Hitler's Panzer Armies on the Eastern Fron (42 page)

75. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, pp. 624–25, 627; Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, pp. 272–73; Hinze,
To the Bitter End
, p. 163.

Chapter 3

1. Von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter VI, pp. 9–10; Joachim Neumann,
Die 4. Panzer-Division
, Selbstverlag, 1985, pp. 192, 195; Günther Richter,
Geschichte der 3. Panzer-Division
, Berlin, 1967, p. 109; HP Willmott,
The Great Crusade
, Free Press, 1989, p. 149.

2. Glantz (ed.),
The Initial Period of the War on the Eastern Front
, p. 202; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, pp. 111–13.

3. Von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter VI, pp. 31, 37, 39, 40.

4. Ellis,
Brute Force
, p. 74; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter VI, p. 41; Neumann,
Die 4. Panzer-Division
, pp. 201–2; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, pp. 116–18.

5. Clark,
Barbarossa
, p. 100; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter VI, pp. 52, 57.

6. Helmut Spaeter,
Die Geschichte des Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland
, Selbstverlag, 1958, p. 267. PAK, Panzerabwehrkanonen, or anti–tank gun.

7. Von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XIII, p. 18; Albert Seaton,
Battle for Moscow
, Stein & Day, 1971, p. 124.

8. Joachim Lemelsen,
Die 29. Division
, Podzun Verlag, 1960, pp.117, 119, 121; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XIV, pp. 20, 24; Neumann,
Die 4. Panzer-Division
, pp. 206–9; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, pp. 125–26.

9. Von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XV, p. 4, Chapter XVI, p. 12. Along this stretch of river, the Dnepr’s east bank represented the Stalin Line.

10. David Glantz,
The Battle for Smolensk: 7 July–10 September
, self published, 2001, p. 25; Lemelsen,
Die 29. Division
, p. 123; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XVI, pp. 16–17.

11. Neumann,
Die 4. Panzer-Division
, pp. 219, 229; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, pp. 133, 154.

12. Seaton,
The Russo-German War
,p.162.

13. Glantz,
The Battle for Smolensk
, pp. 13–14, 21.

14. Ibid., pp. 33, 43.

15. Ibid., pp. 43, 47; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XVI, pp. 47–48, 51.

16. Von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XVI, p. 38a.

17. Ibid., Chapter XVII, pp. 17, 20.

18. Timothy Wray,
Standing Fast:German Defensive Doctrine on the Eastern Front during World War Two, Prewar to March 1943
, US Army Command and General Staff College, 1986, pp. 40–42.

19. Spaeter,
Die Geschichte des Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland
, p. 286.

20. Von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XVI, p. 45 n.

21. Ibid., Chapter XVI, pp.51, 53–55.

22. Haupt,
Army Group South
, p. 60. Ian Kershaw,
Nemesis, 1939–1945
, Norton, 2001, pp. 413–14.

23. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 599; Brian Fugate and Lev Dvoretsky,
Thunder on the Dnepr
, Presidio Press, 1997, p. 341; Glantz and House,
When Titans Clashed
, p. 76; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 69.

24. Paul Carell,
Hitler Moves East, 1941–1943
, Ballantine Books, 1971, pp. 115–16. Three lieutenants, junior officers for such a sensitive mission, led the charge: Buchterkirch – 6th Panzer Regiment; Storck – Engineer Company, 394th Motorized Infantry Regiment; Vopel – 1st Company, 394th Motorized Infantry.

25. Bergstrom and Mikhailov,
Black Cross, Red Star
, p. 149; Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, pp. 206–7; James Lucas,
War on the Eastern Front: The German Soldier in Russia, 1941–1945
, Greenhill Books, 1998, pp. 187–89.

26. Bergstrom and Mikhailov,
Black Cross, Red Star
, p. 152; Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, pp. 207–8; Fugate and Dvoretsky,
Thunder on the Dnepr
, p. 259; Lucas,
War on the Eastern Front
, p. 190.

