The Battle of the Dnieper was a
military campaign
A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the ...
that took place in 1943 in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
on the
Eastern Front of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front.
Over four months, the eastern bank of the
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
was recovered from
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
forces by five of the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
's
fronts, which conducted several assault river crossings to establish several
lodgement
A lodgement is an enclave, taken and defended by force of arms against determined opposition, made by increasing the size of a bridgehead, beachhead, or airhead into a substantial defended area, at least the rear parts of which are out of direc ...
s on the western bank.
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
was later liberated in the
Battle of Kiev. 2,438 Red Army soldiers were awarded the title
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...
for their involvement.
Strategic situation
Following the
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...
, the Wehrmachts
''Heer'' and supporting ''
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
'' forces in the southern Soviet Union were on the defensive in the southern Ukraine. By mid-August,
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
understood that the forthcoming Soviet offensive could not be contained on the open steppe and ordered construction of a series of fortifications along the line of the Dnieper river.
On the Soviet side,
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
was determined to launch a major offensive in Ukraine. The main thrust of the offensive was in a southwesterly direction; the northern flank being largely stabilized, the southern flank rested on the
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...
.
Planning
Soviet planning
The operation began on 26 August 1943. Divisions started to move on a 1,400-kilometer front that stretched between
Smolensk
Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...
and the Sea of Azov. Overall, the operation would be executed by 36 Combined Arms, four Tank and five Air Armies. 2,650,000 personnel were brought into the ranks for this massive operation. The operation would use 51,000 guns and mortars, 2,400 tanks and 2,850 planes.
The Dnieper is the third largest river in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, behind only the
Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
and the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. In its lower part, its width can easily reach three kilometres, and being dammed in several places made it even larger. Moreover, its western shore—the one still to be retaken—was much higher and steeper than the eastern, complicating the offensive even further. In addition, the opposite shore was transformed into a vast complex of defenses and
fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
s held by the ''Wehrmacht''.
Faced with such a situation, the Soviet commanders had two options. The first would be to give themselves time to regroup their forces, find a weak point or two to exploit (not necessarily in the lower part of the Dnieper), stage a
breakthrough and encircle the German defenders far in the rear, rendering the defence line unsupplied and next to useless (very much like the German
Panzer
This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, ...
s bypassed the
Maginot line in 1940). This option was supported by Marshal
Zhukov
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( rus, Георгий Константинович Жуков, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐukəf, a=Ru-Георгий_Константинович_Жуков.ogg; 1 December 1896 – ...
and Deputy Chief of Staff
Aleksei Antonov
Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov (russian: Алексей Иннокентьевич Антонов; 9 September 1896 – 16 June 1962) was a General of the Soviet Army, awarded the Order of Victory for his efforts in World War II. From 1945 to 1 ...
, who considered the substantial losses after the
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...
. The second option would be to stage a massive assault without waiting, and force the Dnieper on a broad front. This option left no additional time for the German defenders, but would lead to much larger casualties than would a successful deep operation breakthrough. This second option was backed by Stalin due to the concern that the German "scorched earth" policy might devastate this region if the Red Army did not advance fast enough.
Stavka
The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine.
In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff, a ...
(the Soviet high command) chose the second option. Instead of deep penetration and encirclement, the Soviet intended to make full use of partisan activities to intervene and disrupt Germany's supply route so that the Germans could not effectively send reinforcements or take away Soviet industrial facilities in the region. Stavka also paid high attention to the possible scorched earth activities of German forces with a view to preventing them by a rapid advance.
The assault was staged on a 300-kilometer front almost simultaneously. All available means of transport were to be used to transport the attackers to the opposite shore, including small fishing boats and improvised rafts of barrels and trees (like the one in the photograph). The preparation of the crossing equipment was further complicated by the German scorched earth strategy with the total destruction of all boats and
raft building
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barre ...
material in the area. The crucial issue would obviously be heavy equipment. Without it, the
bridgehead
In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...
s would not stand for long.
