Timeline 1942
January
January 2nd: Forces of the Kalinin Front open a counter attack in the direction of Vyazma.
January 4th: Mobile Group Belov penetrates German defences south of Kaluga and advances in the direction of Vyazma.
January 5th: Forces of the German 11th Army in the Crimea, repulse a Soviet landing at Eupatoria on the Kerch Peninsula.
January 7th: Forces of the Kalinin and Western Fronts widen their offensives to the west of Moscow. The Kalinin Fronts 39th Army penetrates into the German rear and advances towards the Smolensk-Moscow Highway. Further south, the Western Fronts 33rd Army, advances towards Vyazma.
January 8th: Forces of the Volkhov Front begin an offensive near Lake Ilmen, to the east of Leningrad.
January 15th: German Army Group Centre evacuates the Kaluga sector and takes up winter positions further west.
January 18th: Forces of the Northwestern Front, encircle several German divisions at Demjansk, near Lake Ilmen. In the Crimea, the German 11th Army recaptures Feodosia and seals off the Russian bridgehead at Kerch. In the south, the Southwestern and Southern Fronts begin an offensive towards Kharkov, striking at the junction of Army Group South's 6th and 17th Armies.
January 24th: German troops of Army Group Centre recapture Suchinitshe near Kaluga.
January 27th: The 1st Guards and 11th Cavalry Corps begin an offensive in the Vyazma area, supported by the 8th Airborne Brigade.
January 31st: The Russian offensive
to the east of Kharkov is contained, after an advance of over 100km by
the 6th and 57th Armies. The resulting bulge becomes known as the Barvenkovo
salient.
February
February 3rd: German forces of the 5th and 11th Panzer Divisions launch a counterattack at Vyazma, cutting off and encircling several Russian divisions.
February 8th: The German 2nd Corps is encircled at Demyansk and has to be re-supplied by air.
February 27th:
In the Crimea, the Russian 44th and 51st Armies launch counter offensives
around Parpach and Sevastopol.
The
T-70 Model 1942 is introduced into service to replace the T-60. The vehicle
featured an improved power plant and a redesigned turret, which housed
the 45mm Zis 19BM gun.
March 13th: The Red Army launches an attack against the German 11th Army from the Kerch peninsula in eastern Crimea.
March 20th: The Russian offensive at Kerch in the Crimea is defeated with heavy losses.
The
Stug III Ausf. F is introduced into service. It
was mounted with the new 75mm StuK 40 L/43 gun. The long 75mm gun allowed
assault guns to combat tanks and also afforded greater accuracy at longer
ranges.
The
Marder II is introduced into service. It is based on the obsolete PzKfw
II chassis and armed with the 75mm PaK 40/2 L/46 anti-tank gun.
April 5th: Hitler orders plans for the execution of Fall Blau (Operation Blue), the new summer offensive on the southern front in the East, designed to reach the Volga, as well as to capture the Caucasus oilfields.
April 9th: Russian forces of the 51st Army launch an offensive in the Kerch Peninsula, in the Crimea.
April 11th: The Russian offensive in the Kerch Peninsula is halted.
April 22nd: German forces encircled in the Demyansk pocket are finally relived.
April 23rd: In the north, the Russian 14th Army launches attacks against the German-Finnish 3rd Corps.
April 28th: In the north, forces of the 26th Army launch an offensive against the German 19th Mountain Corps, to the southwest of Murmansk.
May
The
PzKfw IV Ausf F2/G is introduced into service. It
is based on the long version PzKpfw IV chassis and armed with the newer
75mm KwK 40 L/43 gun. The installation of the new gun increased the overall
weight of the tank and reduced its speed. The new gun was mounted with
double baffle muzzle brake and late model Ausf G's were fitted with steel
armour skirts. Other new features included a new simplified turret design
mounted with smoke grenade launchers.
May 1st: The siege of the Crimean fortress of Sevastopol, by the 11th Army, continues with a ceaseless bombardment from heavy artillery and up to 1000 sorties per day flown by the Luftwaffe. In the north, heavy fighting also continues on the front around the besieged city of Leningrad, whose inhabitants are suffering from bombing, disease and starvation.
