Talk:Battle of Halbe

Three lines

 * "The most astonishing part of the story is not the numbers who died or were forced to surrender but the 25,000 soldiers and several thousand civilians who succeeded it getting through three lines of Soviet troops

In the above quote Beevor mentions "three lines of soviet troops". But his text is a bit hazy as to what they were, I would guess that the ran along the three of the four main north south roads which he shows on as a map in his book on page xxv the first two of which he mentions in passing with the fighting in the text:
 * 1) Berlin-Dresden autobahn
 * 2) Strasse 96, between Zossen and Mark
 * 3) Strasse 101, North of Lucenwalde
 * 4) Strasse 2, between Elsholz and Beelitz

Can anyone else confirm from another source where these soviet lines were. I would guess he meant the first three roads but I do not want to put a guess into the article :-) Secondly his text does not mention what happened around Strasse 101 which would be a nice to have in this article. --Philip Baird Shearer 13:09, 12 October 2005 (UTC)


 * Regarding Strasse 101, according to le Tissier there was a Soviet blocking position there, where troops attempting to break out had to run a gauntlet of fire (is that the correct expression). But it does not appear that a pitched battle occurred there.  Andreas 15:01, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

More sources needed
I think the article could benefit from a better structure with more sub-headers, and the use of additional sources. I will go and do some of this myself (and try to answer Philip's question in the process, but it will take some time. Andreas 13:25, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Numbers of units
Should not the unit numbers be switched to the more common and coloqial style of say 9th Army instead of Roman numerals? --Gbinal 08:54, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Just done that. I preserved all your edits, even though we edited concurrently. Andreas 09:11, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

See also discussion here. But continue discussion on this page. Andreas 12:39, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Rather than argue this further today I intend to edit the rest of the article and once we have that stabalized then we can discuss this further. Philip Baird Shearer

The article now seems to be stable so I intend to re-insert the Roman numerals for German Armies because: --Philip Baird Shearer 12:42, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I think it makes it easier to identify the which side the army belongs, in the text.
 * The convention of using Roman Numerals for the German Army is quite common in English books.
 * The actual proposed guideline recommends using words as in German Ninth Army so there is no particular reason to use 12th over XII, other than familiarity for some editors.
 * If we were dealing with German Armies which had Roman numerals which were not easy to translate or looked clumsy eg XXXXVIII, then rejecting them on practical grounds or esthetics would make more sense but IX and XII are numbers on a clock face and familiar to most.
 * In this article we are using Arabic numerals for Soviet corps while the guidelines recommend using Roman numerals for corps. I approve of this as it helps to distinguish them from German Corps, in the same way as XII and IX help to distinguish German and Soviet armies.


 * Could we not better use the device that Ziemke is using in 'Moscow to Stalingrad', namely to Italicise the Soviet (or German) Army numbers, or to write them out? Having Roman numerals for German armies is really grating on my eyes, and it makes it much more difficult to distinguish between Armies and Corps. Finally I know of nobody who is using this device in the serious military history literature - if you do, please provide the information. So I am quite against it. Andreas 13:18, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

You preference is to use "12. Armee" so how can "XII Army" be any more grating than "12th Army" for you? Also are you suggesting that we should designate all Soviet corps with Roman numerals? If not why not? --Philip Baird Shearer 13:50, 6 March 2006 (UTC)


 * 12. Armee is the correct German term, and since I am a German native speaker it is not looking wrong to me, even if it is part of an English text. I do understand and accept it is different for English speakers, and will change the way I number German armies to reflect that. XII Army looks wrong (grates) because Roman numerals are for Corps, not Armies.  I have no strong feelings about the use of Roman numerals for Soviet Corps.  I usually prefer to use the correct historical designation, and to use formatting to ensure that the difference can be seen. But as I said, I would be happy either way for the Soviet corps.  If a Russian military expert came along giving reasons why that was totally wrong I may change my mind.  I also would like to find an acceptable solution here that can be applied across a range of articles, not just this one. Andreas 14:07, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Recent Changes

