[16] However, a third attempt by Hoth was obeyed, and Das Reich disengaged, using a corridor opened by LSSAH to cross northern Kharkov and redeploy east of the city. The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov (or Kharkiv) between 19 February and 15 March 1943. The Germans were soon driven out once again (4th Battle of Kharkov) – this time for good. [citation needed] As a result, the Soviets deployed around twice as many personnel as the Wehrmacht in early February. [27] However, unexpected German resistance began to slow the operation considerably,[26] offering Rokossovsky only limited gains on the left flank of his attack and in the center. [83], The next day, the LSSAH struck southwards towards the Kharkov River from Peiper's bridgehead, clearing Soviet resistance block by block. [11] As the forces of the Don Front were destroying the German forces in Stalingrad, Stavka ordered the Soviet forces to conduct a new offensive, which encompassed the entire southern wing of the Soviet–German front from Voronezh to Rostov. [73] The Grossdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division had also returned to the front, and threw its weight into the attack, threatening to split the 69th Army and the remnants of the 3rd Tank Army. Of these troops lost, an estimated 45,200 were killed or went missing, while another 41,200 were wounded. [34] These were under the command of Generals M. A. Reiter,[48] Filipp Golikov[43] and Nikolai Vatutin,[49] respectively. Instead, Hausser sent a detachment from the Totenkopf division for this task and informed Hoth that the risk of disengaging with the Das Reich was far too great. This led to four days of house-to-house fighting before Kharkov was recaptured by the 1st SS Panzer Division on 15 March. Kharkov is the Russian language name of the city (Kharkiv the Ukrainian one); both Russian and Ukrainian were official languages in the Soviet Union (Source: Glantz (1995), p. 296; this figure includes personnel losses between 19 February and 15 March 1943. The day was spent with the LSSAH clearing the remnants of Soviet resistance, pushing east along a broad front. Months of continuous operations, however, had taken a heavy toll on the Soviets and some divisions were reduced to 1,000–2,000 combat effective soldiers. At the same time, Peiper's forces were able to breakout south, suffering from bitter fighting against a tenacious Soviet defense, and link up with the division's left wing at the Volchansk and Chuhuiv road junction. The second stage included the recapture of Kharkov, while the third stage was designed to attack the Soviets at Kursk, in conjunction with Army Group Center—this final stage was ultimately called off due to the advent of the … [81] The 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment's 2nd Battalion was able to surround the square, after taking heavy casualties from Soviet snipers and other defenders, by evening. [19][20], The surrender of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad freed six Soviet armies, under the command of Konstantin Rokossovsky, which were refitted and reinforced by the 2nd Tank Army and the 70th Army. [93] However, weather and exhaustion forced Manstein's counterstroke to end soon thereafter,[95] despite the Field Marshal's ambitions to also attack the Kursk salient which had been created as a result of the recapture of Kharkov and Belgorod. The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov (or Kharkiv) between 19 February and 15 March 1943. [70] According to the Germans, the German counterattack had cost the Red Army an estimated 23,000 soldiers dead, along with 615 tanks and 352 artillery pieces lost. Though concerned about the approaching spring thaw, von Manstein pushed toward Kharkov. [63] Furthermore, the 3rd Tank Army was harassed and severely damaged by continuous German aerial attacks with Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers. The SS Panzer Corps was commanded by General Paul Hausser, who also had the 3rd SS Panzer (Totenkopf) Division under his command. [5][6] Total German losses at the Battle of Stalingrad, excluding prisoners, were between 120,000[7] and 150,000. Third Battle of Kharkov. This attack penetrated deeper into Kharkov, but low on fuel the armor was forced to entrench itself and turn to the defensive. This counterattack, however, was caught by the expansion of the German offensive towards Kharkov on 10 March. Unwilling to launch a direct assault against the Soviets, the German commander planned a counterstroke against the Soviet flank once they became overextended. Hitler immediately flew to von Manstein's headquarters at Zaporizhia. [21] These forces were repositioned between the junction of German Army Groups Center and South. The German Force at the Battle of Kharkov in the early spring of 1943 The Eastern Front during the winter of 1942/1943 As the year became 1943, a series of actions centered around Stalingrad in southern Russia led to some of the heaviest fighting on the Eastern Front during World War II. By this time Stavka believed it could decide the war in Southern Russia, expecting total victory. [32] However, as a result of their over-extension and the casualties they had taken during their offensive, at the beginning of Manstein's counterattack the Germans could achieve a tactical superiority in numbers, including the number of tanks present—for example, Manstein's 350 tanks outnumbered Soviet armor almost seven to one at the point of contact.