Articles published by members

[Georges JEROME]

my last (bio) article upon Wilhelm Bittrich. 12 pages fully illustrated. As always, I'm grateful to fellow members of AHF for help and pictures shared. My purpose was to to cover as well civilian period, pre war Allgemeine-SS and SS-VT activities and of course all wartime assignements. Out of personal files of W.Bittrich and excellent bios from books upon ss-generals of our members in german and english, I found a german bio article full of personal datas and interviews which allow me to enlarge my knowledge of him.

[Michael Miller]

Three lengthy illustrated articles on senior Waffen-SS commanders (Walter Krüger, Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger, and Paul Hausser) recently published in Massimiliano Afiero's The Axis Forces magazine. Sample pages may be viewed at the following links:

https://www.amazon.com/Axis-Forces-14-M ... 38-6449253

https://www.amazon.com/Axis-Forces-13-M ... 38-6449253

https://www.amazon.com/Axis-Forces-12-M ... 38-6449253


Work still progressing on Gauleiter, Volume 3 and the vastly-expanded reissue of Leaders of the Storm Troops, Volume 1, both to be published by Fonthill.

Best wishes and thanks for your interest,
~ Mike

[Michael Miller]

My fourth article for The Axis Forces was recently published.

https://www.amazon.com/Axis-Forces-15-M ... B08GZ9414Q

Best wishes,
~ Mike

[Der Alte Fritz]

Article published today in Journal of Slavic Military History Vol 33 Issue 3:
Logistics of the Tank Army: The Uman–Botoșani Operation, 1944
H. G. W. Davie
https://doi.org/10.1080/13518046.2020.1824106

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 20.1824106

ABSTRACT
Soviet tank armies used a form of logistics different from that of Western armies that specifically allowed them a high degree of mobility and the ability to operate deeply behind enemy lines without fear of interruption. The buildup for offensives was provided by railways, and the offensives themselves were time limited, awaiting the arrival of the field armies and restored railway connections. Nonetheless, when used as part of a series of offensives, these long-range penetrations acted to break up the German defenses. The reason for choosing the Uman–Botoșani Operation for this study is that according to Soviet historiography, it represented the first occasion in which the ‘deep operation’ concept was successfully implemented.

[Georges JEROME]

my last article upon SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei Anton Dunckern in the french 39/45 Magazine (march/avril 2021) fully illustrated on 12 pages complete the one published in Yank (january 1945).

[Der Alte Fritz]

Journal of Slavic Military History Vol 33 Issue 4:
The Logistics of the Combined-Arms Army— the Rear: High Mobility Through Limited Means
H. G. W. Davie
ABSTRACT
This article sets out to examine the inner working of combined-arms armies logistics over the course of the war through the use of a series of seven reports contained within the ‘Collection of Materials on the Experience of War’ and comparing these assessments with statistics from archival documents on two actual operations, Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev in August 1943 and the Vistula-Oder Operation in January 1945. These results show that combined-arms armies gained their operational mobility from rapid re-establishment of railways and a carefully choreographed use of a small motor vehicle fleet, coupled with strict adherence to weight limits and living off the land by combat troops and their horse-drawn transport. This achievement of high mobility using limited means was a unique approach particularly tailored to the Red Army’s force structure and the Soviet Union’s available economic support.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 20.1845091

Message me if you do not have academic access to this journal. As usual the Agreed Text version will be published on my own website six months after publication see www.hgwdavie.com

[dwójkarz]

In mid-April 2021 there will be another issue of The Enigma Bulletin with my article - Łukasz ULATOWSKI, Enigma Found. Polish Instances of Decryption of the Machine Cipher from 1934.

THE ENIGMA BULLETIN
Edited by Zdzisław J. Kapera
No. 12 – December 2020 ISSN 0867-8693
The Enigma Press, ul. Podedworze 5, 32-031 Mogilany, Poland; E-mail: enigma@post.pl
CONTENTS
Contributions
Łukasz ULATOWSKI, Enigma Found. Polish Instances of Decryption
of the Machine Cipher from 1934 .............................................................................. 1
José Ramón SOLER FUESANTA, Spanish Cryptanalysts in PC Bruno
and Cadix .......................................................................................................................... 19
Mike BARBAKOFF, Operating the British Turing Welchman Bombe .......... 37
Mike BARBAKOFF, Madame X. The story of ‘003’. The U.S. Army
Cryptologic Bombe in World War II ...................................................................... 49
Zdzisław J. KAPERA, Fatal Surprises for the Polish Intelligence: Au-
gust 23 and September 17, 1939 .............................................................................. 71
Chronicle and Review Articles
Zdzisław J. KAPERA, Reception of the Polish Contributions in Break-
ing Enigma (2000-2020) .......................................................................................... 125
Zdzisław J. KAPERA. Richard A. Woytak, Historian with a Mission.
Remarks on Werble historii ..................................................................................... 136
Krzysztof LESZCZYŃSKI, The Polish Ciphers 1919-1945. Signals,
Military Intelligence (Author’s summary) ......................................................... 145
Review
Andrzej Glass, et al., Wywiad Armii Krajowej w walce z V-1 i V-2 (by
Zdzisław J. Kapera) ................................................................................................... 157

The issue is available directly from the publisher.

