German World War II fortresses

German fortresses during World War II ( or , ; called pockets by the Allies) were bridgeheads, cities, islands and towns designated by Adolf Hitler as areas that were to be fortified and stocked with food and ammunition in order to hold out against Allied offensives.

thumb|right|An [[Atlantic Wall bunker]]

The fortress doctrine evolved towards the end of World War II, when the German leadership had not yet accepted defeat, but had begun to realize that drastic measures were required to forestall inevitable Allied offensives. The first such stronghold was Stalingrad.

thumb|Map of on the Eastern Front in 1944

On the Eastern Front, Warsaw, Budapest, Vilnius, Kolberg, Königsberg, Küstrin, Danzig and Breslau were some of the large cities selected as strongholds.

On the Western Front, Hitler declared eleven major ports as fortresses on 19 January 1944: IJmuiden, the Hook of Holland, Dunkirk, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Le Havre, Cherbourg, Saint-Malo, Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire and the Gironde estuary. In February and March 1944 three more coastal areas were declared to be fortresses: the Channel Islands, Calais and La Rochelle.

Fate of the fortresses

The fate of the fortress areas varied. Stalingrad, the first to fall, is seen as a crucial turning point in the war, and one of the key battles which led to German defeat. In several cases, Alderney, for example, the fortresses were bypassed by the attackers and did not fall, surrendering only after the unconditional surrender of Germany.

One fortress, Courland, would see guerrilla war being waged in the area after 1945 to the late 1950s by Latvian and Lithuanian partisans, with a few Germans who fought as Forest Brothers, with individual guerrillas remaining in hiding and evading capture into the 1980s.

{| class="wikitable sortable data-sort-type=number sticky-header"

!Fortresses

!Siege

!Commander

!Besiegers

!Date declared

!Date siege started

!Date surrendered

!Length of siege

!Notes

| Belle Île, Groix and Lorient, French State, Military Administration in France

| Lorient pocket

| Wilhelm Fahrmbacher

| US Armed Forces

66th Infantry Division

|data-sort-value="19440119" | 19 January 1944

|data-sort-value="19440812" | 12 August 1944

|data-sort-value="19450510" | 10 May 1945

|

| Berlin, Province of Brandenburg, Free State of Prussia, Gau Berlin, Greater German Reich

|Battle in Berlin

| Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild → Hellmuth Reymann → Ernst Kaether → Adolf Hitler → Helmuth Weidling

| Soviet Armed Forces

Workers' and Peasants' Red Army
1st Belorussian Front
1st Ukrainian Front

Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland

First Polish Army

|data-sort-value="19450201" |

|data-sort-value="19450423" | 23 April 1945 (encirclement of Berlin complete on 27 April 1945)

|data-sort-value="19450502" | 2 May 1945

|

Called the Berlin Defense Area
Operation Clausewitz

| Bobruysk, Army Group Rear Area Command

|Bobruysk offensive

| Adolf Hamann

| Soviet Armed Forces

Red Army
1st Belorussian Front
65th Army

|data-sort-value="19440622" | 22 June 1944

|data-sort-value="19440627" | 27 June 1944

|data-sort-value="19440629" | 29 June 1944

|

| Now called Babruysk

| Boulogne-sur-Mer, French State, Military Administration in France

|Operation Wellhit

| Ferdinand Heim

| UK Armed Forces

Royal Air Force
No. 2 Group

Canadian Armed Forces

First Canadian Army
3rd Division
8th Infantry Brigade
9th Infantry Brigade

|data-sort-value="19440917" | 17 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19440922" | 22 September 1944

|

| Breslau, Province of Lower Silesia, Free State of Prussia, Gau Lower Silesia, Greater German Reich

|Siege of Breslau

| Battle Commander Karl Hanke

| Soviet Armed Forces

Military Air Forces of the USSR
2nd Air Army
18th Air Army
Red Army
1st Ukrainian Front
6th Army

|data-sort-value="19440725" | 25 July 1944

|data-sort-value="19450213" | 13 February 1945

|data-sort-value="19450506" | 6 May 1945

|

| Now called Wrocław

| Brest, French State, Military Administration in France

| Battle for Brest

| Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke

| UK Armed Forces

US Armed Forces

US Army Air Forces
US Third Army
VIII Corps
2nd Infantry Division
8th Infantry Division
29th Infantry Division
35th Engineer Combat Battalion
2nd Ranger Battalion
644th Tank Destroyer Battalion
5th Ranger Battalion
23rd Headquarters Special Troops
79th UK Armoured Division (elements)
6th Armored Division (elements)

