Heron company

Company Fischreiher was the code name for the continuation of the offensive ( Fall Blau ) of Army Group B in 1942 in the German-Soviet war down the Volga with the aim of Astrakhan on the way to Stalingrad . At the same time, Army Group A was tasked with running the Edelweiss company.

Goal of the company

Extract from Adolf Hitler's directive No. 45 for the continuation of the Braunschweig company : “The H.Gr. As already ordered, B has the task of not only building the Don defense in the advance against Stalingrad, but also smashing the enemy forces that are being built there, occupying the city itself and blocking the land bridge between the Don and the Volga and the river itself. Following this, rapid formations are to be set up along the Volga with the order to advance as far as Astrakhan and also to block the main arm of the Volga there. These H.Gr. B are given the code name 'heron' - secret protection : a secret matter of command . Führer headquarters , July 25, 1942. "

literature

• Walter Hubatsch: Hitler's instructions for warfare 1939–1945. Documents of the High Command of the Wehrmacht. Ed. Dörfler, Utting 2000, ISBN 3-89555-173-2 .
• Andreas Hillgruber , Walther Hubatsch , Hans-Adolf Jacobsen , Percy Ernst Schramm : Diary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht 1940–1945. Bernard & Graefe, Bonn, ISBN 3-7637-5933-6 .