Army Group Vistula

Which, to my mind, just sort of encapsulated how how for these soldiers, these airmen who had endured so much, had seen so much death and destruction, this was still something that absolutely marked them for the rest of their lives.

Now, speaking of the SS Reichsführer, Heinrich Himmler plays a role in this, in that Hitler actually appoints him commander of the forces facing the Vistula, Army Group Vistula.

And this is, of course, Himmler's great chance to prove that he's such a great war leader, because usually he was just an administrator and kind of headed the police forces.

But how did this go down?

Guderian was aware of this.

He eventually persuaded Hitler and Himmler to allow him to send his deputy, Wenck, to play a liaison role.

Wenck then had to drive between the headquarters of Army Group Vistula and the German headquarters at Zossen every day.

And on one of those road journeys, his car struck a road bridge and he was badly injured, taking him out of action.