Soviet organisation
*
Central Front
The Central Front was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War formed on July 24, 1941.
The Central Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war.
The first entity existed for just a month during th ...
(known as the
Belorussian Front after 20 October 1943), commanded by
Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky ( Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who bec ...
and accounted for 579,600 soldiers (took no part in the Dnieper battle after 3 October)
**
2nd Tank Army, led by
Aleksei Rodin /
Semyon Bogdanov (since September)
**
9th Tank Corps, led by Hryhoriy Rudchenko (KIA), Boris Bakharov
**
60th Army
The Red Army's 60th Army was a Soviet field army during the Second World War. It was first formed in reserve in the Moscow Military District in October 1941, but soon was disbanded. It was formed a second time in July 1942, and continued in servi ...
, led by
Ivan Chernyakhovsky
**
13th Army, led by
Nikolay Pukhov
Nikolay Pavlovich Pukhov (; –March 28, 1958) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union who commanded troops during World War II.
Pukhov fought in World War I as a junior officer, afterwards joining the Red Army and fight ...
**
65th Army, led by
Pavel Batov
Pavel Ivanovich Batov (russian: Па́вел Ива́нович Ба́тов; – April 19, 1985) was a senior Red Army general during the Second World War and afterwards, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. Batov fought in World War I, where he ...
**
61st Army, led by
Pavel Belov
Pavel Alexeyevich Belov (Russian: Павел Алексеевич Белов; 18 February 1897 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was nicknamed the "Fox" by the Germans and personally led t ...
**
48th Army, led by
Prokofy Romanenko
Prokofy Logvinovich Romanenko (; – 10 March 1949) was a Ukrainian Soviet Army colonel general.
Serving in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, Romanenko joined the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, becoming a cavalry commande ...
**
70th Army
The 70th Army was a Soviet field army during World War II. It was the highest-numbered combined arms army to be formed by the ''Stavka'' during the war. It was active at the Battle of Kursk, the Lublin–Brest Offensive, and the Berlin Strategic ...
, led by
Ivan Galanin
Ivan Vasilievich Galanin (; –12 November 1958) was a Red Army lieutenant general during World War II.
Galanin was drafted into the Red Army in 1919 and fought as an ordinary soldier in the Russian Civil War. He became an officer during the inte ...
/ Vladimir Sharapov
(September – October) /
Aleksei Grechkin (since October)
**
16th Air Army, led by
Sergei Rudenko
*
Voronezh Front
The 1st Ukrainian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front (Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a ...
(known as the
1st Ukrainian Front after 20 October 1943), commanded by
Nikolai Vatutin
Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin (russian: Никола́й Фёдорович Вату́тин; 16 December 1901 – 15 April 1944) was a Soviet military commander during World War II. Vatutin was responsible for many Red Army operations in Ukraine ...
and accounted for 665,500 soldiers
**
3rd Guards Tank Army, led by
Pavel Rybalko
Pavel Semyonovich Rybalko (23 October 1894 – 28 August 1948; russian: Па́вел Семёнович Рыба́лко, uk, Павло Семенович Рибалко) was a commander of armoured troops in the Red Army during and following Wor ...
**
1st Tank Army
The 1st Guards Tank Army () is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces.
The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st Guards Tank Army in January 1944. The arm ...
, led by
Mikhail Katukov
Marshal of Armoured Troops Mikhail Yefimovich Katukov (russian: Михаи́л Ефи́мович Катуко́в – 8 June 1976) served as a commander of armored troops in the Red Army during and following World War II. He is viewed as o ...
**
4th Guards Tank Corps, led by Pavel Poluboyarov
** 1st Guard Cavalry Corps, led by
Viktor Baranov
**
5th Guards Army, led by
Aleksei Zhadov
**
4th Guards Army, led by
Grigory Kulik
Grigory Ivanovich Kulik ( ua, Григорій Іванович Кулик; russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Кули́к, Grigóriy Ivánovich Kulík; 9 November 1890 – 24 August 1950), a Soviet Union, Soviet military commande ...
