World War II month by month. August 1941

World War II month by month. August 1941

As for the main strategic direction, Moscow, on August 15, the chief of staff of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, Franz Halder, wrote in his diary that the tank divisions had greatly lost their material part and were only able to continue the march partially. According to Halder, “until now von Bock [commander of Army Group Center] was playing all-in with superior enemy forces and could play this game because he was going to go on the offensive. This was the meaning of the risk. Now the army group must go on the defensive, which means that everything done and achieved during this time was in vain.”

A few days later, on August 21, in another directive to the troops, Hitler stated that he considered the most important task before the onset of the Russian winter not Moscow, but the capture of Crimea in the south and the encirclement of Leningrad in the north. The Fuhrer's decision to turn the 2nd Army and 2nd Panzer Group to help Army Group South and thereby refuse to continue the immediate offensive on Moscow caused a mixed reaction among the German command. Halder believed that this order was of decisive importance for the entire Eastern Company. Guderian was against turning south.

However, as the commander of the 3rd Panzer Group, Colonel General Hermann Goth, rightly noted, “both flanks of Army Group Center, when advancing towards Moscow, were in danger of being attacked, in the south this danger was already making itself felt...”

The Red Army was not going to surrender to the mercy of the victors. On August 30, a counteroffensive began on three fronts at once - Western, Reserve and Bryansk.

Anti-Hitler coalition

Meanwhile, the anti-Hitler coalition was actively forming. On August 14, the United States and Great Britain adopted the program document of the union - the Atlantic Charter. It, among other things, stated the need for the military defeat of aggressor countries. The USSR acceded to this declaration on September 24, 1941.

On August 16, an agreement on trade, credit and clearing was concluded in Moscow between the Soviet Union and Great Britain. On August 25, troops of both powers occupied Iran as part of Operation Accord. The purpose of the invasion was to protect Iranian oil fields from possible capture by German troops and their allies, as well as to protect the transport corridor (southern corridor), through which Lend-Lease supplies were carried out for the Soviet Union. On August 31, the first English convoy arrived in Arkhangelsk. Thus began joint actions of the Northern Fleet and the Allied navies.

The war became larger and less profitable for Nazi Germany and its allies.

The author's opinion may not coincide with the position of the editors

AUGUST 1 • FRIDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 1, 1941

Morning message

On the night of August 1, fighting continued in the Novorzhevsky, Smolensk and Zhitomir directions. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. Our aviation, interacting with ground troops, attacked enemy motorized units, infantry, and artillery and bombed enemy convoys with refueling supplies. The actions of our aviation in the Baltic Sea sunk one enemy destroyer and caused major damage to two ships.

Evening message

During August 1, our troops fought with the enemy in the Porkhov, Nevelsk, Smolensk and Zhitomir directions. There were no significant changes in the position of troops at the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike at enemy motorized units and infantry and at its aviation at airfields. In the Baltic Sea, our aircraft sunk a patrol ship and an enemy tanker with a displacement of 5 thousand tons, causing serious damage to four enemy ships. In air battles on July 31, 15 German aircraft were shot down. Our losses are 7 aircraft.

AUGUST 2 • SATURDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 2, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 2, fighting with the enemy continued in the Novorzhevsky, Nevelsk, Smolensk and Zhitomir directions. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike enemy motorized units, infantry and artillery.

Evening message

During August 2, our troops fought with the enemy in the Porkhov, Smolensk, Korosten, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. Local battles took place in other sectors of the front. In the Baltic Sea, our ships and aircraft attacked eight German transports guarded by five destroyers. According to preliminary data, one destroyer and one transport were destroyed and two destroyers and one enemy transport were damaged. The enemy was forced to turn back without completing their task. There were no losses on our side. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, attacked enemy motorized units, infantry and artillery. On August 1, our aviation destroyed 41 German aircraft. Our losses are 19 aircraft.

AUGUST 3 • SUNDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 3, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 3, our troops continued to fight with the enemy in the Smolensk, Korosten, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. In other sectors of the front, there were no significant changes in the position of the troops. Our aviation, continuing to interact with ground troops, attacked enemy motorized units, infantry and artillery.

Evening message

During August 3, our troops continued to fight with the enemy in the Smolensk, Korosten, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. There were no significant changes in the position of troops at the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike enemy motorized units, infantry and artillery. During August 2, our aircraft destroyed 31 enemy aircraft in air battles. Our losses are 19 aircraft. During the raid of German planes on Moscow on the night of August 2-3, 2 German planes were shot down. Our aviation had no losses. A German submarine was sunk in the Baltic Sea. During a raid by our planes on the port of Constanta on the night of August 1-2, it was established that bombs hit the floating dock in which the enemy destroyer was located, and on ships stationed in the harbor.

AUGUST 4 • MONDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 4, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 4, our troops continued to fight in the Smolensk, Korosten, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike enemy motorized units, infantry and artillery.

Evening message

During August 4, fierce battles took place in the Kholm, Smolensk and Belotserkovsky directions. During August 4, our aviation, in cooperation with ground troops, attacked enemy motorized units, infantry and artillery. During August 3, 20 German aircraft were destroyed at enemy airfields. Our losses are 6 aircraft. During a raid by German planes on Moscow on the night of August 3-4, 2 German planes were shot down. Our aviation had no losses.

AUGUST 5 • TUESDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 5, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 5, our troops fought with the enemy in the Smolensk, Korosten and Belotserkovsky directions. Our aviation continued to strike at enemy motorized units and infantry and bombarded his aircraft at airfields.

Evening message

During August 5, our troops continued to fight with the enemy in the Smolensk, Korosten, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, attacked enemy motorized units and infantry, causing them heavy losses. In air battles and at airfields during August 4, 53 German aircraft were destroyed. Our aviation lost 21 aircraft.

AUGUST 6 • WEDNESDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 6, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 6, our troops continued to fight with the enemy in the Kholm, Smolensk, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. In the Baltic Sea, our submarine sunk an enemy transport with troops and weapons. Our aviation continued to strike at enemy motorized units, infantry, artillery and aviation at its airfields.

Evening message

During August 6, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy in the Kexholm, Smolensk, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. Our aviation attacked enemy motorized units and artillery in various sectors of the front. On August 5, 14 German aircraft were destroyed. Our losses are 7 aircraft.

AUGUST 7 • THURSDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 7, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 7, our troops fought stubborn battles in the Smolensk, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. Our aviation continued to strike at enemy motorized units, infantry, and artillery and attacked his airfields.

Evening message

During August 7, our troops continued to conduct stubborn battles with the enemy in the Kexholm, Kholm, Smolensk and Belotserkovsky directions. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike at enemy motorized units and infantry on the battlefield and at its aviation at airfields. During August 6, 39 German aircraft were shot down. Our losses are 19 aircraft. According to updated data, during the raid of German planes on Moscow on the night of August 6-7, not 6 German planes were shot down, as reported, but 9 planes.

AUGUST 8 • FRIDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 8, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 8, our troops continued to fight with the enemy in the Kexholm, Smolensk, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike at enemy motorized units and infantry on the battlefield and at its aviation at airfields.

Evening message

During August 8, our troops continued to fight the enemy in the Kexholm, Smolensk, Korosten, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, attacked enemy motorized units and infantry and attacked aviation at airfields. During August 7, 21 German aircraft were destroyed. Our losses are 14 aircraft. On the afternoon of August 7, near Moscow, one German reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by our fighter, and the crew was captured.

AUGUST 9 • SATURDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 9, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 9, our troops continued to fight with the enemy in the Kexholm, Smolensk, Korosten, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. In other directions and sectors of the front, searches for scouts and local battles took place. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike enemy motorized units, infantry and artillery.

Evening message

During August 9, our troops fought fierce battles with the enemy in the Kexholm, Smolensk, Korosten and Belotserkovsky directions. In other directions and sectors of the front, reconnaissance battles took place. During August 9, our aviation attacked enemy motorized units and infantry on the battlefield and attacked aviation at its airfields. During August 8, 14 German aircraft were destroyed. Our losses are 12 aircraft. According to updated data, on August 7, 81 German aircraft were destroyed, and not 21, as reported in the previous report. The ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet sank 1 and damaged 2 enemy torpedo boats, and also bombed their transports.

AUGUST 10 • SUNDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 10, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 10, our troops continued to fight with the enemy in the Smolensk, Korostensky, Belotserkovsky directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. In other directions and sectors of the front, reconnaissance battles took place. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, attacked enemy motorized units and infantry on the battlefield and attacked aviation at its airfields.

Evening message

During August 10, our troops continued to conduct stubborn battles with the enemy in the Soltsy, Kholmsky, Smolensk, Belotserkovsky and Uman directions. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground troops, attacked enemy motorized units and infantry. On August 9, our aircraft shot down 45 German aircraft. Our losses are 25 aircraft. According to updated data, during the raid of German planes on Moscow on the night of August 9-10, not 8 planes were shot down, as previously stated, but 10 planes. In addition, on the day of August 9, our fighters destroyed 5 German reconnaissance aircraft in the Moscow air defense zone.

AUGUST 11 • MONDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 11, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 11, fighting with the enemy continued in the Smolensk, Belotserkovsky, Uman directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, attacked enemy motorized units, infantry and artillery.

Evening message

During August 11, our troops continued fighting with the enemy in the Soltskoe, Smolensk, Belotserkovsk and Directions. Our aviation continued to strike at enemy motorized units and infantry, attacked enemy aircraft at airfields, and also bombed the largest railway bridge, Chernovody, on the Danube River and enemy ships in Constanta. The bridge is destroyed. On August 10, 39 German aircraft were destroyed. Our losses are 25 aircraft. According to updated data, during the raid of German planes on Moscow on the night of August 10-11, not 5 German planes were shot down, as previously reported, but 6 planes.

AUGUST 12 • TUESDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 12, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 12, our troops continued to fight with the enemy in the Kexholm, Soltsy, Smolensk, Korosten and Uman directions. There were no major military operations in other directions and sectors of the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike enemy motorized units and infantry on the battlefield and attacked enemy aircraft at airfields.

Evening message

During August 12, nothing significant happened at the fronts. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground troops, attacked enemy motorized units and infantry. On August 11, 41 German aircraft were destroyed. Our losses are 34 aircraft. According to updated data, during a raid by German planes on Moscow on the night of August 11-12, 2 German planes were shot down. On August 11, ships and aircraft of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet destroyed 4 torpedo boats and 2 enemy transports.

