Dan D
09-25-08, 05:39 PM
In August, I made a 600 km bicyle tour along the German Polish border river, the Oder. The tour started in Frankfurt/Oder which is about 80 km east from Berlin and I went up north to the Baltic sea.
Oder River (http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1597/bild017jt3.jpg)
On my way I passed a memorial that had been erected when East Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc. At this very place, the first Soviet tanks had crossed the frozen river Oder in January 1945 which led to the first bridge head on the West Bank of the Oder river. From there the Red Army launched its last offensive towards Berlin.
Bridge Head memorial (http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5107/bild008je8.jpg)
I went to the nearby small village Kienitz and there was this tank monument with an T 34 tank.
The monument plaque says: „January 31th 1945, Kienitz, first city on our territory [Socialist East Germany] liberated from Facism. Glory and honour to the 5th Army and the 2nd Guards Tank Army!“
This thread needs a Tank song btw:
Mediengruppe Telekomander, „Panzer“ (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=10352326)
T 34 tank pics:
T 34 and my bike (http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/9341/bild010bq8.jpg)
Danielito on T 34 (http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9338/bild011ks8.jpg)
T 34 (http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/9205/bild012jh0.jpg)
Battle of the Seelow Heights:
In this area the last major battle on the Eastern front took place in April 1945, the battle of the Seelow heights, with the German capital Berlin almost in sight. The German troops were outnumbered 1:10. The Red Army supported by Polish Army forces nevertheless suffered heavy losses because German sappers had flooded the Oderbruch swamp lands below the heights which limited the manoeuvrability of the tank forces and it also caused some of the injured soldiers to drown, more info here:
Battle of Seelow heights (http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=DTbdDaP_jgw&feature=related)
Oder River (http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1597/bild017jt3.jpg)
On my way I passed a memorial that had been erected when East Germany was part of the Eastern Bloc. At this very place, the first Soviet tanks had crossed the frozen river Oder in January 1945 which led to the first bridge head on the West Bank of the Oder river. From there the Red Army launched its last offensive towards Berlin.
Bridge Head memorial (http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5107/bild008je8.jpg)
I went to the nearby small village Kienitz and there was this tank monument with an T 34 tank.
The monument plaque says: „January 31th 1945, Kienitz, first city on our territory [Socialist East Germany] liberated from Facism. Glory and honour to the 5th Army and the 2nd Guards Tank Army!“
This thread needs a Tank song btw:
Mediengruppe Telekomander, „Panzer“ (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=10352326)
T 34 tank pics:
T 34 and my bike (http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/9341/bild010bq8.jpg)
Danielito on T 34 (http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9338/bild011ks8.jpg)
T 34 (http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/9205/bild012jh0.jpg)
Battle of the Seelow Heights:
In this area the last major battle on the Eastern front took place in April 1945, the battle of the Seelow heights, with the German capital Berlin almost in sight. The German troops were outnumbered 1:10. The Red Army supported by Polish Army forces nevertheless suffered heavy losses because German sappers had flooded the Oderbruch swamp lands below the heights which limited the manoeuvrability of the tank forces and it also caused some of the injured soldiers to drown, more info here:
Battle of Seelow heights (http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=DTbdDaP_jgw&feature=related)