/ Aleksei Zygin (KIA) / Ivan Galanin
**
6th Guards Army
The 6th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought against Nazi Germany during World War II under the command of General Ivan Chistyakov. The Army's chief of staff was General Valentin Antonovich Penkovskii.
The 6th Guards Army was ...
, led by
Ivan Chistyakov
Ivan Mikhailovich Chistyakov (; – 7 March 1979) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Chistyakov joined the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and rose from ordinary soldier to junior commander. He served in Dage ...
**
38th Army, led by
Nikandr Chibisov
Colonel General Nikandr Evlampievich Chibisov (russian: Никандр Евлампиевич Чибисов; November 5 ( O.S. October 24), 1892 in stanitsa Romanovskaya (Rostov Oblast) – 20 September 1959 in Minsk) was a Soviet military comma ...
/
Kirill Moskalenko
Kirill Semyonovich Moskalenko (russian: Кирилл Семёнович Москаленко, uk, Кирило Семенович Москаленко; May 11, 1902 – June 17, 1985) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. A member of the Soviet Arm ...
(since October)
**
47th Army, led by Pavel Korzun /
Filipp Zhmachenko
Filipp Feodosyevich Zhmachenko (russian: Филипп Феодосьевич Жмаченко; – 19 June 1966) was a Soviet Army colonel general and Hero of the Soviet Union.
Biography
Zhmachenko was born on 26 November 1895 to a Ukrainian ...
(September – October) / Vitaliy Polenov
(since October)
**
27th Army, led by
Sergei Trofimenko
Sergei Georgievich Trofimenko (10 (22) September 1899 in Ryovny – 16 October 1953 in Moscow) was a Soviet military commander, active in the Russian Civil War and the Second World War. His final rank was colonel-general. He had been promoted t ...
**
52nd Army, led by
Konstantin Koroteev
Konstantin Apollonovich Koroteyev (russian: Константи́н Аполло́нович Короте́ев; –4 January 1953) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union.
He became colonel-general in 1944 and was awarde ...
**
2nd Air Army, led by
Stepan Krasovsky
Stepan ( uk, Степань; pl, Stepań; he, סטפאן) is an urban-type settlement in Sarny Raion (district) of Rivne Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. Its population was 4,073 as of the 2001 Ukrainian Census. Current population:
The ...
*
Steppe Front (known as the
2nd Ukrainian Front after 20 October 1943), commanded by
Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev ( rus, link=no, Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев, p=ɪˈvan sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ˈkonʲɪf; – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forces on the ...
*
Southwestern Front (known as the
3rd Ukrainian Front after 20 October 1943), commanded by
Rodion Malinovsky
Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (russian: Родио́н Я́ковлевич Малино́вский, ukr, Родіо́н Я́кович Малино́вський ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander. He was Marshal of the Sov ...
*
Southern Front (known as the
4th Ukrainian Front after 20 October 1943), commanded by
Fyodor Tolbukhin
Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin (russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Толбу́хин; 16 June 1894 – 17 October 1949) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Early life and military career
Tolbukhin was born into ...
German planning
The order to construct the Dnieper defence complex, known as "Ostwall" or "Eastern Wall", was issued on 11 August 1943 and began to be immediately executed.
Fortifications were erected along the length of the Dnieper. However, there was no hope of completing such an extensive defensive line in the short time available. Therefore, the completion of the "Eastern Wall" was not uniform in its density and depth of fortifications. Instead, they were concentrated in areas where a Soviet assault-crossing were most likely to be attempted, such as near
Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pr ...
,
Zaporizhia
Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...
and
Nikopol.
Additionally, on 7 September 1943, the SS forces and the Wehrmacht received orders to implement a
scorched earth policy, by stripping the areas they had to abandon of anything that could be used by the Soviet war effort.