AUGUST 13 • WEDNESDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 13, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 13, nothing significant happened at the fronts. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground troops, attacked enemy motorized units, infantry and airfields.

Evening message

During August 13, our troops fought with the enemy in the Kexholm, Starorussky, Smolensk, and Belotserkovsky directions. A few days ago our troops left the mountains. Smolensk Our aircraft continued to strike enemy troops and attacked their airfields. On August 12, 43 German aircraft were destroyed. Our losses are 35 aircraft. In the Baltic Sea, our submarine sunk a German tanker with a displacement of 15 thousand tons.

AUGUST 14 • THURSDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 14, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 14, nothing significant happened at the fronts. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike at enemy motorized units, infantry and airfields.

Evening message

During August 14, our troops fought fierce battles with the enemy along the entire front from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea. In the southern direction, our troops abandoned the cities of Kirovograd and Pervomaisk. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike enemy troops and destroy aircraft at their airfields. On August 13, 74 German aircraft were shot down in air battles and destroyed at airfields. Our losses are 27 aircraft. A German submarine was sunk by our ship in the Baltic Sea.

AUGUST 15 • FRIDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 15, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 15, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy in the Kexholm, Starorussky, Smolensk directions and on the Estonian sector of the front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground troops, continued to strike enemy troops.

Evening message

During August 15, our troops continued to wage fierce battles with the enemy along the entire front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike enemy troops and attacked his aircraft at airfields. According to incomplete data, on August 14, 21 German aircraft were destroyed. Our losses are 11 aircraft.

AUGUST 16 • SATURDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 16, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 16, our troops continued fighting with the enemy along the entire front, especially stubbornly in the south. Our aviation carried out strikes on enemy troops.

Evening message

During August 16, our troops continued to fight the enemy along the entire front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike enemy troops and attacked his aircraft at airfields. According to updated data, on August 14, not 21 German aircraft were destroyed, as reported, but 26 aircraft. On August 15, 29 German aircraft were destroyed. Our losses are 24 aircraft.

AUGUST 17 • SUNDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 17, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 17, our troops continued to fight the enemy along the entire front. Our aviation, in cooperation with ground forces, continued to strike enemy troops and attacked his aircraft at airfields.

Evening message

During August 17, our troops continued to engage in fierce battles with the enemy along the entire front. After stubborn battles, our troops left the cities of Nikolaev and Krivoy Rog. The Nikolaev shipyards were blown up. According to incomplete data, on August 16, 19 enemy aircraft were shot down in air battles. Our losses are 12 aircraft. In the Black Sea, our submarines sank two large Romanian transports.

AUGUST 18 • MONDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 18, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 18, our troops continued to fight the enemy along the entire front.

Evening message

During August 18, our troops continued to wage fierce battles with the enemy along the entire front. After stubborn battles, our troops left the mountains. Kingisepp. According to updated data, on August 16, not 19 German aircraft were shot down in air battles, as previously indicated, but 25 aircraft. On August 17, 22 German aircraft were shot down in air battles. Our losses are 18 aircraft. In the Baltic Sea, our torpedo boats and aircraft sank a German submarine and two enemy transports.

AUGUST 19 • TUESDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 19, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 19, our troops continued to fight the enemy along the entire front.

Evening message

During August 19, our troops fought with the enemy along the entire front, especially stubbornly in the Kingisepp, Novgorod, Gomel and Odessa directions. According to updated data, on August 17, not 22 German aircraft were shot down in air battles, as previously indicated, but 28 aircraft. From August 17 to 18, our planes bombed Ploiesti. The pilots observed large fires and explosions. On August 18, 30 German aircraft were shot down in air battles. Our losses are 12 aircraft. In the Black Sea, our bombers sank two enemy transports and set fire to one.

AUGUST 20 • WEDNESDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 20, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 20, our troops fought with the enemy along the entire front, especially stubbornly in the Novgorod and Gomel directions.

Evening message

During August 20, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy in the Kingisepp, Novgorod, Starorussky, Gomel and Odessa directions. According to updated data for August 18, not 30 German aircraft were shot down in air battles, as previously indicated, but 38 aircraft. On August 19, 27 German aircraft were shot down in air battles. Our losses are 8 aircraft. On the afternoon of August 20, on the outskirts of Moscow, our fighters shot down 3 German reconnaissance aircraft.

AUGUST 21 • THURSDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 21, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 21, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy in the Novgorod, Gomel and Odessa directions.

Evening message

During August 21, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy along the entire front and especially fierce ones in the Kingisepp, Novgorod, and G directions. After fierce fighting, our troops left the city of Gomel. According to incomplete data, on August 20, 21 German aircraft were shot down in air battles. Our losses are 12 aircraft. On the afternoon of August 20, on the approaches to Moscow, our fighters shot down not 3 German reconnaissance aircraft, as reported, but 5 reconnaissance aircraft.

AUGUST 22 • FRIDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 22, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 22, our troops fought with the enemy along the entire front and were especially fierce in the Kingisepp, Novgorod and Gomel directions.

Evening message

During August 22, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy along the entire front. According to updated data for August 20, not 21 German aircraft were shot down in air battles, as previously reported, but 32 aircraft. In the Baltic Sea, Soviet ships attacked five German transports that were escorting. As a result of the battle, two enemy transports and two security boats were sunk. Three vehicles washed ashore.

AUGUST 23 • SATURDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 23, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 23, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy along the entire front.

Evening message During August 23, our troops continued to fight the enemy along the entire front and were especially stubborn in the Kingiseppskon, Smolensk, Novgorod and Odessa directions. During August 21, 19 enemy aircraft were shot down in air battles. Our losses are 17 aircraft.

AUGUST 24 • SUNDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 24, 1941

Morning message

On the night of August 24, our troops continued to fight with the enemy in the Kingisepp, Smolensk, Novgorod and Odessa directions.

Evening message

During August 24, our troops fought with the enemy along the entire front and were especially stubborn in the Kexholm, Smolensk, Gomel and Dnepropetrovsk directions. On August 22 and 23, 52 German aircraft were destroyed in air battles. Our losses during the same time were 39 aircraft. Our Northern Fleet ships sank two enemy transports.

AUGUST 25 • MONDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 25, 1941

Morning message

On the night of August 25, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy in the Kexholm, Novgorod and Dnepropetrovsk directions.

Evening message

During August 25, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy along the entire front. After stubborn battles, our troops left Novgorod. On August 24, 46 enemy aircraft were shot down in air battles and destroyed at airfields. Our losses are 6 aircraft. A German submarine was sunk by our ship in the Black Sea.

AUGUST 26 • TUESDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 26, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 26, our troops fought with the enemy along the entire front.

Evening message

During August 26, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy along the entire front. According to updated data, on August 24, not 46 German aircraft were destroyed, as indicated earlier, but 63 aircraft. On August 25, 93 German aircraft were destroyed. Our losses are 18 aircraft.

AUGUST 27 • WEDNESDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 27, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 27, our troops fought with the enemy along the entire front.

Evening message

During August 27, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy in the Kingisepp, Smolensk, Gomel, Dnepropetrovsk and Odessa directions. On August 26, 17 German aircraft were shot down in air battles. Our losses are 8 aircraft.

AUGUST 28 • THURSDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 28, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 28, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy in the Kingisepp, Gomel, and Odessa directions.

Evening message

During August 28, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy along the entire front. After fierce battles, our troops left Dnepropetrovsk. Our aviation carried out a successful raid on Koenigsberg. According to updated data, on August 26, not 17 German aircraft were destroyed, as previously reported, but 37 aircraft. On August 27, 41 German aircraft were shot down in air battles. Our losses are 23 aircraft. In the Baltic Sea, our aircraft sank two German transports.

AUGUST 29 • FRIDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 29, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 29, our troops fought with the enemy along the entire front.

Evening message

During August 29, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy along the entire front. According to updated data, from August 21 to 27, our aviation destroyed more than 500 German aircraft in air battles and at enemy airfields. Our losses during the same time were 262 aircraft.

AUGUST 30 • SATURDAY

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR AUGUST 30, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 30, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy along the entire front.

Evening message

During August 30, our troops fought stubborn battles with the enemy along the entire front. According to updated data, on August 27, not 41 German aircraft were destroyed, as previously reported, but 66 aircraft. According to incomplete data, on August 28, 29 German aircraft were shot down in air battles. Our losses are 10 aircraft.

AUGUST 31 • SUNDAY

Operational report for August 31, 1941

Morning message

During the night of August 31, our troops fought with the enemy along the entire front.

Evening message

During August 31, our troops fought with the enemy along the entire front. Our aviation carried out massive attacks on the enemy’s motorized units, infantry and artillery and destroyed aviation at its airfields. On August 29, 125 German aircraft were destroyed in air battles and at enemy airfields. Our losses are 24 aircraft.

Porlampi's cauldron is a death sentence for tens of thousands

In the last days of August, near the town of Porlampi (today the village of Sveklovichnoye), the division found itself in a so-called cauldron: complete and hopeless encirclement. For several days, our troops were in open areas under heavy enemy fire. By September 1, the situation became completely hopeless, and division commander Kirpichnikov gave the order to stop resistance, and he himself surrendered.

The losses of the three Soviet divisions that found themselves in the cauldron at Porlampi amounted to more than seven thousand people killed, and over nine thousand were captured. Units of the 43rd Infantry Division had to destroy the material, but searchers hope to find a safe with staff documents, which was rumored to be buried somewhere.

The scattered units eventually reached the coast in the Koivisto (Primorsk) area, from where they were evacuated to Kronstadt by several transports...

News and events

August 17, 1941. 57th day of the war

Defense of Karelia.

Northern front. In the defense zone of the 23rd Army, stubborn battles continued with the advancing Finnish troops. Particularly fierce fighting took place in the sector of the 168th Infantry Division, where the enemy tried to encircle Soviet units from the flanks and cut them off from the coast of Lake Ladoga. Under pressure from the Finns, the division's soldiers slowly retreated, ensuring the evacuation of equipment and wounded to the island of Valaam.

The 142nd Infantry and 198th Motorized Divisions continued to defend at the line of the northwestern outskirts of Nehvola, Pienpelto, Tiurala and, under enemy fire, continued to evacuate personnel and materiel to the islands of Korpisari and Lipola.

Battle for Leningrad.

Defense of Tallinn. German troops occupied Narva.

Leningrad defensive operation.

Northwestern Front. Front troops of the 48th Army

continued to conduct heavy defensive battles in the Novgorod direction, repelling enemy attempts to cross the Volkhov River. At the same time, German troops developed success in the Leningrad direction.

