1945) Colonel General Nikolai A. Bulganin (May–November 1944) 1945 time line 24 January: 1BF and 2nd Belorussian Fronts attack Pomerania. German II Army is cut off. 31 January: 1BF reaches the river Oder to the North of Küstrin and establishes a bridgehead on the western side less than 60 km from Berlin. 1 February: 1BF surrounds the fortress town of Küstrin. 2 February: 1BF reaches the Oder to the south of Frankfurt (Oder) 6 February: 1BF fans out along the east bank of the Oder between Frankfurt and Küstrin. 4 March: 1BF breaks through the German lines at Stargard and drives towards Stettin. It also establishes a new bridgehead across the Oder to the south of Frankfurt. 27 March: 1BF is involved in heavy street fighting in Danzig 28 March: 1BF captures Gotenhafen north of Danzig. 29 March: The fortress town of Küstrin falls to the 1BF after a siege lasting almost a month. 30 March: Soviet troops finally capture Danzig 16 April: 1BF and the 1st Ukrainian Front start the final offensive on Berlin from along the Oder-Neisse line. 17 April: The 1BF assault against Berlin is stalled by tenacious German resistance on the Seelow Heights, 3 km west of the Oder, with great losses of troops and tanks for the Soviets. 18 April: 1BF continues to batter the German position across the Seelow Heights in a battle of attrition. 19 April: 1BF breaks through the German defences on the Seelow Heights and moves rapidly towards Berlin. 22 April: 1BF penetrates the northern and eastern suburbs of Berlin. 25 April: Units of the 1BF and 1st Ukrainian Fronts meet at Kietzen west of Berlin. Berlin is now completely encircled by eight Russian armies. 30 April: Zhukov refuses to grant the defenders of Berlin an armistice and demands an unconditional surrender 2 May: General Weidling, the commander of Berlin's Garrison meets with General Zhukov and accepts his terms of unconditional surrender of Berlin. The garrison in Berlin surrenders at 3pm local time. 8 May: In deference to the Soviets, the surrender ceremony to the Western Allies at Rheims on the previous day is repeated before Marshal Zhukov and other Soviet generals at Karlshorst, a suburb of Berlin. 10 June: Front disbanded; its command transformed into the command of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. Component forces The 1st Belorussian Front included: 61st Army 1st Polish Army 47th Army 3rd