German organisation
*
Luftflotte 2
__NOTOC__
''Luftflotte'' 2For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organisation (Air Fleet 2) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed 1 February 1939 in Braunsch ...
(selected units) –
Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen
Wolfram Karl Ludwig Moritz Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen (10 October 1895 – 12 July 1945) was a German World War I flying ace who rose to the rank of '' Generalfeldmarschall'' in the Luftwaffe during World War II.
Born in 1895 into a f ...
* (in Ukraine)
Army Group South
Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II.
It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group So ...
–
Erich von Manstein
Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski; 24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a German Field Marshal of the ''Wehrmacht'' during the Second World War, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes and ...
**
4th Panzer Army –
Hermann Hoth
Hermann Hoth (12 April 1885 – 25 January 1971) was a German army commander, war criminal, and author. He served as a high-ranking panzer commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II, playing a prominent role in the Battle of France and on t ...
**
1st Panzer Army –
Eberhard von Mackensen
Friedrich August Eberhard von Mackensen (24 September 1889 – 19 May 1969) was a German general and war criminal during World War II who served as commander of the 1st Panzer Army and the 14th Army. Following the war, Mackensen stood trial fo ...
**
8th Army –
Otto Wohler
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded f ...
**
6th Army –
Karl-Adolf Hollidt
Karl-Adolf Hollidt (25 April 1891 – 22 May 1985) was a German army commander and war criminal during World War II. He was a general (''Generaloberst'') in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany who commanded the 6th Army.
Career
Hollidt enlisted in th ...
(transferred to Army Group A control)
**
Luftflotte 4
''Luftflotte'' 4For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organisation (Air Fleet 4) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on March 18, 1939, from Luftwaffenkomm ...
–
Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen
Wolfram Karl Ludwig Moritz Hermann Freiherr von Richthofen (10 October 1895 – 12 July 1945) was a German World War I flying ace who rose to the rank of '' Generalfeldmarschall'' in the Luftwaffe during World War II.
Born in 1895 into a f ...
/
Otto Deßloch
Otto Dessloch (11 June 1889 – 13 May 1977) was a German Luftwaffe general during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany.
Career
Dessloch was born in Bamberg, he joined the Bavarian A ...
(since September)
* (in Crimea)
Army Group A
Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsibl ...
–
Ewald von Kleist
*
Army Group Center
Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German 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 for ...
–
Günther von Kluge
Günther Adolf Ferdinand von Kluge (30 October 1882 – 19 August 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II who held commands on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He commanded the 4th Army of the Wehrmacht during the invasion o ...
**
2nd Army –
Walter Weiß
__NOTOC__
General Walter-Otto Weiß, also spelt Weiss (5 September 1890 – 21 December 1967), was a German general during World War II. In 1945 he became commander in chief of Army Group North on the Eastern Front. He was a recipient of the Kni ...
(took no part in the Dnieper battle after 3 October)
Description of the strategic operation
Initial attack
![Hitlerdnieper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Hitlerdnieper.jpg)
Despite a great superiority in numbers, the offensive was by no means easy. German opposition was ferocious and the fighting raged for every town and city. The ''Wehrmacht'' made extensive use of
rear guard
A rearguard is a part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or withdrawal. The term can also be used to describe forces protecting lines, such as communication lines, behind an army. Even more ...
s, leaving some troops in each city and on each hill, slowing the Soviet offensive.
Progress of the offensive
![Crossing the Dnieper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Crossing_the_Dnieper.png)
Three weeks after the start of the offensive, and despite heavy losses on the Soviet side, it became clear that the Germans could not hope to contain the Soviet offensive in the flat, open terrain of the steppes, where the Red Army's numerical strength would prevail. Manstein asked for as many as 12 new divisions in the hope of containing the Soviet offensive – but German reserves were perilously thin.
