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The Second Battle of Târgu Frumos was a military engagement primarily between the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
and
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, afte ...
forces in May 1944, near Iași,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
. The battle was the main engagement of the Târgu Frumos Operation, and is often referred simply as the Battle of Târgu Frumos. Military historian
David Glantz David M. Glantz (born January 11, 1942) is an American military historian known for his books on the Red Army during World War II and as the chief editor of '' The Journal of Slavic Military Studies''. Born in Port Chester, New York, Glantz re ...
claims the battle was part of what he termed First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive, resulted from a Stavka order to the forces of the
2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...
&
3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front (Russian: Третий Украинский фронт) was a Front of the Red Army during World War II. It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southweste ...
s to commence a coordinated invasion of Romania. It was directed towards Iași with a secondary objective of establishing bridgeheads across the Prut river. The battle was only briefly described by Soviet historians. Recently, Russian historians have begun describing this as a distinct battle. For example, the four volume ''Great Patriotic War'' (1998) prepared for the Russian Federation states:
Thus, during the Târgu-Frumos operation, the 2nd Ukrainian Front's forces tried unsuccessfully to complete a deep penetration of the enemy's defense and reach the territory between the Prut & Siret Rivers. By order of the Stavka, they themselves went over to the defensive along existing lines on 6 May.... The several attempts by the 3rd Ukrainian Front's armies to conduct attacks from their Dnestr bridgeheads & seize new bridgeheads also led to nothing.
According to accounts by
Hasso von Manteuffel Freiherr Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel (14 January 1897 – 24 September 1978) was a German baron born to the Prussian noble von Manteuffel family and was a general during World War II who commanded the 5th Panzer Army. He was a recipient of th ...
, one of the two German division commanders, and Ferdinand Maria von Senger und Etterlin the German forces defeated a Soviet offensive by the 2nd Ukrainian Front that was expected to be a precursor of a much larger offensive in Northern Ukraine. The battle of
Târgu Frumos Târgu Frumos (also spelled ''Tîrgu Frumos'', sometimes ''Târgul / Tîrgul Frumos''), ) is a town in Iași County, Western Moldavia, Romania. Eleven villages were administered by the town until 2004, when they were split off to form Balș, Cost ...
has been used as a case study in officer tactical education in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
and other armies, teaching how a mobile defense can defeat an armoured spearhead. There are however questions about the accounts by the two German officers, relating to the failure to include Romanian forces into their account.


Prelude

During April 1944 a series of offensives by 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, afte ...
, including in the Iaşi sector, was intended to deceive OKH as to the real time and place of the major offensive planned in Belorussia. The German-Romanian forces successfully defended against the local limited objective attacks throughout the month of April. The attack aiming at
Târgu Frumos Târgu Frumos (also spelled ''Tîrgu Frumos'', sometimes ''Târgul / Tîrgul Frumos''), ) is a town in Iași County, Western Moldavia, Romania. Eleven villages were administered by the town until 2004, when they were split off to form Balș, Cost ...
was the initial attempt by the Red Army to achieve its goal of deceiving the OKH, and testing the Axis defenses in Romania while preventing movement of reserves to the Belorussian sector of the Eastern Front.
It had been thought that May Day, the traditional workers' day of celebration, would see the opening of a new assault by the Soviet forces. But the offensive re-opened on 2 May heralding three shattering and unceasing days and nights of combat. Behind a sixty-minute drum fire at dawn, two Soviet armies moved into an attack.