May12th: Russian forces launch a two prongued attack towards Kharkov. The northern pincer is launched from Volchansk by the 28th and 57th Armies and the southern from the Barvenkovo salient by the 6th and 9th Armies. The attacks run into the German 6th Army, which is assembling for operation 'Frederikus'.
May 17th: In the south, the Germans begin operation 'Frederikus', the counter offensive against Russian forces to the east of Kharkov.
May 18th: The German 11th Army re-captures Kerch in eastern Crimea, forcing the remaining elements of the Russian 44th and 51st Army to either surrender or withdraw across the straits into the Taman peninsula. Some 170,000 Russian prisoners are captured.
May 22nd: The encirclement of
Russian forces to the east of Karkov is completed. Army Group Bobkin,
the 9th and 57th Armies are almost completely destroyed and over 241,000
Russian prisoners are captured. Worse still, a host of senior commanders
are either killed or captured.
The
PzKfw III Ausf L is introduced into service.
The main improvement was a new torsion bar gun counter balance, which
replaced the original coil spring gun recoil mechanism. Armour protection
on the front turret was increased to 57mm and 20mm spaced armour was installed
on the gun mantlet. Many vehicles were also mounted with 5mm hull and
turret armour skirts (Schurzen).
The PzKfw III Ausf N is introduced into service. The Ausf N, whose major improvement was its main armament. It was armed with a short 75mm KwK 37 L/24 gun, with internal ammunition stowage modified to 56 rounds. Vehicles produced from March of 1943 were factory mounted with 5mm hull and turret armour skirts (Schurzen) and vehicles produced from early 1943 were factory applied with Zimmerit - anti-magnetic paste.
June 7th: In the Crimea, the11th Army begins its final assault on the Russian fortress of Sevastopol.
June 10th: The German 6th Army forces the withdrawal of the remnants of the 6th and 9th Armies from the Kharkov area and captures Volchansk and Kupyansk.
June 18th: In the Crimea, 11th Army's 30th and 54th Corps break into the outer defences surrounding the fortress of Sevastopol.
June 28th: The beginning of Fall Blau (Operation Blue), the German summer offensive on the southern front in Russia. From the area of Kursk, the German 4th Panzer and 2nd Armies, strike at the junction of the Bryansk and Southwestern Fronts and advance toward Voronezh on the upper Don.
June 30th: In the south, the
German 6th Army begins an offensive from the area of Belgorod toward the
Don River.
July
July 1st: In the Crimea, 11th Army's 54th Corps completes the capture of the fortress of Sevastopol.
July 4th: The campaign in the Crimea ends, as the last Russian forces in the Khersones Peninsula surrender. The German 11th Army captures 97,000 Russian prisoners.
July 7th: As the 4th Panzer Army makes considerable gains, the 24th Panzer Division captures Voronezh on the Don.
July 8th: Following its capture of Voronezh, the 4th Panzer Army begins an offensive to the southeast, along the west bank of the Don to meet up with 6th Army, which is itself advancing eastwards towards the Don from Kharkov.
July 10th: Armoured units of the 4th Panzer and 6th Armies join up to the north of Kalach on the Don. Further south, the 17th and 1st Panzer Armies open their advance from the Artemovsk region towards Rostov.
July 12th: The STAVKA establishes a new Stalingrad Front under Marshal Timoshenko, consisting of the 21st, 62nd, 63rd and 64th Armies. In the north, the recently arrived 11th Army completes the reduction of the Volkhov pocket, taking 30,000 Russian prisoners.
July 15th: In the south, units of the 4th Panzer Army capture Kamensk on the Donets.
July 17th: The 50th Corps completes the encirclement of the Russian 9th and 38th Armies at Millerovo.
July 18th: In the south, units of the 17th Army capture Voroshilovgrad in the Donets industrial region.
July 22nd: Units of the 1st Panzer Army are fighting their way into the northern outskirts of Rostov, which is fiercely defended by the Red Army.
