The Toropets–Kholm offensive was a military operation conducted south of

Lake Ilmen Lake Ilmen ( rus, И́льмень, p=ˈilʲmʲɪnʲ) is a large lake in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia. A historically important lake, it formed a vital part of the medieval trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Novgorod - wh ...

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, after ...

during

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 ...

, from 9 January–6 February 1942. The operation contributed to the formation of the Kholm Pocket and the encirclement of 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 previous ...

's II Army Corps in the

Demyansk Pocket The Demyansk Pocket (german: Kessel von Demjansk; russian: Демя́нский котёл) was the name given to the pocket of German troops encircled by the Red Army around Demyansk, south of Leningrad, during World War II's Eastern Front. Th ...

Background

Following the successful Moscow counter-offensive of December 1941, the ''

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 ...

'' of the Red Army decided to conduct a broad-front offensive with the aim of destroying the invading German forces in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The Wehrmacht did not expect the Red Army to be capable of such a wide-ranging offensive, and therefore was caught off guard by attacks in areas that it supposed to be quiet, such as the region south of

Objective

The Soviet

North-Western Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-cre ...

—under

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Pavel Kurochkin Pavel Alekseyevich Kurochkin (russian: Па́вел Алексе́евич Ку́рочкин; – 28 December 1989) was a Soviet army commander. Military career Pavel Kurochkin was born in the village of Gornevo, Smolensk Governorate. He ...

—was given two tasks to be executed from its position south of

. The first was a western thrust through

Staraya Russa Staraya Russa ( rus, Старая Русса, p=ˈstarəjə ˈrusːə) is a town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist River, south of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Its population has steadily decreased ov ...

, to split German 18th Army and 16th Army, and support the effort of

Volkhov Front The Volkhov Front (russian: Волховский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the first period of the Second World War. It was formed as an expediency of an early attempt to halt the advance of the Wehrmacht Army Group ...

and

Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front (russian: Ленинградский фронт) was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front The Karelian Front ...

in breaking the siege of Leningrad. The second was a south-western thrust toward Vitebsk. This attack was to be conducted by three armies, 33rd, 3rd and 4th Shock, the latter two having just recently been renamed. Its ultimate aim was to become the northern pincer of a deep envelopment of German Army Group Center.

Battle

The initial penetration of the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and 4th Shock Armies was very successful. German forces in the sector were overrun with heavy losses. The failure to predict this attack—coupled with multiple demands on the German reserves—gave the Soviet Front command an opening which it exploited to the utmost, driving deep into the German rear. While the Soviet forces had few supplies at the start of the offensive, they could keep going through the capture of significant amounts of German supply stores at

Toropets Toropets (russian: Торо́пец) is a town and the administrative center of Toropetsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located where the Toropa River enters Lake Solomennoye. Population: History In 1074, when the town was first mentione ...

. The tank support for such an operation was very weak on the Soviet side, especially compared to the requirements of the doctrine of

Deep operations Deep operation (, ''glubokaya operatsiya''), also known as Soviet Deep Battle, was a military theory developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s. It was a tenet that emphasized destroying, suppressing or disorga ...

, and the practice later in the war, showing the dearth of resources in the Soviet arsenal at this low point of Soviet fortunes in the war. Yeremenko's 4th Shock Army had only two tank battalions, the 171st Tank Battalion with 12 Lend-Lease

Matilda II The Infantry Tank Mark II, best known as the Matilda, was a British infantry tank of the Second World War.Jentz, p. 11. The design began as the A12 specification in 1936, as a gun-armed counterpart to the first British infantry tank, the machin ...

s, nine

Valentines Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, thro ...

, and 10

T-60 The T-60 scout tank was a light tank produced by the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1942. During this period, 6,292 units were built. The tank was designed to replace the obsolete T-38 amphibious scout tank and saw action during World War II. The Kin ...

s, and the 141st Tank Battalion had four

KV-1s The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour pro ...

