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Old 12-05-2011, 09:04 PM   #11
matteti
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Question for military/geography/history experts

I need help to locate the exact place on a map where a soldier was when he earned an award.

The event happened on 30 January 1945 during the Vistula-Oder Offensive. He was part of the 94 Guards Rifle Division (5th Shock Army, 1 Belarussian Front). At that time, some units were able to cross on the frozen Oder river near Kustrin and reach the western bank to capture Kienitz. We can read that some Tanks even crossed the Oder on January 31st.

My soldier was part of a Reconnaissance Company and I expect he would have been ahead of the main units. In the citation, it is mentioned that the events happened in the outskirts of the village Hohenwalde (Хохенвалде).

I looked on Google map and I found two villages/settlements called Hohenwalde in Germany near the Oder river. One is south-west of Kustrin (near Frankfurt on the Oder), the other is north-west of Kustrin, closer to Kienitz, but still far (probably 70km) from Kustrin.

So, which one of these two Hohenwalde villages would it be? Or might it be another one?

I have attached a image from Google maps that show the two villages with a line linking them by today's roads. We can also see Kustrin and the Oder river separating German and Polish territory. Also, there is a portion of a map of January 31, 1945 showing that 94 Guards Rifle Division was in Kienitz.

Is this normal for a reconnaissance company to be so far ahead of its division of attach (although the company is called a "separate" company)?

Thanks a lot for your valuable inputs!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Hohenwalde_Frankfurt_and_Hohenwalde3.jpg (74.1 KB, 10 views)
File Type: jpg 1945-01-31.jpg (82.0 KB, 10 views)

Last edited by matteti; 12-06-2011 at 11:49 AM.
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Old 12-05-2011, 09:27 PM   #12
matteti
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Re: Question for military/geography/history experts

While browsing a book online I found a reference about the impressive quick progression of the 5th Shock Army during the Vistula-Oder operation and they mention that the maximum advance by a unit in a single day was 56 miles, and that the biggest distance between an infantry army and its tank army following it was 62 miles. So, the 94 Guards Rifle Division, being a breakthrough division in the Vistula-Oder, and this specific soldier's unit being a reconnaissance company, I would guess he could have been so far ahead of the rest of the division at that date.

What is interesting is that the 5th Shock Army retreated a bit back to the Eastern side of the Oder and stayed around there for the duration of the Pomeranian offensive, until April 4. Then, it was all steam on Berlin!

Waiting for your comments, help, etc.. :thumbsup

Last edited by matteti; 12-05-2011 at 09:35 PM.
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Old 12-08-2011, 12:42 PM   #13
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Re: Question for military/geography/history experts

To come back to my original question... which Hohenwalde (Хохенвалде) was it? A or B on the map.

It seems the 5th Shock Army went north after crossing the Oder near Kustrin in order to prepare to get to Berlin from the North-East (as was originally planned to go straight to Berlin without pausing after Vistula-Oder). Therefore, would you agree we can conclude that the "A" Hohenwalde village on the map, the one more at the north is the right one?
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Old 12-08-2011, 05:37 PM   #14
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Re: Question for military/geography/history experts

I think it's northwest of Kustrin. I have an award (April 45 and not February!) for a Lieutenant Guards 5th Shock Army (9th Guards Rifle Corps, North of Golzow). The 94th Rifle Division was at the time with 26 Guards Rifle Corps. The most northerly Corps of the 5th Shock Army.
According to the map, below, in early February the 94th GRD was near Kienitz.

Patrick
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Old 12-08-2011, 05:52 PM   #15
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Re: Question for military/geography/history experts

Is there a solid online library of Soviet military operation maps?