On 15 September 1943, Hitler ordered Army Group South to retreat to the Dnieper defence line. The battle for
Poltava
Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...
was especially bitter. The city was heavily fortified and its garrison well prepared. After a few inconclusive days that greatly slowed down the Soviet offensive, Marshal Konev decided to bypass the city and rush towards the Dnieper. After two days of violent
urban warfare
Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the operational and the tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians a ...
, the Poltava garrison was overcome. Towards the end of September 1943, Soviet forces reached the lower part of the Dnieper.
Dnieper airborne operation
![Ivan Chernyakhovsky 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Ivan_Chernyakhovsky_2.jpg)
(The following is, largely, a synopsis of an account by Glantz with support from an account by Staskov.)
Stavka detached the
Central Front
The Central Front was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War formed on July 24, 1941.
The Central Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war.
The first entity existed for just a month during th ...
's
3rd Tank Army to the
Voronezh Front
The 1st Ukrainian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front (Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a ...
to race the weakening Germans to the Dnieper, to save the wheat crop from the German scorched earth policy, and to achieve strategic or operational river
bridgehead
In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...
s before a German defence could stabilize there. The 3rd Tank Army, plunging headlong, reached the river on the night of 21–22 September and, on the 23rd, Soviet infantry forces crossed by swimming and by using makeshift rafts to secure small, fragile bridgeheads, opposed only by 120 German Cherkassy flak academy NCO candidates and the hard-pressed 19th Panzer Division Reconnaissance Battalion. Those forces were the only Germans within 60 km of the Dnieper loop. Only a heavy German air attack and a lack of bridging equipment kept Soviet heavy weaponry from crossing and expanding the bridgehead.
The Soviets, sensing a critical juncture, ordered a hasty airborne corps assault to increase the size of the bridgehead before the Germans could counterattack. On the 21st, the Voronezh Front's 1st, 3rd and 5th Guards
Airborne
Airborne or Airborn may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis
* ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film
* ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
Brigades got the urgent call to secure, on the 23rd, a bridgehead perimeter 15 to 20 km wide and 30 km deep on the Dnieper loop between Kaniv and Rzhishchev, while Front elements forced the river.
The arrival of personnel at the airfields was slow, necessitating, on the 23rd, a one-day delay and omission of 1st Brigade from the plan; consequent mission changes caused near chaos in command channels. Mission change orders finally got down to company commanders, on the 24th, just 15 minutes before their units, not yet provisioned with spades, anti-tank mines, or ponchos for the autumn night frosts, assembled on airfields. Owing to the weather, not all assigned aircraft had arrived at airfields on time (if at all). Further, most flight safety officers disallowed maximum loading of their aircraft. Given fewer aircraft (and lower than expected capacities), the master loading plan, ruined, was abandoned. Many radios and supplies got left behind. In the best case, it would take three lifts to deliver the two brigades. Units (still arriving by the over-taxed rail system), were loaded piecemeal onto returned aircraft, which were slow to refuel owing to the less-than-expected capacities of fuel trucks. Meanwhile, already-arrived troops changed planes, seeking earlier flights. Urgency and the fuel shortage prevented aerial assembly aloft. Most aircraft, as soon as they were loaded and fueled, flew in single file, instead of line abreast, to the dropping points. Assault waves became as intermingled as the units they carried.
As corps elements made their flights, troops (half of whom had never jumped, except from training towers) were briefed on drop zones, assembly areas and objectives only poorly understood by platoon commanders still studying new orders. Meanwhile, Soviet aerial photography, suspended for several days by bad weather, had missed the strong reinforcement of the area, early that afternoon. Non-combat cargo pilots ferrying 3rd Brigade through drizzle expected no resistance beyond river pickets but, instead, were met by anti-aircraft fire and starshells from the
19th Panzer Division (only coincidentally transiting the drop zone, and just one of six divisions and other formations ordered, on the 21st, to fill the gap in front of the 3rd Tank Army). Lead aircraft, disgorging
paratrooper
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...
s over Dubari at 1930h, came under fire from elements of the 73rd Panzer Grenadier Regiment and division staff of 19th Panzer Division. Some paratroops began returning fire and throwing grenades even before landing; trailing aircraft accelerated, climbed and evaded, dropping wide. Through the night, some pilots avoided starshell-lit drop points entirely, and 13 aircraft returned to airfields without having dropped at all. Intending a 10 by 14 km drop over largely undefended terrain, the Soviets instead achieved a 30 by 90 km drop over the fastest mobile elements of two German corps.
