Hitler's Panzer Armies on the Eastern Fron (40 page)

21. Evans,
The Fall of France
, pp. 75, 122; Frieser, ‘Panzer Group Kleist’, p. 178; Horne,
To Lose a Battle
, pp. 422, 433, 468; Shepperd,
France 1940
, p. 80.

22. Deighton,
Blitzkrieg
, pp. 330–31; 487; Horne,
To Lose a Battle
, pp. 498, 508; Maier,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. II, p. 287; von Mellenthin,
Panzer Battles
, pp. 21–22. The southern, French pincer never materialized, Evans,
The Fall of France
, p. 92. By the 22nd, some German sources also refer to a Panzer Group Hoth, Mehner (ed.),
Die Geheimen Tagesberichete der deutschen Wehrmachtführung im Zweiten Weltkrieg
, Vol. 2, p. 21.

23. Davis,
von Kleist
, p. 13; Guderian,
Panzer Leader
, p. 91; Maier,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. II, pp. 289–90; von Mellenthin,
Panzer Battles
, pp. 22–23.

24. Maier,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. II, p. 291. It is interesting to compare panzer losses of the first 11 days, 10–20 May (Ardennes, Meuse, race across north-east France) – 127 destroyed, with the second 11 days, 21–31 May (action near the Channel coast) – 485 destroyed, nearly a factor of 4; Maier, ibid., p. 290.

25. Davis,
von Kleist
, p. 13, Deighton,
Blitzkrieg
, p. 350; Guderian,
Panzer Leader
, p. 100; Horne,
To Lose a Battle
, p. 556; Mehner (ed.),
Die Geheimen Tagesberichete der deutschen Wehrmachtführung im Zweiten Weltkrieg
, Vol. 2, pp. 27, 64, 70; von Mellenthin,
Panzer Battles
, pp. 24–25.

26. Mehner (ed.),
Die Geheimen Tagesberichete der deutschen Wehrmachtführung im Zweiten Weltkrieg
, Vol. 2, pp. 65, 70, 79, 82, 94.

27. Helmut Greiner et al.,
The German Campaign in the Balkans
, US Army Center for Military History Publication (104–1), 1953, pp. 22–24, 30–32, 41. As Robert Citino has written in
The Death of the Wehrmacht: The German Campaigns of 1942
, University of Kansas, 2007, p. 20, the significance of Belgrade lay not only in its status as Yugoslavia’s capital, but because of its strategic importance to Yugoslavia, therefore their army could not afford to lose the city and
had
to defend it.

28. Greiner et al.,
The German Campaign in the Balkans
, pp. 51–52, 56; Mehner (ed.),
Die Geheimen Tagesberichete der deutschen Wehrmachtführung im Zweiten Weltkrieg
, Vol. 2, p. 56; von Mellenthin,
Panzer Battles
, p. 35.

29. Luttwak, ‘The Operational Level of War’, pp. 64, 67.

30. Ibid., pp. 68–70.

Chapter 2

1. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, Appendix 2.

2. GW Schrodek,
Ihr Glaube galt dem Vaterland
, Schild Verlag, 1976, p. 119. A
Panzerstrasse
, sometimes called a
(Panzer) Rollbahn
, was a high-quality road reserved for the use of the panzers and their support units.

3. John Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad: Stalin’s War with Germany
, Yale University, 1999, pp. 91, 160; James Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations, June–September, 1941’, MA dissertation, University of Calgary, 1994; pp. 42, 50.

4. David Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front, 22 June–August 1941
, Frank Cass, 1993, pp.255, 259, 261; Werner Haupt,
Army Group
South: The Wehrmacht in Russia, 1941–1945
, Schiffer Military History, 1998, p. 18; Eberhard von Mackensen,
Vom Bug bis zum Kaukasus
, Vowinkel, 1967, p. 11; Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations’, pp. 51, 53.

5. Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, pp. 261, 264, 268, 272; David Glantz and Jonathan House,
When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler
, University of Kansas, 1995, p. 54; Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations’, p. 54.

6. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 549–51.

7. Cajus Bekker,
Luftwaffe War Diaries
, Ballantine Books, 1969, p. 551; Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, pp. 276, 279; Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, p. 54; Schrodek,
Ihr Glaube galt dem Vaterland
, pp. 133–34; Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations’, p. 56; GK Zhukov, ‘The War Begins: The Battle of Moscow’,
Main Front
, Brassey’s, 1987, p. 9. The Germans held the battleield which greatly improved the recovery and maintenance rates of their damaged equipment and vehicles. Thanks to Göring’s personal intervention no Stukas flew in support of von Kleist until 16 July, Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 778; Charles von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, US Army Center for Military History, n.d., Chapter X, p. 10.

8. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 555, 557; Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, pp. 165, 167; Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, p. 279; Werner Haupt,
Kiev
, Podzun Verlag, 1964, p. 26.

9. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 556; David Glantz,
Barbarossa
, Tempus, 2001, n. 79; Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, pp. 282, 312; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter X, pp. 2, 9; Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations’, p. 75.

10. Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, pp. 314–16; Haupt,
Kiev
, p. 29; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter X, p. 9; von Mackensen,
Vom Bug bis zum Kaukasus
, pp. 14–15; Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations’, p. 74. As soon as III Panzer reached the Irpen, von Mackensen received notice that ‘orders from the highest authority’ (Hitler) were to halt immediately. The Führer had decided he wanted no part in urban combat, a wise lesson, but one he would apply very unevenly for the rest of the war.

