http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/jun44/30jun44.htm#
Red Army clears road to Minsk
Friday, June 30, 1944 www.onwar.com
A destroyed Panther of 5th Panzer Division near Minsk [photo at link]
On the Eastern Front... Soviet forces clear the route to Minsk. Elements of 3rd Belorussian Front cross the Berezina River to the north and south of Borisov. There is heavy street fighting in the city by the afternoon and the defending German forces retreat from the city by evening. These are the last major obstacles before Minsk.
On the Western Front... German resistance in the Cotentin Peninsula ends. The US 1st Army continues to battle on the approach to St. Lo; the British 2nd Army continues to battle toward Caen. Since D-Day, the Allies have landed 630,000 troops, 600,000 tons of supplies and 177,000 vehicles in the Normandy beachhead. They have suffered 62,000 dead and wounded.
In Italy... Elements of US 5th Army are heavily engaged in Cecina. The main advance inland is slowed by a new German defensive line south of Siena and Arezzo.
In the Mariana Islands... The American 5th Amphibious Corps has captured over half of Saipan. Fighting north of Mount Tipo Pale and Mount Tapotchau continues. Death Valley and Purple Heart Ridge are cleared.
From Washington... The United States breaks diplomatic relations with Finland.
In Occupied Denmark... A general strike begins in Copenhagen.
Interesting story about K. K. Rokossovsky today. Born to a Polish father and Russian mother, he had been raised in Warsaw, but was orphaned at an early age. He joined the Tsar’s army as a private, but switched to the Reds in October 1917. He was a poster boy for what the Red Army was looking for as a commander, since he had humble beginnings and was formerly a private.
But in 1937 he fell victim to Stalin’s purges, was exiled to Siberia, and had his teeth knocked out. Rokossovsky never smiled in an official photo or portrait. However, before the Germans invaded he was rehabilitated, put in command of 9th Mechanized Corps in the initial fighting in Ukraine, and later commanded 16th Army in the defense of Moscow. He also commanded Central Front during the defense of Operation Citadel, and stopped Model’s panzers cold.
In planning for Bagration, Rokossovsky’s 1st Belorussion Front had quite a challenge. The right wing of the Front was scheduled to attack Bobruisk as part of Bagration. The left wing of his Front, hundreds of miles away on the other side of the Pripet Marshes, was scheduled to take part in the Lvov-Sandomierz Operation scheduled for July. During the planning of Bagration, Rokossovsky had a dispute with Stalin regarding the operational plan. When Rokossovsky submitted his plan, Stalin said “The Stavka disagrees; go rethink your dispostions.” Rokossovsky came back with the same plan, and Stalin gave the same response. Rokossovsky came back with the same plan a third time. Stalin’s response was “OK, fine. But it’s your head if you fail.”
Rokossovsky’s plan has played out to perfection. The German 9th Army has been crushed, its disorganized remnants are fleeing in panic, and 1st Belorussian Front’s tanks and cavalry are roaming at will in the German rear. Imagine a guy who endured repression in Stalin’s jungle having the balls to stand up to Stalin like that. For his reward, he is now a Marshal of the Soviet Union.