Soviet Winter Counter-Offensive: Operation Little Saturn

Soviet winter counteroffensive December 12 1942 – February 18 1943

Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 or Sturmovik attack bomber in 1943

Red Army charge during the Soviet winter counteroffensive in 1943

The Soviet winter offensive of 1942 struck the Germans in the southern sector of the Eastern Front like a hammer blow, destroying a number of Romanian, Hungarian and Italian divisions, as well as the remnants of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. Soviet forces began the final phase of their offensive on January 14 1943 with a massive attack on the overstretched Axis armies dug-in along the River Don. By the start of 1943, the Wehrmacht was around 470,000 men below full strength on the Eastern Front. The Soviets were driving deep into German lines. Their hope was to destroy the southern wing of the German army while it was still reeling from its defeat at Stalingrad. There were large gaps in the German lines and a quick advance here could turn the tide of the war. The stakes were enormous. If the Soviets were the first to reach the Dnieper bridges, they could trap Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein's entire force east of the great river. The Germans had lost an army at Stalingrad. Now they were threatened with a super-Stalingrad of the entire German southern wing. The battered Axis divisions were driven back towards the Dnieper, and the Soviet 3rd Guards Tank Army were moving south to cut off Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm List's troops retreating from the Caucasus through Rostov. The SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking had to race north in an orderly but terrible winter retreat to avoid being cut off. All seemed lost, as the newly formed SS-Panzerkorps took the field in the depths of the Soviet winter. Generaloberst Hermann Hoth's 4.Panzerarmee and SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's SS-Panzerkorps caught the Soviets by surprise from all directions and vaporized them. German casualties in these opening days were minimal. The Soviets, however, lost nearly all their tanks, and many men. Credit: British military historian Gordon Williamson and American military historian Robert M. Citino. Middle image: Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft pictured in 1943. Credit: Georgiy Stanislavskiy. SU stock photos. Bottom image: Soviets on the offensive. Photo by Warsaw-born Kremlin photojournalist Dmitri Baltermants. SU stock photos. PD.

ϟϟ-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's ϟϟ-Panzerkorps Deployed to Ukraine

Adolf Hitler demanded the SS-Panzerkorps to defend Kharkov

SS Officers Papa Hausser, Werner Ostendorff & Fritz Klingenberg

Panzerjägers with 88 mm Sd.Kfz164 Hornisse/Nashorn

As the Soviet forces of the Don Front were destroying the German forces in Stalingrad, the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS, Das Reich and Totenkopf were organized into the SS-Panzerkorps. In early February 1943, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler ordered the newly formed corps moved to the Eastern Front with all possible speed to join Feldmarschall Erich von Manstein's Heeresgruppe Süd. SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Paul Hausser was placed in charge of the corps, and was tasked with defending the strategic city of Kharkov, which together with Kursk, was the main objective of the Soviet Voronezh Front. The SS-Panzerkorps was an immensely powerful force and Hitler pinned his hoped-for stabilization of the southern sector of the Eastern Front on it. The first elements to arrive were the Leibstandarte's SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1 under regiment commander Fritz Witt, which threw an improvised defence ring around Kharkov blocking the direct route to the city. Das Reich's SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Deutschland under regiment commander Heinz Harmel, was sent to extend the screen northwards. Also dispatched to the sector was the German élite division Großdeutschland. Top image: portrait of Adolf Hitler taken by Hitler's private cameraman Oberleutnant Walter Frentz. Walter Frentz Collection. Fair use. Middle image: Prussian officers SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser, his Chief of Staff SS-Standartenführer Werner Ostendorff and the highly experienced Das Reich officer SS-Sturmbannführer Fritz Klingenberg at a field commanders' strategy meeting in Ukraine. The photo was taken before the Donets Campaign by South Tyrol-born war correspondent SS-Kriegsberichter Friedrich Zschäckel. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: half-hidden behind an izba, a Panzerjäger Hornisse. Eager eyes scan the snow covered fields in search of the enemy. The strong winds mask engine sounds and disturb the soft snow creating a white screen that conceals movement and blinds the defenders. The tank destroyer is believed to belong to the schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 519. Credit: Rui Manuel Candeias. ECPAD archives. FU.