July 23rd: Rostov-on-Don
is captured by elements of the 1st Panzer Army, thus clearing the way
for the advance of Army Group A into the Caucasus and Kuban region.
Elements of the 6th Army attack the forward defensive positions of the
62nd and 64th Armies along the Chir River.
July 27th: Elements of the Grossdeutschland Division capture Bataysk, while 6th Army launches an attack to destroy a bridgehead west of Stalingrad at Kalach.
July 29th: Elements of the 1st Panzer Army capture Proletarskaya and establish a bridgehead over the Manych River in the Caucasus region.
July 30th: Russian
forces open a counter-offensive at Rzhev, leading to the temporary encirclement
of six German divisions. Army Group A consolidates its bridgehead over
the Manych River, while Army Group B struggles to reduce the Russian
bridgehead at Kalach in the Don Bend west of Stalingrad.
August
The
KV-1s is introduced into service. The
vehicle was 5 tons lighter than the KV and KV-1 versions. Frontal armour
was reduced to 60mm and the hull was completely redesigned. The transmission
and gearbox were also replaced and the turret design was improved. The
vehicle was fitted with the newly developed 85mm S-31 gun, which led
to a reduction of the crew to four.
August 1st: Army Group A continues to fan out into the Caucasus region as its advance units reach the Kuban River. Army Group B is involved in heavy fighting near Kalach, in the Don bend.
August 3rd: In the Caucasus, units of the 1st Panzer Army capture Stavropol. Further north, elements of the 4th Panzer Army reach the Volga River, to the south of Stalingrad, at Krasnoarmeisk.
August 4th: Advance units of the 4th Panzer Army cross the Aksai river in their drive toward Stalingrad.
August 6th: In the Caucasus, units of the1st Panzer Army cross the Kuban River at Armavir.
August 7th: Units of the 6th Army cross the Don River at Kalach in their advance toward Stalingrad.
August 9th: In the Caucasus, units of the 1st Panzer Army reach the first major oilfield at Maikop. However, the retreating Russian forces have destroyed most of the wells.
August 12th: In their advance south toward the Grozny oilfields, units of the 1st Panzer Army capture Elista, while units of the 17th Army reach Krasnodar.
August 14th: Units of the 17th Army cross the upper Kuban River at Krasnodar in the Caucasus.
August 20th: The Russian 21st and 63rd Armies launch a counter offensive, which manages force back the Italian 8th Army, establishing a bridgehead on the Don River at Serifimovich. Further north the 1st Guards Army secure another bridgehead at Kremenskaia.
August 21st: 6th Army's 51st Corps crosses the Don River and establishes bridgeheads at Luchinsky and Vertyachy.
August 22nd: In the Caucasus, the advance of the 17th Army toward the Black Sea port of Suchum bogs down. Men of the 1st Gebirgs Division, hoist the German flag on the summit of Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in the Caucasus.
August 23rd: After
a year-long siege of the city, Hitler orders the final attack on Leningrad
named operation 'Nordlich'. At Stalingrad, the Luftwaffe launches a
concerted attack that devastates the city. The Luftwaffe flies 1600
sorties over the city, dropping over 1000 tons of bombs. Elements of
the 16th Panzer Division, following a rapid advance from the Don, reach
the west bank of the Volga at Rynok, north of Stalingrad.
August 25th: In the Caucasus, units of the 1st Panzer Army capture Mozdok.
August 27th: In
the north, Russian forces begin a counter attack against the German
18th Army to the south of Lake Ladoga.
The
PzKfw VI is introduced into service. The turret boasts 110mm of armour
on the mantlet and the hull is up to 100mm thick. The vehicle is fitted
with the 88mm KwK 36 L/56 gun.
September 1st: In the Caucasus, units of the 1st Panzer Army force a bridgehead across the Terek River, at Mozdok in the Caucasus.
September 3rd: 6th Army's 51st Corps, joins up with forward elements of the 4th Panzer Army advancing from the south, closing the ring around the city.
September 6th: The 4th Gebirgs Division of 17th Army captures the Black Sea port of Novorossisk.