, six

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...

s, and 20 T-60s. The drive of the Soviet forces was so strong that the defending German formation— 123rd Infantry Division, which was covering a line of — had its forward two regiments overrun. The regiments were so thinly spread in their strongpoints that they could not cover each other, allowing the Soviet assault forces to simply walk through between them. The strongpoints were later reduced, with significant casualties for the Germans. A German reserve formation— the 81st Infantry Division— was brought in by rail during the last days of December. Its first regiment—the 189th Infantry under Colonel Hohmeyer together with the 2nd Battalion of Artillery Regiment 181 and the 3rd Company of the Engineer Battalion 181— was immediately ordered to detrain at Toropets and Andreapol. From there, it advanced to Okhvat where it was encircled and completely destroyed on 14 January. 1,100 dead were later found in a forest near Okhvat, including the regimental commander who was posthumously promoted to Major General. A total of 40 survivors from the artillery battalion made it back to the German lines. The move into action and collapse was so swift that the regiment was not even identified on German situation maps.

Aftermath

The Soviet aim of encircling Army Group Center was not achieved, but the attack by the two Shock Armies created a deep bend in the German frontline that was to become a major concern for the German army group commands during 1942, until the

Rzhev Salient The Battles of Rzhev (russian: Ржевская битва, Rzhevskaya bitva) were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place ...

, of which this bend formed the northern border, was evacuated in March 1943. The Soviet attack also created the Kholm Pocket, and the southern shoulder of the

Order of battle

Soviet

(elements with a strength of 122,100) (

) **

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) 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 ...

(

Maksim Purkayev Maksim Alexeyevich Purkayev (russian: Максим Алексеевич Пуркаев; August 14 (26), 1894, in the village of Nalitovo, Russian Empire – January 1, 1953, Moscow) was a Soviet military leader, reaching service rank of Arm ...

) *** 23rd Rifle Division ***

33rd Rifle Division The 33rd Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Red Army and Soviet Army, formed twice. The division was formed in 1922 at Samara and moved to Belarus in the next year. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939 and in the O ...

*** 257th Rifle Division ***20th, 27th, 31st, 42nd, 45th, 54th Rifle Brigades ***63rd, 65th, 67th, 78th, 79th, 80th Ski Battalions ***170th Tank Battalion **

4th Shock Army The 4th Shock Army was a combined arms army of the Soviet Armed Forces during World War II. The Army was formed from the 27th Army on 25 December 1941 (1st formation) within the Northwestern Front. On 1 October 1942 it included the 249th, 332 ...

(

Andrey Yeryomenko , birth_date = , death_date = , image = Маршал Советского Союза Герой Советского Союза Андрей Иванович Ерёменко (cropped).jpg , image_size = , caption = Y ...

) *** 249th Rifle Division *** 332nd Rifle Division *** 334th Rifle Division *** 358th Rifle Division ***

360th Rifle Division 36 may refer to: * 36 (number), the natural number following 35 and preceding 37 * One of these years of Gregorian or Julian calendars: ** 36 BC, 1st century BCE ** AD 36, 1st century ** 1936, 20th century ** 2036, 21st century Arts and enter ...

***21st Rifle Brigade ***62nd, 64th Ski Battalions ***141st, 171st Tank BattalionsCombat Composition of the Soviet Army, 1942
pp. 9, 26

German

*Army Group North (elements of with unknown strength) ** 16th Army ( Ernst Busch) *** II. Army Corps (

Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt __NOTOC__ Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt (13 July 1887 – 9 May 1943) was a German general ( General of the Infantry) during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt became il ...

) ****123rd Infantry Division *****416th Infantry Regiment *****418th Infantry Regiment **** 81st Infantry Division *****189th Infantry Regiment ****

SS Cavalry Brigade The SS Cavalry Brigade (''SS-Kavallerie-Brigade'') was a unit of the German Waffen-SS during World War II. Operating under the control of the ''Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS'', it initially performed rear security duties in General Government, Ge ...

References

Bibliography

*Haupt, W. 'Army Group North' *MGFA (ed.) 'Generalfeldmarshall Ritter von Leeb'. *Vilinov, M.A. 'Features of the Toropets-Kholm Operation' VIZH 1988 Issue 1, English translation *Ziemke, E.F. 'Moscow to Stalingrad'
Info on the Kholm part of the OperationMap of 3rd Shock Army Operations during the operation Jan 9-21 1942Map of 4th Shock Army Operations during the operation Jan 9-21 1942Map of 4th Shock Army Operations during the operation Jan 23-31 1942
*Glantz, David M. & House, Jonathan (1995), ''When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler'', Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Toropets-Kholm Offensive 1942 in the Soviet Union Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II Military operations of World War II involving Germany Conflicts in 1942 January 1942 events February 1942 events