In the Staraya Russa direction, formations of the 11th and 34th armies continued to fight for the capture of Staraya Russa and tried to destroy the enemy group west of this city.

In the Kholm direction, units of the 27th Army were unable to break through the enemy’s tough defenses and fought at the same line.

Units of the 34th Army, having repelled counterattacks by units of the 30th and 290th German infantry divisions in the Dubrov, Chudinovo area, continued the offensive.

Battle of Smolensk.

Western Front. The troops of the center and left wing of the front resumed

offensive The enemy offered stubborn resistance.

At 21:30 a unit of the 29th Army, commanded by a native of the Chalykla station in the Saratov region, Lieutenant General of the NKVD troops I.I. Maslennikov went on the offensive in the general direction of Ilyino.

The 30th Army, with the forces of 4 rifle divisions, went on the offensive in the Old and New Morokhovo, Gordeenki sector. Overcoming fierce enemy resistance, the advancing units advanced 200-400 meters in places.

The units of the 19th Army advanced more successfully. By 14:00 the army troops had advanced 1-1.5 kilometers and by the end of the day they had reached the Loina River.

Formations of the 20th Army continued their offensive in the direction of the Pridneprovskaya and Dobromino stations.

Bryansk front. Advance of the right flank of the German XIV

The motorized corps (4th Tank Division) was slowed down as a result of stubborn resistance from Soviet troops, but the 3rd Tank Division and the 10th Motorized Division, which followed it, successfully advanced south and occupied Unecha, the Gomel-Bryansk road junction.

Central front. The German 1st Cavalry Division crossed the Sozh River in the Vetka area, where hot fighting broke out. The settlement changed hands several times.

On the night of August 17, a detachment from the headquarters of the 21st Army captured Radugi north of the crossing of the Sozh River in the Khalch area, but was then thrown back to its original positions.

Fighting began on the near approaches to Gomel. The commanders of the 67th Rifle Corps managed to find the 626th Rifle Regiment of the 151st Division (200 people; due to the rear support of the 102nd and 151st Rifle Divisions, the strength of the regiment was increased to 634 people); he was sent to the area of ​​Staraya Belitsa, Teleshi, Randovka.

Control of the Soviet troops was complicated by the fact that the headquarters of the 67th Rifle Corps did not arrive in the battle area near Gomel, and brigade commander N.A. Gusevsky and the fighting individual detachments had no means of control.

Communication between the front headquarters and the 21st Army was also disrupted.

East of Zhlobin, 5 rifle divisions of the 21st Army were defeated: the 61st and 154th from the 63rd Rifle Corps and the 102nd, 151st and 167th (the last formation was formed in the summer of 1940 in Balashov, Saratov region ) - from the 67th Rifle Corps.

In addition, the 110th Infantry Regiment, which fought in the Streshin area, was defeated. Only a handful of fighters from the Saratov regiment, together with Major M.V. Tainov, escaped from the encirclement.

It turned out that the administration of the 63rd Rifle Corps was destroyed. In the rearguard battle near Skepnya (20 kilometers east of Zhlobin), the corps commander, Lieutenant General L.G. Petrovsky, and the corps artillery chief, Major General A.F. Kazakov, were killed.

The main forces of the 154th Infantry Division broke out of the encirclement, and they defeated the headquarters of the III Battalion of the 445th Infantry Regiment of the German 134th Infantry Division in the Gubichi area.

Southern front. Tiraspol-Melitopol defensive operation. Front troops continued to conduct defensive defensive battles in the Alexandria and Odessa directions.

In the center of the front, the remnants of the 9th and 18th armies fought out of the tactical encirclement in the area northeast and east of Nikolaev and continued to retreat eastward, with the task of reaching the Dnieper in the Novy Rogachik, Kakhovka (Berislav), Kherson sector.

The troops of Army Group South occupied Nikolaev. Fighting began on the approaches to Dnepropetrovsk (Dnieper).

August 17, 1942. 422nd day of the war

Rzhev-Sychevsky operation.

Kalinin Front . Front troops, part of the forces of the left wing, continued to conduct offensive battles in the Rzhev direction and knocked out the enemy from a number of settlements northeast of the city of Zubtsov.

Western Front. The front troops partly conducted offensive battles in the Vyazma direction.

Operation "Smerch". The troops of the left wing of the front continued to conduct stubborn defensive battles with tank and infantry units of the 2nd German Tank Army in the areas of Gretnya, Vosty, Goskovo, and Ozerna.

Voronezh Front. The 40th Army, part of its forces, fought on the southeastern and southern outskirts of the city of Voronezh.

The 6th Army, with part of its forces, conducted offensive battles in the Devitsa area and repelled repeated enemy counterattacks in the Korotoyak area.

The 174th Rifle Division with a regiment of the 25th Guards Rifle Division, the 6th and 10th fighter brigades captured the southern part of the cities of Korotoyak and Uspenskoye by 21:00. IN

Two regiments of the 219th Infantry Division fought in the area of ​​​​the outskirts of the village of Kolodezhnoe - Kolovert.

The offensive operation of the 6th Army against the 2nd Hungarian Army was completed. Soviet troops crossed the Don south of Voronezh and captured bridgeheads on its western bank north of Korotoyak (20 kilometers west of Liski). In connection with this, the command of Army Group B was forced to detain 3 infantry and 2 tank divisions near Voronezh, intended for the attack on Stalingrad (Volgograd).

Battle of Stalingrad.

Stalingrad defensive operation.

Stalingrad front. Front troops continued to conduct fierce defensive battles with units of the 6th German Army in the bend of the Don River in the area of ​​the village of Sirotinskaya and repelled enemy attempts to cross the Don River in areas south of the village of Kachalinskaya.

Units of the 21st Army conducted offensive battles.

From 12 noon, the 304th Infantry Division launched an offensive at the crossroads line 6 kilometers south of the village of Ust-Khopersky - the northern outskirts of the village of Izbushensky - Senyutkin - Popov.

By noon, units of the 96th Infantry Division, having captured the Zatonsky area, fought at the junction of roads 3 kilometers southeast of the village of Popov and south of Hill 197.

The 124th Rifle Division, with forward detachments, fought on the eastern outskirts of the village of Bazkovsky and 1 kilometer northwest of the village of Raspopinskaya.

By 11 o'clock the 278th Rifle Division, with forward detachments of 400 bayonets, was fighting for Hill 115.

The 76th Rifle Division fought 2 kilometers northeast of the village of Kletskaya.

By 9 o'clock in the morning, the regiment of the 63rd Infantry Division crossed to the southern bank of the Don River and led an attack on Malo-Melovsky.

Weakened in previous battles, the 4th Tank Army with its left flank retreated beyond the Don, taking up defense along the outer contour of Stalingrad (Volgograd) from the mouth of the Ilovlya River to Vertyachiy, and with part of its forces (right-flank formations) - the front to the northeast. At the line Kremenskaya-Sirotinskaya-the mouth of the Ilovlya River, the defense was occupied by divisions of the 1st Guards Army. As a result of intense battles that lasted for a month on the distant approaches to Stalingrad (Volgograd), the 6th German Army pushed back Soviet troops to the left bank of the Don in the section from Vertyachiy to Lyapichev and in the Trekhostrovskaya area.

South-Eastern Front. In the morning, front troops fought fierce defensive battles with units of the 4th German Tank Army, which went on the offensive in the Abganerovo station area.

The 64th Army's left-flank units fought defensive battles with tanks and infantry of the 4th German Tank Army, which from 7 a.m. went on the offensive in the northern and northwestern directions at the line Abganerovo - farm No. 2 - height 148.0 - Khudomyasov gully.

The enemy, with forces of over an infantry regiment with 70 tanks, broke through the defense front of the 126th Infantry Division in the Radchenkov Balka (4 kilometers north of Abganerovo) - Khudomyasov Balka section. Up to 20 enemy tanks broke into the Yurkin state farm.

The withdrawing formations of the 51st Army secured a position on the line of defense along the line of lakes south of Stalingrad (Volgograd).

Battle for the Caucasus.

Transcaucasian front. Northern Group of Forces. The troops of the group under the command of Saratov resident, Lieutenant General I.I. Maslennikov continued to conduct defensive battles with the mobile units of the 1st German Tank Army, who were trying to develop an offensive in the direction of the settlement of Prokhladny.

North Caucasus Front. Front troops continued to conduct stubborn defensive battles with enemy tank and infantry units in the Apsheronskaya area and south of the city of Krasnodar.

The Armaviro-Maikop operation ended. Front troops stopped the advance of the 1st Tank and 17th Field Armies. The enemy advanced 100-120 kilometers. After retreating to the foothills, the front troops with the forces of the 18th, 12th and 56th armies entrenched themselves at the line of Khamyshki, Samurskaya, Neftegorsk, Kabardinskaya, Dubinin, Stavropol, Azovskaya. The 47th Army retreated to Novorossiysk to the Shapsugskaya, Crimean, Troitskaya, Slavyanskaya, Petrovskaya line. By this time, a gap had formed between the 47th Army and its neighboring 56th Army from Abinsk to Azov, about 40 kilometers long, which was not covered by Soviet troops.

In an effort to unite the efforts of the troops and navy for the defense of Novorossiysk and the Taman Peninsula, the front commander created the Novorossiysk defensive region (NOR), which included troops of the 47th Army (2 rifle divisions and 2 brigades), the 216th rifle division from the 56th army, the Azov military flotilla, Temryuk, Kerch, Novorossiysk naval bases and a consolidated aviation group. The command of the NOR was entrusted to Major General G.P. Kotov. The commander of the Azov flotilla, Rear Admiral S.G. Gorshkov, was appointed his deputy for naval affairs. They were tasked with preventing the enemy from breaking through to Novorossiysk both from land and sea. Defense from land was to be carried out by the 47th Army together with the Marine Corps. Defense of the base from the sea was entrusted to coastal artillery, ships of the naval base and fleet aviation.

August 17, 1943. 787th day of the war

Battle for Leningrad.

Volkhov Front. Mginsk operation. At 13:30, units of the 8th Army resumed their offensive, expanding the breakthrough in the western and southwestern directions. Meeting stubborn enemy resistance, the advancing units moved forward slightly, reaching the western bank of the Chernaya River, the Mishkino and Porechye areas.

Western Front. Smolensk operation. The front troops continued to fight fierce battles, leading to hand-to-hand combat. Settlements defended by the enemy and turned by him into centers of resistance, in a number of cases changed hands.