 * last days -- depends what you think the battle of Halbe was but I take it to be the breakout. It's begining is clear but the end of the battle is not described in detail in Beevor, if you have another source which states when the breakout ended, then we can use that.
 * I am using le Tissier, according to him it ended on the 1 May. This is confirmed both by German eyewitness accounts, and by the 1st UF report to Moscow. After 1 May the question for the escapees was on how to get to the Elbe.
 * Good then lets use it and reference it. Philip Baird Shearer
 * Sure. Page 206. Andreas 15:34, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Not here! in the text! Philip Baird Shearer
 * I know ;-) I wrote this when you were editing, so I did not want to get in the way. Andreas 17:27, 1 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Don't need the "son of" in the link name as it is not included in the page name.
 * Not sure what you mean, but feel free to edit.
 * The Russian middle name is "son of Andreas" or whatever. Philip Baird Shearer
 * Ah! Maybe a Russian native speaker should weigh in on this one - it is my understanding that the convention is to refer to the Russian names with both first names shortened. I am happy either way, but it should be the correct Russian way, as far as I am concerned. Andreas 15:34, 1 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Three Soviet fronts did not attack on the 16th only 2 did, I don't think all the detail is necessary, also 1UF attacked over the Neisse.
 * 2nd BF attacked on either the 19th (Glantz) or 20th (le Tissier), and was part of the Berlin Operation, so I would leave them in the entry para. You are right about the attack across the Neisse, my mistake.


 * I think it is best to translate Generaloberst as General. Colonel-General if you must but it sounds like something out of a B movie about the Cold War.
 * Colonel-General then - the problem is that 'General' was a separate rank (as in 'General der Infanterie') below Generaloberst.
 * But the rank does not exist in the English speaking world so IMHO translating it as General is better than translating it into a rank that does not exist. Philip Baird Shearer
 * That leaves us with a wrong rank. I am not very happy about that. Ziemke (IIRC) and Glantz, as well as many others, use Colonel-General, although Glantz is a bit more variable about it.  So I think it is fair to argue that while not existing in the English-speaking world, the rank is being translated quite regularly in works on WW2. Andreas 15:34, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Ok then put it in with the first one linked to Colonel General so native speakers will be able to follow the link to see what the rank is. Philip Baird Shearer
 * Will do. Andreas 17:27, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Done. Andreas 09:42, 2 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't think that town of before every town is neccessry that is what links are for. --Philip Baird Shearer 14:50, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Just did that for clarification, feel free to delete. Andreas 14:59, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Andreas Where did you get the number of 14 king tigers from (Beevor definatly said 10)? I suspect it depends on which day they took the count! --Philip Baird Shearer 15:19, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Not sure that originally came from me, if it did it was le Tissier. I'll check that again. They had 14 Panther tanks, that much I am sure of. Andreas 15:34, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I added a more detailed tank count and a note on where it comes from, including a short discussion on the likely number of King Tigers. Andreas 16:16, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Recent addition on this is MUCH BETTER Philip Baird Shearer
 * Thanks. Andreas 17:27, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Andreas 15:11, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Had a look at your reversion. Maybe it is better we talk it through first?
 * Kindersoldaten - it is a German word, a noun, it has to be capitalised.
 * We have had this debate before (over autobahn). I don't like it and don't see why one would expect to use German grammar rules in an English text. However if you are attached to it I will not revert it if you chage it again. Philip Baird Shearer
 * I am not going to die in a ditch over it. Just looks as wrong to me in non-caps as it does to you in caps.  Since this is English-language Wiki, happy to leave it. Andreas 17:27, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Changing Generaloberst to General gives a wrong rank. It's left in for the Russians, why not the Germans?
 * Which Russian in this article?
 * In the formation list.Andreas 17:27, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * The date range is 21 April to 1 May.
 * Ended 1st of May ok, but the start was not until April 24 or 25th that the battle of Halbe started. (Either with Wenck's XX Corps attacking eastwards on the 24th or better the 25th when Busse was given authority "to decide for himself the best direction of attack".
 * Okay. Andreas 17:27, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * A lot of the links to German towns do not work - maybe better to leave 'town of' in front of those.
 * It just that I think it makes the text stilted and in time the town links will be stubbed or better. --Philip Baird Shearer 17:16, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Hope springs eternal. But you are right. Andreas 17:27, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

IX Guns
From the Battle of the Seelow Heights  the page
 * 9th Army had: 14 divisions, 512 tanks, 344 artillery pieces and 300 to 400 anti-aircraft guns

Source: Page 76, Ziemke, Earl F. Battle For Berlin: End Of The Third Reich, NY:Ballantine Books, London:Macdomald & Co, 1969.

