the age of 88. Wenck was also a POW but released in 1947 and died in 1982 in a car accident aged 82