On the left flank of the 31st Army, units of the 133rd Infantry Division north of the village of Bibishki (15 kilometers north of the city of Dorogobuzh) fought in German trenches.

In the zone of the 10th Army, units of the 64th Infantry Division advanced in a southern direction from 3 to 4 kilometers, and reached the line (claim) Gurikov - 1 kilometer north of the settlement of Surovegin (7-14 kilometers west of the city of Kirov ).

The 50th Army, with units of the right flank, knocked out the enemy from the Sukhlitsa and Kondrykino areas (13 kilometers southeast of the city of Lyudinovo).

Battle of Kursk.

Bryansk front. Oryol operation. The front troops, encountering stubborn enemy resistance on a previously prepared defensive line, continued to conduct offensive battles in the Bryansk direction.

The Nazis put up stubborn resistance on the pre-prepared defensive line Pokrov - Revny - Gremyachee - Leski - Khoteyevo - Sukhoverkhovye - Nizhny Gorodets - Dubrov - Rozhya. The border was saturated with a large number of artillery and mortars, and had developed field defensive structures and engineering barriers.

The 11th Army advanced 3–7 kilometers with battles and by 20 o’clock captured the areas of Mitinka, Roza, Yashkovo, Dubrov, Rostovsky, Nikolaevka (all points 30–35 kilometers northeast of the city of Bryansk), Philosophical Plant (29 kilometers east Bryansk).

By the end of the day, the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps was fighting for the capture of the Orlya-Dalniy region (20 kilometers east of Dyatkovo).

The 11th Guards Army, having encountered organized resistance from the enemy, conducted reconnaissance of its defenses with strong reconnaissance detachments and captured the areas of Malye Luki, Verkhololotye, Vlasovka, Tsurikovo (15–25 kilometers southwest of the city of Karachev).

The 63rd Army resumed its offensive at 2 p.m., but, encountering organized enemy fire, was unsuccessful. Enemy aircraft in groups of up to 20 aircraft bombed the battle formations of army units.

In the morning, the 4th Tank Army, subjected to heavy raids by enemy aviation, operating in groups of 18–30 aircraft and, overcoming stubborn resistance from enemy ground forces, units of the 11th Tank and 6th Mechanized Corps captured the area on the eastern outskirts of the village of Leski - eastern the outskirts of the village of Vynchebesy - Khoteevo (23 kilometers southeast of the village of Navlya). By the end of the day, units of the army were fighting at the reached line.

Belgorod-Kharkov operation.

Voronezh Front. In the morning, the front troops in the center went on the offensive in the general direction of Lebedin and, having broken through the enemy’s defenses, advanced forward up to 12 kilometers in some areas; on the left wing they repelled counterattacks by enemy infantry and tanks in the area southwest and south of Krasnokutsk.

The offensive of the front's right wing began against the flank of the German group concentrated in the Akhtyrka area. After powerful artillery and aviation preparation, Soviet troops went on the attack. The German defensive line was broken through in the Bezdrik, Velikiy Istorop area, about 30 kilometers wide. By the end of the day, the 38th, 40th and 47th armies fought their way to the line of Bezdrik, Nizhnyaya Syrovatka (1 kilometer east of Niza), and Velikiy Istorop.

In the afternoon, the 6th Guards and 1st Tank Armies fought with advancing enemy infantry and tanks. The Nazis, having deployed up to 75 tanks and over 2 infantry regiments at the Kovalevka-Komsomolets line, sought to reach the Merla River. By the end of the day, after repeated attacks, the enemy broke into the eastern part of the settlements of Berezovka and Zubovka (12–18 kilometers southwest of the city of Krasnokutsk).

Steppe front. The front troops on the flanks continued the offensive and, after stubborn battles, moved forward from 3 to 6 kilometers.

Front troops broke through the outer defensive line, located 8-14 kilometers from Kharkov, by the end of the day they reached the inner line and started fighting on the northern outskirts of the city.

The 53rd Army, bypassing Kharkov, cut off the retreat of the Kharkov enemy group to the southwest. The enemy, fearing complete encirclement, brought units of 2 divisions to the city.

The 57th Army successively captured German strongholds on the northern bank of the Uda River - Ternovoe, Lizogubovka, Vasishchevo, completing the breakthrough of the external defensive contour in front of its entire front, and reached the Lyaluki, Vasishchevo line.

Southwestern Front. Donbass operation. Front troops with the forces of the 1st Guards, 6th and 12th armies resumed the offensive in the previous direction and, repelling repeated counterattacks of enemy infantry, reinforced with armored vehicles, captured several strong points, including Sukhaya Kamenka, Golaya Dolina, Krasnopolye 2nd .

August 17, 1944. 1153rd day of the war

3rd Baltic Front. Tartu operation. The troops of the front, commanded by a native of the Chalykla station in the Saratov region, Army General I.I. Maslennikov continued the offensive in the Tartu and Valga directions and in some areas advanced up to 15 kilometers. The landing group of front forces, repelling enemy counterattacks, expanded the bridgehead on the western bank of the strait between Lakes Peipus and Pskov.

2nd Baltic Front. Madona operation. Front troops resumed offensive battles in the Cesvaine-Liegrade sector and moved forward 4-7 kilometers.

1st Baltic Front. The 51st Army fought stubborn defensive battles with large forces of enemy tanks and infantry northwest of the city of Siauliai in the areas of Vegeriai, Suginchay, Pokalnishki, Kruopiai.

The 2nd Guards Army fought with advancing enemy tanks and infantry in the areas of Papile, Kursenai, and Reiby.

3rd Belorussian Front. Kaunas operation. The 5th Army, commanded by a native of the village of Golyaevka, Saratov province (now the village of Vishnevoye, Penza region), Colonel General N.I. Krylov, continued the offensive and reached the border with East Prussia in a section stretching 10 kilometers north of Naumiestis.

Units of the 33rd Army completely cleared the city of Vilkaviskis from the enemy.

2nd Belorussian Front. Front troops under the command of Army General G.F., a native of the village of Shilovo, Saratov Region. Zakharov, forces of reconnaissance detachments crossed the Biebrza River in the area northeast of Wizna, and on the left wing of the front they repelled enemy attacks.

1st Ukrainian Front. Lviv-Sandomierz operation. Front troops continued their offensive in the northeastern part of the bridgehead on the western bank of the Vistula River and northwest of Sandomierz, they surrounded units of 2 enemy infantry divisions. In the Stopnitsa area, Soviet troops repelled attacks by large forces of enemy infantry and tanks.

Sources:

Materials from the Internet sites “Wikipedia” and “Memory of the People” (Chronicle of events on the Leningrad Front from July 11 to August 29, 1941; combat logs of the North-Western and Southern Fronts for August 1941; Volkhov and South-Western Fronts for August 1943; 3rd Baltic, 3rd and 2nd Belorussian fronts for August 1944).

Battle of Kursk . Chronicle, facts, people.: In 2 books. - M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2003. - Book. 2.

Liberation of cities: A guide to the liberation of cities during the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1985.

Battle of Stalingrad . Chronicle, facts, people.: In 2 books. - M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2002. - Book. 1.

Isaev A.V. Boilers of the 41st. The history of the Second World War that we did not know. - M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2005.

Isaev A. Stalingrad. There is no land for us beyond the Volga. - M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2008.

Martov V. Belarusian Chronicles, 1941.

Hot August 41st

At the end of July 1941, the situation near Kiev became more difficult every day. German troops of General Kleist's 1st Panzer Group appeared in front of the city's defense line on July 11. They were unable to immediately cross the kilometer-long swampy floodplain of the Irpen River, and therefore, without storming the city, they turned south to cut off the retreat routes of the Red Army units retreating east south of Kyiv. The city was to be stormed by infantry units of the 6th Army, but only after units of the 5th Army of the Red Army were pushed back to the northeast. The fact is that the positions of the 5th Army were located in the Zhitomir forests north-west of Kyiv, and therefore “hovered” over the transport arteries through which the Wehrmacht divisions stationed near the city’s borders were supplied.

The capital of Soviet Ukraine received a two-week respite. During this time, the city's defense was tirelessly strengthened: new lines of defense were prepared, militia battalions were formed, armored trains were assembled, and civilian river vessels were converted into gunboats. The garrisons of the bunkers were also preparing for defense. From the remnants of the garrisons that were able to retreat to Kiev from the fortified areas located on the new border (German propaganda called them the “Molotov Line”) and the old border (“Stalin Line”), new separate machine-gun battalions were formed. They were replenished with rank-and-file personnel from among reservists drafted from various regions of the Kyiv region, and command personnel, who, as a rule, received special education with a machine-gun bias in the country's rifle and machine-gun or infantry schools.

One of these commanders was Lieutenant Georgy Vetrov, who had previously studied at the Kiev Infantry School, and then transferred to the Sverdlovsk Infantry and Machine Gun School, from which he was a graduate. Vetrov retreated to Kyiv from the border along with other units of the Red Army, and here he was appointed commander of the garrison of bunker No. 205 of the Crimea stronghold of the Kyiv fortified region (KiUR).

Bunker No. 205, modern look. Source – photo archive of MAIF “Citadel”, Kyiv. Website relicfinder.io.ua

Map of the “Crimea” stronghold of the southern front of KiUR, which included bunkers No. 203 and No. 205. Source – photo archive of MAIF “Citadel”, Kyiv. Website relicfinder.io.ua

DOT No. 205 was located in the most dangerous, southern section of the defense, which was not covered by the wide floodplain of the Irpen River, as was the case in the western and northern sections. The bunker was a small underground fortress. It had 375 meters of underground tunnels, connecting five separate bunker heads, one of which was double-embrasure, and the rest were single-embrasure. According to the staffing table, the bunker garrison was supposed to be 63 people. In addition, a variable garrison of 50 people was provided, which was supposed to counterattack the enemy if he broke through to the rear. But Lieutenant Vetrov was allocated only 15 fighters.

The bunker was not fully prepared for defense. Its heads were not provided with ventilation, as a result of which the machine gunners suffered from powder gas poisoning when firing. Groundwater flooded the pits, and the water had to be pumped out manually using a fire pump. The lieutenant had to quickly prepare the bunker and garrison for defense: train machine gunners to fire blindly at the specified coordinates; shoot a weapon; stuff machine gun belts; establish interaction between garrison soldiers, etc.