From this article:
 * ''The 9th Army at this stage had already suffered heavy losses in the Battle of the Seelow Heights. It is estimated that it had less than 1,000 guns, 79 tanks and probably a total of 150-200 combat-ready armoured fighting vehicles left.

Seems to me that it could not have had more than 744 guns to start with. --Philip Baird Shearer 20:12, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
 * You have to add V Corps guns, but I think that it is unlikely to reach 1,000 guns. You have to remember though that the 1,000 includes mortars above 76mm if counted by the Soviet method (which I think it was), but the 744 by Ziemke probably won't include that. Oh, and it is 9th guns. ;-) Andreas 20:15, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

I suspect Ziemke was a better historian than that because the numbers on the page I quoted are comparing the relative strengths of the opposing sides at the start of the campaign. --20:51, 1 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't think it has anything to do with historian quality, but simply with the sources. Ziemke does not give his, but it is likely he uses German army records.  I'll check what le Tissier is using later. It is my understanding that the Soviets simply count differently. Andreas 06:27, 2 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Checked, le Tissier is counting guns and mortars, for both sides, so it should stay like that to have the correct comparison. Andreas 09:41, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

V Corps and where the losses were suffered
V Corps, which was a part of 9th Army by the time of the Battle of Halbe, suffered its losses during the Neisse battles, so it maybe best to say something like 'losses suffered during the opening stages of the Battle of Berlin', or sumfink. What do you think? Andreas 20:19, 1 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The IX was chewed up on the Seelow Heights, V Corps was not so badly damaged. V Corps was north of the main 1UF attack. That it still existed as a Corps is evidence of that! This complication is mentioned in the text but there is to date no mention of what the IX was doing before the start of the Battle of Halbe. For this reason I think the text should include the Seelow Heights where most of the IX had been concentrated and destroyed by Zukov, rather than a bolt on Corps who's arrival is already explained in this text.Philip Baird Shearer 20:47, 1 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Good point. I'll include a para on 9th Army's actions before the encirclement in the prelude, based on Ziemke. Andreas 06:28, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Air Supply
I would prefer to leave the original sentence in, since according to le Tissier the air supply was attempted (i.e. supplies were loaded onto planes and the planes took off). It failed because they could not locate the drop point and no supply from the planes to the ground could be established. It was therefore not complete fantasy at this stage of the war. There are also reports of air attacks by German planes on Soviet formations during the battle. Andreas 14:56, 5 March 2006 (UTC)


 * If the Germans did not have the air-transport to support the 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad. They sure did not have anything like the air-transport capability needed to support an Army Group in the last few days of the war. --Philip Baird Shearer 16:01, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

The two battles and the aim of the air supply are not comparable. In 9th army's case it was to bring them some minor supplied to help them to break out, in 6th Army it was to allow them to stay put and survive the winter. Andreas 16:06, 5 March 2006 (UTC)


 * As I said when I removed it, it is misleading. What possible supplies could the transports have delivered which would have made any difference to the outcome of the breakout? It implies that the Germans still had enough air transport and specialised materiel to make a difference. They did not. --Philip Baird Shearer 16:45, 5 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I think the interesting point that warrants inclusion is that they actually attempted it, less than three weeks before the war ended, and that it did not fail because of enemy interference. I thought that was quite astonishing, and I know many people have a view that the Luftwaffe had ceased to exist at that point in the war. Andreas 07:56, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Getting a bit fed up here
Philip

Would you mind explaining why you deleted all this?

STARTS In the area to the west of the encirclement, Soviet forces were already positioned in depth, with (from the north) Soviet 28th Army's 128th Rifle Corps in the area Mittenwalde and Matzen; 3rd Guards Rifle Corps in the area Tornow, Radeland, Baruth, Golssen; 3rd Guards Army's 120th Rifle Corps south of Halbe; 21st Rifle Corps along the Berlin to Dresden autobahn to the west of Lübben; 13th Army's 102nd Rifle Corps with 117th Guards Rifle Division stood near Luckenwalde, while 27th Rifle Corps 280th Rifle Division stood at Jüterbog, where the Wehrmacht's main artillery school was located. In terms of mechanized formations, 3rd Guards Tank Army's 9th Mechanised Corps had its 71st Mechanized Brigade between Teupitz and Neuhof; 4th Guards Tank Army's 68th Guards Tank Brigade stood near Kummersdorf Gut; and 3rd Guards Army's 25th Tank Corps near Duben. Both 3rd Guards Army and 13th Army were to be heavily reinforced throughout the battle, as they were to be in the line of the German break-out. A reinforcment of particular note was the deployment of 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division under command of 3rd Guards Army in the sector Teurow to Briesen ENDS

?

