Peko Publishing Bloody Vienna (March – May 1945) The Soviet Offensive Operations in Western Hungary and Austria

[Mike]

Bloody Vienna (March – May 1945)

The Soviet Offensive Operations in Western Hungary and Austria

ISBN: 9786155583261 Peko Publishing

 

 

As the might of the Soviet war machine rolled the Nazi troops back toward their own land, it began to look increasingly bad.  So much so that even Hitler began to realise that the end could be nigh, and switched the Western front to defensive operations to withdraw troops to hold the Eastern front that was collapsing hard.  Two Soviet armies approached the Austrian border, and the opportunity to take Vienna and the last remaining oil sources was too good to miss.  Stalin and his generals organised the next assault to take Vienna, West Hungary and the surrounding area, while Guderian battled with Hitler over where to send the troops freed from the West.  For once Hitler chose the longer-term solution, which was the oil fields, which Guderian grudgingly agreed with in hindsight.

 

 

 

The book is hard-bound in a landscape format, with 212 real pages and a few blank pages at each end.  It is written by Kamen Nevenkin, and is an interesting combination of a military history book and a pictorial history, with plenty of reading in between numerous often page-sized photos.  From a Western European perspective we’re perhaps not as well-versed in the details of the conflict from an Eastern European standpoint, but this book goes through the history of the various parts of the conflict, taking the story up once the Nazis were in full retreat following Kursk, and ending with their removal from Hungary and the area around Vienna, plus a cameo from the British. 

 

 

Yay! Nebelwerfers!

 

The book is broken down as follows:

 

Chapter 1 – Soviet Military Planning and Preparations

The strategic and political background of the operation

The plan

Chapter 2 – The German Catastrophe at Balaton

The Soviet offensive begins

The clearing of the Danube bank

The fall of Western Hungary

Chapter 3 – The fall of Vienna

The first battles in Austria

Street fighting in Vienna

The struggles for Sankt Pölten and its vicinity

Battles on the flanks

Chapter 4 – Endgame in Austria

The Allied advance in Western and Central Austria

Capitulation and surrender in Austria

The British Participation

 

 

The photographs are large enough to show the details that might be harder to see at a smaller size, with a lot of them showing the state of German and Russian hardware after battle, some in a sorry state of repair after penetration by enemy rounds, others after they have been retrieved to a dumping ground.  A few of the photos have evidence of wear and old age present, while a few have been reprinted from something resembling newsprint style photos, but that’s to be expected of 70+ year old pictures from cameras in the hands of possibly unskilled photographers.  There are a few photos with victims of the conflict shown, and while they aren't particularly grizzly in black and white, they could be upsetting to the young or those easily upset.  Forewarned is forearmed.

 

 

Conclusion

There are some great photos and some interesting text within the book, and I have again learned more about the subject during my speed read for the review.  I’m hoping to go back and re-read it soon, and it’s definitely worth a look and a read.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Chief Cohiba]

Many thanks for pointing this out, just ordered.

While I imagine this being quite a valuable resource for Diorama builders of a rather rare topic, for me this is more the history lesson I guess it is meant to be, and I think it will give quite some impressions to match the stories my mother told me about this very period. She was about 7 when Russion army liberated Vienna. I guess for this it will not be the typical easy stuff for me to read, as I won't get more personally connected with WWII history than this very topic. Even in the preview I recognize some familiar streets, and I guess there's more to it in the book.

 

Its good to read about it in a more British-flavoured forum, as I don't feel there is any specific "undertone" about it around here. It's not just like that on some of the other forums, and one of the big reasons I enjoy it around here.

 

Thanks guys!

🙂

 

 

 

 

 

[Mike]

2 hours ago, Chief Cohiba said:

 

Its good to read about it in a more British-flavoured forum, as I don't feel there is any specific "undertone" about it around here. It's not just like that on some of the other forums, and one of the big reasons I enjoy it around here.

Thanks for the kind words I spotted your location, and it all makes sense Must have been pretty horrible from every point of view, although some get less sympathy because they were the aggressors

 

I think the text sticks mostly to the facts of the battles, but there is a little bit at the end about some of the reprisals etc., which is well done without a discernable bias from my eyes.  The involvement of the British at the very end was quite a surprise too.

[Chief Cohiba]

Thanks again for the review, I wouldn't have noticed otherwise. It's good that it's not only about kits and stuff here, but a little bit about background as well. I'm really looking forward to this one.

(And yes, please do read: You're making a great job in running this forum. 😉 )

 

As I was raised in a part of Vienna that was part of the Soviet sector after the war, my mother could tell a lot of stories from that time, about the finest gentlemen among russian soldiers to real horror stories about rape and mere cruelty as well. Lucky us, my mothers family was not considered to be connected to the national socialist party in any way, rather the opposite, so there where no repressions, but others did have pretty a hard life then. It must have been times we simply can't imagine.

It's a bit of a dilemma of our hobby, that it deals with problematic topics sometimes. So, it really takes an environment free of those aspects - say, a Me262 is just a plane, not a political statement. And yes, it works other way round as well, I know.

 

Thanks again for keeping this site clear from that scab.

(Sorry for getting a bit personal here, I just had to let of some pent-up steam on this. Hope you don't mind too much 😉 ) 
 

[dov]

Oh, interesting.

I live in Vienna. At the end of the book, I assume maybe there is something missing.

 

The struggles for Sankt Pölten and its vicinity

 

Actually this is the battle around Easter time in the area of St. Pölten toward Melk. The last big battles were at the Mount Schöpfel. This battles waged over many days. The battlegrounds there, was my playground in childhood. It was the most bloody fighting between SS and 3rd and 4th Ukraine army. An excellent chronology I have from the village at the base of this mountain.

This particular mountain is the highest mountain there with best view in all direction. It was an observation point during WW2 also. About 3 to 4 times the summit changed the occupant.

The house of my grandparents were in the valley exact on the front line!

 

Happy modelling