Winter Battles

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The people of Leningrad are bracing for the thaw of Lake Ladoga and loss of the ice road which is bringing food and supplies to the city through the German siege. When the ice melts, the city will have to rely on small ships running a gauntlet of the Stukas in almost perpetual daylight. Another worry for the authorities is that when the thaws come thousands of bodies hastily buried in snow drifts - because the ground is frozen too hard to dig graves - will be exposed and bring epidemics to people already suffering from the diseases of malnutrition."

 

[elsewhere] "Lieutenant General Dmitry Timofeyevich Kozlov makes one last attempt to break through the Axis line across the Parpach Narrows on the Crimea. He sends two rifle divisions, three tank brigades and a tank battalion to take the German fortified village of Koi-Asan. The Germans have carefully sited their anti-tank artillery, and along with Stukas, they devastate the advancing Soviet tanks, destroying 93 of them (according to Soviet sources). The Red Army makes no worthwhile gains, and Kozlov must admit defeat. However, his forces have gained a small salient in the north of the line which may provide a possible springboard into the interior of the Crimea in future battles. Stalin approves the cessation of the offensive but demands another one within ten days."

 

[and horror] "On 2 March 1942, the ghetto's nursery or orphanage was "liquidated"; the children were buried alive in a pit after the murderers had tossed them candy:

Quote

At that moment, several SS officers, among them Wilhelm Kube, arrived, whereupon Kube, immaculate in his uniform, threw handfuls of sweets to the shrieking children. All the children perished in the sand.

In March 1942, approximately 5,000 Jews were killed nearby where "The Pit" memorial to the Minsk ghetto now stands."

 

By Vasiliy Efremov - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10308667

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "The German I Corps and XXXVIII Corps, pushing into the base of a Soviet salient across the Volkhov River from the north and south, respectively, meet late in the day on 19 March 1942. This threatens to trap 130,000 Red Army troops to the west that have been trying to take Lyuban. The most significant Soviet outfit in the salient is the 2nd Shock Army, led by General Andrei Vlasov. This follows a typical pattern early in the war when the Red Army basically shrugs off these kinds of German tactics, usually to the Soviets' eventual detriment.

General Vlasov

 

 

The Wehrmacht advance has been difficult because there are no north-south roads in the area, requiring a difficult route through snow and trees in frigid weather. The battle is not over, and the Soviets will reopen a small gap, but this encirclement in Operation Raubtier is the first major German success in the USSR since the fall.

 

In Crimea, General Erich von Manstein is preparing an attack on the Soviet line in the Parpach Narrows. He wishes to recover the small amount of territory lost in the recent Soviet attacks. However, the Soviets also are building up their own forces for a renewed attack. The only question is which side attacks first. Manstein's offensive, which he has prepared hurriedly and that relies on inexperienced troops using sketchy Czech tanks, is scheduled for the morning of 20 March 1942."

 

 

Captured Nazi propaganda film from this time.

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "General Erich von Manstein, commander of the German 11th Army in Crimea, launches a minor counterattack to recover ground lost during the recent Soviet offensives on the Parpach Narrows. The attack is aimed to recover Korpech', a German strongpoint which was the only major Red Army gain in the recent battles. The spearhead of the German/Romanian advance is the 22nd Panzer Division, which is inexperienced and equipped with weak Czech-built Panzer 38(t)s.

[from 1941, Pz 38(t)

The attack goes wrong right from the start, with some of the panzers running into a minefield and others being slowed by thick fog. The Red Army reacts quickly and blocks the advance with a battalion of T-26 tanks and four heavy KV-1 tanks of the 55th Tank Brigade. After losing 32 of 152 tanks damaged or destroyed, Manstein calls off the attack. The one success of the attack is that it disrupts the Soviets' own planned attack in the same area, so it serves as an unintended spoiling attack."

[cardboard_killer]

[Around 80 years ago, from wikipedia] "Kommuna is a submarine salvage ship in service with the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. A double-hulled catamaran, she was laid down at the Putilov Factory (now the Kirov Factory) in St. Petersburg in November 1912 as Volkhov. The ship was launched the following year, and commissioned on 14 July 1915. She was renamed Kommuna on 31 December 1922.