[30]. Over the next two days, it endured brutal urban fighting as German troops cleared the city house-by-house. Erich Von Manstein & The Third Battle Of Kharkov — February 19th – March 15th, 1943 – “The Genius Of A Man” War, the poet Virgil once wrote, is a tale of “arms and the man.” The outcome of battle hinges on numbers, technology, training, and other impersonal factors, not … Simultaneously, Army Detachment Hollidt was ordered to contain the continuing Soviet efforts to break through German lines. The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by the German Army Group South against the Red Army, around the city of Kharkov (or Kharkiv) between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Thompson (Lt. Col.), Thomas A. On March 8, SS Panzer Corps completed its drive north, splitting the Soviet 69th and 40th Armies before turning east the next day. A Soviet counterattack was repulsed after a bloody firefight. As the Battle of Stalingrad was concluding in early February 1943, Soviet forces launched Operation Star. With supporting Soviet units stretched thin, the attack began to falter. The setting is the Third Battle of Kharkov, which was really a series of battles launched by the Wehrmacht beginning on February 19, 1943, to take advantage of the fact that the Red Army had exhausted much of its strength and overrun its lines of supply following the massive series of offensives it had launched against the Germans following the latter’s defeat at Stalingrad. [29], While the Soviet offensive continued, Field Marshal von Manstein was able to put the SS Panzer Corps—now reinforced by the 3rd SS Panzer Division—under the command of the Fourth Panzer Army, while Hitler agreed to release seven understrength panzer and motorized divisions for the impending counteroffensive. Despite his efforts, a German panzer division could only count on an estimated 10,000–11,000 personnel, out of an authorized strength of 13,000–17,000. Third Battle of Kharkov takes place on WWII Eastern Front in 1943. [57] On 22 February, alarmed by the success of the German counterattack, the Soviet Stavka ordered the Voronezh Front to shift the 3rd Tank Army and 69th Army south, in an effort to alleviate pressure on the Southwestern Front and destroy German forces in the Krasnograd area. [79], German armored personnel carrier advancing through the Sumskaya street of Kharkov, March 1943, The Das Reich division attacked on the same day, along the west side of Kharkov. By the end of the day, the entire city was declared to be back in German hands. [9] At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht was equipped with around 3,300 tanks;[10] by 23 January only 495 tanks, mostly of older types, remained operational along the entire length of the Soviet–German front. The first stage encompassed the destruction of the Soviet spearheads, which had over-extended themselves through their offensive. "Field Marshal Erich von Manstein and the Operational Art at the Battle of Kharkov". This scenario represents the … [35] However, the effects of this recruitment were not seen until around May 1943, when the German armed forces were at their highest strength since the beginning of the war, with 9.5 million personnel. Total German losses at the Battle of Stalingrad, excluding prisoners, were between 120,000 and 150,000. After penetrating into the city's Zalyutino district, the advance was stopped by a deep anti-tank ditch, lined with Soviet defenders, including anti-tank guns. [22] Known to the Soviets as the Kharkov[3] and Donbas operations,[23] the offensive sought to surround and destroy German forces in the Orel salient, cross the Desna River and surround and destroy German Army Group Center. On 25 February, Marshal Rokossovsky's Central Front also joined the battle. The Third Battle of Kharkov occurred from 19 February to 13 March 1943 when the German 4th Panzer Army, II SS Panzer Corps, XLVIII Panzer Corps, and elements of the 1st Panzer Army launched an offensive to recapture the cities of Kharkov (Kharkiv, Ukraine) and Belgorod in the Ukrainian SSR (Belgorod is today a part of Russia).In February 1943, the Soviet counterattacks against the Axis … This effectively put two-thirds of the city under German control. 15. Also, on February 25, Colonel General Konstantin Rokossovsky launched a major offensive with his Central Front against the junction of Army Groups South and Center. Third Battle of Kharkov. Hausser’s SS Panzerkorps retook the city of Kharkov after fierce fighting, however, the Third Battle of Kharkov left the city only temporarily in Axis hands.
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