Battle of Velikiye Luki
Encyclopedia
The Velikiye Luki offensive operation was executed by the forces of the Red Army
's Kalinin Front
against the Wehrmacht
's 3rd Panzer Army during the Winter Campaign of 1942-1943 with the objective of liberating the Russian city of Velikiye Luki
as part of the northern pincer of the Rzhev-Sychevka Strategic Offensive Operation (Operation Mars
). It is particularly notable as an example of the failure of German operational combat in relieving an encirclement
, similar to those employed at the Battle of Stalingrad
.
had stalled and ended with the reassessment of the strategic goals by Hitler, the front line in the northern sector of the Eastern Front had stabilized in the spring of 1942, and the Wehrmacht was left in control of the city of Velikiye Luki
, which provided bridge
s over the Lovat River
to the eastern bank. A major north-south rail line ran parallel to the river's west bank, at Novosokolniki behind the German lines, and another to Vitebsk
, an important strategic German logistic centre. Marshy terrain extended to Lake Peipus
from just north of the city defended by the German 16th Field Army, making attack there difficult for either side. The city itself was therefore a natural point for a Soviet counterattack, offering the possibility of eliminating the German bridges, and to establish a bridgehead on the western bank, denying the Germans use of the rail line that provided communications between Army groups North and Centre. In view of its strategic significance, the Germans heavily fortified the city over the course of 1942.
had left the front line in the area of Velikiye Luki relatively weakly defended, with the city itself defended by the 83rd Infantry Division
commanded by Lieutenant General Theodor Scherer
, the lines to the south held by the 3rd Mountain Division, and the front to the north held by the 5th Mountain Division. The city itself, however, was provided with extensive prepared defenses and garrisoned by a full regiment of the 83rd Division, Infantry Regiment 277, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Eduard Freiherr
von Saß, who had only assumed command a matter of days before the offensive. Along with artillery, engineer and support units (including Artillery Regiment 183 and Pioneer Battalion 183) the garrison totalled around 7,000 troops.
's commander asked the OKH
for permission to conduct a breakout operation while the situation was still relatively fluid by pulling the German lines back by around ten miles (16 km); this would have both screened the vital rail link and left the resulting Soviet salient
exposed to counter-attack. The request was dismissed by Hitler, who, pointing to an earlier success in a similar situation at Kholm
, demanded that the encircled formations stand fast while the Kampfgruppe Chevallerie from the north and 20th Motorised Division from the south counter-attacked to open the encirclement.
Throughout December, the garrison — which maintained radio contact with the relief forces — held out against repeated Soviet attempts to reduce their lines, and in particular the rail depot in the city's southern suburb. The Soviet forces, attacking strongly entrenched troops in severe winter weather, suffered extremely high casualties, while conditions in the city steadily deteriorated despite airdrops of supplies, ammunition and equipment. In the meantime, Soviet attempts to take their main objective, the rail lines at Novosokolniki
, had been frustrated by the counter-attacks of the relief force. An attempt by the Germans to reach Velikiye Luki in late December, ran into stubborn Soviet defence and halted.
" in the west of the city, while von Saß and the bulk of the garrison retained a sector centred around the rail station in the south of the city. It now seemed unlikely that any breakthrough operation would succeed, though after repeated representations to the Luftwaffe
, a battalion of the 7th Flieger-Division paratroopers located 20 miles southeast of the city was finally released to assist the operations.
On 10 January, a surprise thrust by German infantry supported by tank destroyers succeeded in breaking through to the citadel and joining the fragment of the garrison trapped there. However, by now von Saß's force in the easterly pocket lacked the resources for a westward breakout to link up with the relieving force. The German plan called for the paratroop battalion to advance to the "citadel" on the night of the 14 January and assist a breakout by the troops there and any walking wounded. The paratroopers failed to reach the citadel after losing their way in the featureless and snow-covered landscape, but the force in the citadel broke out on their own under cover of darkness; around 150 men eventually reached German lines.
Von Saß and seven other officers (including von Rappard, the previous commander of Infantry Regiment 277, who was taken as a POW in 1945) are stated to have been executed in the main square of Velikiye Luki in January 1946, after a tribunal convicted them of war crimes
against POWs and civilians in and around the city.
