It also participated in the Berlin operations in Germany and Poland. The front also conducted the major part of the Halbe Encirclement, in which most of the German 9th Army was destroyed south of Berlin. By this time the Polish Second Army was operating as part of the Front. Finally 1st Ukrainian Front provided the defence against the counter-attacks by Armee Wenck which aimed to relieve Berlin and the 9th Army, later uniting with the Americans on the Elbe River. The front then completed the Prague Offensive which became the final battle of World War II in Europe ,therefore ending the war. Following the war, the Front headquarters formed the Central Group of Forces of the Red Army in Austria and Hungary till 1955, and re-instituted in 1968 in Czechoslovakia as a legacy of the Prague Spring events. Commanders Filipp Golikov (1942) General Nikolai F. Vatutin (October 1943 – March 1944) Marshal Georgy K. Zhukov (March – May 1944) Marshal Ivan S. Konev (May 1944 – May 1945) Armies The armies that were part of the 1st Ukrainian Front included: 1st Guards Cavalry Corps (1943-1945) 27th Army (1943–44) (2nd Ukrainian Front) 38th Army (1943–44) (4th Ukrainian Front) 40th Army (1943–44) (2nd Ukrainian Front) 47th Army (1943-43) (2nd Belorussian Front) 60th Army (1943–44) (4th Ukrainian Front) 3rd Guards Tank Army (1943–45) (Group of Soviet Forces in Germany) 13th Army (1943–45) (Carpathian Military District) 2nd Air Army (1943–?) ? Later composition 5th Guards Army 2nd Polish Army 52nd Army 4th Guards Tank Army 28th Army 31st Army 3rd Guards Army References Konev, I.S. Aufzeichnungen eines Frontbefehlshabers Konev, I.S. Das Jahr 1945 Ziemke, E.F. Stalingrad to Berlin Tissier, Tony Slaughter at Halbe Duffy, Christopher Red Storm on the Reich Antill, P., Battle for Berlin: April – May 1945. Erickson, John 'Road to Stalingrad' (1983, 1999) Ericksson, John 'Road to Berlin' (1983, 1999) Glantz, David 'From the Don to the Dnepr', Frank Cass (1991) Nemeskürty, I. 'Untergang einer Armee' Ziemke, E.F. 'Stalingrad to Berlin' Further reading 1st Ukrainian Front on Unithistory U