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User:Hungrydog55/sandbox/military/russianfront/1941-06 Barbarossa oob

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Northern Area (Leningrad Corridor)
opposing commanders
Nazi Germany Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
Soviet Union Fyodor I. Kuznetsov
Soviet Union Markian M. Popov
Middle Area (Minsk-Smolensk-Moscow Corridor)
opposing commanders
Nazi Germany Fedor von Bock
Soviet Union Dmitry G. Pavlov (relieved 30 June)
Soviet Union Semyon K. Timoshenko (from 4 July)
Southern Area (South of the Pripet Marshes)
opposing commanders
Nazi Germany Gerd von Rundstedt
Romania Ion Antonescu
Soviet Union Mikhail P. Kirponos (KIA 20 Sep)
Soviet Union Ivan V. Tyulenev

Operation Barbarossa, the largest military operation in history, was the invasion of the USSR by the Axis powers on the Eastern Front during the Second World War.

Along a 1,350-mile border stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, German, Romanian and Italian forces consisting of 3,300 tanks, 7,000 artillery pieces, 2,770 aircraft and three million men began the assault at approx. 3:30 am (Russian time) on 22 June 1941 with an unprecedented artillery barrage. The immediate results for the Soviet Union were devastating.

"Her losses, by mid-July, had reached staggering proportions. Of her air force, over 3,000 planes had been destroyed, most within the first five days, and that was a conservative figure ... Army Group Centre was able to show that it had taken 300,000 prisoners, 2,500 tanks and 1,400 guns, in the process virtually destroying four Soviet Armies. In the battle of the Smolensk pocket ... Army Group Centre was to take another 310,000 prisoners, 3,200 tanks and 3,100 guns."

— John Keegan, Barbarossa: Invasion of Russia 1941 (1970)

Within a month, one high-level Soviet general had been executed by his own government for "cowardice" and "criminal incompetence."

Historians consider Barbarossa to have ended on December 5, 1941 at the conclusion of Operation Typhoon.

Leningrad Corridor (East Prussia and Baltic States) edit

Minsk-Smolensk-Moscow Corridor (Napoleon's Path) edit

South of the Pripet Marshes edit

Northern sector (Northern Ukraine) edit

Southern sector (Southern Ukraine, Bessarabia) edit

Soviet forces under direct Stavka control edit

  Stavka Glavnogo Komandovaniya, or "Main Command of the Armed
Forces of the USSR", was a traditional council of high military and political
officers re-established by Stalin the day after Barbarossa began.

Air forces edit

Axis edit

Luftwaffe edit

The directive issued to the Luftwaffe for Barbarossa ordered that Luftflotte 2, under the command of Albert Kesselring was to be the strongest Air Fleet. Kesselring was assigned to supporting Army Group Centre, which was to capture Minsk, Smolensk and Moscow. Kesselring was given Fliegerkorps VIII (a specialised ground attack Corps, commanded by tactical specialist Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen), Fliegerkorps II (commanded by Bruno Loerzer) and the 1st Anti-Aircraft Corps (1st AA Corps under Walther von Axthelm). Army Group South was supported by Luftflotte 4, containing Fliegerkorps V (under Robert Ritter von Greim) and Fliegerkorps IV (under Kurt Pflugbeil). The Air Fleet and Army Group were responsible for capturing Kiev, the Crimea and the Caucasus oilfields. Army Group North was supported by Luftflotte 1, and Luftflotte 5. Luftflotte 5 conducted operations in the Arctic near Murmansk. Luftflotte 1 supported operations in the Baltic Sea, Baltic States and near, in and over Leningrad. Luftflotte 1 contained Fliegerkorps I under the command of Helmuth Förster.[12]

Acronym Meaning Aircraft type
JG Jagdgeschwader fighter
KG, K.Gr. Kampfgeschwader bomber
LG Lehrgeschwader training
ZG Zerstöregeschwader heavy fighter

