10th January 1942
With telephone communications from Hamburg to Wittenberge being restored, 15th Army (Haase) agrees to surrender to Auchinleck. The formal surrender will happen in a few days when the British can get a sufficiently senior officer through to take their surrender, but in the mean time they have agreed to lay down their arms and not attempt to cause trouble.
With their speed of advance increasing rapidly, 1st Army (Wavell) reaches Danzig and Łódź. This would have been impossible against any sort of German resistance, but a number of factors have come together to make what even a few weeks ago would have been an astonishingly rapid advance possible.
Having met the French at Pilsen, 3rd Army (Ritchie) continues to shift its supplies and main effort to the left flank, reaching Liegnitz. Their objective is to cross the Oder at Breslau and then to advance into southern Poland to support the ZWZ. Progress is notably slower than with the British 1st Army, but resistance is similarly very light.
Troops from the French 1st Army meet Czechoslovak forces in Klatovy. After the results of a brief discussion are signalled to HQ, Prioux orders all of his men to halt in place and dig in. He also makes arrangements to fly to Pardubice in the morning for discussions with Catlos at the Czechoslovak field HQ.
The main effort for the French is Requin’s 4th Army. Having reached Salzburg they are to send light forces south through Carinthia towards the Italian border, but the overwhelming majority are to continue eastwards towards Vienna and meet up with the Hungarians. Progress is excellent, with the leading forces bypassing Linz towards evening.
6th Army by comparison have little to do – and are being very badly hampered by the weather and execrable road conditions. They manage a small amount of patrolling activity, but the main effort for Touchon is to make contact with the Italians and ensure they don’t start a war by mistake if they decide to jump in on the Germans too late!
Finally, the German 7th Army HQ surrenders to Garchery’s 8th Army in Villingen-Schwenningen: it is obvious to even the most rabid Nazi that the war is over, meaning that even the more strongly Nazi-oriented commanders like Dollman are unable to persuade their troops to keep fighting.
After a significant pause following their occupation of Vienna, the Hungarians start to advance again. During the course of the day they occupy both Graz and the Bubenberg border crossing with Yugoslavia.
With telephone communications from Hamburg to Wittenberge being restored, 15th Army (Haase) agrees to surrender to Auchinleck. The formal surrender will happen in a few days when the British can get a sufficiently senior officer through to take their surrender, but in the mean time they have agreed to lay down their arms and not attempt to cause trouble.
With their speed of advance increasing rapidly, 1st Army (Wavell) reaches Danzig and Łódź. This would have been impossible against any sort of German resistance, but a number of factors have come together to make what even a few weeks ago would have been an astonishingly rapid advance possible.
- A break in the weather has allowed the RAF to fly in significantly more fuel than before. This is assisted by a new extemporised delivery system where 5 gallon fuel tins are packed into wooden crates surrounded by sawdust, and suspended below parachutes made of jute sacking. Delivery of these “parajutes” is the main mission of Bomber Command for the day, and even if only around 70% of the petrol dropped is actually recovered it is enough to support the remaining two Corps in 1st Army.
- Some enterprising RAOC fitters have taken snow ploughs from storage in Poland and welded them to a number of tanks. This has enabled them to clear even the deepest snow from roads, ensuring that the infantry and B echelon vehicles can keep up.
- By now any Germans they meet in Poland are only interested in surrendering to the British rather than the ZWZ. Likewise, when II Corps approaches Danzig the Oberbürgermeister Georg Lippke immediately declares it an open city in order to avoid the futility of two companies of Volkssturm attempting to fight off tanks with nothing more than a few shotguns and hunting rifles.
Having met the French at Pilsen, 3rd Army (Ritchie) continues to shift its supplies and main effort to the left flank, reaching Liegnitz. Their objective is to cross the Oder at Breslau and then to advance into southern Poland to support the ZWZ. Progress is notably slower than with the British 1st Army, but resistance is similarly very light.
Troops from the French 1st Army meet Czechoslovak forces in Klatovy. After the results of a brief discussion are signalled to HQ, Prioux orders all of his men to halt in place and dig in. He also makes arrangements to fly to Pardubice in the morning for discussions with Catlos at the Czechoslovak field HQ.
The main effort for the French is Requin’s 4th Army. Having reached Salzburg they are to send light forces south through Carinthia towards the Italian border, but the overwhelming majority are to continue eastwards towards Vienna and meet up with the Hungarians. Progress is excellent, with the leading forces bypassing Linz towards evening.
6th Army by comparison have little to do – and are being very badly hampered by the weather and execrable road conditions. They manage a small amount of patrolling activity, but the main effort for Touchon is to make contact with the Italians and ensure they don’t start a war by mistake if they decide to jump in on the Germans too late!
Finally, the German 7th Army HQ surrenders to Garchery’s 8th Army in Villingen-Schwenningen: it is obvious to even the most rabid Nazi that the war is over, meaning that even the more strongly Nazi-oriented commanders like Dollman are unable to persuade their troops to keep fighting.
After a significant pause following their occupation of Vienna, the Hungarians start to advance again. During the course of the day they occupy both Graz and the Bubenberg border crossing with Yugoslavia.