|data-sort-value="19440807" | 7 August 1944

|data-sort-value="19440919" | 19 September 1944

|

| Budapest, Government of National Unity, Kingdom of Hungary

|Siege of Budapest

| Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch

| Romanian Armed Forces

First Army
7th Army Corps

Soviet Armed Forces

Red Army
2nd Ukrainian Front
53rd Army
7th Guards Army
3rd Ukrainian Front (elements)
46th Army

|data-sort-value="19441201" | 1 December 1944

|data-sort-value="19441224" | 24 December 1944

|data-sort-value="19450213" | 13 February 1945

|

| Calais, French State, Military Administration in France

|Operation Undergo

| Ludwig Schroeder

| UK Armed Forces

Royal Air Force
Royal Navy

Canadian Armed Forces

First Army
3rd Division
7th Infantry Brigade
8th Infantry Brigade

|data-sort-value="19440201" | February or March 1944

|data-sort-value="19440925" | 25 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19440930" | 30 September 1944

|

| Channel Islands

|Resistance in the German-occupied Channel Islands

| Rudolf Graf von Schmettow → Friedrich Hüffmeier

| Allied Expeditionary Force

US Navy
US Army
Royal Navy

|data-sort-value="19440201" | February or March 1944

|data-sort-value="19440902" | 2 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19450523" | 9 May 1945 (Guernsey and Jersey) 10 May 1945 (Sark) 16 May 1945 (Alderney) 23 May 1945 (Minquiers)

|

| Surrendered after the surrender of Germany

| Cherbourg, French State, Military Administration in France

| Battle of Cherbourg

| Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben

| US Armed Forces

First Army
VII Corps
9th Infantry Division
79th Infantry Division
Ninth Army
III Corps
4th Infantry Division

|data-sort-value="19440606" | 6 June 1944

|data-sort-value="19440622" | 22 June 1944

|data-sort-value="19440627" | 27 June 1944

|

| Courland, General District Latvia, Reichskommissariat Ostland, Army Group Rear Area Command

| Courland Pocket

| Ferdinand Schörner → Lothar Rendulic → Walter Weiß → Rendulic → Heinrich von Vietinghoff → Rendulic → Carl Hilpert

|data-sort-value="19441010" | 10 October 1944

|data-sort-value="19440731" | 31 July 1944 (encirclement of the pocket complete on 10 October 1944)

|data-sort-value="19450510" | 10 May 1945

|

| Surrendered after the surrender of Germany. See Army Group North and Army Group Courland.

| Crete, Hellenic State, Military Administration in Greece

|Cretan resistance, Operation Albumen and Operation Mercury II

| Hans-Georg Benthack

| UK Armed Forces

Royal Navy

Hellenic Army

|data-sort-value="19441004" | 4 October 1944

|data-sort-value="19450512" | 12 May 1945

|

|Surrendered after the surrender of Germany, see Fortress Crete

| Crimea, Army Group Rear Area Command

|Crimean offensive, Kerch–Eltigen operation and Battle of the Dnieper

| Erwin Jaenecke → Ferdinand Schörner → Erwin Jaenecke → Karl Allmendinger

|data-sort-value="19440408" | 8 April 1944

|data-sort-value="19431101" | 28 October 1943 (encirclement of Crimea complete on 2 November 1943)

|data-sort-value="19440512" | 12 May 1944

|

| Danzig, Danzig Region, Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, Greater German Reich

| Siege of Danzig

| Dietrich von Saucken

| 2nd Belorussian Front

Polish rebels

|data-sort-value="19450307" | 7 March 1945

|data-sort-value="19450315" | 15 March 1945

|data-sort-value="19450330" | 30 March 1945

|

|Now called Gdańsk

| Demyansk, Army Group Rear Area Command || Demyansk Pocket || || || data-sort-value="19420222" | 22 February 1942 || data-sort-value="19420208" | 8 February 1942 || data-sort-value="19420520" | 20 May 1942 || || Encircled during the Soviet winter counteroffensive, supplied by air until relieved in May 1942, and evacuated in February 1943.

| Dieppe, French State, Military Administration in France

|data-sort-value="00000000" | N/A

|data-sort-value="19440605" | Prior to 6 June 1944

|data-sort-value="00000000" | N/A

|data-sort-value="19440901" | 1 September 1944

|| N/A

|Evacuated and liberated without opposition. Also see Operation Fusilade and Operation Jubilee.

| Dunkirk, French State, Military Administration in France

| Siege of Dunkirk

| Wolfgang von Kluge → Friedrich Frisius

| UK Armed Forces

British Army
51st Division
154th Infantry Brigade
21st Army Group
1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade
Royal Navy
4th Special Service Brigade