On the ground, the Germans used white parachutes as beacons to hunt down and kill disorganized groups and to gather and destroy airdropped supplies. Supply bonfires, glowing embers, and multi-color starshells illuminated the battlefield. Captured documents gave the Germans enough knowledge of Soviet objectives to arrive at most of them before the disorganized paratroops.
Back at the Soviet airfields, the fuel shortage allowed only 298 of 500 planned sorties, leaving corps anti-tank guns and 2,017 paratroops undelivered. Of 4,575 men dropped (seventy percent of the planned number, and just 1,525 from 5th Brigade), some 2,300 eventually assembled into 43 ad hoc groups, with missions abandoned as hopeless, and spent most of their time seeking supplies not yet destroyed by the Germans. Others joined with the nine
partisan groups operating in the area. About 230 made it over (or out of) the Dnieper to Front units (or were originally dropped there). Most of the rest were almost casually captured that first night or killed the next day (although, on that first night, the 3rd Co, 73rd Panzer Grenadier Regiment, suffered heavy losses while annihilating about 150 paratroopers near Grushevo, some 3 km west of Dubari).
The Germans underestimated that 1,500 to 2,000 had dropped; they recorded 901 paratroops captured and killed in the first 24 hours. Thereafter, they largely ignored the Soviet paratroopers, to counterattack and truncate the Dnieper bridgeheads. The Germans deemed their anti-paratrooper operations completed by the 26th, although a modicum of opportunistic actions against garrisons, rail lines, and columns were conducted by remnants up to early November. For a lack of manpower to clear all areas, forests of the region would remain a minor threat.
The Germans called the operation a fundamentally sound idea ruined by the dilettantism of planners lacking expert knowledge (but praised individual paratroops for their tenacity, bayonet skills and deft use of broken ground in the sparsely wooded northern region). Stavka deemed this second (and, ultimately, last) corps drop a complete failure; lessons they knew they had already learned from their winter offensive corps drop at Viazma had not stuck. They would never trust themselves to try it again.
Soviet 5th Guards Airborne Brigade commander Sidorchuk, withdrawing to the forests south, eventually amassed a brigade-size command, half paratroops, half partisans; he obtained air supply, and assisted the 2nd Ukrainian Front over the Dnieper near Cherkassy to finally link up with Front forces on 15 November. After 13 more days combat, the airborne element was evacuated, ending a harrowing two months. More than sixty percent never returned.
Assault-crossing the Dnieper
![Dayosh Kiev](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Dayosh_Kiev.jpg)
The first bridgehead on the Dnieper's western shore was established on 22 September 1943 at the confluence of the Dnieper and
Pripyat
Pripyat ( ; russian: При́пять), also known as Prypiat ( uk, При́пʼять, , ), is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1 ...
rivers, in the northern part of the front. On 24 September, another bridgehead was created near
Dniprodzerzhynsk
Kamianske ( uk, Кам'янське, ), formerly Dniprodzerzhynsk, is an industrial city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of Ukraine and a port on the Dnieper. Administratively, it serves as the administrative center of Kamianske Raion. Kamianske hosts ...
, another on 25 September near
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
and yet another on 28 September near
Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pr ...
. By the end of the month, 23 bridgeheads were created on the western side, some of them 10 kilometers wide and 1–2 kilometres deep.
The crossing of the Dnieper was extremely difficult. Soldiers used every available floating device to cross the river, under heavy German fire and taking heavy losses. Once across, Soviet troops had to dig themselves into the clay ravines composing the Dnieper's western bank.
