PublishedCasemate, December 2017 |
ISBN9781612005485 |
FormatHardcover, 208 pages |
Dimensions22.8cm × 15.2cm |
Otto Heidkamper's account of the 3rd Panzer Army's defence of Vitebsk, translated into English. The city of Vitebsk in Belarus was of strategic importance during the fighting on the Eastern Front, as it controlled the route to Minsk. A salient in the German lines, Vitebsk had been declared a Festerplatz a fortress town meaning that it must be held at all costs a task handed to the 3rd Panzer Army in 1943.
Otto Heidkamper was chief of staff of Georg-Hans Reinhardt's 3rd Panzer Army, Army Group Center, which was stationed around Vitebsk and Smolensk from early 1942 until June 1944. His detailed account of the defence of Vitebsk through the winter of 1943 into 1944, right up to the Soviet summer offensive is a valuable first-hand account of how the operations around Vitebsk played out. Twenty maps accompany the narrative. AUTHOR: Otto Heidkamper was a highly decorated Wehrmacht general who commanded several divisions during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross. He was Chief-of-Staff of 3rd Panzer Army during the Vitebsk battles, making his account uniquely valuable.