September 9th: Russian forces begin a series of attacks in an attempt to dislodge the German 9th Army in the Rzhev salient.
September 10th: The 29th Motorized
Division reaches the Volga at Kuporosnoe to the south of Stalingrad, forcing
a wedge between the 62nd and 64th Armies.
September 13th: The German forces at Stalingrad make their first attack into the city proper. The 51st Corps attacks the Mamayev Kurgan and into the city towards the main railway station.
September 16th: At Stalingrad the Russian 42nd Rifle Regiment recaptures the summit of the Mamayev Kurgan as fierce fighting rages for possession of the strategic hill overlooking Stalingrad.
September 17th: At Stalingrad, the 48th Panzer Corps advances into the south of the city with fierce fighting centred around the Grain Elevator.
September 20th: In Stalingrad, units of the 94th Infantry Division finally capture the Grain Elevator.
September 24th: General Halder is forced to resign as chief of staff of OKH by Hitler and is replaced by General Zeitzler. In the Caucasus, units of the 1st Panzer Army launch an attack against the Black Sea port of Tuapse.
September 26th: At Stalingrad, German forces begin another offensive in the city, attacking the Barrikady and Red October workers settlements.
September 30th: At Stalingrad, German forces attack the Red October metal works and the Barrikady armament factory. To the north of the city, forces of the Don Front attack the 14th Panzer Corps.
The PzKfw III Ausf M is introduced into service. The Ausf M was fitted with new wading equipment, allowing wading up to an increased depth of approximately 1.3m.
October 3rd: The 6th Army continues to push the Russian 62nd Army back toward the Volga, but with heavy losses to both sides.
October 4th: In Stalingrad the 14th Panzer and 60th Motorized Division's launch an attack in force to capture the Tractor Factory in the northern part of the city.
October 6th: The 3rd Panzer Corps captures Malgobek at the bend of the Terek River in the Caucasus.
October 9th: The Red Army ends its system of dual leadership, by abolishing the position of the Communist political commissar, in favour of a single military commander within its units.
October 14th: In the northern part of Stalingrad, the 14th Panzer Division resumes its attacks against the heavily defended Tractor Factory. Units of the 84th Tank Brigade counter attack, but fail to halt the German advance.
October 18th: The advance by Army Group A toward the Black Sea port of Tuapse is halted due to difficult terrain and stubborn Soviet resistance.
October 22nd: Against fierce Soviet resistance, the 6th Army capture most of the Red October and Barricades factories in the northern part of the city.
October 25th: Germans capture two more streets in Stalingrad with severe losses. The last German offensive in the Caucasus begins.
October 27th: The Soviet 37th Army is defeated in Caucasus.
October 29th: The Germans capture Nalchik in the Caucasus, only 50 miles from the Grozny oil fields.
November
November 1st: In their advance toward Ordshonikidse in the Caucasus, units of 3rd Panzer Corps capture Alagir on the upper Terek river.
November 2nd: Due to increasing supply problems and the onset of winter, the advance of Army Group A into the Caucasus slows, when the 13th Panzer Division, of the 3rd Panzer Corps, is halted 5 miles short of Ordshonikidze, the southeastern most point in Russia to be reached by the Wehrmacht.
November 6th: Halted before Ordshonikidse in the Caucasus, the 13th Panzer Division is fighting to prevent itself being cut off by superior Russian forces attacking its flanks and rear. In a speech to the Congress of Soviet Deputies, Stalin warns the United States and Britain that 'the absence of a second front against Fascist Germany may end badly for all freedom loving countries, including the Allies themselves'. He declares that 'the aim of the coalition is to save mankind from reversion to savagery and mediaeval brutality'.
November 11th: 6th Army launches its last major attack to capture Stalingrad and succeeds in reaching the Volga near the Red October factory on a frontage of 600 yards. In the Caucasus, the 13th Panzer Division of 3rd Panzer Corps begins to disengage its units halted before Ordshonikidse, to avoid being cut off by heavy Russian attacks.