German troops began the general assault on Kyiv on July 31, 1941. They managed to break through the KiUR defenses on a narrow section of the front, after which the Wehrmacht soldiers began to expand the breakthrough, attacking in the flanks and from the rear the units of the defenders of Kyiv, who had not yet retreated from the first line of defense. By August 5, the enemy managed to expand the breakthrough area to 20 kilometers.

On August 4, bunker No. 203, located literally a kilometer from Lieutenant Vetrov’s bunker, was attacked. It was disguised as a Ukrainian barn - klunya. KiUR's bunkers in the southern sector of defense were deployed with their embrasures to the south, and the enemy attacked them on the flank - from the east, and from the rear - from the north. To cover the bunker from behind, its commandant, Lieutenant Cheryomushkin, ordered several machine guns to be pulled out. Assistant Commandant Sergeant Klopot with fighter Yatsuk and political fighter Panasyuk removed machine guns from their machines, moved along the trench to the street and opened fire on the advancing German soldiers. In response, the Germans set fire to a nearby house and, masking themselves with smoke, intensified machine-gun and mortar fire.

German sappers storm a Soviet bunker, 1941. Source – liniastalina.com

Lieutenant Cheryomushkin was seriously wounded in the thigh by an explosive bullet. Private Krasovsky dragged him to the neighboring bunker No. 205 (Lieutenant Vetrov's bunker), and the garrison of Bunker No. 203 was headed by Sergeant Klopot. The soldiers repulsed five enemy attacks, but towards evening the Germans managed to push them back inside the bunker and completely block them there. At night, the Germans began knocking on the steel door, threatening to blow it up and demanding surrender, but no one answered them - the garrison was preparing for a breakthrough. In the middle of the night, the soldiers, led by Sergeant Klopot, rushed to break through with grenades in their hands. Several Nazis managed to capture the wounded Red Army soldier Tikhonov. However, the artillery shelling that began scared them, the Germans fled, and Tikhonov managed to crawl out to his own.

At night, the surviving soldiers of the garrison of bunker No. 203, passing to the rear past Bunker No. 205, informed Lieutenant Vetrov that their bunker was captured by the enemy, and nothing was stopping the Germans from attacking the next strong point. A fighter from the garrison of bunker no. 203, Krasovsky, who had previously delivered the wounded lieutenant Cheryomushkin to the rear, remained with the garrison of bunker no. 205.

The assault on the bunker began on August 5, but the German assault group had a hard time. From the east, south and southwest, the approaches to the bunker were shot through its heads. From the west (that is, from the entrance side), the Vetrov bunker was covered by neighboring bunkers. From the north, behind the hill in which bunker No. 205 was located, soldiers of the 728th Infantry Regiment of the 175th Infantry Division, formed in the Stavropol Territory, fought on the field. The division was battered in previous battles, demoralized by constant retreats, and therefore soon withdrew. The eastern ends of bunker No. 205 supported the infantry as best they could, but the advancing Germans, having quickly discovered the firing points of the bunker, bypassed the concrete-protected machine guns, blocking the approaches to the bunker with fire.

The German assault group tried to suppress the resistance of the bunker heads, but the lack of ventilation and other shafts, periscope casings or other openings where they could pour gasoline, throw a grenade or explosives did not allow the German sappers to use proven techniques for storming bunkers. In case of danger, the garrison soldiers closed the embrasures with armored flaps, and at the first opportunity they opened them and swept away the attackers with heavy fire. A ten-day siege of the bunker began.

The Wehrmacht assault group is preparing to attack the head of bunker No. 205, modern reconstruction. Source – photo archive of MAIF “Citadel”, Kyiv. Website relicfinder.io.ua

Soon after the start of the fighting for bunker No. 205, Wehrmacht soldiers managed to get to the entrance to the “mine”, destroying the bunker covering it. The garrison disappeared into underground passages. The German soldiers tried to push towards the reinforced concrete entrance block, but it was reliably covered by a special embrasure, behind which there was a machine gunner with a light machine gun.

To suppress the resistance of the garrison of bunker No. 205, aviation and armored vehicles were involved in its assault. A German self-propelled artillery unit “Sturmgeschütz III” (abbreviated as “StuG III”) tried to approach the firing points. Battalions of these self-propelled guns were assigned to the Wehrmacht infantry divisions, which dealt the main blow to the defense of Kyiv. The self-propelled gun was unable to get close to the heads - it got stuck on the banks of the Veta River, which in those days were very swampy. The self-propelled gun fired at the loopholes, which the garrison immediately closed with armored barriers. All that this shelling managed to achieve was to jam one armored shutter. During the night, the garrison soldiers wedged it.

Captured German artillery self-propelled gun Sturmgeschütz III, taken in the battles near Kiev. Source – Polygon magazine No. 9, article by M. Svirin “Childhood of Artshturm”

The bunker was then bombed from the air. Before this, German sappers placed flags on the hill, under the thickness of which underground galleries were hidden, which served as landmarks for dive bombers. Several bombs hit the hill, but the vaults of the galleries survived. Only the diesel generator failed, so the garrison had to use portable kerosene lanterns for lighting throughout the subsequent defense.

The Germans offered the bunker garrison to surrender, but Lieutenant Vetrov personally shot and killed two envoys. After this, there could be no question of any mercy for the Red Army soldiers in the event of their capture. The blockade of the bunker began. Individual German soldiers climbed onto the top, but could not do anything - there were no periscopes or ventilation holes there. When sappers tried to approach the ends from the embrasures, using dead zones, they were bombarded with grenades or counterattacked by fighters who got out through the embrasures of neighboring heads.

There were no problems with water in the bunker - inside there was a column for supplying water to the machine gun casings. In addition, the bunker was flooded because the groundwater was too close to the surface of the earth - so there was even excess water. But problems began with food - food supplies were running out.

On the night of August 8-9, Lieutenant Zhukovets, Vetrov’s friend from college, made his way to the bunker. With him, several more scouts crawled along the fire-swept river valley, among whom was Sergeant Klopot, the hero of the defense of bunker No. 203. Zhukovets delivered an order and permission to Vetrov to leave the bunker, destroying everything that could not be removed. And then an exceptional event for that time occurred - the lieutenant refused to carry out the order allowing him to retreat. He had a whole garrison, there were cartridges, grenades. The Germans could not take his bunker and wasted time and men trying to destroy the stubborn Russians. Therefore, Vetrov saw no reason to retreat. From that moment on, bunker No. 205 became famous.

3-D model of underground walls and caps of bunker No. 205 and ground engineering structures. Author – Alexander Kachanyuk. Source – archive of MAIF “Citadel” relicfinder.io.ua

This incident was reported to the commander of the Southwestern Front, Colonel General M.P. Kirponos, who was very interested in this. A reconnaissance soldier who had visited the bunker as part of a reconnaissance group was brought to him to report. Soviet sources describe the conversation between the general and the intelligence officer as follows.

Heads of bunker No. 205, who most actively participated in the battle. Source – photo archive of MAIF “Citadel” relicfinder.io.ua

Scout:
“Hold on.
They say that they have orders and will not leave the bunker.” Kirponos:
“You didn’t recognize their names?”
Major General M. P. Kirponos. Source – stratagema-magazine.ru

Scout:
“No way: there was no time.
We were only with them for about ten minutes. They asked about the situation, lit a cigarette, and said that they had been without bread for three days. Immediately their lieutenant - his last name was Vetrov, as he was called - went somewhere with one fighter to buy food. Then, before we left, they returned and brought food and ammunition. When we left, they told the infantry not to run “here and there”, but also to firmly hold their positions.” Kirponos took out the paper and wrote: “Dear friends, comrades, defenders of bunker No. 205! I admire your courage and perseverance. The homeland will not forget your feat. I'M SORRY THAT I DIDN'T BE ABLE TO VISIT YOU. Please provide the bearer of this note with your first and last names for awarding you with orders. I firmly shake your courageous hands and wish you new military successes in the sacred struggle against the German invaders. Kirponos."

On August 12, the 728th Regiment of the Red Army attacked German positions and was able to unblock the bunker. The garrisons of bunkers No. 206 and No. 207 came out and also took part in this attack. The full garrison of bunker No. 205 remained in place - most likely due to the fact that the attack was carried out above it, and the fighters simply did not know about it.

Lieutenant G.K. Vetrov. Source – archive of MAIF “Citadel” relicfinder.io.ua

They extended communications to the bunker, brought in ammunition and provisions, but then German troops counterattacked, drove our infantry back and again blocked the bunker. However, this did not particularly affect the mood of the bunker defenders. It was during these days that a significant interview was conducted with Lieutenant Vetrov by correspondents of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper (the central press organ of the Red Army). Alexander Shuer and Sergei Sapigo made their way to the command post of the commander of the 28th Separate Division, Captain Kiparenko, and asked the heroic lieutenant several questions over the telephone line. In our time, such an interview from the front line, from a bunker blocked by the enemy, would be broadcast by all media for at least the whole day. Here is the description of the situation given by the lieutenant to journalists.

Lieutenant Vetrov:
“The enemy does not stop trying to attack the bunker.
During these days we have already repelled several attacks. The most powerful attack took place on the first day of the encirclement. The enemy approached the bunker from both sides. Having allowed the Nazis to come within close range, we opened machine-gun fire, from which the Germans suffered heavy losses. For several hours they picked up the dead and wounded. Having failed, the Nazis sent out spies who invited us to surrender. I personally shot two of the spies with a rifle. Then the Germans fired direct artillery fire at the bunker. The artillery fire still does not stop. During all this time, the Germans managed to disable only one embrasure, and we quickly repaired that one. From the rear, the Nazis fire machine guns at the door of the bunker and throw grenades. The wood and earth shelter at the entrance has been destroyed. Three soldiers were stunned by a direct hit to the bunker, but they were not put out of action.” The defenders of the bunker became famous, but it is unlikely that they thought about it in those days. Since August 13, our troops have not given up attempts to recapture Yurovka from the enemy and release the bunker again. The garrison's provisions were completely exhausted. But the worst thing was that the fighters ran out of ammunition. Fortunately, by August 18, 1941, bunker No. 205 was released. The heroic epic of Lieutenant Vetrov's garrison is over.

Photo in the newspaper “Proletarskaya Pravda”, Kiev, 1941. In the bottom row in the center is Lieutenant Vetrov. Source – archive of MAIF “Citadel” relicfinder.io.ua

Machine gunners of bunker No. 205 fire at the enemy, modern reconstruction. Source – photo archive of MAIF “Citadel”, Kyiv. Website relicfinder.io.ua

Text 33 From a radio speech by People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov on June 22, 1941.