The battle is sometimes called "The Little Stalingrad of the North" due to its similarities with the larger and better-known Battle of Stalingrad
that raged simultaneously in the southern sector of the front.
Most of Army Group Center was engaged in resisting the second Soviet Rzhev-Sychevka offensive throughout this period.
Almost half of the 83rd Infantry Division was assigned to the Velikiye Luki garrison.
The 3rd Mountain Division was at little more than half strength, since its 139th Regiment had been left in Lapland when the division withdrew from northern Finland. The 138th Mountain Regiment was the unknown unit of 3rd Mountain shown in Maps 2 and 3.
20th Motorized was from Army Group Center's reserve.
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
's Kalinin Front
Kalinin Front
The Kalinin Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated boundaries.The Kalinin Front was...
against the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
's 3rd Panzer Army during the Winter Campaign of 1942-1943 with the objective of liberating the Russian city of Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki is a town on the meandering Lovat River in the southern part of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It is the second largest town in Pskov Oblast; population: The town is served by the Velikiye Luki Airport....
as part of the northern pincer of the Rzhev-Sychevka Strategic Offensive Operation (Operation Mars
Operation Mars
Operation Mars was the codename for the Rzhev offensive operation part of the Rzhev-Vyazma strategic offensive operation launched by Soviet forces against German forces during World War II. It took place between 25 November and 20 December 1942 in a salient in the vicinity of Moscow...
). It is particularly notable as an example of the failure of German operational combat in relieving an encirclement
Encirclement
Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces. The German term for this is Kesselschlacht ; a comparable English term might be "in the bag"....
, similar to those employed at the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
.
Background
When Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
had stalled and ended with the reassessment of the strategic goals by Hitler, the front line in the northern sector of the Eastern Front had stabilized in the spring of 1942, and the Wehrmacht was left in control of the city of Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki is a town on the meandering Lovat River in the southern part of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It is the second largest town in Pskov Oblast; population: The town is served by the Velikiye Luki Airport....
, which provided bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
s over the Lovat River
Lovat River
The Lovat River is a river in Belarus and Russia. It flows out of Lovatets Lake in northwestern Belarus, and flows north through Pskov and Novgorod Oblasts of Russia into Lake Ilmen. Its main tributaries are the Kunya, Polist, Redya, and Robya Rivers....
to the eastern bank. A major north-south rail line ran parallel to the river's west bank, at Novosokolniki behind the German lines, and another to Vitebsk
Vitebsk
Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...
, an important strategic German logistic centre. Marshy terrain extended to Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus, ) is the biggest transboundary lake in Europe on the border between Estonia and Russia.The lake is the fifth largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia north of St...
from just north of the city defended by the German 16th Field Army, making attack there difficult for either side. The city itself was therefore a natural point for a Soviet counterattack, offering the possibility of eliminating the German bridges, and to establish a bridgehead on the western bank, denying the Germans use of the rail line that provided communications between Army groups North and Centre. In view of its strategic significance, the Germans heavily fortified the city over the course of 1942.
The offensive
The Soviet offensive to retake the city was developed in mid-November 1942 using troops from the 3rd and 4th Shock armies, and 3rd Air Army. The diversion of German forces for the Battles of RzhevBattles of Rzhev
Rzhev Battles is a general term for a series of World War II offensives launched during January 8, 1942—March 31, 1943 by the Soviet Red Army in the general directions of Rzhev, Sychevka and Vyazma against a German salient in the vicinity of Moscow, known as the "Rzhev meat grinder" for...
had left the front line in the area of Velikiye Luki relatively weakly defended, with the city itself defended by the 83rd Infantry Division
83rd Infantry Division (Germany)
The 83rd Infantry Division, , was a German military unit that fought in several notable actions during World War II.-Formation:The division was formed December 1, 1939, at Bergen, and consisted of reservists from the north of Germany .It had the following organisation:*Infanterie-Regiment...
commanded by Lieutenant General Theodor Scherer
Theodor Scherer
Generalleutnant Theodor Scherer was a divisional commander in the Wehrmacht in World War II.-Early life:Theodor Scherer was born to a Bavarian schoolmaster in 1889....