I mean, it is not as if this is the greatest article written in terms of its information, and I made a bit of an effort in adding to it. To just remove it all without any reason, yet leave the highly informative bit about Hitler's tearful rage in strikes me as an odd choice of priorities. Andreas 15:39, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

I did not delete it, as I said as a comment this was needed, I reformatted it to: In the area to the west of the encirclement, Soviet forces were already positioned in depth, with (from the north) Soviet 28th Army's 128th Rifle Corps in the area Mittenwalde and Matzen; In terms of mechanized formations, 3rd Guards Tank Army's 9th Mechanised Corps had its 71st Mechanized Brigade between Teupitz and Neuhof; 4th Guards Tank Army's 68th Guards Tank Brigade stood near Kummersdorf Gut; and 3rd Guards Army's 25th Tank Corps near Duben. Both 3rd Guards Army and 13th Army were to be heavily reinforced throughout the battle, as they were to be in the line of the German break-out. A reinforcment of particular note was the deployment of 1st Guards Breakthrough Artillery Division under command of 3rd Guards Army in the sector Teurow to Briesen.
 * 3rd Guards Rifle Corps in the area Tornow, Radeland, Baruth, Golssen;
 * 3rd Guards Army's 120th Rifle Corps south of Halbe;
 * 21st Rifle Corps along the Berlin to Dresden autobahn to the west of Lübben;
 * 13th Army's 102nd Rifle Corps with 117th Guards Rifle Division stood near Luckenwalde,
 * while 27th Rifle Corps's 280th Rifle Division stood at Jüterbog, where the Wehrmacht's main artillery school was located.

--Philip Baird Shearer 15:53, 5 March 2006 (UTC)


 * My sincere apologies - brain failure on my part when looking at the article. No idea how that happened. Andreas 16:09, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Structure
I have changed the structure a bit, to allow for a more natural flow of the narrative:

1) Prelude, Dispositions, strength of forces involved 2) Chronological account of the battle 3) Aftermath 4) Detail of formations involved 5) Sources etc.

I hope this helps readability a bit. Andreas 10:51, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

I do not think the additional heading were necessary, but they do no harm. --Philip Baird Shearer 12:00, 6 March 2006 (UTC)


 * At this stage it is mostly to help me find my way through the article, and focus on particular sections I can add a bit too. Andreas 12:06, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

C&C
I don't think that the commands issued by Hitler are particularly relevent. Like the idea that there was going to be an airdrop to support the army group, it mixes up wishful thinking by the German high command with the reality of the situation. I think both tend to muddy this article rather than clarify it by giving the illusion that the Germans were more in control of events than they were. However if you think it important I won't remove it.


 * It maybe easiest to just drop all Hitler related info into a paragraph in the intro, stating that throughout the battle the aims of the German high command and the 12th and 9th Armies were diverging, and that high command could not exercise any control over them. Thereafter leave any reference to Berlin out. Andreas 14:37, 6 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I thought that we already had that with the paragraph which starts "Although in Hitler's mind the 12th Army..." Philip Baird Shearer 19:00, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

"General Busse has been accused of failing to exercise effective command and control of the encircled arm" is a weasel worded phrase It must have an attribution with specific names. --Philip Baird Shearer 14:20, 6 March 2006 (UTC)


 * If you only select the entry sentence, yes. But the following sentences in the paragraph outline in what way he is supposed to have failed, and the paragraph is sourced. But I shall elaborate on this in a footnote. Andreas 14:37, 6 March 2006 (UTC)


 * As you will see I have explicitly named Le Tissier in the text, I think that when a POV is expressed that it is better that the author of the POV is named. --Philip Baird Shearer 19:00, 6 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Okay, I agree your version is better than the first. Andreas 19:14, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

The spearhead for the 9th Army breakout plan on 29 April was to be 502nd SS heavy Panzer battalion with remaining elements is the date 29 April correct? --Philip Baird Shearer 23:48, 6 March 2006 (UTC)


 * No, I have corrected it to 28. Good catch. Andreas 08:54, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

OKW or OKH
Did Heinrici as commander of "Army Group Vistula" report to the OKW or directly to Hitler in his capacity of C-in-C OKH? Which Army Group was XII Army in and what was its chain of command? --Philip Baird Shearer