The battle

The battle of Târgu Frumos was a series of engagements and smaller combats over several days during which armoured forces of the Wehrmacht
LVII Panzer Corps LVII Panzer Corps was a panzer corps in the German Army during World War II. This corps was activated in Augsburg in February 1941 as the LVII Army Corps, for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which commenced on June 22, 1941. It fought in ...
, in particular of the Grossdeutschland Division and
24th Panzer Division The 24th Panzer Division was formed in late 1941 from the 1st Cavalry Division based at Königsberg. The division fought on the Eastern Front from June 1942 to January 1943, when it was destroyed in the battle of Stalingrad. Reformed, it once ...
, engaged the Red Army's 16th Tank Corps of the
2nd Tank Army The 2nd Guards Tank Army () was a large military formation of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army, now part of the Russian Ground Forces of the Russian Federation. The army was originally formed in early 1943 as the 2nd Tank Army. It was the ...
, which was also attacking from the north. One unit's experience in the opening hours of the battle was described as such:
(1st Battalion), P(an)z(er)Gr(enadier) R(e)g(imen)t G(ross)D(eutschland) and its Romanian allies occupied a well wired-in and T-Mine-strewn line running to the right of 3. SS-Pz.Div. "Totenkopf's" positions. The Soviets advanced in great waves, their tanks and infantry mixed together. Moving much faster than the Germans had anticipated, they overwhelmed...(the 1st Company), wiping it out to the last man. While (the) temporary battalion commander...attempted to halt and repulse the Soviets with what was left of his battalion, the Romanians to the left of (the 2nd Company) cowered in their trenches like "herrings", as (the) company commander...later recounted. Indeed, the Romanians seemed to have reached an unofficial cease fire with the enemy. That night the
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 ...
succeeded in mounting an air strike in the enemy rear area, to no avail. The next morning the Soviets resumed their attack, preceding it with a bombardment of phosphorus shells. Over 100 enemy tanks and assault guns advanced against (the 3rd Platoon). With his Romanian artillery remaining inactive, (the 3rd Platoon of the 2nd Company) could count only on the support of three...(assault guns) and the four 15cm Nebelwerfer multiple rocket launchers of (the 10th Company, Panzer Artillery Regiment Grossdeutschland). (The 2nd Company) was soon back to the Nebelwerfer's position where it formed a 'hedgehog' defense...and a handful of...men then managed to gain the temporary safety of the railway embankment in their rear. His battalion scattered, (the 1st Battalion commander) sent (the 2nd Company commander) with four SPW's to cover the wide open left flank, completely vulnerable when the Romanians abandoned their positions. Although the enemy had not made any deep penetrations, the tension of the past two days had exhausted the Panzergrenadiers. "Suddenly...four T-34s were in among the SPWs when, as if by magic, tanks and assault guns of the SS-Division "Totenkopf" appeared. Before a single T-34 could train its gun, all had received direct hits." Immediately thereafter Oberst Hans-Ulrich Rudel's Ju 87 Stukas led off a counter thrust by "Totenkopf's" Panzerregiment, accompanied by...four SPWs. The Panzergrenadiers took a measure of revenge for what they had endured over the past 48 hours...before being pulled out of the line to regroup and refit.
Despite initial successes of the Soviet attack, a series of counter-attacks managed to halt the Soviet offensive. The battle reduced Soviet tank strength to a point where a continued attack into Romania was not possible. In the three days of fighting, the Wehrmacht
LVII Panzer Corps LVII Panzer Corps was a panzer corps in the German Army during World War II. This corps was activated in Augsburg in February 1941 as the LVII Army Corps, for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which commenced on June 22, 1941. It fought in ...
(mainly Grossdeutschland and 24th Panzer Division) and LII Army Corps defeated the Soviet force and claimed the destruction of over 350 Soviet tanks, ca. 100 of these claimed by 24th Panzer Division. During the battle,
Hasso von Manteuffel Freiherr Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel (14 January 1897 – 24 September 1978) was a German baron born to the Prussian noble von Manteuffel family and was a general during World War II who commanded the 5th Panzer Army. He was a recipient of th ...
, commander of the Grossdeutschland division, first encountered the new Soviet Stalin tank, "It was at Târgu Frumos that I first met the Stalin tanks. It was a shock to find that, although my
Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...
began to hit them at a range of 3,000 metres, our shells bounced off, and did not penetrate them until we had closed to half that distance. But I was able to counter the Russians' superiority by manoeuvre and mobility, in making the best use of ground cover." Manteuffel also noted that the Stalin tanks had several "disadvantages: slow, not manoeuvrable enough; as well, in my opinion their crews were not sufficiently familiar with the tank."


Historiography

Soviet sources make few references to the battle. Historian
David Glantz David M. Glantz (born January 11, 1942) is an American military historian known for his books on the Red Army during World War II and as the chief editor of '' The Journal of Slavic Military Studies''. Born in Port Chester, New York, Glantz re ...
has found some mention of operations in Romania in April and May 1944 in divisional histories. The main source for him is the Soviet 2d Tank Army's history, where a direct reference to the battle is found. It states that in late March 1944, the tank army was shifted into the sector of 27th Army with the mission of "attacking in the direction of Focuri and Podul-Iloaei. Subsequently, the army was to strike a blow toward the city of Yassy and secure it." In the narrative on follow-on operations by the Tank Army it is stated that it attacked together with 27th Army’s 35th Rifle Corps. It also claims that the 3rd Tank Corps reached Târgu Frumos, but was repulsed by the German counterattacks. The 16th Tank Corps identified by the German officers appears not to be mentioned in the account. Despite German claims that the Soviet attack was a full-fledged offensive, it appears now that the battle of Târgu Frumos was a relatively small-scale operation in the context of 1944's fighting on the Eastern Front, even though a Soviet success would have put the Red Army into a much stronger position for its eventual attack into Romania.