27. Boog et al.,
Germany and the Second World War
, Vol. IV, p. 601; Clark,
Barbarossa
, p. 136; Haupt,
Army Group South
, p. 75; Haupt,
Kiev
, p. 155; Lucas,
War on the Eastern Front
, pp. 190–1. Different sources give different dates for the Lokhvitsa junction, 15 September is from Boog et al.

28. Joel Hayward,
Stopped at Stalingrad: Luftwaffe and Hitler’s Defeat in the East 1942–1943
, University of Kansas, 1998, p. 136; von Luttichau, unpublished manuscript, Chapter XXX, pp. 17, 24; Klaus Reinhardt,
Moscow, The Turning Point
,
Berg, 1992, pp. 57–58; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, p. 186. One regiment can hardly be considered an adequate reserve for an army sized formation.

29. Bergstrom and Mikhailov,
Black Cross, Red Star
, p. 195; Glantz,
Barbarossa
, pp. 144–45, 148; Haywood,
Stopped at Stalingrad
, pp. 139, 141; Reinhardt,
Moscow
, pp. 79, 82; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, p. 186.

30. Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, pp. 305, 310.

31. Glantz,
Barbarossa
, p. 149; Haywood,
Stopped at Stalingrad
, pp. 143, 146; Reinhardt,
Moscow
, p. 87. Eremenko and an adjutant escaped and eventually made it to a 3rd Army command post several days later. On the 13th he was wounded by a Luftwaffe raid and would be out of the war for nearly a year.

32. Neumann,
Die 4. Panzer-Division
, pp. 315, 324; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, p. 192; Willmott,
The Great Crusade
, p. 156.

33. Neumann,
Die 4. Panzer-Division
, pp. 333, 335; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, pp. 194–95, 197–99.

34. Glantz,
Barbarossa
, pp. 162, 168; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, pp. 199, 201–2, 208–9. When the Soviets recaptured Yasnya Polyana they claimed the Germans had done heavy damage to the place.

35. Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, p. 260; Glantz,
Barbarossa
, p. 172; Haywood,
Stopped at Stalingrad
, p. 167; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 104; Neumann,
Die 4. PanzerDivision
, pp. 379, 383; Reinhardt,
Moscow
, pp. 224–25; Richter,
Geschichte der 3
, p. 209.

36. Haupt,
Army Group Center
, pp. 101–2; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 65, 67, 73, 95. As had been the case that summer at Yelnia, final locations where panzer thrusts petered out did not always equate to the best defensive sites.

37. Haupt,
Army Group Center
, pp. 104, 106; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp.77, 79–81, 83, 94. ‘Sick leave’ was often a Nazi euphemism for ‘relieved of duty’, but von Bock had been suffering legitimate stomach illness much of his life. Von Brauchitsch, on the other hand, had been completely broken by Hitler.

38. Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 85–86, 88, 90–91, 95–97. Acknowledging the situation on the ground, von Kluge officially transferred XLIII Corps to Fourth Army on the 18th.

39. Ibid., pp. 97–100. Guderian claims to have issued the prohibited ‘Order of the Day’ anyhow.

40. Ibid., pp. 101, 122–23; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 113.

41. Roger Edwards,
Panzer: A Revolution in Warfare
, Arms & Armor, 1989, p. 172; Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, pp. 316–17; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 164, 169–70, 175. In mid–January, von Weichs returned from sick leave to take the helm of Second Army freeing Schmidt to command Second Panzer only.

42. Haupt,
Army Group Center
, pp. 115, 123; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 178–79, 241.

43. Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 252, 254, 329.

44. Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 125; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, pp. 398, 402–6.