, the lines to the south held by the 3rd Mountain Division, and the front to the north held by the 5th Mountain Division. The city itself, however, was provided with extensive prepared defenses and garrisoned by a full regiment of the 83rd Division, Infantry Regiment 277, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Eduard Freiherr
Freiherr
The German titles Freiherr and Freifrau and Freiin are titles of nobility, used preceding a person's given name or, after 1919, before the surname...
von Saß, who had only assumed command a matter of days before the offensive. Along with artillery, engineer and support units (including Artillery Regiment 183 and Pioneer Battalion 183) the garrison totalled around 7,000 troops.
Encirclement
The Soviet classic pincer offensive, spearheaded by four rifle divisions to the south and one to the north, commenced on 24 November. Despite heavy losses, they successfully encircled the city by the 27th, trapping the garrison; by the next day they threatened to cut off other elements of the corps south of the city when the front commander released his 2nd Mechanised Corps into the breach created between the 3rd Mountain and 83rd Infantry divisions. Army Group CentreArmy Group Centre
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct German strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union...
's commander asked the OKH
Oberkommando des Heeres
The Oberkommando des Heeres was Nazi Germany's High Command of the Army from 1936 to 1945. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht commanded OKH only in theory...
for permission to conduct a breakout operation while the situation was still relatively fluid by pulling the German lines back by around ten miles (16 km); this would have both screened the vital rail link and left the resulting Soviet salient
Salients, re-entrants and pockets
A salient is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory. The salient is surrounded by the enemy on three sides, making the troops occupying the salient vulnerable. The enemy's line facing a salient is referred to as a re-entrant...
exposed to counter-attack. The request was dismissed by Hitler, who, pointing to an earlier success in a similar situation at Kholm
Kholm
Kholm is a town and the administrative center of Kholmsky District of Novgorod Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Lovat and Kunya Rivers, north of Toropets, southwest of Staraya Russa, and south of Veliky Novgorod. Population:...
, demanded that the encircled formations stand fast while the Kampfgruppe Chevallerie from the north and 20th Motorised Division from the south counter-attacked to open the encirclement.
The relief force
Von Saß and the garrison were ordered to hold the city at all costs, while a relief force was hurriedly assembled. The remainder of the 83rd Infantry and 3rd Mountain Divisions, encircled south of Velikiye Luki, fought their way west to meet the relieving troops. Due to Army Group Centre's commitments at Rzhev, the only resources immediately available to man the lines opposite Velikiye Luki were those already in the area, which were organised as Gruppe Wöehler (291st Infantry Division) under an improvised staff headquartered in a peasant hut. Later, other divisions were made available, including the understrength 8th Panzer Division from Kampfgruppe Chevallerie, the 20th Motorized Infantry Division from Army Group Centre reserve, and the weak 6th Luftwaffe Field Division, and the hurriedly rushed to the front 707th and 708th Security, and 205th and 331st Infantry divisions although there was a corresponding build-up of Soviet strength.Throughout December, the garrison — which maintained radio contact with the relief forces — held out against repeated Soviet attempts to reduce their lines, and in particular the rail depot in the city's southern suburb. The Soviet forces, attacking strongly entrenched troops in severe winter weather, suffered extremely high casualties, while conditions in the city steadily deteriorated despite airdrops of supplies, ammunition and equipment. In the meantime, Soviet attempts to take their main objective, the rail lines at Novosokolniki
Novosokolniki
Novosokolniki is a town and the administrative center of Novosokolnichesky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located on the Maly Udray River southeast of Pskov, at the junction of two railways: Saint Petersburg–Kiev and Moscow–Riga. Population:...
, had been frustrated by the counter-attacks of the relief force. An attempt by the Germans to reach Velikiye Luki in late December, ran into stubborn Soviet defence and halted.
Final relief attempts
Operation Totila, the next attempt to break through to Velikiye Luki, was launched on 4 January. The two German spearheads advanced to within five miles (8 km) of the city, but stalled due to pressure on their flanks. Soviet attempts to reduce the defence and liberate the city continued. On 5 January, a Soviet attack from the north split Velikiye Luki in two, a small German force — along with several hundred wounded — becoming isolated in the fortified "citadelCitadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
" in the west of the city, while von Saß and the bulk of the garrison retained a sector centred around the rail station in the south of the city. It now seemed unlikely that any breakthrough operation would succeed, though after repeated representations to the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
, a battalion of the 7th Flieger-Division paratroopers located 20 miles southeast of the city was finally released to assist the operations.