Other Axis air forces edit

The Romanian Air Force was considered weak by the OKL, and therefore unlikely to play a great role in the ground fighting. Far more attention was given by the OKW to training and preparing the Romanian Army. Hitler, on 18 June 1941, declared that the primary mission of the Romanian air arm was to defend Romania and the Romanian oilfields. Only when those forces were sufficient, could they divert the remaining forces to ground support operations for Barbarossa. On 21 June 1941, it possessed a balanced fleet of 53 Squadrons; 11 bomber (five modern), 17 fighter (nine modern), 15 reconnaissance, six liaison, two flying boat, one transport and one air ambulance unit. On the 22 June, there was 160 fighters and 82 bombers in service. Total strength amounted to 380 aircraft. Only 30 of the Romanian fighters were Bf 109s, of the E model.[13] However, this small force did not remain inferior in numbers for along. Despite a weak inter-war economy, the aircraft industry was run very efficiently, and they were able to produce some very capable aircraft; such as the IAR 37 and IAR 39. Unlike the army that stagnated, it was able to garner the cream of the Romanian officer corps. With the right support, organisation and modern equipment, it was able to grow in number and match its enemies in quality. In air defence and ground support operations it performed well, but failed in strategic bomber and naval operations owing to a lack of doctrine.[14] Within a few weeks of Barbarossa beginning, it was able to put up 1,061 aircraft, including 400 trainers.[15] The modern combat aircraft were focused into one unified Air Combat Command, or GAL (Gruparea Aeriana Lupta), while the obsolete types were given the Romanian Fourth Army, operating under the German Army Group South.[16]

Soviet edit

 
Flag of Soviet military aviation

Organisation edit

Since 1935, Soviet military aviation (Voyenno-Vozdushnyye Sily or VVS) had been divided between the army (VVS KA) and the navy (VVS VMF). The VVS KA had been split into four different organisations owing to faulty conclusions drawn from the Winter War. Owing to a lack of coordination in close support operations with the Red Army, the entire VVS KA was subordinated to the field armies. The existence of too many different branches under separate commands in Soviet air power caused coordination problems (made worse by Axis bombing during Barbarossa). Most Soviet bomber units could not coordinate with fighter aviation, consequently they did not have fighter escort for long periods.[17]

The total strength of the VVS amounted to 61 divisions; 18 fighter, nine bomber and 34 mixed. Five brigades were also included. The Front Air Forces were divided into Districts (later 'Fronts') and the home defence, the PVO. This element had 40.5 per cent of the Soviet air strength. The Army Air Forces comprised 43.7 per cent of the VVS' strength. The liaison squadrons were a collection of individual squadrons assigned to different army corps of the ground army (KAE). They comprised only 2.3 per cent.[17]

North edit

Center edit

South and Long Range Aviation edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Asked Hitler for freedom of action or to be relieved of command in January 1942; relieved and never held field command again.
  2. ^ Died February 1946 in NKVD prison.
  3. ^ Hanged 8 August 1944 for participation in the 20 July Plot.
  4. ^ Served approx. seven years for war crimes.
  5. ^ Later rose to army group command but was relieved by Hitler 30 March 1944; served time for war crimes.
  6. ^ Commanded Seventh Army during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944‒January 1945.
  7. ^ Longtime Nazi and SS member, one-time commandant of Dachau Concentration Camp; killed 26 February 1943 when his observation plane crashed.
  8. ^ Replaced by Matthias Kleinheisterkamp 7 July
  9. ^ Died in POW camp in England 17 July 1945.
  10. ^ Captured during the Battle of Stalingrad; collaborated with the Soviet Union as a prisoner-of-war.
  11. ^ Killed by a sniper 3 July 1941 at the Krāslava Bridgehead in Latvia; first German general to be killed in Soviet territory
  12. ^ Later rose to command Army Group Vistula
  13. ^ Injured 29 August 1944 during reconnaissance flight; died four days later.
  14. ^ Baltic Special Military District until 22 June.
  15. ^ First army commander to enter conquered Berlin; killed in motorcycle accident 16 July 1945.
  16. ^ Leningrad Military District until 24 June.
  17. ^ Relieved by Hitler July 1942 for perceived slowness in moving on Stalingrad; never held high command again.
  18. ^ Served approx. 6 years for war crimes.
  19. ^ Committed suicide 19 August 1944 after assuming he had been implicated in the 20 July Plot.
  20. ^ Relieved by Hitler 25 Dec 1941; replaced by Rudolf Schmidt.
  21. ^ Only under Panzergruppe 2 for initial stages of invasion.
  22. ^ Later rose to Army Group command on the Western Front; committed suicide 21 April 1945 to avoid being tried by the USSR for war crimes.
  23. ^ later promoted to army and army group command.
  24. ^ Western Special Military District until 22 June; dissolved by Stavka 25 August and constituent parts reassigned.
  25. ^ Executed along with chief of staff and other front-level officers by NKVD for criminal incompetence 22 July 1941.
  26. ^ Mortally wounded in combat October 1941.
  27. ^ Relieved by Hitler in December; later commanded all ground forces in the West.
  28. ^ Died 17 January 1942 following crash of medical evacuation aircraft at Lemberg; a committed anti-Semite, he was posthumously implicated by the Nuremberg Trials.
  29. ^ Served ten years in Landsberg Prison for war crimes
  30. ^ Hanged 30 August 1944 for participation in the 20 July Plot.
  31. ^ Kiev Special Military District until 22 June.
  32. ^ Killed in action attempting to break out from the Kiev pocket
  33. ^ One of the very few Tsarist officers to retain high rank in the Red Army.
  34. ^ Had been arrested and tortured by NKVD in 1937 during Great Purge; later restored to favor and rose to Front command and rank of Marshall of the Soviet Union.
  35. ^ Executed as a traitor in 1950 for having allowed himself to be taken prisoner.[10]
  36. ^ Executed as a traitor in 1950 for having allowed himself to be taken prisoner.[11]
  37. ^ Captured during Barbarossa and held in Germany as a POW for the duration of the war.
  38. ^ Part of von Runstedt's Army Group South.
  39. ^ Executed by firing squad near Bucharest 1 June 1946 after conviction for war crimes.
  40. ^ Killed 12 September 1941 when his observation plane crashed in a Soviet minefield; succeeded by Erich von Manstein.
  41. ^ Later the VVS Northern Front
  42. ^ Later the VVS North-Western Front
  43. ^ Later the VVS Western Front
  44. ^ Later the VVS South-Western Front
  45. ^ Later the VVS Southern Front