[G. Trifkovic]

'Catastrophe Avoided by a Hair’s Breadth": German Sources on the 1944 Battle of Knin
(in: Časopis za suvremenu povijest, 53:1/2021, pp. 549-71)

The battle that took place in Knin and its surroundings in November and
December 1944 was one of the most important events during World War II in
Croatia and Yugoslavia as a whole. As such, the battle occupied a prominent
place in the narrative of the Yugoslav Partisans’ ‘People’s Liberation War’. The
descriptions, however, were almost always written from the perspective of the
winning side. This approach had both objective (lack of German documents)
and subjective reasons (unwillingness to change the official—and much em-
bellished—version, which had already begun to take shape during the war).
Thanks to the passage of time, as well as the opening and advanced digitisa-
tion of archival holdings throughout the world, we now have a chance to take
a look at the battle from the perspective of the losing side. As there are no
major discrepancies in the German and Yugoslav descriptions of the course
of the battle itself, the article at hand will concentrate on its lesser-known or
controversial aspects. The reader will thus find out about the German High
Command’s fixation with the events transpiring in the eastern parts of Yu-
goslavia. This effectively meant that the Wehrmacht’s contingent in Dalmatia
was all but abandoned to its fate. The contingent was denied reinforcements
and proper supply, and soon succumbed to the semi-regular, numerous, and
well-equipped Partisan units operating in the area. The catastrophe brought
the entire strategic right flank in the Balkans to the brink of collapse. That the
enemy did not advance all the way to Bihać was more due to luck than de-
sign: thanks to the strained relations with the Western Allies at that time, the
Partisans saw themselves compelled to call off the offensive and concentrate
the bulk of their forces closer to the coast. Apart from details on these events,
the reader will also find updated information on the German order-of-battle
as well as new findings on the scale and type of losses incurred at or around
Knin, a topic that is still shrouded in controversy.

The article is in Croatian, but Google Translate can help; full text available at: https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=cl ... zik=378846

Best,

G.

[T. A. Gardner]

https://www.navalhistory.org/2019/10/08/the-retro-bomb

While not Axis based, it gives some details on several U-boat sinkings.

[Panther Arthur]

Night of the Panthers .jpeg

Hello Everyone

My latest WWII Waffen-SS 12th SS PD - Panther tank article in the "Canadian Military History Journal"


The Night of the Panthers: The Assault of Kampfgruppe Meyer/
Wünsche on Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse, 8/9 June 1944


Free Download

https://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol30/iss1/7/

Abstract

This article provides historical insight into the failure of German armoured counterattacks in the immediate aftermath of the Normandy invasion. The failure of an armoured battlegroup of the 12. SS-Panzerdivision to take the village of Bretteville l’Orgueilleuse on the night of 8/9 June 1944 was not exclusively due to poor planning, lack of coordination and not enough infantry support. Though these factors were present in abundance, the main reason for failure was German confidence in mutated armoured tactics that were successfully used by the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front. These rough tactics, though successful in the Ukraine in 1943, actually violated established German armoured doctrine. The failure of the Waffen-SS commanders to recognise the need for greater preparation and, by default, larger and more powerful resources doomed their early offensive operations against the Normandy bridgehead, one of which is examined in detail within this article.


Thank you for your support - I do need the downloads.

Arthur W. Gullachsen

[G. Trifkovic]

“Brandenburg” vs. Yugoslavia, 1941–1945

My new article on the history of the "Brandenburgers'" involvement in the Yugoslav insurgency has just been published in Vojnoistorijski glasnik, 2 (2021), pp. 84-120. Full text in English available at
https://www.academia.edu/attachments/83 ... &s=profile)

From the abstract:

Third Reich’s main special forces unit, known as the
„Brandenburg“, continues to capture the public imagination even
after almost eight decades since the end of the biggest conflict in
world history. The exploits from the early phase of the Second
World War, notably those that took place in the Soviet Union and
North Africa, invariably occupy a central place in these narratives.
In stark contrast, the “Brandenburg” ’s service in occupied Yugosla-
via has, at best, received scant coverage despite the fact that all of
its major sub-units saw action there at one point or another. Using
largely unpublished primary sources, the article at hand will seek
to outline the unit’s involvement in what has once been aptly
described as “the Wehrmacht’s Balkan quagmire”. It will also
argue that its performance in counterinsurgency warfare did not
live up to its general reputation.

[Georges JEROME]

Last article upon Oberst-Gruppenführer und Generaloberst der Waffen-SS in 39/45 Magazine (french) fully illustrated 12 pages.

39 45 Magazine page 1 - Copie.jpeg