 

Following the German invasion in June 1941 Kommuna was based at Leningrad, and although damaged by bombing continued to serve throughout the siege. In March 1942 she recovered four KV tanks, two tractors and 31 vehicles from Lake Ladoga, which had fallen through the ice road, called the "Road of Life", which was Leningrad's only supply route. That year she also repaired six M-class submarines, as well as salvaging the Shchuka class 411, the tugboat Austra, the schooners Trud and Vodoley-2, and several other vessels.

Launch of Volkhov at Saint Petersburg on 17 November 1913

 

 

Kommuna at Sevastopol in 2008

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The Soviet Second Shock Army launches Operation Iskra (Spark) from the Volkhov Front against the German 18. Armee south of Lake Ladoga. The purpose is to open a land corridor to Leningrad. The terrain is mostly peat uplands and wetlands, and not suitable for armor. The Soviets do include specialized engineer units, three ski brigades and four aerosled battalions. At the same time units of the Sixty-seventh Army in Leningrad will attack from the other direction.

 

RF-8 light aerosan

 

- The Germans have built an extensive defensive network of strong points, interconnected by trenches and protected by obstacles and interlocking artillery and mortar fire.

 

- The operation starts with Soviet night bombers attacking several divisional headquarters and artillery postions, followed by a more than two hour artillery bombardment with the infantry stepping off before it concludes. By the end of the day the 2nd Shock Army has advanced two kilometers while the Leningrad forces have advanced five. Neither side has air superiority and the Germans shift substantial reserves to counter the attack

 

Soviet artillery on the Volkhov front

 

German field defenses Leningrad area January 1943"

[GenMarkof007]

S! Thanks for all the great history and great pics!
Very interesting short stories and very important for all generation to remember!

Cheers, 
GenMarkof007

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Soviet forces clear Schlüsselburg at the mouth of the Neva River. The remains of the German 61. Infanterie Division abandons its artillery and vehicles and runs a "gauntlet of fire" through the forest before reaching Siniavino on January 19–20.

 

- Captain Sabatkin of the Leningrad Front exchanges the password with Captain Demidov of the Volkhov Front relieving force near Schlüsselburg on the shore of Lake Ladoga. The formalities over, the two men embrace in a celebration of their victory. Land communications have been reopened with Leningrad. The Soviets will lay railroad track and have trains running to and from the city in less than three weeks. Although the trains will be under German air and artillery attack, the flow of supplies will be greatly increased over use of the Ladoga ice road.

 

Meeting of Volkhov and Leningrad Fronts"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The Soviet Union begins its atomic bomb research program, with physicist Igor Kurchatov as the program's director. Stalin directs the transfer of recommended Soviet physicists from their military units and from other projects such as the radar program.

 

• German Stuka ace Gerhard Weber is shot down by Soviet fighter ace Lydia Litvyak in her Yak-1. She also shares credit for downing an escorting Fw-190. Later in the month she will be awarded the Order of the Red Star and promoted to junior lieutenant.

 

L→R: Lydia Litvyak, Yekaterina Budanova, and Mariya Kuznetsova

 

• South of Kharkov, Germans are forced from the rail junction of Lozovaya."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Hitler gives permission for the SS Panzerkorps and the Großdeutschland Division to withdraw from Kharkov. SS Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser on scene has already made preparations as units of the Sixty-ninth Army and Third Tank Army are breaking through the defenses. By this time Soviet units are so depleted that some divisions have only one or two thousand effectives. Third Tank Army only has 110 tanks.

 

T-34s of Third Tank Army in Kharkov, February, 1943

 

• Sotamarsalkka (Field Marshal) Baron Carl Mannerheim states openly for the first time that Finland will conduct no more offensive operations against the USSR. The United States had been threatening to declare war, and the Finns are convinced that Germany will now lose the war."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• With the Germans attacking into its flank, the Soviet Sixth Army continues advancing to Synelnykove, with the leading tank elements running out of fuel thirty miles from von Manstein’s headquarters. The XLVIII Panzerkorps links up with the SS Panzerkorps at Krasnograd while the Soviets continue advancing with Third Tank Army taking Lyubotin. The Soviet forces are in danger of being encircled.

 

Ju-87D over Kharkov. The Luftwaffe flies 1,145 ground support sorties."