Images of War: Operation Bagration and the Liberation of Minsk

Operation Bagration and the Liberation of Minsk is a new title covering part of the summer 1944 Soviet offensive in what is now Belarus, Ukraine and Poland. In 1944 most of this land was part of the USSR or Poland. "Operation Bagration" was the Red Army's code name for its major summer 1944 offensive aimed at destroying as many German forces as possible, setting the stage for the final offensives to defeat Germany. This offensive was on a larger scale than the Normandy campaign, in terms of ground units. Of course it did not have any naval component, nor was the air component remotely on the scale of the western Allied operation.  

Operation Bagration was such a massive operation that it could never be covered in a 195 page photographic book. Instead, the author has (wisely, in my opinion) concentrated mostly on the opening phases, including planning and especially the important initial operational goal of taking Minsk. Minsk was then the capital of the Belorussian SSR; now the capital of the independent nation of Belarus. So it is important to recognize from the start that this is not a full history of the entire operation. That would take a half-dozen books this size. 

Nik Cornish has written a well-organized overview of the situation at the beginning of the summer of 1944, the plan, initial operations to seize important terrain objectives, and the major Red Army breakthrough operation that led to the liberation of Minsk from the occupiers. He relies both on former Soviet and German sources. The book is biased towards the German side, but not excessively so.  

This is a softcover book with a handful of B&W maps and a very good selection of photos. It is a campaign history rather than a modeling reference. That said, there are a lot of good photos of small groups of soldiers from both sides that could provide a lot of inspiration. All these soldiers were human beings, after all, no matter what regimes they served.

Maps are critical to understanding any campaign. The maps here are simple, but good enough for the purpose. 

By summer 1944, the weight of Lend Lease materiel was really beginning to show. Red Army units were filled with Shermans and especially with thousands of US trucks.  

Ordinary Red Army artillerymen relaxing.  

Bagration featured major partisan operations aimed at interdicting German transportation. In many ways the partisans had missions similar to western tactical aviation - isolation of the battlefield so that the tactical battle could proceed.

Here is a really interesting town train station, clearly fortified against partisan attacks. Although the role of partisans was probably exaggerated by the old Soviet regime for political purposes, German accounts clearly show that they really were a significant factor.  

The book abounds with little portraits of groups of soldiers doing daily tasks or just posing. Here is a Nashorn crew.

The Germans' allies are not neglected here. Hungarian forces were relatively strong, but of course their training and equipment was not on the same level as their German allies or their Soviet opponents. As modeling subjects, some of the older or less-common equipment would be interesting. 

Operation Bagration and The Liberation of Minsk is an accessible, well-written, lightweight account of the initial phases of the operation. The maps and photos provide a good basic overview and flavor for the operation. The photos are a bit above average for this series. I enjoyed it and would recommend it for a beginner student of the 1944 campaign. 

Recommended for all builders with an interest in the Soviet-German war; Highly Recommended for new students of the 1944 campaign.  

Thanks goes out to Casemate Publishing for this review sample.

Reviewed by Dan Egan

 

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