Beyond Barbarossa: The Eastern Front of World War 2

The Third Crushing Blow: Odesa and Crimea offensives

In 1944, the Red Army delivers its third crushing blow on the Axis forces in eastern Europe: two major offensives to recapture the rest of Ukraine, and the Crimean peninsula. 
Map 1: Northern Black Sea coast and southern Ukraine 
The range where the two mighty blows were delivered. Ploesti, Romania is to the far left of the map, just north of Bucharest.
 
Map 2: 
 
Map by Scott Bury
 
Map 3: The Red Army’s Crimean offensive, 1944
 
Image 1: Issa Pliyev, Commander, Cavalry-Mechanized Group
 
 
The Red Army, 4th Guards Cavalry Corps advancing across southern Ukraine, 1944
 
Miklós Horthy, Regent of Hungary, with Adolf Hitler in Budapest, 1938
 
 
The Red Army marches into “liberated” Odesa, 1944
 
Note the women soldiers in the ranks. 
Sources:
Prit Buttar, The Reckoning: The Defeat of Army Group South, 1944. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2020.
Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, The History Press, 2017. 
Wikipedia: The Crimean Offensive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_offensive
— The Odesa Offensive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odessa_Offensive 

World War 2 links to Ukraine: The Latest: A conversation with Francis Dearnley—Episode 71

From the beginning of Russia’s illegal and brutal assault on sovereign Ukraine, Ukraine: The Latest has covered the war every week day. Francis Dearnley, Executive Editor for Audio for Ukraine: The Latest, joins the podcast to look at the historical links and parallels with the Eastern Front of World War 2.
Francis Dearnley, Executive Editor for Audio, Ukraine: The Latest, from The Telegraph 
Ukraine: The Latest, daily podcast from The Telegraph 
 
David Knowles, creator of the Ukraine: The Latest podcast 
Links
Ukraine: The Latest
on Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ukraine-the-latest/id1612424182
and available on all major podcast platforms.
Francis Dearnley’s interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 
Winston Churchill’s World War II memoirs
 
Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier 
 
Antony Beevor’s Berlin 1945 

The curtain falls on Germany in 1943: Episode 63

Episode 63: at the end of 1943, the situation for nazi Germany and communist USSR on the Eastern Front is radically different from the end of 1942. Plus, the Cairo and Tehran Conferences promise to reshape the geo-political world.
Map 1: The Red Army advances to, and past the Wotan Line
Map 2: The front lines, 15 November 1943
   
Map 3: The front lines, 31 December 1943
  
Historical photos: The German Panther (Panzer V) vs. the Soviet T-34-85
 
Soviet photo loading artillery at Nikopol bridgehead
Sources:
Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. 
Prit Buttar, Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2019.
Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.

Europe at War: Episode 70 of Beyond Barbarossa, the podcast about the Eastern Front of World War II

Beyond Barbarossa is no longer the only podcast focusing on the Eastern Front of World War II. David Sumner, host and producer of the Europe at War podcast, joins to discuss the Battle of the Halbe Pocket. 
The Europe at War podcast on all platforms: https://pohttps://tr.ee/faCigcYaE5
 
David Sumner, podcaster
Map: The Battle of the Halbe Pocket, April 1945
 
Photos from David Sumner
 
The Halbe forest, 2025
 
 
A defensive hole dug in the floor of the Halbe Forest
 
A bullet shell with the round still inside it, the outer shell which corroded from being in the ground for eight decades. 
 
 
The comb David Sumner found in the Halbe Forest
 
From the Halbe Pocket battle
 
General Theodor Busse
 
 
General Walther Wenke 
 
 
Arden nazi Ferdinand Shorner 

The reality of occupation: Episode 69

Russian occupation of Ukraine today is not the first time. Here are some readings that can make it real for today’s listeners. 
Map: Ukraine under occupation, 1941–1943
Source: Ukraine, A Historical Atlas by Paul Robert Magosci and Geoffrey J. Matthews
Sources
Lubomyr Luciuk, The Galicia Division: They Fought for Ukraine. The Kashtan Press, 2023.
Scott Bury, Under the Nazi Heel. Ottawa, ON: The Written Word Communications Co., 2016.
 

Ambush in the Oval Office

A special episode of Beyond Barbarossa.
What happened in Washington DC on 28 February 2025 has echoes of 1938, and ominous omens for the future.

The broad front: Episode 68

In the north and the south, the Red Amy makes great advances in the Eastern Front in February 1944. 
Map 1: The Eastern Front, February 1944
Map 2: Popov’s Baltic Front pushes the Germans back to Lake Peipus
 
Map 3: German forces in the Dnipro Bend, February 1944
  
Map 4: The European theatre at the end of February 1944. 
  