November 19th: The Red Army opens its winter offensive, operation 'Uranus', with a pincer movement round Stalingrad with the aim of encircling and destroying the German forces fighting in Stalingrad. The initial attack, by the 5th Tank Army from the north, breaks through the defences of the 3rd Rumanian Army. In the south, the 4th Mechanized Corps breaks through the 4th Rumanian Army, which is overrun and scattered.
November 20th: Northeast and southwest of Stalingrad, the attacking Russian armies are making rapid progress in the direction of Kalach on the Don, the chosen meeting point of the two pincers. The 6th and 4th Panzer Army's hurriedly dispatch mobile units to bolster the unprepared and crumbling Romanian defences west and south of the Don. Hitler relinquishes his command of Army Group A to Von Kleist.
November 21st: The situation for the 6th Army is deteriorating fast, not least owing to the fact that Army HQ is being relocated, which leads to serious disruptions in communications with the troops in the city.
November 23rd: The Russian 4th Mechanised Corps from the south and the 26th Tank Corps from the north, join hands at Kalach on the Don, thus establishing the complete encirclement of the German forces within the Stalingrad pocket.
November 25th: A Russian offensive against the Rzhev salient, named operation 'Mars', begins. Executed by forces of the Western and Kalinin Fronts, in conjunction with operation 'Uranus' further south, it sought to destroy the elements of Army Group Centre occupying the salient and recapture Rzhev and Vyazma.
November 26th: To the west of Stalingrad, the Russians throw Germans rearguards back across the Don River.
November 27th: Army Group Don is formed under Von Manstein.
November 28th: In the north, the Russian 11th, 27th and 1st Shock Armies begin an offensive aimed at destroying the Demyansk salient.
November 30th:
Operation 'Mars' begins to falter, as strong German resistance and poor
weather conditions stall the offensive.
December
The
Stug III Ausf. G is introduced into service. The superstructure is modified
to improve crew comfort and frontal hull armour is increased to 80mm.
December 3rd: German divisions
begin arriving in the area of Army Group Don, southwest of Stalingrad,
in preparation for operation 'Winter Tempest', the relief of the encircled
6th Army.
December 10th: The 5th Tank Army launches attacks along the Chir River, pinning the 48th Panzer Corps in its Chir-Don bridgehead.
December 12th: The 4th Panzer Army launches its attempt to break through to the forces trapped in the Stalingrad pocket, operation 'Winter Tempest', from the Kotelnikovo area.
December 15th: Operation 'Mars' is called off following heavy losses by Russian forces and a failure to make any significant gains.
December 16th: The Russian 28th Army begins another offensive in the direction of Rostov-on-Don in an attempt to cut off the German forces in the Caucasus. Further north, on the Don River line, the Italian 8th Army's precarious position at Verkhni Mamon threatens the Stalingrad relief attempt as the Russian 1st and 3rd Guards and 6th Armies attack south towards Millerovo.
December 19th: The 57th Panzer Corps reaches and crosses the Aksai River and then thrusts northwards towards Mishkova in its relief attempt towards Stalingrad.
December 23rd: Having advanced as far as the Myshkova River, 30 miles southwest of Stalingrad, 4th Panzer Army's relief force have been halted by the Russian 2nd Guards and 51st Armies. Under heavy enemt attacks they are forced to withdraw towards their starting line at Kotelnikovo. Further west, the 24th Tank Corps captures Tatsinskaya and the Germans are forced to abandon their forward airfield tasked with the re-supply of Stalingrad.
December 24th: Following the suspension of operation 'Winter Tempest', the Russian 2nd Guards Army continues its attacks against the 57th Panzer Corps toward Kotelnikovo, breaking through the lines of the 4th Rumanian Army.
December 25th: Heavy fighting continues all around the perimeter of Stalingrad, while the decimated and starving troops of 6th Army receive their last rations of horse meat, the 12,000 horses in the pocket having now all been slaughtered.
December 28th: In the face of the continuing Russian offensive toward Rostov-on-Don, Army Group A is ordered to withdraw the 1st Panzer Army out of the Caucasus and back to the line of the Kuma sector.