 * OKH was no longer functional, following the move north by Rybalko's tank army that overran Zossen. All reports were made directly to the Fuehrerbunker (not OKW).  12th Army was under Army Group Vistula, so while it had contact it reported to Heinrici, who then reported to the Fuehrerbunker. C&C had become de-institutionalised in those final days. Andreas 19:13, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Numbers
Either one of the other numbers is wrong or the 25,000 is wrong or there are 10,000 missing in action. If there were 80,000 in the pocket, it is sourced that 20,000 killed and 25,000 escaped, so that would leave 35,000 unaccounted for, presumably POWs, so were does the 25,000 POWs come from which has been inserted into the war box? --Philip Baird Shearer 12:22, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Fuhrerbunker
Away from the map room in the Berlin Führerbunker with its fantasy attacks of phantom divisions, the Soviets were getting on with winning the war.

This not only seems POV, but it appears to have little to do with what the article is discussing at that point. --DMAJohnson 03:41, 6 May 2006 (UTC)


 * It is relevant for the day, the Armies High Commands and the Army Group and Front involved in the Battle of Halbe. On the 21st Hitler ordered the 9th Army group to be prepared to attack north and south as parts of two pincer movements! The next day he is ordering the 9th to attack in a completely different direction (north west) to relieve Berlin. If it is an unbisased point of view what else would you call Hitler's orders to Steiner on the 21st and what else were the Soviets doing? Please can you tell me what the alterntive point of view is? --Philip Baird Shearer 21:30, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

The article never goes though the trouble of pointing this out, however. Instead, whether intended or not, it simply paints a picture of senile Nazis playing war while the genius Russians march on forward. It also does this in an ackward place, between two paragraphs that are discussing the German's strategy. The same point can be made, I think, by moving it slightly further down in the article, and with rewording, along with proper context. --DMAJohnson 20:10, 7 May 2006 (UTC)


 * The context is there. All that I have written above is in the preceding paragraph of the article (The command of the V Corps trapped ...). I think what you are doing is looking at the heading which was retrofitted onto the paragraphs after they were written.


 * The Germans had lost the war, only Hitler and his acolytes in their troglodyte world seem not to have understood this. They were playing war games while the Soviets followed their own war winning strategy. The point of the sentence is that despite the German High Command's attempt to gain control they were mealy reacting to Soviet initiatives, and there was no strategy open to the German High Command to turn the battle around, despite this up until the 22nd and then again afterwards Hitler was issuing orders as if the Germans could regain the strategic initiative. By this stage of the offensive, the Germans could possibly win small tactical victories to fend of the inevitable, but all that did was to cost even more lives and probably not extend the war by one day. --Philip Baird Shearer 00:12, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

No, I am taking the entire article into account, not just the headings. Yes, Hitler and friends locked away in their bunker are unable to grasp what is going on around them, but besides that single sentance the article never gets around to pointing out to the reader why there was a problem with the strategy--It just explains what the general strategy was. In fact, from the way the article describes it, the plan would seem perfectly logical until the ackward mention of "phantom divisions" and the novel-esque "getting on with winning the war" line.

There are, I believe, better ways to get the point across in the article. --DMAJohnson 17:24, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Down to what level are we listing forces
The reason I ask this is that I did this article German_275th_Infantry_Division and noticed Halbe pocket and this were the same place. I believe the 275th was part of the 9th Army. Mark1800 05:37, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Critique

 * 1) The lead is nowhere near being an adequate summation of the article.
 * 2) The article is very detailed in what happened, but doesn't really say why. Why was it worth such fighting to be able to surrender to the Western allies and not the Soviets? (I can imagine the answer, but it would be nice if the article told me, probably in the Prelude section. --kingboyk 20:17, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Spree Forest and Mark

 * "The German troops in the huge Spree forest south east of Berlin ..."(Beevor 329)
 * "Busse's men were encircled in the pattern of lakes and forest south-east of Fürstenwalde by [Soviet] troops ... "(Beevor 330)

Spree Forest is where Beevor describes Ninth as being in a pocket and that they broke out through Halbe. Now it is possible that the start point could be the area north of the Lakes is the Spree Forest but if it does not include the area east of Halbe then what is that area called? 