45. Dunn,
Kursk
,p.9.

46. Erickson,
Road to Stalingrad
, pp. 57, 59; David Glantz and Jonathan House,
The Battle of Kursk
, University of Kansas, 2004, pp.22, 51; Glantz and House,
When
Titans Clashed
, p. 146; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 142; Ziemke and Bauer,
Moscow to Stalingrad
, p. 117.

47. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, p. 108; Glantz and House,
The Battle of Kursk
, pp. 229, 233; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 137, 139. With Citadel faltering, the 3rd Guards Tank Army was now available.

48. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, pp. 113–14; Glantz and House,
The Battle of Kursk
, p. 235; Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 161; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 139.

49. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, pp. 114–15; Glantz and House,
The Battle of Kursk
, pp. 238–40; Haupt,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 163; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 140–41.

50. Hubert Lanz et al.,
German Antiguerrilla Operations in the Balkans, 1941–44,US
Army Center for Military History Publication 104–18, 1989, p. 119; Glantz and House,
The Battle of Kursk
, p. 233; Otto Kumm,
Prinz Eugen
, Fedorowicz, 1995, p. 30; Mitcham and Mueller,
Hitler’s Commanders
, p. 198; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 365.

51. Hubert Lanz et al.,
German Antiguerrilla Operations;
Kumm,
Prinz Eugen
, pp. 59, 63, 69; Neidhardt,
Mit Tanne und Eichenlaub
, pp. 259, 262, 274; Alois Beck,
Bis Stalingrad
, H Abt Verlag, 1983, pp. 239, 241.

52. Kumm,
Prinz Eugen
, p. 77.

53. Ibid., pp. 73, 77, 85, 89–91; Anthony Read and David Fisher,
The Fall of Berlin
, Norton, 1992, p. 224. Volksdeutsche were Germans living outside the Reich borders.

54. Kumm,
Prinz Eugen
, p. 116.

55. Hubert Lanz et al.,
German Antiguerrilla Operations;
Kumm,
Prinz Eugen
, pp. 96, 114, 116; Neidhardt,
Mit Tanne und Eichenlaub
, p. 298.

56. Kumm,
Prinz Eugen
, pp. 117–118, 141.

57. Ibid., p. 126.

58. Hubert Lanz et al.,
German Antiguerrilla Operations;
Kumm,
Prinz Eugen
, pp. 120–24, 126, 130, 142, 145. Böhme committed suicide on 20 May 1947 by jumping from the fourth floor of his prison in Nuremberg.

59. Kumm,
Prinz Eugen
, pp. 159, 171; Neidhardt,
Mit Tanne und Eichenlaub
, p. 298; Mitcham and Mueller,
Hitler’s Commanders
, p. 201.

60. Kumm,
Prinz Eugen
, p. 171; Mitcham and Mueller,
Hitler’s Commanders
, pp. 201–2, 204–6; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, pp. 375–78.

61. Peter Gasztony,
Der Kampf um Budapest
, Schnell & Steiner, 1964, pp. 16, 18–19, 24; Mitcham and Mueller,
Hitler’s Commanders
, pp. 228–29; Ziemke,
Stalingrad to Berlin
, p. 382. The American Standard Oil Co. built new wells at Nagykanizsa in 1939, producing 200,000 tons per year. Production increased to 600,000 tons during the war, half of which went to Germany. Perry Pierik,
Hungary, 1944–1945
, Aspekt Books, 1996.

62. Gasztony,
Der Kampfum Budapest
, pp. 59–60; Peter Gasztony,
Endkampfan der Donau, 1944–1945
, Molden Books, 1969, p. 144.

63. Erickson,
Road to Berlin
, pp. 510, 514, 516; Gasztony,
Endkampf an der Donau
, pp. 224 n. 37; Pierik,
Hungary
, p. 249.

64. Beck,
Bis Stalingrad
, p. 303.

65. Ibid., p. 292; Gasztony,
Endkampf an der Donau
, p. 271.

Chapter 4

1. Haupt,
Army Group Center
, p. 32.

2. Ibid., p. 27.