11. Von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter X, p. 12; von Mackensen,
Vom Bug bis zum Kaukasus
, p. 16; Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations’, p. 75; Zhukov, ‘The War Begins’, p. 18. During the first three weeks of Barbarossa, First Panzer Army claimed 1,200 tanks destroyed, while Luftflotte Four claimed another 250, Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, p. 303; Samuel Mitcham,
Men of the Luftwaffe
, Presidio Press, 1988, p. 134.

12. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 560–61; Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, p. 171; Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, p. 316; Haupt,
Army Group South
, p. 33; Haupt,
Kiev
, p. 36; von Mackensen,
Vom Bug bis zum Kaukasus
, p. 17; Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations’, p. 79. The Eleventh Army was supposed to participate in the planned
Kessel
, but for many reasons could not make the rendezvous.

13. Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, p. 203; Haupt,
Army Group South
, p. 32; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter X, pp. 21–23, 26; Schrodek,
Ihr Glaube galt dem Vaterland
, p. 154, ‘toy gun’ refers to the dummy main armament
on a command tank. On 10 July, Stavka created ‘Directions’ to coordinate the efforts of two or more fronts, in this case, Southwestern and Southern plus the Black Sea Fleet.

14. Alan Clark,
Barbarossa
, William Morrow, 1965, p. 134; Haupt,
Kiev
, p. 45; Haupt,
Army Group South
, pp. 33, 37, 39; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter X, p. 26, Chapter XI, pp. 6, 23; Wolfgang Werthen,
Geschichte der 16. Panzer Division
, Podzun Verlag, 1958, p. 54. Originally First Panzer and Seventeenth Armies were to meet at Uman, but in view of delays incurred near Vinnitsa by the latter, the rendezvous was moved to Pervomaisk.

15. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 563, 567; Martin van Creveld,
Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton
, Cambridge, 1977, p. 164; Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, p. 204; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XII, pp. 7, 9; Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations’, p. 76.

16. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 596–97, 783; Walter Görlitz,
Paulus and Stalingrad: A Life of Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus with Notes, Correspondence and Documents from His Papers
, Greenwood, 1974, p. 129; Haupt,
Army Group South
, pp. 53, 55; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XII, pp. 10, 12, 14–15, 17; Mitcham,
Men of the Luftwaffe
, p. 142; Werthen,
Geschichte der 16. Panzer Division
, p. 61. Both the Hungarian and Italian corps were far to the rear of the panzers and very low on supplies. Stavka gave Southern Front permission to evacuate the Dniester area so long as a garrison remained in Odessa. Earl Ziemke and Magda Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad: Decision in the East
, Military Heritage Press, 1988, p. 33.

17. Brian Fugate,
Operation Barbarossa: Stategy and Tactics on the Eastern Front, 1941
, Presidio Press, 1984, p. 262; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XII, p. 25.

18. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 600; Haupt,
Kiev
, pp. 54–55, 63; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XII, pp. 18, 24; von Mackensen,
Vom Bug bis zum Kaukasus
, pp. 26, 29; Samuel Mitcham and Gene Mueller,
Hitler’s Commanders: Officers of the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and the Waffen–SS
, Scarborough House, 1992, p. 95.

19. Christer Bergstrom and Andrey Mikhailov,
Black Cross, Red Star: Volume 1, Operation Barabrossa 1941
, Pacifica Military History, 2000, p. 152; Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 600–1; Haupt,
Army Group South
, pp. 63, 70; Sterrett, ‘Southwest Front Operations’, pp. 87–88.

20. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 783, 874–75; Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, pp. 207–8; Fugate,
Operation Barbarossa
, pp. 262, 265; Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, p. 76; Haupt,
Army Group South
, pp. 65, 71, 73, 139, 141. Date for closing Kiev pocket at Lokhvitsa is alternatively given as 14 or 15 September. I have used date reflected in OKW War Diary, Hans–Adolf Jacobsen,
Kriegstagebuch: das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
, Bernard & Graefe, 1965, p. 636.

21. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 604–5, 608, 612–13; Following Kiev, Stavka abolished the Southwest Direction, the defenses reverted to Southwestern and Southern Fronts, Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, p. 210.

22. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 607, 613; Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, p. 255; Haupt,
Kiev
, p. 89; Giovanni Messe,
Der Krieg im Osten
,
Thomas Verlag, 1948, pp. 123–24. In early October, panzer groups and motorized corps began to be renamed panzer armies and corps.

23. Bergstrom and Mikhailov,
Black Cross, Red Star
, p. 153; Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 607–8, 610, 1119–20; Helmut Breymayer,
Das Wiesel: Geschichte der 125 Infantrie Division, 1940–44
, Vaas Verlag, 1983, p. 158; van Creveld,
Supplying War
, p. 165; von Mackensen,
Vom Bug bis zum Kaukasus
, pp. 38–39, 41.

24. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 617, 788; Messe,
Der Krieg im Osten
, pp. 129–30, 133, 135, 137.

25. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, pp. 617–19; van Creveld,
Supplying War
, p. 165; Werthen,
Geschichte der 16. Panzer Division
, p. 74. The Motorized Brigade, later expanded to a division, was the one combat-worthy formation contributed by Slovakia.

26. Bergstrom and Mikhailov,
Black Cross, Red Star
, p. 241;
Germany and the Second World War
, p. 884; Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, p. 265; Werner Haupt,
Army Group Center: The Wehrmacht in Russia, 1941–1945
, Schiffer Military History, 1997, p. 102; Joel Hayward,
Stopped at Stalingrad: Luftwaffe and Hitler’s Defeat in the East 1942–1943
, University of Kansas, 1998, p. 54; von Mackensen,
Vom Bug bis zum Kaukasus
, p. 42; Charles Messenger,
Hitler’s Gladiator: The Life and Wars of Panzer Army Commander Sepp Dietrich
, Brassey’s, 1988, p. 104.