Map 5: The Pacific theatre 
 
Markian Popov 
 
Nikolai Vatutin
 
The Chindits in Burma, 1944
 
 

The Red Army has the momentum: Episode 67

In January and February 1944, Stalin's "broad front" strategy takes hold and the Red Army gains the momentum in the war on the Eastern Front.
Map 1: The Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket
  
Map 2: The Advance on Narva
 
Map 3: The Battle of Narva and Lake Peipus
What looks like "Hapba" is Cyrillic script for "Narva." The inset shows the southern end of Lake Peipus and the Red Army's temporary  bridgehead on the west side.
Map 4: The Panther Line 
   
Map 5: The breakout to Lysyanka
  
Map 6a: The Eastern Front 15 January 1944  
Map 6b: The Eastern Front 15 February 1944 
 
 
Image 1: Ivan S. Konev, commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front
  
Image 2: Nikolai Vatutin, commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front
 
 
Sources
Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. 
Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
Orest Subtelny, Ukraine: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988.
Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin's War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.
Wikipedia, various pages. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Crushing Blows: Episode 66

The first two of ten "crushing blows" against the German invaders of the USSR in 1944: Zhitomyr and Leningrad.
 
Map 1: The Zhitomyr-Berdichiv Offensive
  
Map 2: Cherkassy or Kherson Pocket    
Map 3: Leningrad, 1941–1943
Map 4: Leningrad lifeline 
  
Map 5: Operation Iskra
  
Map 6: Operation Polar Star
  
Map 7: Liberation of Leningrad, push to Panther Line
 
Sources
Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. 
Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
Anna Reid, Leningrad: Tragedy of a City Under Siege, 1941–44. Toronto: Allen Lane Canada, 2011.
Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin's War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017.
Prit Buttar, Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2019.

The Devils' Alliance: A conversation with author Roger Moorhouse, part 2—Episode 65

What was the USSR doing between September 1939 and June 1941? It was allied with nazi Germany, of course. Historian Roger Moorhouse, author of books including The Devils' Alliance, describes the lasting impact of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and the strategic factors that ended it. 
Roger Moorhouse
 
The Devils' Alliance 
 
Roger Moorhouse's books: https://www.rogermoorhouse.com/books 
Map: The division of eastern Europe according to the secret protocols of the pact 

The Devils' Alliance: A conversation with author Roger Moorhouse, part 1—Episode 64

The nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact of 1939 gave Hitler and the nazis the green light to invade Poland and start World War 2. Two weeks later, Stalin's Red Army joined the nazis in dismembering Poland. 
Historian and author Roger Moorhouse has dived deep into this notorious but poorly understood alignment in The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Staline, 1939–1941. He joins the podcast in a two-part discussion of the importance of the agreement between the 20th century's two bloodiest tyrannies.
Roger Moorhouse
 
The Devils' Alliance
 
Roger Moorhouse's books: https://www.rogermoorhouse.com/books
 
The famous  cartoon by David Low
 
Hitler: "The scum of the earth, I believe?"
Stalin: "The bloody assassin of the workers, I presume?"
Map: The division of eastern Europe according to the secret protocols of the pact 

A seasonal special: Christmas 1942 in Stalingrad

Looking for a break in the Christmas season sweetness? Beyond Barbarossa returns you to the Eastern Front in December 1942. Hitler and Stalin's mutual stubbornness collide on the Russian steppe. 
For the Germans of the 6th Army, Christmas 1942 was a hungry Yule in the  freezing Cauldron.
Map 1: Operation Uranus, November and December 1942 
Map 2: Operation Winter Storm: The German relief attempt 
Map 3: Operation Winter Storm stalled 
 
Failure: Luftwaffe supplies the trapped 6th Army in the Kessel 
Failure: Operation Winter Storm 
German soldiers in the Kessel/Cauldron 
Red Army soldier writes home, December 1942 
By December, the Red Army soldiers' morale was very different from the Germans'.

Agent Zo—A conversation with Clare Mulley: Episode 62

Author Clare Mulley and I discuss her latest book, the story of one of the Allies' most valuable intelligence agents, Elzbieta Zawacka, known as Agent Zo. 
 