Soviet Skachok and Zvezda Operations: Early February 1943 (I)

In the Hell of the Eastern Front

SS-Panzergrenadiers of the Leibstandarte SS

Soviet T-34 tank in Stalingrad Oblast east of Ukrainian Donbas

By any reckoning, the strategic situation facing the German Army was dire. To their opponents it appeared that the entire southern wing of the Eastern Front was about to collapse, or already in such a state. Not unnaturally in this context, optimism mounted on the Soviet side. In attempting to exploit as much momentum as possible, the Soviet high command approved two plans for operations. The first, codenamed Operation Skachok, sought to liberate the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region and drive German forces across the Dnieper River. The second, codenamed Operation Zvezda, aimed at liberating Kharkov. Soviet numerical superiority was guaranteed in both operations. During the initial defensive fighting in the first week of February 1943, Paul Hausser's élite SS-Panzergrenadiers held the line firm while a host of retreating Romanian, Italian, Hungarian and fragmented German units streamed westwards past them. As Waffen-SS troops fanned out across the winter wasteland, they had a series of vicious encounters with the advance guard of the Soviet 17th Guards Corps. Intermingled with the Soviet troops were retreating columns of the hard-pressed German 298th and 320th Infantry Divisions, who had marched across the steppe to seek safety in the west. In a couple of cases, Waffen-SS recon troops mounted raids to rescue recently captured infantrymen, racing into Soviet positions on their motorcycles and raking them with machine-gun fire. Credit: military historian Major-General Mungo Melvin and author Tim Ripley. Top clip: Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Middle image: a Sturmgeschütz or StuG protect an infantry column of Swabian Josef Sepp Dietrich's Leibstandarte SS against armored opponents in the endless snow-covered Ukrainian steppe. Photo taken in Feb. 1943. Credit: Georgiy Stanislavskiy. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: Soviet T-34 named 'Motherland' ploughs through the snow after the battle of Stalingrad in Feb. 1943. Photo taken by Jewish-Uzbek Izvestia war correspondent Georgy Zelma Zelmanovich. Soviet Union stock photos.

Soviet Skachok and Zvezda Operations: Early February 1943 (II)

SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's SS-Panzerkorps

SS taking up defensive positions to counter the oncoming Soviets

SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS

The Eastern Front in early 1943 saw no respite from battle for either side, which involved all available units from the German Army. The battered frontline was lashed by freezing winds, which increased the windchill factor considerably. Throughout the first week of February 1943 the Waffen-SS repulsed numerous Soviet attacks, inflicting serious losses on the enemy, who were somewhat shocked at running into strong Waffen-SS units. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS held its sector for two weeks against the full weight of the Soviet 3rd Tank Army, a remarkable feat in itself. Time after time the SS-Panzerkorps was called upon to reinforce, fill and stabilize weak points, and to close the gaps before the onslaught of Soviet troops could pour through. Oftentimes they were outnumbered and arrived just in the nick of time. Unlike the Battle for Moscow in 1941, SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's Waffen-SS troops fighting in the Kharkov campaign were well equipped with winter clothing and equipment. Clips: an armoured half-track personnel carrier Sd.Kfz. of Hausser's SS-Panzerkorps and frontline footage of Waffen-SS in combat under extreme winter conditions on Eastern Front in February 1943. Temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius below zero, snowstorms and the difficulties they caused placed the highest demand on the men, for once again they had to bear the heaviest burdens of the fighting. The volunteers of the Waffen-SS were suffering from frostbite and snow blindness but kept struggling, keenly aware that surrender to the Soviet Red Army meant certain death. SS-KB-Zug III. Deutsche Wochenschau - the official Nazi German war newsreel from 1940 until production discontinued in March 1945. It received film stock from special Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht war reporting units. Today the preserved Wochenschau short films make up a significant part of the audiovisual records of the Nazi era. Fair use.

Soviet Skachok and Zvezda Operations: Early February 1943 (III)

