World at War 73: Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening - The Third Reich’s Last Offensive: As 1945 opened, Allied armies besieged the Third Reich on all fronts. In the Balkans, Soviet forces had overrun Bulgaria and Romania and seized Budapest after a fierce battle. Believing there was still an opportunity to stave off defeat, Hitler ordered the Sixth SS Panzer Army to spearhead an offensive into Hungary. Other Articles: The Cost of French Pride: During its short reign, Vichy France made a number of controversial decisions that created conflict between itself and the Anglo-American allies. This conflict had a high cost in men and material that was unnecessary and only slowed the Allied victory in the war. Second Stumbling at Schmidt: At the beginning of November 1944, the 28th Infantry Division was ordered to make an attack through the Huertgen Forest to capture the key crossroad town of Schmidt. The battle would turn into a needless tragedy as US forces would suffer 5,000 casualties in an attempt to seize Schmidt. Operation Oboe - Borneo, 1945: Between May and July 1945, Australian-led Allied forces launched Operation Oboe to liberate the island of Borneo from Japanese troops. It would mark the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area.