On 10 January, a surprise thrust by German infantry supported by tank destroyers succeeded in breaking through to the citadel and joining the fragment of the garrison trapped there. However, by now von Saß's force in the easterly pocket lacked the resources for a westward breakout to link up with the relieving force. The German plan called for the paratroop battalion to advance to the "citadel" on the night of the 14 January and assist a breakout by the troops there and any walking wounded. The paratroopers failed to reach the citadel after losing their way in the featureless and snow-covered landscape, but the force in the citadel broke out on their own under cover of darkness; around 150 men eventually reached German lines.
Aftermath
Radio contact with the eastern side of Velikiye Luki ceased on 15 January: at 04:40 Saß stated that "a breakout appears out of the question because almost 2,000 wounded would fall into Russian hands...help must immediately come from the outside". Along with 3,000-4,000 of his men, he was taken into Soviet captivity when his forces surrendered on 16 January.Von Saß and seven other officers (including von Rappard, the previous commander of Infantry Regiment 277, who was taken as a POW in 1945) are stated to have been executed in the main square of Velikiye Luki in January 1946, after a tribunal convicted them of war crimes
War crimes of the Wehrmacht
War crimes of the Wehrmacht were those carried out by the German armed forces during World War II. While the principal perpetrators of the Holocaust amongst German armed forces were the Nazi German 'political' armies , the regular armed forces represented by the Wehrmacht committed war crimes of...
against POWs and civilians in and around the city.
The battle is sometimes called "The Little Stalingrad of the North" due to its similarities with the larger and better-known Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
that raged simultaneously in the southern sector of the front.
Orders of battle
While it is somewhat difficult to separate the actions of various Red Army and Wehrmacht units within the flurry of movements involved in the larger scope of the Soviet operations, for the most part these below are derived from Glantz and Isayev.Soviet
- Kalinin FrontKalinin FrontThe Kalinin Front was a Front of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. This sense of the term is not identical with the more general usage of military front which indicates a geographic area in wartime, although a Soviet Front may operate within designated boundaries.The Kalinin Front was...
(Maksim Alekseyevich PurkayevMaksim PurkayevMaksim Alexeyevich Purkayev , 1894, in the village of Nalitovo, Dubyonsky Uyezd, Volhynian Governorate, Russian Empire - January 1, 1953, Moscow) was a Soviet military leader, reaching service rank of Army General....
) engaged in the Second Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive to the south of Velikiye Luki. - 4th Shock Army
- 3rd Shock Army3rd Shock Army (Soviet Union)The 3rd Shock Army was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The 'Shock' armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and artillery assets than other combined arms armies...
(General Lieutenant Galitsky)- 8th Estonian Rifle Corps(General Major Pärn)
- 7th Estonian Rifle Division7th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)The 7th Rifle Division was a infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed five separate times from 1918 to 1955. The division was first formed in September 1918 at Vladimir in the Moscow Military District....
(Colonel Vassil') - 249th Estonian Rifle Division (Colonel Lombak)
- 7th Estonian Rifle Division
- 5th Guards Rifle Corps (General Colonel Beloborodov)
- 357th Rifle Division (Colonel Kronik)
- 257th Rifle Division (Colonel Dyakonov)
- 2nd Mechanised Corps(General Colonel Korchagin)
- 47th Motor-rifle brigade (Colonel Dremov)
- 13th independent Guards breakthrough tank regiment (Sub-colonel Galkin) equipped with KV-1 tanks
- 34th independent tank regiment (Sub-colonel Bogdanov) equipped with T-34T-34The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
tanks - 38th independent tank regiment (Sub-colonel Zheleznov, after 30.12.42 Sub-colonel Khubayev) equipped with T-34T-34The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
tanks
- 8th Estonian Rifle Corps(General Major Pärn)
- 3rd Air Army
- Long Range AviationLong Range AviationLong Range Aviation was the branch of the Soviet Air Forces tasked with long-range bombardment of strategic targets with nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, it was the counterpart to the Strategic Air Command of the United States Air Force....
