Soviet Demyansk Offensive Operation January 1942

Famous and feared German 8.8 cm FlaK

Waiting for the next Soviet onslaught in Staraya Russa 1942

German 16.Armee in the Demyansk Pocket 1942

The Red Army, although driven back to the very gates of Moscow itself, had established a reserve to the east of the Soviet capital. Its winter offensive 1942 with up to 400,000 troops in the area of Staraya Russa and Demyansk smashed into the German lines, tearing huge gaps in the front. In the north six German divisions, including the SS-Division Totenkopf, were cut off in the Demyansk Pocket. To the north, Soviet 11th and 34th Soviet Armies, and the 1st Shock Army forming one attack incent to advance along the southern shore of Lake Ilmen. The 16th Shock Army also advanced along to sweep around the lower edge of Lake Seliger to join the other thrust, encircle and annihilate the German 16th Army, and thus create a vast gap between German Heeresgruppe Nord and Heeresgruppe Mitte. During the night of January 8 1942, under cover of a fierce blizzard, the Red Army launched its attack along the whole of Heeresgruppe Nord's southern flank. Josef Stalin hoped that the German armies could be encircled and destroyed by lightning thrusts and rapid maneuvers. A combination of rigidity in command and lack of coordination of the Russian forces, coupled with Adolf Hitler's stand-fast order and stubborn German resistance, foiled the Soviet dictator's grandiose plan. Soviet commanders threw wave after wave of troops against the German defenders. The Demyansk salient proved a horrific Eastern Front battleground, due in part to the meddling of two dictators. Top clip: the legendary 8.8 cm FlaK was used in two main roles: as a mobile heavy anti-aircraft and as an anti-tank gun. The Allies and the Soviets had nothing as good, despite one of them designating itself the world's greatest industrial power. Footage from Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Fair use. Middle image: a German in a trench in Staraya Russa in January 1942. Photo by Kriegsberichter Richard Muck. Credit: Cassowary. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: German troops in the Demyansk cauldron on March 21 1942. Credit: Royston Leonard. Commons: Bundesarchiv.