I'll be scanning in some VERY nice maps when I drag out my A3 scanner although they will be FAR larger than the size allowance of this forum so someone will have to put them somewhere once I do have them scanned and edited together (5 foot by 5 foot).
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Old 12-08-2011, 11:08 PM   #16
matteti
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Re: Question for military/geography/history experts

Quote:
Originally Posted by patricko View Post
I think it's northwest of Kustrin. I have an award (April 45 and not February!) for a Lieutenant Guards 5th Shock Army (9th Guards Rifle Corps, North of Golzow). The 94th Rifle Division was at the time with 26 Guards Rifle Corps. The most northerly Corps of the 5th Shock Army.
According to the map, below, in early February the 94th GRD was near Kienitz.

Patrick
Thanks Patrick. I also saw this map on ArmChairGeneral website during my research and it seems to be a logical guess.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ctahhr View Post
Is there a solid online library of Soviet military operation maps?
This would be great if you could share some maps! I know ArmChairGeneral website has put a lot online and you might contact them to list your maps there. That would be nice if we could have a repository to share maps, OOB, Prikaz/Ukaz, Excel spreadhseets of military information, and other research documents among members.
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Old 12-09-2011, 12:51 PM   #17
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Re: Question for military/geography/history experts

Patrick,
My 94 RD soldier also won an award for actions in (18) April 1945. I found a map about the position of 5th Shock Army on April 17. It shows the 26 Rifle Corps division with 94 at north, then 89 just south of it and 266 south of 89. They were still in the same area, just a bit East of Kustrin and Kienitz. After having stayed in same area since Vistula-Oder and for the whole East Pomeranian offensive, they were now starting moving East again on their last rush towards Berlin.

I though you might like to see that Map. It's not very readable, but you might be lucky to find a copy of the book from Tony LeTissier (Zhukov at the Oder). I think it's at page 198. You can get the page from GoogleBooks (as I did) but real book will have better quality map.
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Old 12-09-2011, 03:22 PM   #18
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Re: Question for military/geography/history experts

Quote:
Originally Posted by matteti View Post
Patrick,
My 94 RD soldier also won an award for actions in (18) April 1945. I found a map about the position of 5th Shock Army on April 17. It shows the 26 Rifle Corps division with 94 at north, then 89 just south of it and 266 south of 89. They were still in the same area, just a bit East of Kustrin and Kienitz. After having stayed in same area since Vistula-Oder and for the whole East Pomeranian offensive, they were now starting moving East again on their last rush towards Berlin.

I though you might like to see that Map. It's not very readable, but you might be lucky to find a copy of the book from Tony LeTissier (Zhukov at the Oder). I think it's at page 198. You can get the page from GoogleBooks (as I did) but real book will have better quality map.
That's very kind of you ! Many thanks !:thumbsup
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Old 12-09-2011, 11:25 PM   #19
matteti
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Re: Question for military/geography/history experts

After a few hours of research, I believe I have now found the location where my soldier from 94 RD was on January 30, 1945. :)

In the citations, the place is called "Haus Hohenwalde". When browsing Internet, I found that this was the German denomination of "Czuchla", a small settlement in Poland. I was able to locate it by its coordinates (Lat 52.7667, Lon 15) and it appears to be located halfway between Tarnow and Wysoka, north of Lubno, about 32km North-East of Kustrin. So, it seems he was not so far as I first had thought... which would make sense since there is no mention of crossing of the Oder before January 31st in the morning when crossing to Kienitz.

I have attached a Google maps for reference with the road from Haus Hohenwalde to Kustrin highlighted.

Hope this time, I have found the correct location!
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File Type: jpg Haus_Hoenwalde.jpg (111.8 KB, 6 views)
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Old 12-11-2011, 04:51 PM   #20
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Re: Question for military/geography/history experts

That's it! Found it! :)

Thanks to podvignaroda maps, I was able to confirm this was effectively in the Polish side (slightly East of Oder) as per my previous post.

Here is a small portion of the big map showing Haus-Hohenwalde. There are no units shown around that village because the map is from April 15-18 and the event were in January.
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File Type: jpg Haus-Hohenwalde.jpg (131.5 KB, 8 views)
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