- 3rd Long-range aviation division (Colonel Yukhanov)
- 17th Long-range aviation division (General Major of Aviation Loginov)
- 222nd Long-range aviation division (Colonel Titov)
German
- Army Group Center
- KampfgruppeKampfgruppeIn military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
"Chevallerie"Kurt von der ChevallerieKurt Wilhelm Gustav Erdmann von der Chevallerie was a highly decorated General der Infanterie in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the 1. Armee. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
from (LIX Corps)- Wehrmacht's Velikiye Luki garrison
- Kampfgruppe "Wöhler"Otto WöhlerOtto Wöhler was a German general of infantry, serving during World War I and World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves...
- 83rd Infantry Division83rd Infantry Division (Germany)The 83rd Infantry Division, , was a German military unit that fought in several notable actions during World War II.-Formation:The division was formed December 1, 1939, at Bergen, and consisted of reservists from the north of Germany .It had the following organisation:*Infanterie-Regiment...
(Lieutenant-General SchererTheodor SchererGeneralleutnant Theodor Scherer was a divisional commander in the Wehrmacht in World War II.-Early life:Theodor Scherer was born to a Bavarian schoolmaster in 1889....
)- Kampfgruppe "Meyer" (South-West of Velikiye Luki)
- Three infantry battalions, two batteries of StuGIII assault guns, two artillery and one rocket launcher batteries
- Infantry Regiment 277 (Lieutenant-Colonel von Saß) (garrison)
- 3rd Ski Battalion (attached)
- 336th Security Battalion (garrison)
- Battery of 21 cm Nebelwerfer 4221 cm Nebelwerfer 42The 21 cm Nebelwerfer 42 was a German multiple rocket launcher used in the Second World War. It served with units of the Nebeltruppen, the German equivalent of the American Chemical Corps...
(rocket launcher) mortars
- Kampfgruppe "Meyer" (South-West of Velikiye Luki)
- 83rd Infantry Division
- Kampfgruppe
- Operation "TotilaTotilaTotila, original name Baduila was King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.A relative of...
" Relief forces- II/11th Panzer Division (Germany) (3 Pz.II, 2 PzKW IIIPanzer IIIPanzer III was the common name of a medium tank that was developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen III translating as "armoured battle vehicle". It was intended to fight other armoured fighting vehicles and...
"short", 28 Pz.III "long", 3 PzKW IVPanzer IVThe Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
"long" and one command tank)- Two battalions/331st Infantry Division
- 8th Panzer Division (14 PzKW 38tPanzer 38(t)The Panzerkampfwagen 38 was originally a Czech tank of pre-World War II design. After Czechoslovakia was taken over by Germany, it was adopted by the German Army, seeing service in the invasions of Poland and Russia. Production ended in 1942, when its armament was deemed inadequate. In all, over...
, and one command tank) - 20th Motorized Infantry Division
- 197th Assault Gun Battalion (Wehrmacht)
- Infantry Regiment 358/205th Infantry Division205th Infantry Division (Germany)The 205th Infantry Division was a German division during the Second World War.Initially formed as the 14th Militia Division , the division was mobilized a few days before the invasion of Poland in 1939, and remained on garrison duty in Germany throughout that campaign...
- 3rd Gebirgsjäger Division (at Novosokol'niki to the rear of 83rd Infantry Division's positions)
- 291st Infantry Division
- 1 SS Infantry Brigade (mot)
- II/11th Panzer Division (Germany) (3 Pz.II, 2 PzKW III
Most of Army Group Center was engaged in resisting the second Soviet Rzhev-Sychevka offensive throughout this period.
Almost half of the 83rd Infantry Division was assigned to the Velikiye Luki garrison.
The 3rd Mountain Division was at little more than half strength, since its 139th Regiment had been left in Lapland when the division withdrew from northern Finland. The 138th Mountain Regiment was the unknown unit of 3rd Mountain shown in Maps 2 and 3.
20th Motorized was from Army Group Center's reserve.