Securing the lodgements
![Dnieper Forcing Offensive](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Dnieper_Forcing_Offensive.jpg)
German troops soon launched heavy
counterattack
A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...
s on almost every bridgehead, hoping to annihilate them before heavy equipment could be transported across the river.
For instance, the Borodaevsk lodgement, mentioned by Marshal
Konev Konev (russian: Конев and Bulgarian, ua, Конєв from ''конь'' or ''кон'' meaning ''horse'') is a Russian, Bulgarian or Ukrainian masculine surname, its feminine counterpart is Koneva. It may refer to:
*Anatoly Konev (1921–1965), ...
in his memoirs, came under heavy armored attack and air assault. Bombers attacked both the lodgement and the reinforcements crossing the river. Konev complained at once about a lack of organization of Soviet air support, set up air patrols to prevent bombers from approaching the lodgements and ordered forward more artillery to counter tank attacks from the opposite shore. When Soviet aviation became more organized and hundreds of guns and
Katyusha rocket launcher
The Katyusha ( rus, Катю́ша, p=kɐˈtʲuʂə, a=Ru-Катюша.ogg) is a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. Multiple rocket launchers such as these deliver explosives to a target area ...
s began firing, the situation started to improve and the bridgehead was eventually preserved.
Such battles were commonplace on every lodgement. Although all the lodgements were held, losses were terrible – at the beginning of October, most divisions were at only 25 to 50% of their nominal strength.
Lower Dnieper offensive
By mid-October, the forces accumulated on the lower Dnieper bridgeheads were strong enough to stage a first massive attack to definitely secure the river's western shore in the southern part of the front. Therefore, a vigorous attack was staged on the
Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk (; uk, Кременчу́к, Kremenchuk ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city serves as the administrative center of the Kremenchuk Raion (district) in Poltava Oblast (pr ...
-
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
line. Simultaneously, a major diversion was conducted in the south to draw German forces away both from the Lower Dnieper and from Kiev.
At the end of the offensive, Soviet forces controlled a bridgehead 300 kilometers wide and up to 80 kilometers deep in some places. In the south, the Crimea was now cut off from the rest of the German forces. Any hope of stopping the Red Army on the Dnieper's east bank was lost.
Outcomes
The Battle of the Dnieper was another defeat for the ''Wehrmacht'' that required it to restabilize the front further West. The Red Army, which Hitler hoped to contain at the Dnieper, forced the ''Wehrmacht''s defences. Kyiv was recaptured and German troops lacked the forces to annihilate Soviet troops on the Lower Dnieper bridgeheads. The west bank was still in German hands for the most part, but both sides knew that it would not last for long.
Additionally, the Battle of the Dnieper demonstrated the strength of the Soviet partisan movement. The "
rail war" operation staged during September and October 1943 struck German logistics very hard, creating heavy supply issues.
Incidentally, between 28 November and 1 December 1943 the
Tehran conference
The Tehran Conference ( codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943, after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. It was held in the Soviet Union's embass ...
was held between
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
,
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, and Stalin. The Battle of the Dnieper, along with other major offensives staged in 1943, certainly gave Stalin a dominant position for negotiating with his Allies.
The Soviet success during this battle created the conditions for the follow-up
Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive on the
right-bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine ( uk , Правобережна Україна, ''Pravoberezhna Ukrayina''; russian: Правобережная Украина, ''Pravoberezhnaya Ukraina''; pl, Prawobrzeżna Ukraina, sk, Pravobrežná Ukrajina, hu, Jobb p ...
, which was launched on 24 December 1943 from a bridgehead west of
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
that was secured during this battle.
[Грылев А.Н. Днепр-Карпаты-Крым. Освобождение Правобережной Украины и Крыма в 1944 году. Москва: Наука, 1970, p. 19.] The offensive brought the Red Army from the
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
all the way to
Galicia (
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
),
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
and
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, with
Army Group South
Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II.