References edit

  1. ^ http://niehorster.org/011_germany/41-oob/ag-nord/_ag_nord.html
  2. ^ Glantz 2002, p. 531
  3. ^ Kirchubel 2005, p. 30.
  4. ^ Kirchubel 2005, pp. 29–30.
  5. ^ http://www.generals.dk/general/Gorelenko/Filipp_Danilovich/Soviet_Union.html
  6. ^ http://niehorster.org/011_germany/41-oob/ag-mitte/_ag_mitte.html
  7. ^ Operation Barbarossa 1941 (3): Army Group Center (Campaign) (v. 3)Robert Kirchubel. Osprey Publishing. 2007. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-84603-107-6.
  8. ^ http://niehorster.org/011_germany/41-oob/ag-sued/_ag-sued.html
  9. ^ name="Osprey Publishing">Operation Barbarossa 1941 (1): Army Group South (Campaign) (v. 1)Robert Kirchubel. Osprey Publishing. 2003. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-84176-697-3.
  10. ^ Cornish, p. 37
  11. ^ Cornish, p. 37
  12. ^ Plocher 1968, pp. 9, 28-29.
  13. ^ Statiev 2002, pp. 1091-1092.
  14. ^ Statiev 2002, p. 1112.
  15. ^ Statiev 2002, p. 1093.
  16. ^ Statiev 2002, pp. 1093, 1097.
  17. ^ a b Bergström 2007, p. 134.
  18. ^ a b c d Bergström 2007, p. 131.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference RandMacNally, p. xx was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Niehorster, Air Forces, Western Special Military District
  21. ^ a b Bergström 2007, p. 132.

Bibliography edit

  • Bergström, Christer (2007). Barbarossa – The Air Battle: July-December 1941. London: Chevron/Ian Allan. ISBN 978-1-85780-270-2.
  • Glantz, David M. (2002). The Battle for Leningrad 1941-1944. Kansas University Press. ISBN 0-7006-1208-4.
  • Plocher, Hermann (1968). The German Air Force versus Russia, 1941. Washington, DC: United States Air Force Studies. ISBN 978-0-405-00044-7.
  • Plocher, Hermann (1968). The German Air Force versus Russia, 1942. Washington, DC: United States Air Force Studies. ISBN 978-0-405-00045-4.
  • Statiev, Alexander (Oct 2002). "Antonescu's Eagles against Stalin's Falcons: The Romanian Air Force, 1920-1941". The Journal of Military History. 66 (4): 1085–1113.

External links edit

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