Magnuszew Base of Operations

an operational bridgehead on the western bank of the Vistula River near the city of Magnuszew in Poland, captured in early August 1944 by the troops of the Eighth Guards Army of the First Byelorussian Front and the First Army of the Polish forces during the Byelorussian operation of 1944 in the Great Patriotic War (1941-45).

As a result of continuous fighting with the counterattacking enemy, the Soviet-Polish troops retained the Magnuszew base of operations and expanded it by the end of August to 45 km along the front and 18 km in depth. In the first half of January 1945 the following units, in addition to the Eighth Guards Army (commander General V. I. Chuikov), which was deployed at the Magnuszew base of operations, were covertly moved to the base: the Sixty-first Combined Arms Army (commander General P. A. Belov), Fifth Shock Combined Arms Army (commander General N. E. Berzarin), First Guards Tank Army (commander General M. E. Katukov), Second Guards Tank Army (commander General S. I. Bogdanov), and reinforcement and support units. On Jan. 14, 1945, the First Byelorussian Front struck the main blow of the Vistula-Oder operation of 1945 from the Magnuszew base of operations.