Citizens and women of the Soviet Union!
The Soviet government and its head, Comrade Stalin, instructed me to make the following statement: Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning, without declaring any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed with our cities - Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others - with their planes, and more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Enemy air raids and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territories. This unheard of attack on our country is a treachery unparalleled in the history of civilized nations. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that a non-aggression treaty was concluded between the USSR and Germany, and the Soviet government fulfilled all the terms of this treaty in all good faith. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that during the entire duration of this treaty the German government could never make a single claim against the USSR regarding the implementation of the treaty. All responsibility for this predatory attack on the Soviet Union will fall entirely on the German fascist rulers. […]

This war was imposed on us not by the German people, not by German workers, peasants and intellectuals, whose suffering we well understand, but by a clique of bloodthirsty fascist rulers of Germany who enslaved the French, Czechs, Poles, Serbs, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece and other peoples . […]

This is not the first time our people have had to deal with an attacking, arrogant enemy. At one time, our people responded to Napoleon’s campaign in Russia with a Patriotic War and Napoleon was defeated and came to his collapse. The same will happen to the arrogant Hitler, who announced a new campaign against our country. The Red Army and all our people will once again wage a victorious patriotic war for the Motherland, for honor, for freedom.

In memory of bloody battles

At the end of the last century, a memorial sign appeared at the site of fierce battles near Porlampi. And not alone. A triangular granite obelisk is installed near the road itself (Srednevyborg highway). The inscription reads: “In this area in August 1941, soldiers and commanders of the 43rd, 115th and 123rd rifle divisions and border guards fought heroically.” The obelisk was designed by the Vyaborg architect Vyacheslav KUSTRICH; By his own design, by the way, a memorial was created in the village of Cherkasovo, which was inaugurated last fall.

A few hundred meters from the first memorial sign there is another one: on a granite boulder, surrounded by fir trees and ornamental shrubs, a bas-relief of a soldier in a helmet, with his hand clenched into a fist, is carved. There is no official information about the history of its appearance. However, local residents recall that in the late 90s, during the summer, an elderly man lived nearby in a hut and created this bas-relief. A resident of the village of Cherkasovo, Dmitry ZELINSKY, says that in the fall he met an elderly woman here, a local resident, who was picking mushrooms, and learned this story from her.

Judging by the initials “P.Yu.V.”, it can be assumed that the author of the bas-relief is the son of Vasily Paskhin, who died here. Of the one and a half hundred male names starting with the letter Y, the most popular in Russia seems to be, of course, Yuri. The conclusion suggests itself that the creator of this monument is Yuri Vasilyevich Paskhin. Is he alive today?..

The stone with the carved bas-relief is located in the field, on a small hill. Attached to the surface is a metal sign with the inscription “If we die with Christ, then we will live with him. 43 div., art. Pashin Vasily."

Deputy political instructor of the 299th separate anti-aircraft artillery division of the 43rd rifle division, Vasily Yakovlevich Paskhin, died on August 31, 1941, while the division was trying to escape from encirclement. The report on irretrievable losses indicates that 33-year-old Vasily in Leningrad was left with his wife Elena Ivanovna, who at that time lived in Blagodatny Lane.

Text 35 Excerpts from the diary of NKVD Major Shabalin from October 6 to October 19, 1941.

Major Shabalin died on October 20.
when trying to get out of the environment. The diary was transferred to the German army for military analysis. Back translation from German; the original is lost. Diary of NKVD Major Shabalin, head of the special department of the NKVD at the 50th Army

For the accuracy of the transmission, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Tank Army Sub. Frh.f. Liebenstein […]

6.9.41:

The army is not what we are used to thinking and imagining at home. Huge shortage of everything. The attacks of our armies are disappointing.

7.9.41:

We are interrogating a red-haired German prisoner, a shabby, man-haired guy, extremely stupid. […]

10.9.41:

The situation with personnel is very difficult; almost the entire army consists of people whose homelands were captured by the Germans. They want to go home. Inactivity at the front and sitting in the trenches demoralize the Red Army soldiers. There are cases of drunkenness among command and political personnel. People sometimes don't return from reconnaissance. […]

14.10.41:

The enemy has us surrounded. Continuous cannonade. Duel of artillerymen, mortarmen and machine gunners. Danger and fear almost all day long. I'm not even talking about the forest, swamp and overnight stay. Since the 12th I haven’t slept anymore, since October 8th I haven’t read a single newspaper.

15.10.41:

Creepy! I wander around, there are corpses around, the horrors of war, continuous shelling! Hungry and sleepless again. I took a bottle of alcohol. I went into the forest to investigate. Our complete destruction is obvious. The army was defeated, the convoy was destroyed. I am writing in the forest by the fire. In the morning I lost all the security officers, I was left alone among strangers. The army fell apart.

16.10.41:

I spent the night in the forest. I haven't eaten bread for three days. There are a lot of Red Army soldiers in the forest; there are no commanders. Throughout the night and morning, the Germans fired at the forest with weapons of all kinds. At about 7 o'clock in the morning we got up and walked north. The shooting continues. At the rest stop I washed my face. […]

19.10.41:

We walked all night in the rain through marshy areas. Pitchless darkness. I was soaked to the skin, my right leg was swollen; it's terribly hard to walk.

Text 34 Excerpt from Elena Scriabina’s diary dated June 22, 1941 about the news of the German attack.

Molotov’s speech sounded hesitantly, hurriedly, as if he was short of breath. His encouragement sounded completely out of place. Immediately there was a feeling that a monster was slowly approaching menacingly and terrifying everyone. After the news, I ran out into the street. The city was in panic. People quickly exchanged a few words, rushed into stores and bought everything they could get their hands on. They rushed through the streets as if beside themselves; many went to savings banks to take away their savings. This wave overwhelmed me, too, and I tried to get rubles from my savings book. But I arrived too late, the cash register was empty, the payment was suspended, everyone was making noise and complaining. And the June day was blazing, the heat was unbearable, someone felt bad, someone cursed in despair. The whole day the mood was restless and tense. Only in the evening it became strangely quiet. It seemed that everyone was huddled somewhere in horror.

General Konev's army against the "ghost division"

August 1941 is rarely associated with victories of the Red Army. The first summer of the war is associated in popular memory for the most part with defeats: retreats, surrendered cities, armies that perished in “cauldrons.” Meanwhile, even during this difficult period, the Red Army experienced not only failures, but also successes. Not as loud and large-scale as in the future, these blows forced the well-oiled machine of the German blitzkrieg to rattle, stagger and ultimately completely stall and fall apart in the snow near Moscow. One of these blows was the August offensive of the 19th Army of the Western Front.

Although the war lasted only a few months, for the Red Army it was, in fact, already a second army with the same number. Formed in May 1941 in the North Caucasus Military District, the 19th Army under the command of Lieutenant General I.S. Koneva was supposed to take positions in the Kiev fortified area, but the situation at the front led to the fact that instead of Kyiv the army went to the Western Front and took part in the Battle of Smolensk. After this, the 19th Army was actually recreated on July 1 by order of the commander of the Western Front, Marshal S.K. Timoshenko, who subordinated to Konev three divisions of the Kalinin group (89th, 91st and 166th SD) and two (162nd and 50th SD) from the front reserve. The same order ordered the head of the ABT front to staff the divisions with tank battalions, “meaning in the future to assign one to the 19th Army from among the tank divisions being formed.”

. In addition to the former directorate of the Kalinin group, Konev was also given control of the 53rd Infantry Division to staff the headquarters.

The same order also set the task: “Advance in cooperation with the 30th Army and Rokossovsky’s group to destroy the enemy’s Dukhovishchny group.”

.

Map of the combat area of ​​the 19th Army of the Western Front
It is worth noting that it is often customary to present constant offensives and counterattacks when he was commander of the Polar Fleet as evidence of Marshal Timoshenko’s low leadership qualifications. But, in fact, he didn’t have much choice; trying to play against the GA “Center” on the defensive in conditions of the enemy’s superiority not only in strength, but also in operational mobility would have been a deliberately losing strategy. It can also be recalled that when Timoshenko was replaced by Konev, the Western Front experienced one of the worst disasters of the war - the Vyazemsky cauldron. But that was yet to come.

The first attempt by the newly formed 19th Army in early July was more of a "reconnaissance in force" and testing of units than a real offensive. But on July 11, thanks to a private offensive by the 116th Infantry Division, a group of Lieutenant General I.I. was able to leave the German rear. Boldina - approximately 1,500 people “with three guns and a large baggage train”

.
It is interesting that the front command reproached Koneva for her indecision: the battle was fought only for the exit of the encirclement, while the opportunity was given to “develop a small combat episode into a major success
.

Apparently, the exit of Boldin’s group confirmed the opinion of Tymoshenko, expressed by him in the evening of the same day in a telephone conversation with Rokossovsky: “It is becoming absolutely clear that in front of Konev, and, apparently, in front of you, the enemy consists of broken units, brought together from several parts into one and formed pockets of defense, lacking depth, and, in general, not representing anything serious.”

.

A few days later, this opinion of the commander-in-chief took shape in a combat order, which, in particular, said: “The Western Front, with a concentric attack of 30 and 19 armies in the general direction of Dukhovshchina, destroys the enemy’s Dukhovshchina group and reaches with its center the line Starina, Dukhovshchina, Yartsevo.”

.

By this time, Konev’s army had finally received its “own” tank division - however, not a fresh one, but since July it had been fighting in the Yartsevo direction, and precisely against the German 7th Panzer Division, which it had yet to meet. On August 9, the division's condition looked like this: the motorized rifle regiment was 40–50% complete, the tank regiment had 83 tanks (mainly T-26s), the artillery regiment had many guns with minor faults.

Perhaps no less important than tanks was the issue of artillery. Although Tymoshenko correctly noted that the German defense was focal in nature, in practice this meant that the Germans built a system of strong points, the space between which was covered with machine-gun and mortar fire. The order from the front headquarters to reinforce the artillery of the 19th Army transmitted:

• 120th Gap RGK - 18 guns (12 122 mm and 6 152 mm);
• division of the 302nd Gap RGK - 8 152-mm howitzer guns;
• 596th gap (number not specified);
• 311th pope - 12 122 mm guns, 12 152 mm guns;
• two M-13 batteries;
• 874th AP VET - 20 85-mm 52-K guns.