Canadian Armed Forces

Canadian Army
2nd Infantry Division

|data-sort-value="19440904" | 4 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19440915" | 15 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19450509" | 9 May 1945

|

| Surrendered after the surrender of Germany

| Gironde Estuary North, Military Administration in France

| Operation Jupiter and Operation Venerable

| Hartwig Pohlmann → Hans Michahelles

| French Liberation Army

10th Division
2nd Armored Division
23rd Infantry Division
50th Regiment
158th Regiment

US Armed Forces

66th Infantry Division

|data-sort-value="19440119" | 19 January 1944

|data-sort-value="19440912" | 12 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19450430" | 30 April 1945

|

| Gironde Estuary South, Military Administration in France

| Royan pocket

| Christian Sonntag → Otto Prahl

|data-sort-value="19440119" | 19 January 1944

|data-sort-value="19440912" | 12 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19450420" | 20 April 1945

|

| Hel Peninsula, Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, Free State of Prussia, Gau Danzig-West Prussia, Greater German Reich

| Siege of Hel

| Soviet Armed Forces

Red Army
2nd Belorussian Front
19th Army
2nd Shock Army
Soviet Navy
Baltic Fleet

|data-sort-value="19450313" | 13 March 1945

|data-sort-value="19450330" | 30 March 1945

|data-sort-value="19450514" | 14 May 1945

|

| See Hel Fortified Area

| Hook of Holland, Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories

|data-sort-value="00000000" | N/A

|Oberst Flinzer

|data-sort-value="00000000" | N/A

|data-sort-value="19440119" | 19 January 1944

|data-sort-value="00000000" | N/A

|data-sort-value="19450505" | 5 May 1945

|| N/A

| IJmuiden, Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories

|data-sort-value="00000000" | N/A

| Colonel Stahmer → Hans Huttner

|data-sort-value="00000000" | N/A

|data-sort-value="19440119" | 19 January 1944

|data-sort-value="00000000" | N/A

|data-sort-value="19450505" | 5 May 1945

|| N/A

| Île de Ré and La Rochelle, French State, Military Administration in France

|Siege of La Rochelle

| Ernst Schirlitz

|data-sort-value="19440201" | February or March 1944

|data-sort-value="19440912" | 12 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19450507" | 7 May 1945

|

| Kholm, Army Group Rear Area Command || Kholm Pocket || || || data-sort-value="19420123" | 23 January 1942 || data-sort-value="19420123" | 23 January 1942 || data-sort-value="19420505" | 5 May 1942 || || Encircled during the Soviet winter counteroffensive, relieved in May 1942 after prolonged defense

| Kolberg, Region of Köslin, Province of Pomerania, Gau Pomerania, Greater German Reich

| Battle of Kolberg

| Fritz Fullriede

| Soviet Armed Forces

Red Army
1st Belorussian Front
272nd Rifle Division
45th Tank Brigade

Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland

First Polish Army
4th Infantry Division
3rd Infantry Division
6th Infantry Division

|data-sort-value="19441105" | 5 November 1944

|data-sort-value="19450304" | 4 March 1945

|data-sort-value="19450314" | 14 March 1945

|

| Now called Kołobrzeg

| Königsberg, Region of Königsberg, East Prussia, Free State of Prussia, Gau East Prussia, Greater German Reich

|Battle of Königsberg

| Otto Lasch

| Soviet Armed Forces

Red Army
1st Baltic Front
3rd Belorussian Front

|data-sort-value="19450121" | 21 January 1945

|data-sort-value="19450126" | 26 January 1945 (encirclement of Königsberg complete on 29 January 1945)

|data-sort-value="19450409" | 9 April 1945

|

| Now called Kaliningrad

| Küstrin, Königsberg Nm., Province of Brandenburg, Free State of Prussia, Gau March of Brandenburg, Greater German Reich

| Siege of Küstrin

| Adolf Raegener → Heinrich-Friedrich Reinefarth

| Soviet Armed Forces

Red Army
1st Belorussian Front
82nd Guards Rifle Division

|data-sort-value="19450125" | 25 January 1945

|data-sort-value="19450131" | 31 January 1945

|data-sort-value="19450330" | 30 March 1945

|

|Now called Kostrzyn nad Odrą. A small number (<1,000) of the German garrison reached German lines after a breakout during the night of 29/30 March 1945

| Le Havre, French State, Military Administration in France

| Operation Astonia

| Eberhard Wildermuth

| UK Armed Forces

British Army
I Corps
49th Infantry Division
51st Infantry Division
79th Armoured Division