Lötlampen-Bataillon – a daredevil unit swooping behind enemy lines

SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS

SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS

By early February 1943, Soviet tanks and reinforcements were pushing towards the River Dnieper hammering the Germans hard. The Soviets then developed their push on Kharkov with a huge pincer movement. The Waffen-SS fell back deliberately towards Kharkov, during blizzard conditions, in waist-deep snow subjected to frequent ambushes by Soviet troops using the blizzard as cover for their movements. SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's Waffen-SS troops held their front along the Donets with grim determination against furious attacks by the Soviet 7th and 15th Tank Corps. In their positions east of the city, Waffen-SS heavy MG-34 machine-gun detachments inflicted massive casualties on Soviet human-wave infantry attacks across the barren steppe outside Kharkov. The brunt of these assaults were borne by the SS-Panzergrenadiers, Hausser was keeping his panzer regiments well behind the frontline, ready to deal with any major enemy penetration of his front. These were desperate days for the Waffen-SS. With temperatures dropping to minus 40 degrees centigrade, it was vital to hold towns or villages to provide shelter from the elements. Retreat into the freezing night spelt disaster, so the SS volunteers were literally fighting for their own survival. It quickly became clear that sooner or later, Kharkov would become endangered by the Soviet advance. Credit: British authors Gordon Williamson and Tim Ripley. Top image: the driven officer SS-Sturmbannführer Joachim Peiper in conversation with his fellow officers SS-Hauptsturmführer Paul Guhl and SS-Hauptsturmführer Georg Bormann of the 3rd Battalion of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2 LSSAH in early 1943. This unit made quite a name for itself for its night attacks on the Eastern front and was known in divisional and corps areas as the Blowtorch Battalion. The vehicles even used a blowtorch as a tactical symbol. However, some post-war accounts claims that the unit gained the nickname after having set two Ukrainian villages on fire. Credit: Muscovite Bekors. U.S. National Archives. Middle image: a group of battle-hardened SS-Panzergrenadiers of the Leibstandarte SS attending to wounded comrades behind the cover of a damaged Sd.Kfz.250. Photo taken during the fighting in the Kharkov area in February 1943. SS-KB-Zug III. Credit: RyanN. U.S. National Archives. Bottom image: SS-Panzergrenadiers of the much feared Leibstandarte SS amid a house-to-house raid searching for Soviet soldiers. Photo taken in eastern Ukraine in early 1943. Credit: Olga Shirnina. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

Despite Hitler's orders - Evacuation of Kharkov: February 15 1943

Adolf Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop

Officer of SS-Panzerkorps in the Kharkov area

By the evening of February 14 1943, Soviet forces had penetrated into the suburbs of Kharkov. Elements of SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich, however inflicted heavy losses on the enemy and temporarily halted the Soviet push. SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser had received orders from Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler that the city of Kharkov be held at all costs. Hausser was well aware that Kharkov was doomed. Hausser was a realist and would not willingly see his SS-Panzerkorps sacrificed in a pointless defence of a city he already knew was lost. Kharkov was virtually surrounded. Hausser feared that his corps and Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland would share the same fate as Feldmarschall Friedrich Paulus at Stalingrad. He wanted to order an evacuation through a narrow corridor to the southwest. Repeated orders from Hitler to hold the city to the last man and bullet were treated with the contempt they deserved. Hausser bluntly replied that it was too late: It is already settled, Kharkov is being evacuated. He would not countenance the destruction of his corps in a pointless attempt to save Kharkov. He issued orders to pull out on February 15 1943. The corridor linking the city to German-held territory farther west was now only 1.5 km wide at the best. The Soviets were overjoyed at their success in outing the Germans from this strategically important city, but the tenacious defence put up by the Germans had cost the lives of many thousands of their men. Credit: British authors Gordon Williamson and Tim Ripley. Left image: Hitler and Reichsminister Joachim von Ribbentrop at Rastenburg Station in 1943. SS-Obergruppenführer and Reichsleiter Otto Dietrich is visible in the background. Fair use. Right image: a tried and tested officer of Hausser's SS-Panzerkorps gives the order to move out. This photo was taken during the operations in Kharkov in Feb. 1943. Credit: Bekors. Commons: Bundesarchiv.

Hitler flies to Feldmarschall von Manstein's HQ: February 17 1943

Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler with Feldmarschall Erich von Manstein

SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Sepp Dietrich

SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2 Leibstandarte SS

In February 1943, the situation hung in the balance. Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein had an advantage, since his forces were falling back onto their supply bases while the Soviets were leaving theirs behind. Adolf Hitler now demanded the immediate recapture of Kharkov. He insisted that the SS-Panzerkorps be used to launch an immediate counterattack to regain Kharkov. The SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf's arrivel was imminent and the Führer maintained that, thus reinforced, the SS-Panzerkorps should have no trouble in throwing the Soviets out. The Soviets hit their high-water mark on February 19 1943 when a column of T-34 tanks seized the town of Sinelnikovo, barely 50 km from von Manstein's headquarters on the Dnieper. Making matters worse for the Germans, Hitler himself had just flown in to consult with von Manstein. The news that enemy tanks were an hour away led to a scramble. By noon, von Manstein's staff officers had trundled the Führer onto a plane back to Germany. The Soviets had no idea how close they had come to Hitler. The Germans were able to amass around 70,000 men against the 346,000 Red Army personnel that were involved in the defense of Kharkov after the beginning of the German counterstroke dubbed the Donets Campaign. Credit: Robert M. Citino. Top image: von Manstein and Hitler during a briefing on the situation on the Eastern Front in 1943. Von Manstein was one of the few generals who dared speak his mind to Hitler. Guderian was another. Still from Die Deutsche Wochenschau by film producer Oberleutnant Walter Frentz. Fair use. Middle image: Commander of the Leibstandarte SS General Josef Sepp Dietrich visiting SS-Obersturmbannführer Kurt Meyer's headquarters in the Kharkov area in February 1943. Also seen in the picture is SS-Oberscharführer Jupp Steinbüchel and Stabsoffizier SS-Hauptsturmführer Rudolf Fend. Photo probably taken by SS-Untersturmführer and KB Franz Roth who labeled the film as Raum Charkow. The war correspondent Franz Roth himself were shot through his lungs on Feb. 21 1943 near Krasnohrad in the Kharkiv Oblast. He died from the wounds on March 17 1943. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: men of SS-Sturmbannführer Joachim Peiper's 3rd Battalion of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2 scanning the front and bouncing between the trouble spots during the battles around Kharkov in early 1943. The Stummel [officialy an SdKfz 251], a brand new vehicle at this time, was extremely popular because it brought massive fire-power to individual panzergrenadier companies. U.S. NARA.

ϟϟ-Panzergrenadier-Division „Wiking“ February 14 – 19 1943

Sentry of Heeresgruppe Süd

SS-Panzergrenadierdivision Wiking

SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Wiking was ordered to fall back to Ukraine south of Kharkov, recently abandoned by SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's SS-Panzerkorps, and now the scene of fierce fighting for its recapture. Feldmarschall Erich von Manstein threw the Wiking and the 11.Panzer-Division into action against the Soviet Mobile Group Popov, a powerful Soviet tank force, led by 3rd and 4th Tank Corps and supported by hundreds of ski troops. The Soviets were pushing south threatening to break through to the vital rail line. On February 14 1943 the enemy was attacked at Grischino by SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Germania of the Wiking, wich succeeded taking up defensive positions. While the Leibstandarte SS, Das Reich and Totenkopf were striking back at the Soviet spearheads south of Kharkov, on the right flank of the German front the Wiking was involved in a series of brutal skirmishes to hold back the enemy advance. It had great difficulty dealing with the armour-heavy Soviet formation. The men of the division fought fanatically, suffering heavy losses, but was still able to take the offensive and defeat superior odds. Wiking's regiments were exhausted and understrength from the fighting in the Caucasus, and it's Panzer Battalion lacked sufficient armour to counter the Soviet armoured force. Despite this, the division held off the Soviet assault, protecting the vital rail line and helping bring about the destruction of Mobile Group Popov. On February 19 1943, the majority of Markian Popov's force, especially its tanks, had been destroyed. Above and beyond that, the threat to the southern wing in this sector had been averted. After the recapture of Grischino volunteers of SS-Regiment Nordland discovered around 600 corpses that been horribly mutilated and sexually assaulted in a barbaric fashion by the Soviets. Left image: LW sentry of von Manstein's troops stands guard in front of an anti-aircraft gun during the winter defensive battles to stabilize the Eastern Front after the defeat of Stalingrad. Photo by KB Scholz in early 1943. Credit: Facundo Filipe. c. Bundesarchiv. Right image: Wikinger on the Eastern Front, date and location unclear. PD.

German Counterstrike the Donets Campaign: February 19 – March 10 1943

SS-Standartenführer Fritz Witt assessing the situation just outside Kharkov

Whitewashed SS Tigers storming across the Ukrainian steppe

Leibstandarte SS counterattacks south of Kharkov

SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS was to be the anvil of the counterattack based around Krasnograd, while Das Reich and the newly arrived Totenkopf Division swung south and then northwards, forcing the Soviets back onto the guns of the Leibstandarte SS. The Waffen-SS men raced forward at such a break-neck speed that Soviet and German troops often became intermingled. Taken completely by surprise by this unexpected German push, the Soviets retreated northwards in near panic. The Das Reich and the Totenkopf swung to the northeast and run parallel to the Soviet lines of retreat, hammering into the flunks of the fleeing enemy. What followed over the next few days was little more than a slaughter as the powerful Waffen-SS units wreaked havoc among the demoralized enemy. Two entire Soviet armies were destroyed, and over 615 enemy tanks were either knocked out or captured, most of them the latest T-34 models. Over 354 artillery pieces and 600 anti-tank guns were also captured during the first phase of the counterattack. Although they had to abandon their heavy equipment, many Soviet troops were able to make good their escape on foot. Around 9,000 were taken prisoner and 23,000 killed. Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein's 350 tanks outnumbered Soviet armor almost seven to one at the point of contact. Once having rejoined SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's SS-Panzerkorps, after taking part in the destruction of the Kegitschevka pocket, Leibstandarte SS led the way back to the city of Kharkov. Credit: British authors Gordon Williamson, Tim Ripley and George Nipe. Top image: SS-Standartenführer Fritz Witt, Commander of SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 1 Leibstandarte SS during the Donets Campaign. Witt was an original member of the SS-Stabswache Berlin. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom clips: SS-Panzerkorps began its counterattack on February 19 1943. Panzerkampfwagen Tiger n°405 was commanded by Leibstandarte SS company commander SS-Hauptsturmführer Heinrich Kling. Footage from Die Deutsche Wochenschau.