Beevor makes a destinction between Mark and Baruth he places Baruth slightly to the West of Mark and Mark on the crossroads. --Philip Baird Shearer (talk) 17:52, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

From my talk page:  Hi Philip, reading the article and the talk I assume you might be able to tell me where the place called "Mark" on the Strasse 96 is supposed to be - I'm under the impression there's no such place. KapHorn (talk) 14:33, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

My reply on KapHorn's talk page:
 * See Baruth [[Image:Baruth_street_sign.jpg|thumb|Mark/Baruth]]
 * According to Beevor the hamlet at the crossroads is Mark, Baruth is slightly to the west of the crossroad. Hope that helps. --Philip Baird Shearer (talk) 17:04, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply. While I'm at it, thank you for the welcome and the links - am reading currently.

Still disagree, but before I delve more deeply into the matter, I'll try and take a look at the book by Beevor. Anyhow, saying the battle occured in the Spreewald is like saying the Battle of Britain happened in the Cotswolds. Main fighting happened elsewhere, and Halbe is not in the Spreewald, either.

As to Baruth, the name of the town is Baruth/Mark, Baruth being the actual name, and "Mark" referring to Baruth being in the "Mark", namely the Mark Brandenburg. So, read: Baruth in the Mark. Google maps does not show it differently, either. I would suggest to correct the article, no matter what the source says. Unless there's further information to the contrary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margraviate_of_Brandenburg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruth KapHorn (talk) 21:13, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

KapHorn you write "I would suggest to correct the article, no matter what the source says." That is not the way it works on Wikipedia, (Please see WP:V). You need to find a reliable source that contradicts Beevor and then we can make an assessment on which is the better source or put both of them into the article as Beevor says ABC however ZYZ DEF. I am not defending Beevor as being correct, but as WP:V says: "The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth. "Verifiability" in this context means that readers should be able to check that material added to Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source. Editors should provide a reliable source for quotations and for any material that is challenged or is likely to be challenged, or it may be removed."

In this case Beevor in the map section on page xxv clearly marks "Mark" as the village next to Baruth on the Junction of strasse 96 and L707.The same map also puts the Ninth Army rearguard just south of the Schweriner See with the vanguard just east of  Halbe. From Halbe the map has advance lines to where the Ninth linked up with the Twelfth Army north of Elsholz. The map carries the legend "Breakout of the Ninth Arny 26 April – 1 May". The breakout route is described as "westward through the tall pine forests south of Berlin (Beevor p. 330). There is no reason why that can not be added to the introduction but Beevor claims that the pocket started in the Spree Forest. This does not necessarily mean the area now designated as a "biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1991" (Spreewald). I see no reason for not including the fact that the breakout took place from the Spree Forest west through the pine forests south of Berlin, but I think we should not change where the pocket was located unless there is another source that states it was not where Beevor places it. --Philip Baird Shearer (talk) 22:45, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Point taken - on WP:V as well as on content of article. Which is to say I'll try and find a reliable source, but since this even to me seems to be a rather minor issue, I will neither look too hard, nor keep pursuing it here should I find nothing I deem suitable. KapHorn (talk) 07:05, 7 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I suggest that we alter the mention of Mark to the link Baruth/Mark then we cover both options for that one. But I think the mention of the Spree Forest should remain. --Philip Baird Shearer (talk) 07:45, 7 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Ok, except I should rather like to see Mark omitted altogether, leaving the mentioning of this to the article on Baruth. This also would be in accordance with the text of the book itself - p. 331 mentions the Baruth-Zossen road twice. As to the map, I'm afraid I have to say it is faulty on that occasion - Baruth is where the map places the non-existent Mark, whereas in place of Baruth as on the map, there is the village of Paplitz. A look at GoogleMaps or any current road map should confirm this.


 * Your question: "Spree Forest is where Beevor describes Ninth as being in a pocket and that they broke out through Halbe. Now it is possible that the start point could be the area north of the Lakes is the Spree Forest but if it does not include the area east of Halbe then what is that area called?"


