With the Berlin garrison unable to halt the Soviet advance, a new pie-in-the-sky counterattack plan to save Berlin is formulated involving General Wenck’s 12th Army.

Map: Here is a map giving an overview of the important locations featured in the series.

Marshal Zhukov sends some of his forces on a flanking manoeuvre to the north of Berlin in order to encircle the capital, unaware that Marshal Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front is rapidly approaching Berlin from the south.

The battle of Berlin begins in earnest when 1st Belorussian Front forces advance into the northern and eastern outskirts of the capital.

The Führer’s birthday celebrations are interrupted by a huge Allied bombing raid on the capital. Plus, Marshal Zhukov’s 1st Belorussian Front launches their first artillery barrages on Berlin from their positions just outside the city.

Peter Graham was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and he is an independent historian and researcher specialising in the history of Berlin during WW2.

In 2018 Peter founded the popular Facebook page "Berlin Battle Damage" which currently has over 15,000 followers and focuses on the tangible remains of WW2 to be found in Berlin today.

In 2023 Peter launched a series of specialised walking tours which deal with different aspects of Berlin during WW2 and the Soviet assault on the city in April 1945.

Peter is based in Ireland and Berlin.

You can find Peter on Bluesky and Twitter.

You can also follow me on instagram at davidsumnerhistory or visit my site davidsumnerhistory.com

An in-depth look at Berlin in 1945, with a focus on how the city prepared itself physically and mentally for the impending Soviet assault.

Map: Here is an overview of the German and Soviet forces on the eve of the assault on Berlin, including the various major offensives which are launched as part of ‘Operation Berlin’.

Map: Here is a map giving an overview of the important locations featured in the series.

Matthew Menneke is a military historian and former serviceman in the Australian Army. Matthew is also the founder of On The Front Tours, which is a tour guide company specialising solely in Second World War tours in and around Berlin.

One of the tours Matthew runs is a tour of the Halbe Pocket, so naturally I was curious to hear his views on the battle, and to hear why he thinks the Halbe Pocket story has been so overlooked within the historiography of the Second World War - especially in the English-speaking world.

Scott Bury, producer and host of the Beyond Barbarossa podcast, joins me for a chat about the peculiarities, vastness and horrors of the Eastern Front of the Second World War.

If you want to learn about the history of the Eastern Front from start to finish then I highly recommend you check out the excellent Beyond Barbarossa podcast.

The fighting has ended, but who won?

The Germans have lifted the siege of Bautzen, and are now poised to take the fight to the Polish-Soviet forces with the intention of driving them out of Saxony completely.