Aftermath

At the end of the Battle of Târgu Frumos the frontline stabilised. However, it was from these positions that the Soviets launched the successful Jassy–Kishinev Offensive in late August 1944. On a political level, the battle accelerated the activities of anti-German forces in
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, leading to negotiations between the traditional political parties and the Romanian Communist Party, represented by
Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (; November 4, 1900 – April 17, 1954) was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania (PCR), also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he ...
.
Vladimir Tismăneanu Vladimir Tismăneanu (; born July 4, 1951) is a Romanian American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and comparative politics, he is di ...
, ''Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism'',
University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...
, Berkeley, 2003, p. 86.


Formations involved


Soviet

*
2nd Ukrainian Front The 2nd Ukrainian Front (2-й Украинский фронт), was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War. History On October 20, 1943 the Steppe Front was renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front. During the Second Jassy–Kishinev ...
(
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 ...
) ** Main Shock Group (Tirgu Frumos Axis) ** 27th Army (
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 ...
) *** 35th Guards Rifle Corps **** 3rd Guards Airborne Division **** 93rd Guards Rifle Division **** 202nd Rifle Division **** 206th Rifle Division *** 33rd Rifle Corps ****
78th Rifle Division The 78th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed in 1932, in Novosibirsk, in the Siberian Military District. After being used to provide cadres for new divisions, in September 1939 the division was reformed for the secon ...
**** 180th Rifle Division **** 337th Rifle Division ** 40th Army (
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 ...
) ***
50th Rifle Corps The 50th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army. It was part of the 23rd Army on 22 June 1941. It took part in the Great Patriotic War. Organization On 22 June 1941, the corps included the following units: * 43rd Rifle Division * 70 ...
**** 4th Guards Rifle Division **** 133rd Rifle Division **** 163rd Rifle Division *** 51st Rifle Corps **** 42nd Guards Rifle Division **** 74th Rifle Division **** 232nd Rifle Division *** 104th Rifle Corps **** 38th Rifle Division **** 240th Rifle Division **
2nd Tank Army The 2nd Guards Tank Army () was a large military formation of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army, now part of the Russian Ground Forces of the Russian Federation. The army was originally formed in early 1943 as the 2nd Tank Army. It was the ...
( Semyon Bogdanov) ***
3rd Tank Corps Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...
(50 Tanks) **** 50th Tank Brigade **** 51st Tank Brigade **** 103rd Tank Brigade **** 57th Motorized Rifle Brigade *** 16th Tank Corps (55 Tanks) **** 107th Tank Brigade **** 109th Tank Brigade **** 164th Tank Brigade **** 154th Motorized Rifle Brigade *** 11th Guards Tank Brigade (16 Tanks) *** 8th Guards Separate Tank Regiment *** 13th Guards Separate Tank Regiment ** Northern Shock Group (N of Iasi) Secondary Operations ** 52nd Army ( Konstantin Koroteyev) *** 78th Rifle Corps **** 252nd Rifle Division **** 303rd Rifle Division **** 373rd Rifle Division *** 73rd Rifle Corps **** 31st Rifle Division **** 254th Rifle Division **** 294th Rifle Division *** 116th Rifle Division (Army Reserve) ** 6th Tank Army ( Andrei Kravchenko) *** 5th Mechanised Corps (20-30 Tanks) ***
5th Guards Tank Corps Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...


