Battle of Hamburg (1945) siege by the Soviet Red Army, refused to send reinforcements. The Germans managed to resist the British in Bremen for a week; the surviving troops retreated to the Jutland peninsula. The last remaining defence was the city of Hamburg and the Germans sought to make a final stand there. After capturing Soltau, the British 7th Armoured Division of the VIII Corps was poised to assault the city. The British advance towards Hamburg was spearheaded by the 7th Armoured Division, attacking Harburg and advancing to the River Elbe across from Hamburg, with the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division assaulting the town of
History of Hamburg to the central government. The German constituent states were replaced in 1935 by regional districts (German: "Gau") led by Nazi Party officials who obeyed the central government's orders. On 16 May 1933 Karl Kaufmann (1900–1969) was appointed as "Reichsstatthalter" (imperial governor or imperial lieutenant) in Hamburg. The Hamburg Senate had resigned in March 1933 and the Hamburg Parliament elected Carl Vincent Krogmann (NSDAP) as mayor. In 1938 the city boundaries were extended with the Greater Hamburg Act to incorporate Wandsbek, Harburg, Wilhelmsburg and Altona. On 1 April 1938 Constitution of Hamburg was suppressed through an Imperial Law (German: "Reichsgesetz"), the