It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group So ...
being split into two parts- north and south of Carpathians.
Soviet operational phases
From a Soviet operational point of view, the battle was broken down into a number of different phases and offensives.
The first phase of the battle :
*
Chernigov-Poltava Strategic Offensive 26 August 1943 – 30 September 1943 (Central, Voronezh and Steppe fronts)
:
Chernigov-Pripyat Offensive 26 August – 30 September 1943
:
Sumy–Priluky Offensive 26 August – 30 September 1943
:
Poltava-Kremenchug Offensive 26 August – 30 September 1943
*
Donbass Strategic Offensive 13 August – 22 September 1943 (Southwestern and Southern fronts)
*
Dnieper airborne assault
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major Transboundary river, transboundary list of rivers of Europe, rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black ...
24 September – 24 November 1943
The second phase of the operation includes :
*
Lower Dnieper Offensive
The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 in Ukraine on the Eastern Front of World War II. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front.
Over four ...
26 September – 20 December 1943
:
Melitopol Offensive 26 September – 5 November 1943
:
Zaporizhia Offensive 10–14 October 1943
:
Kremenchug-Pyatikhatki Offensive 15 October – 3 November 1943
:
Dnepropetrovsk Offensive 23 October – 23 December 1943
:
Krivoi Rog Offensive 14–21 November 1943
:
Apostolovo Offensive 14 November – 23 December 1943
:
Nikopol Offensive Nikopol (derived from Greek ''Nicopolis'' (Νικόπολις), "City of Victory") may refer to:
Places and regions
* Nikopol, Ukraine
** Nikopol Raion, Ukraine
** FC Elektrometalurh-NZF Nikopol, a Ukrainian football club
** FC Nikopol, a Ukrainia ...
14 November – 31 December 1943
:
Aleksandriia-Znamenka Offensive 22 November – 9 December 1943
:
Krivoi Rog Offensive 10–19 December 1943
* Kiev Strategic Offensive Operation (October) (1–24 October 1943)
:Chernobyl-Radomysl Offensive Operation (1–4 October 1943)
:Chernobyl-Gornostaipol Defensive Operation (3–8 October 1943)
:Lyutezh Offensive Operation (11–24 October 1943)
:Bukrin Offensive Operation (12–15 October 1943)
:Bukrin Offensive Operation (21–24 October 1943)
*
Kiev Strategic Offensive 3–13 November 1943
:Rauss' November 1943 counterattack
*
Kiev Strategic Defensive 13 November – 22 December 1943
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
* David M. Glantz,
Jonathan M. House, ''When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army stopped Hitler'', University Press of Kansas, 1995
* Nikolai Shefov, ''Russian fights'', Lib. Military History, Moscow, 2002
* ''History of Great Patriotic War'', 1941 — 1945. Moscow, 1963
*
John Erickson John Erickson may refer to:
* John E. Erickson (Montana politician) (1863–1946), American politician from Montana
* John E. Erickson (basketball) (1927–2020), American basketball coach and executive, Wisconsin politician
* John P. Erickson ...
, ''Barbarossa: The Axis and the Allies'', Edinburgh University Press, 1994
* Harrison, Richard. (2018) ''The Battle of the Dnepr: The Red Army's Forcing of the East Wall, September–December 1943''. Helion and Company.
* Marshal
Konev Konev (russian: Конев and Bulgarian, ua, Конєв from ''конь'' or ''кон'' meaning ''horse'') is a Russian, Bulgarian or Ukrainian masculine surname, its feminine counterpart is Koneva. It may refer to:
*Anatoly Konev (1921–1965), ...
, ''Notes of a front commander'', Science, Moscow, 1972.
*
Erich von Manstein
Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski; 24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a German Field Marshal of the ''Wehrmacht'' during the Second World War, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes and ...
, ''Lost Victories'', Moscow, 1957.
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
1943 in Ukraine
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
1943 in the Soviet Union
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...