ϟϟ-Panzergrenadier-Division „Leibstandarte ϟϟ“ March 10 1943

Light and medium Reconnaissance Panzers of the Leibstandarte SS

SS-Kampfgruppe Witt before entering Kharkov

Despite the battering its units were taking, the Soviet High Command, moved further troops into the sector, sending an armoured corps into the area south of Kharkov to block any German moves towards the city. The Red Army units facing SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf and the Das Reich to their south, suddenly found that SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser had moved the Leibstandarte SS into their rear, blocking any retreat. The Totenkopf and Das Reich began to push the enemy inexorably northwards against defensive positions rapidly established by the Leibsatandarte SS. Large parts of 4th, 22nd and 15th Soviet Tank Corps were destroyed. A further 61 tanks, 225 guns and 9,000 dead were left on the icy battlefield. The Soviet Sixth Army were totally crushed and the last major obstacle before the gates of Kharkov was removed. Credit: British authors Gordon Williamson and Tim Ripley. Top image: Leibstandarte's battle groups on the Belgorod road running into Kharkov the day before they launch their assault on March 11 1943. For most of the day, the advance down this axis was held up by road-blocks and fierce Russian resistance on the outskirts of the city. SS-Kampfgruppe Witt - II.Bataillon of SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 - spent long hours waiting for the road-blocks to be cleared. The commanders of Panzer III n°555 and Panzer II n°588 scout the horizon with their binoculars. Clearly, they are in no immediate danger as one of the crewman of n°559 takes time to read a newspaper. Credit: After The Battle №112. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: SS-Standartenführer Fritz Witt and SS-Obersturmbannführer Kurt Meyer consult a map of the area and plan their next operation from Northeast of Kharkov. Both photos by war correspondent SS-KB Johan King. c. Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Panzergrenadier-Division „Das Reich“ March 10 1943

Pz.Kpfw. Tiger n°821 of SS-Pz.Gren.Div. Das Reich

SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich moving up in the Kharkov sector

The Waffen-SS had led the way back to the city of Kharkov in close combat under extreme conditions. They were sent into the most difficult combat situation to face death and win. By March 10 1943 the first phase of Feldmarschall Erich von Manstein's offensive was complete. The SS-Panzerkorps and 4.Panzer Armee now linked up for the assault on Kharkov itself. Top image: Tiger n°821 of 8./SS-Panzer-Regiment 2 Das Reich in March 1943, whitewashed for the battle of Kharkov with a Mickey Mouse figure painted on the front of the hull. We can clearly see the small cleats that were added on Feb. 11 1943 to the tracks of these Tigers in response to the icy roads. The tanker standing on the Tiger with a cigarette is tank commander SS-Uscharf. Arthur Glagow. The tank commanders in front of the tank is SS-Ostuf. Philipp Theiss, KIA on July 15 1943 during Operation Zitadelle, and SS-Ustuf. Walter Reininghaus and SS-Ostuf. Hans Gerlach. Priv.coll. Bottom image: with downtown Kharkov looming in the far distance SS-Panzergrenadiers of the Das Reich ride to their destiny. In the far-left background, the tower blocks around Kharkov's town square Maidan Dzerzhynskoho are visible, known to the German army as Red Square. The square was named after the founder of the Bolshevik secret police and later renamed by the Germans as Platz der Leibstandarte. Supported by panzers and assault guns, Das Reich pushed farther into the western section of city. The soldiers mounted on this Sturmgeschütz III belong to the 3rd Battalion of SS-Regiment Deutschland. Das Reich divisional insignia the Wolfsangel rune is faintly visible on the rear of the vehicle. The Third Battle of Kharkov could begin. c. Bundesarchiv.