Visit Clare Mulley's website: https://claremulley.com/
 Clare Mulley's books: 
The Woman Who Saved the Children
The Spy Who Loved
The Women Who Flew for Hitler
Agent Zo: The Untold Story of a Fearless World War II Resistance Fighter 
 
Map 1: Molotov and Ribbentrop's division of eastern Europe
 
Map 2: German invasion of Poland, 1 September 1941 
 
Map 3: Soviet invasion of Poland, 17 September 1943 

Zitadelle—the Battle of Kursk, part 2: Episode 52

What I thought would be a single episode has turned into a series. Here is Part 2 of the biggest tank battle in history — or at least, of the Second World War.
Map 1: The Eastern Front, 1943-44
Map 2: Battle of Kursk
 
Map 3: Another map of the Battle of Kursk 
 
Image 1: The Tiger heavy tank
Image 2: The Panther tank 
 
Image 3: The Ferdinand or "Elefant" self-propelled gun 
 
Restored Elefant at the United States Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center. Source: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elefant 

The Battle of Kyiv, 1943: Episode 61

After crossing the Dnipro at Bukrin and getting bogged down by the panzers, the Red Army shifts focus northward to take the Ukrainian capital.
Map 1: The Battle of Kyiv, 1943
Source: Warfare History Network.com 
Map 2: German war map of the Battle of Kyiv, 1943
Note the crossing at Ljutesch, German spelling of Lyutizh (Ukrainian) or Liutezh (Russian).
Source:  Alchetron, the Free Social Encyclopedia
Photo 1: Crossing the Dnipro 
Soviet sappers building a raft to cross the Dnipro. The sign reads, in Russian, "To Kiev!" The soldier in the foreground appears to be looking up at approaching aircraft.
Photo 2: Pavel Rybalko, commander of the Third Guards Tank Army
Photo 3: Kirill Moskalenko, commander of the 38th Army during the second Battle of Kyiv
Photo 4: Kyiv after recapture by the Red Army
 Links:
The attack on Stalingrad: Episode 31 
 
 

In honour of Remembrance Day 2024: A special Beyond Barbarossa episode

In honour of Remembrance Day, 11 November 2024, this is a special episode available to all. 
A reading from Army of Worn Soles: Volume 1 of The Eastern Front Trilogy. 
 
Available exclusively on Amazon. 

Crossing the Dnipro: Episode 60

It's hard to believe we've reached the 60th episode!
This is a big one: the Red Army reaches, and crosses the German East Wall along the Dnipro River in Ukraine. At a cost, of course. Let me know what you think.
Crossing the Dnipro
Map 2: The Bukrin Bend 
 
Sources:
Prit Buttar, Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943. Osford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2020.
Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017
 

The experience of occupation: Ukraine in the 1940s and 2020s—Episode 59

Dr. Lubomyr Luciuk of the Royal Military College of Canada and University of Toronto returns to describe the reality for eastern European people under occupation during the Second World, and draws the line from then to today.
 
Latest book:
Enemy Archives: Soviet Counterinsurgency Operations and the Ukrainian Nationalist Movement – Selections from the Secret Police Archives 
Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2023.
Available from Amazon and McGill-Queen's University Press

Ukraine occupied by nazis and communists: Episode 58—A conversation with Prof. Lubomyr Luciuk

Professor of political geography at the Royal Military College of Canada and Senior Research Fellow of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto, shares his knowledge and insight into the experience of Ukraine under occupation by nazi and Soviet forces during the Second World War. 
Map: Ukrainian lands during World War II
 Source: Ukraine: A Historical Atlas, by Paul Robert Magosci and Geoffrey Matthews
 
Image 1: Dr. Luciuk's latest publication, Enemy Archives.
With Volodymyr Viatrovych. Available from Amazon and McGill-Queen's University Press.
 
Image 2: An UPA unit in the Carpathian Mountains collecting intelligence.
 
Image 3: Galicia Division machine gun unit at the Battle of Brody

The second battle of Smolensk, 1943: Episode 57

Smolensk has a war history that is far more significant than its size would suggest. In September 1943, it was a key to Soviet Red Army strategy, and for the German defence.
The best English-language podcast for staying up to date on the war in Ukraine is Ukraine: The Latest from the Daily Telegraph. Its creator and executive producer was David Knowles, who passed away unexpectedly in September.  
My condolences and sympathies to Mr. Knowles' family, friends, co-workers and colleagues.
Map 1: Battle of Smolensk, 1943
   
Map 2: Operation Suvorov 
Map 2: Smolensk region 
This gives you an idea of where the smaller towns are in relation to Smolensk.
Photo 1: Gen. Yeremenko (right) with Nikita Khrushchev (left) during the Battle of Stalingrad.
 Photo 2: Yeremenko in about 1970
 
Photo 3: Gen. Vasily Sokolovsky in 1946
  
Sources:
Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012. 
Robert Forczyk, Smolensk 1943: The Red Army's Relentless Advance. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2019.
Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolensk_operation.