German

*
Army Group South Ukraine __NOTOC__ Army Group South Ukraine (german: Heeresgruppe Südukraine) was a German army group on the Eastern Front during World War II. Army Group South Ukraine was created on 5 April 1944 by renaming Army Group A. This army group saw action dur ...
(
Ferdinand Schörner Ferdinand Schörner (12 June 1892 – 2 July 1973) was a German military commander who held the rank of ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded several army groups and was the last Command ...
) ** 8th Army (
Otto Wöhler Otto Wöhler (12 July 1894 – 5 February 1987) was a German general in the Wehrmacht and a war criminal during World War II. He rose to a corps and army level commander. Wöhler was implicated in the Einsatzgruppe activities while serving as C ...
) ***
LVII Panzer Corps LVII Panzer Corps was a panzer corps in the German Army during World War II. This corps was activated in Augsburg in February 1941 as the LVII Army Corps, for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which commenced on June 22, 1941. It fought in ...
(
Friedrich Kirchner Friedrich Kirchner (26 March 1885 – 6 April 1960) was a German general during World War II who commanded 1st Panzer Division and the LVII Panzer Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Ca ...
) **** Grossdeutschland Division ****
23rd Panzer Division The 23rd Panzer Division ( en, 23rd Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army during World War II. Formed in France in late 1941, the division spent its entire combat history on the Eastern Front. History The 23rd Panzer Divisio ...
**** Battle group of 3rd SS Panzer Division
Totenkopf ''Totenkopf'' (, i.e. ''skull'', literally "dead person's head") is the German word for the skull and crossbones symbol. The "skull and crossbones" symbol is an old international symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as ...
*** IV Armeecorps (Group Mieth) (
Friedrich Mieth __NOTOC__ Friedrich Mieth (4 June 1888 – 2 September 1944) was a German general during World War II. In 1942, he commanded Army Group Don Rear Area. Mieth was killed in action on 2 September 1944 in Iași, Romania. Awards and decorations * I ...
) ****
46th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) The 46th Infantry Division (german: 46. Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of the German Army during World War II that fought on the Eastern Front. History The 46th Infantry Division was formed in 1938 under the command of General Pa ...
****
24th Panzer Division The 24th Panzer Division was formed in late 1941 from the 1st Cavalry Division based at Königsberg. The division fought on the Eastern Front from June 1942 to January 1943, when it was destroyed in the battle of Stalingrad. Reformed, it once ...
(Army Reserve)


Romanian

* 4th Romanian Army (
Ioan Mihail Racoviță Ioan Mihail Racoviță (7 March 1889, Bucharest – 28 June 1954, Sighet Prison) was a Romanian general during World War II, and Minister of Defense in the aftermath of King Michael's Coup of August 1944. Biography In 1906 he was admitted to ...
) ** I Romanian Army Corps *** 8th Infantry Division *** 6th Infantry Division ** IV Romanian Army Corps *** 7th Infantry Division *** 1st Guards Division *** 18th Mountain Division *** 3rd Infantry DivisionGlantz, 'Red Storm Over the Balkans - The Failed Soviet Invasion of Romania, Spring 1944, University Press of Kansas 2007 pp.36-48 * 1st Air Corps ** 5th Bomber Group ** 8th Assault Group (flying German Hs 129 ground attack planes) ** 9th Fighter Group


Notes


References


Secondary Print

* Axworthy, Mark
review of "Red Storm Over the Balkans: The Failed Soviet Invasion of Romania, Spring 1944", by David M. Glantz
Journal of Military History, October 2007, vol. 71 I(4), 1282–1283. * Glantz, David M.,''Soviet Military Deception in the Second World War'', Frank Cass, London, (1989) * Glantz, David M., House, Jonathan ''When Titans Clashed'' (1995) * * Lucas, James ''Germany's Elite Panzer Force: Grossdeutschland'' (MacDonald And Jane's Publishers, Ltd., London, 1978 ) * Spaeter, Helmuth ''History of the Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland Volume 2'' ( J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Winnipeg, MB, 1995 ) English translation by David Johnston. * Ziemke, E.F. ‘Stalingrad to Berlin'


Primary Print

* Truppendienst Taschenbuch Band 16, Published by Arbeitsgemeinschaft Truppendienst Vienna 1971 * ''From the Dnepr to the Vistula: Soviet Offensive Operations - November 1943 - August 1944''. 1985 Art of War symposium, A transcript of Proceedings, COL. D.M Glantz ed., Center for Land Warfare, US Army War College, 29–3 May 1985


Online


Axis History Forum Let's Build Targul Frumos Discussion


* ttp://pkka.narod.ru/guests.htm Narod.ru articles on history of Red Army 89th Guards Rifle and 180th Rifle Divisions
worldwar2.ro article on Romanian 8th Assault Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Targu Frumos, Second Battle Of Battles of World War II involving Romania Battles involving the Soviet Union Military history of Romania during World War II Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War Romania–Soviet Union relations Battles of World War II involving Germany May 1944 events