According to the plan, the actions of Konev’s army were supposed to be supported from the air by the 43rd Mixed Air Division, but in fact this was done by the 47th Garden.

The 19th Army's attack site was chosen at the junction of the V and VIII Army Corps of the 9th Field Army, which was covered by the 5th Infantry Division of the V Army Corps and the 161st Infantry Division of the VIII Army Corps.

August 17, first day of the offensive

Entry in the diary of Field Marshal von Bock dated August 17, 1941: “Large Russian forces attacked in the sector of the 9th Army, forcing the V Corps to retreat.”

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When the attacks began at 05:00 on August 17, all attention in the VIII Army Corps zone was focused on the 371st Infantry Regiment, 161st Infantry Division. Willy Daube's regiment was at the forefront of the main attack, as it was the northernmost in the division and was soon reinforced by anti-tank troops from the 241st Anti-Tank Fighter Division.

At 10:00 it became clear that the Russians had attacked all divisions of the VIII Army Corps at the front, and no less heavy fighting began in the zone of the V Army Corps adjacent to the left. The front of the 371st Regiment began to crackle. According to the Germans, they were attacked by 30–40 tanks. In fact, units of the 64th Infantry Division were advancing in this sector with the support of units of the 101st Tank Division, which did not have its own tanks here, since it transferred everything to the 202nd Tank Division, which was operating elsewhere.

The commander of the 19th Army of the Western Front, Lieutenant General Konev, with war correspondents Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Fadeev, Evgeniy Petrovich Petrov and others at his command post

Big problems for the Germans began in the Priselye area, where the 101st TD broke through at the junction of the 371st and 364th infantry regiments. An attempt to stop the attack by units of the 241st Engineer Battalion was unsuccessful. By evening, units of the 161st Infantry Division received orders to withdraw, leaving the rearguards for night battles. In total, according to the morning report, the divisions of the VIII Army Corps by 10:00 on August 17 had already lost 32 killed, 75 wounded and 12 missing.

By the end of the day, the 1st Battalion of the 371st Infantry Regiment was defeated, and its remnants retreated to the battle formations of the 75th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Infantry Division. The enemy, in order to strengthen the junction of the two divisions, transferred two battalions of the 900th combat training brigade, which reached the Azarinka area in the zone of the 91st rifle division. In the area of ​​the settlements of Lopachiki and Gorbatovskaya, the 5th Infantry Division held its positions. The situation in the zone of the 161st division was worse - the division was retreating, losing heavy weapons. The 1st Battalion of the 7th Infantry Regiment arrived to help her at 16:50, which reinforced the 336th Regiment. Also, the 4th battery of the 701st motorized anti-aircraft regiment on self-propelled chassis was transferred to the regiment's battle formations.

According to the report, during the day of the battle the 19th Army captured 12 guns, 5 light machine guns, destroyed one artillery battery and one tank. The 19th Army's losses that day were estimated at 37 killed and 43 wounded.

August 18–19, fighting continues

Entry in the diary of Field Marshal von Bock dated August 18, 1941: “ The enemy continues to attack the positions of the 9th Army with large forces, specifically on the northern wing of the VIII Corps and along the entire front of the V Corps.”

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On August 18, in the Lopatchiki-Gorbatovskaya sector, the 166th Infantry Division tried to advance, securing the flank of the 91st Infantry Division. In the Azarinka area, units of the 91st Infantry Division defeated units of the 161st Infantry Division and forced them to retreat, as a result of which the right flank of the 75th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Infantry Division was stretched by 6–7 km. As mentioned above, in order to eliminate the threat, both battalions of the 900th brigade were moved there, one of which was immediately bypassed by Soviet units and found itself semi-surrounded. Also transferred there were the 14th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Infantry Division, the 5th Anti-Tank Fighter Division and the 643rd Army Subordinate Anti-Tank Fighter Division (armed with light tank destroyers with 47-mm anti-tank guns on a Pz.I tank chassis). As we see, the desire of the command of the Polar Fleet to attack bore fruit - now the Germans, trying to patch up the “Trishkin caftan” of the stretched front line, were forced to remove individual units and throw them under the rink of the Soviet offensive.

On August 18, Konev saw prospects in the zone of the 50th and 64th rifle divisions. The combat order of the commander of the 19th Army read:

“During the night, the army develops the success achieved in the 50th Infantry Division sector, striking with the left flank of the 91st Infantry Division and the right flank of the 50th Infantry Division, and in the morning of 08/18/1941 continues the offensive with the task, in cooperation with the 30th Army, to encircle and destroy the enemy's Dukhovshchina group. By the end of 08/18/1941 it reaches the border of the Tsarevich River, and then advances in the direction of Dukhovshchina...

The 50th Infantry Division, with the previous reinforcement units, develops success on Makovye during the night, by the end of 08/18/1941 it captures the Tsesnevo, Sushchevo line, and then advances on Mishino, Baranovo.

I subordinate to you the 159th joint venture and the 202nd tank regiment, which will be used to strike in the direction of Makovye, Sushchevo with the task of seizing the crossings at Sushchevo, Sinyakovo. Destroy and cut off the enemy's escape routes. The border is the same.

Artillery. Tasks:

a) contribute to the development of success in the sections of the 91st, 50th and 89th rifle divisions. One division of the 596th Gap to support the offensive of the 89th Infantry Division;

b) ensure entry into the breakthrough and actions in the depths of the 202nd tank tank and 159th joint venture".

It is worth noting that the success of the 50th Infantry Division can be explained not only by the weakness of the enemy or the fighting qualities of the division’s personnel, but also by the fact that the division commander, Colonel Boreyko, had a fairly strong artillery fist. Before the offensive, the division’s artillery regiment received equipment from the 257th Gap, which had departed for reorganization. As a result, the 202nd Lap had only eight 76 mm cannons, four 122 mm howitzers and 12 152 mm howitzers. In conditions of a shortage of mines for 120-mm mortars, which were at that time the main force in the regiments, the presence of heavy howitzers allowed the division commander to quite successfully open the defenses of the German oporniks.

Combat order from the commander of the 19th Army on the development of success in the zone of the 64th Infantry Division dated August 18, 1941:

“To the commanders of the 50th, 91st, 89th, 64th, 166th infantry divisions and 101st TD.

1. In the sector of the 64th Infantry Division, the enemy began to retreat, and many trophies were captured.

2. The commander of the 50th Infantry Division immediately introduce the 202nd Tank Regiment in the direction of Makovye, Sushchevo; destroy without allowing the enemy to retreat beyond the Tsarevich River.

3. The commander of the 91st Infantry Division should assist the 50th Infantry Division with a swift strike.

4. The commander of the 64th Infantry Division should decisively advance on his front.”.

However, during the day of the battle the successes were insignificant. Moreover, it was revealed that the division commanders kept their command posts too far from the front line and that the infantry of the 50th Infantry Division did not follow the tanks and did not consolidate the captured territory.

So, on August 18 at 11:30, units of the 202nd Tank Troops, together with one battalion of the 205th Tank Troops from the 101st Tank Troops, left their initial positions (the western edge of the forest east of Bobrovtsy), deployed to attack on the eastern slopes of the heights along the western bank of the river Scream. At 21:00 we reached the Loina River. The 202nd Tank Troops, acting in cooperation with the 50th Infantry Division, repeatedly knocked down the enemy from their occupied lines and reached Sushchevo with separate units. The enemy, having abandoned their weapons on the battlefield, retreated randomly to the west in the direction of Zamyatino.

The tanks of the 202nd TP with repeated attacks shot down the enemy, destroying his firing points, moving forward, but the infantry of the 50th Rifle Division did not secure the occupied lines with tanks, especially the 49th Rifle Regiment. As a result of this, the tanks found themselves behind enemy lines and were forced to retreat as fuel was running low. The infantry scattered when shelled by mortar fire.

T-26 tanks attack German positions

Losses: 18 tanks burned, 4 knocked out. 3 batteries of 105 mm cannons, 4 anti-tank guns, and up to an infantry battalion were destroyed. Captured: 4 cannons with up to 1000 shells, 3 passenger cars, 21 rifles, 1 mortar, 1 staff vehicle. On this day, the 202nd Tank Regiment suffered very heavy losses in the command staff.

For the Germans, the results were even more bleak.

Following the battles on August 18, the command of the 161st Division recognized that the 371st Infantry Regiment was no longer a full-fledged combat unit and should be replaced by battalions of the 84th Infantry Regiment from the 8th Infantry Division. Units of the 605th anti-aircraft battalion, the 1st division of the 51st nebelwerfer regiment (in the zone of the 364th infantry regiment) and the 2nd division of the 55th artillery regiment (heavy 150-mm howitzers) (in the zone of the 371st infantry regiment) also arrived The regiment sent the 4th and 5th batteries, and the 6th battery was sent to the zone of the 336th Infantry Regiment). Large-caliber mortars of the 1st battery of the 733rd artillery division (210-mm mortars) also arrived.

According to the morning report, the divisions of the VIII Army Corps by 10:00 on August 18 had already lost 13 killed, 80 wounded and 1 missing. On August 18, the 5th Infantry Division lost 7 killed and 11 wounded.

During August 17–18, the 161st Infantry lost 9 light howitzers, 6 heavy howitzers, 1 heavy regimental gun, 4 light regimental guns, 1 Pak 36/37 anti-tank gun, 8 heavy mortars, 15 light mortars, 10 machine gun operators and 27 machine guns. This was reflected in Soviet documents: “ under the blows of our troops, the enemy gets lost and throws down their weapons

».

On August 19, Halder wrote in his diary: “The 161st Infantry Division, operating in the area north of the road to Moscow, lost a large number of guns as a result of enemy attacks.
The 7th Panzer Division is reassigned to the VIII Army Corps."
Entry in the diary of Field Marshal von Bock dated August 19, 1941:

“The 9th Army reports that the enemy has broken into our troops on the left wing of the VIII Corps. The 161st Division is bleeding and at its limit. One gets the impression that the Russians almost watched with their own eyes how the redeployment of motorized divisions to the north was carried out behind the front of the 9th Army.”

August 20, pen test

Entry in the diary of Field Marshal von Bock dated August 20, 1941:

“The breakthrough on the 161st Division’s front was so serious that Hoth, who had temporarily assumed command of the 9th Army due to Strauss’ illness, called in his last reserves, the 7th Panzer and 14th Motorized Divisions, to help. This afternoon the 7th Panzer Division is to counterattack in the 161st Division's sector to restore the situation. I suggested to Hoth that the 14th Motorized Division also be involved in this sector. Hoth, however, reported that the 14th Division was unable to reach the line of contact in time because its paths crossed those of the 19th and 20th Panzer Divisions. The latter are being pulled up to the northern wing to take part in tomorrow’s offensive.”