Canadian Armed Forces

Canadian Army
1st Armoured Carrier Regiment

|data-sort-value="19440907" | 7 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19440910" | 10 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19440912" | 12 September 1944

|

| Metz, French State, Military Administration in France

| Battle of Metz

| Walter Krause → Ernst Kemper → Heinrich Kittel → Werner Matzdorff

| US Armed Forces

Third Army
XX Corps
95th Infantry Division
5th Infantry Division

|data-sort-value="19440902" | 2 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19440927" | 27 September 1944

|data-sort-value="19441122" | 22 November 1944

|

| Orel, Army Group Rear Area Command

| Operation Kutuzov

|data-sort-value="19440705" | 5 July 1943

|data-sort-value="19430712" | 12 July 1943

|data-sort-value="19430805" | 5 August 1943

|

| Posen, Posen Region, Reichsgau Wartheland, Greater German Reich

|Battle of Posen

| Ernst Mattern → Ernst Gonell

| Soviet Armed Forces

Red Army
1st Belorussian Front
1st Guards Tank Army
8th Guards Army

Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland

|data-sort-value="19440820" | 20 August 1944

|data-sort-value="19450124" | 24 January 1945

|data-sort-value="19450223" | 23 February 1945

|

| Now called Poznań

| Saint-Malo, French State, Military Administration in France

|Battle of Saint-Malo

| Andreas von Aulock

| US Armed Forces

Third Army

French Liberation Army British Army

|data-sort-value="19440119" | 19 January 1944

|data-sort-value="19440804" | 4 August 1944

|data-sort-value="19440817" | 17 August 1944

|

| Saint-Nazaire, French State, Military Administration in France

| Saint-Nazaire pocket

| Maximilian Hünten → Hans Junck → Captain Mathies

| US Armed Forces

4th Armored Division
6th Armored Division
94th Infantry Division
66th Infantry Division

French Liberation Army

French Forces of the Interior
Snipers and Partisans
25th Infantry Division

|data-sort-value="19440808" | 8 August 1944

|data-sort-value="19440827" | 27 August 1944

|data-sort-value="19450511" | 11 May 1945

|

| Surrendered after the surrender of Germany

| Sevastopol, Army Group Rear Area Command

|Crimean offensive

|data-sort-value="19440408" | 20 June 1942

|data-sort-value="19440505" | 5 May 1944

|data-sort-value="19440509" | 9 May 1944

|

| Smolensk, Army Group Rear Area Command

|Smolensk operation

|data-sort-value="19430910" | 10 September 1943

|data-sort-value="19430807" | 7 August 1943

|data-sort-value="19430925" | 25 September 1943

|

| Stalingrad, Army Group Rear Area Command

|Battle of Stalingrad

| Friedrich Paulus → Karl Strecker

| Soviet Armed Forces

Red Army
Stalingrad Front
28th Army
51st Army
57th Army
62nd Army
64th Army
Don Front
24th Army
65th Army
66th Army
Southwestern Front
1st Guards Army
5th Tank Army
21st Army

|data-sort-value="19420924" | 24 September 1942

|data-sort-value="19420823" | 23 August 1942 (encirclement of Stalingrad complete on 22 November 1942 during Operation Uranus)

|data-sort-value="19430305" | 5 March 1943

|

| Now called Volgograd. By 1 November 1942, 90% of Stalingrad was occupied by Axis forces. On 26 January 1943, during Operation Koltso, Axis forces in Stalingrad were cut into two pockets, with Karl Strecker in command of the northern pocket and Friedrich Paulus in command of the southern pocket.

| French protectorate of Tunisia

| Tunisian campaign

| Erwin Rommel → Gustav Fehn → Rommel → Hans-Jürgen von Arnim

| British Army

British Indian Army
Newfoundland

US Armed Forces Free French Forces New Zealand Defence Force Hellenic Armed Forces

|data-sort-value="19430222" | 22 February 1943

|data-sort-value="19421109" | 9 November 1942 (encirclement of Tunisia complete on 12 February 1943)

|data-sort-value="19430513" | 13 May 1943

|

| Warsaw, Warsaw District, General Government, Greater German Reich

| Lublin–Brest offensive, Vistula–Oder offensive and Warsaw Uprising

| Hellmuth Eisenstuck → Ernst Mock

|data-sort-value="00000000" | N/A

|data-sort-value="19440727" | 27 July 1944

|data-sort-value="19440801" | 1 August 1944

|data-sort-value="19450117" | 17 January 1945

|

| On 16 January 1945, German troops withdrew from Warsaw and the next day the First Polish Army, 2nd Guards Tank Army and 3rd Shock Army entered the city. Also see Festung Warschau

German World War II fortresses

Fate of the fortresses

See also

Notes

References

External links