When someone mentions 60 years ago in June what is the first thought that pops in your head? D-Day? Well for most on this BBS D-Day was the major event of WW2. As westerners how many think of “Operation Bagration?
On June 22, 1944; the third anniversary of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, a Soviet force consisting of 1,700,00 troops and supported by 6,000 aircraft, 3,000 tanks and 24,000 artillery pieces destroyed Army Group Center. In co-operation with Operation Bagration the Soviet Northern Armies attacked through the Baltic States and encircled Army Group North.
Operation Bagration was the most disastrous defeat suffered by the Germans in the war, costing the Wehrmacht more men and material than the defeat at Stalingrad. Within a matter of weeks afterward, the Red Army reached Warsaw and was set for their final assault toward Berlin.
There is no denying the contribution of all the allied powers in defeating Germany but we should try to keep it in perspective. World War 2 wasn’t won in Normandy or in the air over the Germany. It was won on the ground, on the eastern Steppes.
Despite what you may think of Stalin and the Soviet Regime during the period the soldiers of the Red Army deserve the respect they have earned along their long march to Berlin.