 * It seems to me that Beevor refers to the woodland area south east of Berlin as such as Spree Forest. In my understanding Spree forest is the english translation of Spreewald ( e. g. according to the english Wikipedia), a comparatively small area along the Spree, part of which was part of the pocket until about the 25th. Perhaps we should at first decide what the term implies. Wether it is supposed to be a translation for the german Spreewald, which would be Spree forest as well, or if it is a term that, say, an english military historian would understand to imply the complete woodland area south-east of Berlin. The first would make source, and article, imprecise, by indicating the complete pocket as such was in the Spreewald, while the latter simply would be different from what is the Spreewald according to german sources (german Wikipedia, map).
 * "Busse's men were encircled in the pattern of lakes and forest south-east of Fürstenwalde by [Soviet] troops ... "(Beevor 330) By reading the source I understood this to refer to the 25th of April, by which time the maiority of the german troops were well to the south-west of Fürstenwalde. In any case, troops and fighting in general happened south of the lakes, north of the actual Spreewald, of which about half of the smaller Lower Spreewald was only ever in the pocket.
 * (Lakowski, Richard; Der Kessel von Halbe, Brandenburgisches Verlags-Haus, 1997, ISBN 3-89488-112-7)
 * It should be mentioned that the Spreewald region today is understood to encompass more than just the actual Spreewald. As far as i can tell, this was not so in 1945. KapHorn (talk) 15:34, 7 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I am not sure what you mean by "of which about half of the smaller Lower Spreewald was only ever in the pocket"


 * I check Beevor again. In the text he uses Baruth–Zossen road. I think that the map must contain a carographer's transcription error based on another map like this one: Google map which show Baruth/Mark and has been mistakenly taken to be two different places. So given that the text uses Baruth–Zossen road and other wikipedia sources like Bundesstraße 96 use Baruth I have altered the text to reflect that.


 * I have also altered the lead. See what you think -- comment welcome --Philip Baird Shearer (talk) 08:53, 8 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Think that absolutely does it, regarding the location of the pocket, and Baruth/Mark. Appreciate your trouble. Found the location of the pocket given as "in the area of Halbe and Märkisch Buchholz" in german sources. Don't know wether that's common denomination among peer group, and to the english reader, Spree Forest region is easier to place, I assume. That weird sentence about the Lower Spreewald - I apologize for deficiencies in language - was just to mention that only a part of the smaller part of the Spreewald (which contains the Upper and the Lower Spreewald) was part of the encircled area for a few days. The northern half of the latter was part of the pocket until the first breakout attempt. At 2400 on the 27th, germans had left the Spreewald altogether. Source same as above. Same source mentions Halbe as being "in the Dubrow", but I've found nothing further about it.Just 'cause you asked for name of region. KapHorn (talk) 22:19, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

casualties number
the number of soviet soldiers killed in the battle of halbe was much lower than 20,000. the 1st ukrainian front sufferd a total of 27,580 dead or missing (krivosheev) from april 16 to 8 may 1945. it's very unlikly that the front casualties during the battle of halbe were more then a third of it's total casualties in the berlin operation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by איש שלום (talk • contribs) 13:08, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Question about exact date and place of encirclement
Hi! Can somebody please tell me where and when exactly was the German 9th Army encircled and by which Soviet units? I have read this and the Battle of Berlin article, but I still don't quite understand it. If I understood it well the 9th Army was encircled on 24 April (or earlier) in the forest area south-east of Berlin and west of Frankfurt by forces of both 1st Ukrainian and 1st Byelorussian Front? Is that correct or not? Thank you very much for help --81.233.145.252 (talk) 20:41, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

Confusing passage
The Twelfth and Ninth Armies' remnants then fought a fighting retreat westwards towards the Elbe so that they could surrender to the Americans. Most of those that broke out were again surrounded west of Luckenwalde by the north-westerly thrust of the 4th Guards Tank Army, only 10 km away from German 12th Army troops, although unbeknown to them, the Ninth United States Army had already halted at Elbe.[citation needed]"

There are a number of confusing statements in this passage...

1) How is the Soviet 4th Guards 10 km away from the German 12th Army if they are surrounding them? 2) Unbeknownst to whom is the US 9th at the Elbe? 3) Why was this unknown if they were trying to reach the Elbe to meet them?

I believe this is trying to say something along the lines of...

The remains of the German 12th and 9th Armies then attempted to fight their way westward to the Elbe in order to link up with the US 9th Army. However, after having progressed only 10 km, they met units of the Soviet 4th Guards Tank Army, who had been moving north-west through the open areas south of the Heidehof-Golmberg. The 4th Guards surrounded the Germans once again west of Luckenwalde.

But I can't be sure of any of this. Perhaps the 10 km is the distance between the Germans and the US forces?

Maury Markowitz (talk) 21:19, 14 April 2015 (UTC)