The attack of the tank regiment of the 7th TD actually took place in the afternoon of August 20th. It is very likely that Willi Funk, who took over the “ghost division” from Rommel, by this time felt a certain “dizziness with success.” An attack without reconnaissance, establishing interaction with infantry and artillery, practically “on the move” and “naked tanks” was more in the style of Soviet tank units in the summer of 1941 than an experienced German tank division. However, on the evening of August 20, the Germans were lucky - in the Pochep area, a “shift change” of units of the 91st and 50th Rifles was taking place.

As a result, after the strike, the division returned to its original position in the Losevo area and reported weak resistance and minor losses. In our opinion, this was due to the change of units in the Pochep area. In Soviet documents, with a caveat about incomplete data, about

- Apparently, we are talking about the vanguard of the German 25th tank.

Interestingly, it was on the evening of August 20 that the 120th gap claimed great success. This is how this battle is described in the book “Vyazma Disaster” by L. Lopukhovsky:

“From August 17 to 21, the 91st Infantry Division of Colonel I.A. Volkova, who was advancing without tanks, was supported by the 120th gap. Its 152-mm howitzer guns suppressed enemy artillery and mortars, as well as their surveillance, control and communications systems. To reconnaissance the enemy's firing artillery batteries, our troops used tethered balloons in the Kolkovichi area. But there was nothing to reliably suppress the enemy’s firepower—there weren’t enough shells.

On the evening of August 20, the Germans launched a counterattack in the area of ​​the villages of Zadnaya and Potelitsa up to a motorized infantry regiment with 70 tanks. Their concentration was promptly discovered by reconnaissance, which reported the coordinates of the target to the firing positions. The fire from the batteries of the 120th Gap caused great damage to the enemy, and his counterattack was repulsed. There were 37 destroyed and burned enemy tanks and armored personnel carriers left on the battlefield.”

The attentive reader, of course, may notice that “after that”

does not mean
“as a result of that”
. Indeed, the damaged equipment remaining on the battlefield was not necessarily the result of fire from the 120th Gap. Most likely, the 50th Infantry Division was “to blame” for the German losses on the evening of August 20, or rather, already on the night of August 21. Twilight and heavy fog allowed the Soviet infantry to get close to enemy tanks.

On August 21 at 02:40 at night, the headquarters of the 19th Army transmitted a combat order to the army commander. Since the approach of a fresh tank unit was noted both by reports from ground units and by pilots, in addition to the “offensive” unit, the order devoted quite a lot to anti-tank defense:

“The 166th Infantry Division, firmly defending on the right flank, organize anti-tank defense in the Lopatchinki, Gorbatovskaya sector... 91st Infantry Division firmly organizes anti-tank defense in the Gorbatovskaya, Potelitsa areas, height 217.0 (2 km west of Zadnaya). The 89th Infantry Division organize anti-tank defense with a front to the north, north-west and west in the occupied area... Artillery - to prevent enemy tanks from breaking through from the Losevo, Balashovo area"

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"Ghost Division" becomes a ghost

Konev could not predict the exact location of the German counterattack. As it turned out in the end, the Germans chose perhaps the worst option possible. Funk launched an attack in exactly the same direction as in the evening of the previous day. The result naturally turned out to be about the same as sticking a hand into a wasp’s nest, which had previously been poked with a stick.

The battle formation of the 7th TD looked as follows: on the very left flank of the division the 2nd battalion of the 6th motorized regiment was advancing, the 1st battalion of the 6th motorized regiment was advancing closer to the center, in the middle of the battle formations the 25th tank regiment was advancing along with The 101st battalion of flamethrower tanks, and on the very right flank it was covered by the 1st battalion of the 7th motorized regiment. The 1st division of the 78th artillery regiment managed to enter the battle formations; the remaining artillery divisions did not cross the front line and supported the offensive from the spot.

• The 25th tank tank was reinforced by the 1st company (9 Pak 38) of the 42nd anti-tank fighter division - losses during the day of the battle amounted to 2 Pak 38.
• The 3rd company (3 Pak 38 and 8 Pak 36/37) of the 42nd Anti-Tank Fighter Division reinforced both battalions of the 6th Motorized Rifle Regiment - losses during the day of battle amounted to 1 Pak 38 and 1 Pak 36/37.
• The 2nd company (5 Pak 38 and 5 Pak 36/37) of the 42nd Anti-Tank Fighter Division reinforced both battalions of the 7th Motorized Rifle Regiment - there were no losses.
• Also during the battle, the 6th motorized regiment was reinforced by the 101st battalion of flamethrower tanks.

On the Soviet side, on the very right flank of the 91st division, the 613th rifle regiment operated. He and the 561st rifle division (responsible for height 217.0) came under the main attack of the 7th TD). The 503rd regiment was supposed to attack on the left flank.

The neighbor of the 91st Infantry Division was the 50th Infantry Division, where the 2nd Infantry Regiment, supported by the combined 202nd Tank Regiment (Makovye area - height 217.0), defended on the very right flank. Further in the center, in the Makovye-Afanasyevo sector, the 359th rifle regiment operated, and on the left flank, in the area of ​​height 214.0, the 49th rifle regiment advanced.

If the tasks of the 91st Infantry Division are clear, then the situation with the 50th Infantry Division is of interest. Early in the morning, a group of soldiers from the 2nd rifle division tried, with the support of tanks, to cross the Loynya River again, but the crossing was not organized. While we were thinking about what to do, 15 German tanks entered the area, and as a result we had to defend ourselves. As a result, one group of tanks from the 202nd TP fought in the battle formations of the 2nd joint venture, and the other, consisting of eight tanks, was in ambush in the forest area at height 217.0 and provided the right flank of the entire division.

The combat group of the 7th TD broke through the defenses of the 91st Infantry Division and went north to the Makovye area, where it reached the flank of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 50th Infantry Division. Throughout August 21, there was no communication between the 50th and 91st Rifle Divisions, and was often lost between regiments and headquarters.

Red Army soldiers inspect a captured Flammpanzer II flamethrower tank from the 101st Flamethrower Tank Battalion

According to the German description of the battle, one battalion of the 25th Tank Regiment, together with units of the 6th Motorized Infantry Regiment, fought with Lebedenko's 91st Rifle Division, and the 1st Battalion of the 7th Motorized Rifle Regiment with other tanks of the 25th Tank Division fought against the 2nd joint venture of the 50th infantry division and the 202nd tank regiment. Trying to bypass the flank of the 50th Infantry Division, German tanks ran into 8 tanks lying in ambush in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bheight 217.0. Soviet tank crews burned five German vehicles, losing two of their own.

The battle of the 2nd joint venture with the German tanks that had broken through was terrible. The attack of tanks and motorized infantry that broke into the Makovye area hit the battalion of Senior Lieutenant Efim Ivanovich Lukashonok. The soldiers engaged in close combat with the tanks, pelting them with bundles of grenades and bottles with a flammable mixture. The Germans confirm the massive use of Molotov cocktails. The tanks of the 202nd tank also engaged in fire combat with the enemy - the losses were very heavy.

As for armored vehicles, 1 armored vehicle and 4 tanks were burned, 4 tanks were knocked out (the final report shows total losses of 12 tanks). In the personnel of the 202nd TP, 3 people were killed, 16 were wounded, 2 were missing. In the 2nd Infantry Regiment, 11 people were killed, 92 were wounded.

German losses were more significant. The commander of the 6th Motorized Regiment, Colonel von Unger, was apparently overloaded with subordinate units. It was not possible to establish cooperation with the 1st battalion of the 7th motorized regiment; Soviet units began to cover the flanks of the regiment, plus it was not possible to fully use the 101st flamethrower tank battalion. As a result, moving between crisis areas, at 17:45 von Unger died after receiving a hit from an anti-tank gun in his “Hanomag”. He was replaced by the commander of the 2nd battalion of the 6th motorized regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Yager.

Entry in the diary of Field Marshal von Bock dated August 21, 1941:

“The 7th Panzer Division unsuccessfully counterattacks in the sector of the long-suffering 161st Division. One could say that the 7th Division was thoroughly bogged down in the fighting there, losing many tanks in the process. It remains only to regret that I did not show more persistence in the matter of attracting more significant forces to this attack. The attack on Velikiye Luki, planned by the 9th Army for today, has been postponed due to bad weather."

.

The Germans lost 24 tanks, 1 artillery observer tank, and 1 anti-aircraft gun. 29 tanks, 2 anti-tank guns and 1 heavy infantry gun were sent for long-term repairs. In total, the division lost 53 tanks during the 24-hour battle.

During the period from August 20 to 21, the division lost: 11 officers and 93 soldiers killed, 11 officers and 188 soldiers wounded, 9 soldiers missing - a total of 312 officers and soldiers. The personnel losses may not have been the greatest in a couple of days, but these were active bayonets - fighters of the advanced, advancing battalions, who had the experience of more than one company behind them.

On August 21, the strength of the 7th Panzer Division dropped to 15,931 people. Losses in the 101st flamethrower tank battalion for the period from August 19 to 23 amounted to 1 officer killed, 8 people were wounded, 2 were missing. Two flamethrower tanks based on Pz.II and two linear tanks Pz.II were destroyed (one of these tanks was actually captured by units of the 19th Army and was subsequently sent for testing to the GABTU training ground in Kubinka).

Entry in Halder's diary dated August 28, 1941:

“To my question about which section of the front he considers the most threatened, von Bock replied that he considers this to be the section of the front from the junction of the 14th Motorized and 28th Infantry Divisions to the left flank of the 129th Infantry Division. He further reports that the combat effectiveness of the 161st Infantry Division has decreased by one quarter. The 87th Infantry Division is to relieve the 14th Motorized Division. Only the SS division "Reich" can be used as a reserve... The situation with tanks. In the 3rd tank group: 7th tank division - 24% of tanks, in the remaining two tank divisions 45% of tanks each.

To summarize, we can say that in August 1941, the infantry units of the 19th Army I.S. Konev, with the support of a regiment of “old-type tanks,” inflicted a serious defeat, first on the 161st Infantry Division, and then on the 7th Tank Division sent to its rescue. Unfortunately, at that moment this achievement did not receive due fame, being lost in the stream of other reports about dozens and even hundreds of “destroyed” German tanks.