Uman–Botoșani offensive
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Uman–Botoșani offensive | |||||||
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Part of Dnieper–Carpathian offensive | |||||||
Soviet soldiers inspect the Panther tank, abandoned by the Germans in the Uman area in conditions of rasputitsa, 10 March 1944. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Soviet Union |
Germany Romania | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ivan Konev (2nd Ukrainian Front) |
Erich von Manstein (Army Group South) Otto Wöhler (8th Army) Ioan Mihail Racoviță (4th Army) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2nd Ukrainian Front on 1 March 1944:[1] - 691,097 men in total (ration strength) - 480,279 men in combat and support units - 8,054 guns and mortars - 670 operational tanks and self-propelled guns - 325 tanks and self-propelled guns in repairs - 551 aircraft |
4th Army gunsManpower Start of April 1944:[9] - 200,000 men in total Start of May 1944:[10] - 300,000 men in total (full mobilization) Equipment holdings at the start of May 1944:[11] - 10,243 machine-guns - 3,235 guns and mortars - 264 anti-aircraft guns - 1,344 anti-tank guns. Of them: - 382 German 7.5 cm Pak 40 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
March:[12] - 15,896 killed and missing - 40,089 wounded - 8,072 sick and frostbitten - 294 other non-combat losses - 64,354 in total |
Wöhler report:[14] |
The Uman–Botoșani offensive[16] or Uman–Botoshany offensive[17] (Уманско-ботошанская наступательная операция) was a part of the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive, carried out by the Red Army in the western Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic against the German 8th Army of Army Group South during World War II. Led by Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev, it became one of the most successful Red Army operations of the whole war. In over a month of combat through the deep spring mud and numerous water barriers, the 2nd Ukrainian Front advanced over 300 kilometres (190 mi), cleared German forces from southwestern Ukraine, and entered Romania and Moldova.
This offensive, alongside Marshal
As a result of this split, the Soviets had cut the main supply lifeline of Army Group South, the
For the Wehrmacht's defeat, the commander of Army Group South, Erich von Manstein, and the commander of Army Group A, Ewald von Kleist, were dismissed by Adolf Hitler and replaced by Walter Model and Ferdinand Schörner, respectively.
In the course of the operation, 10 German divisions were either destroyed or left with only remnants of their troops.[18] In order to save its southern sector from complete collapse, the German high command was forced to transfer seven divisions from the neighboring German 6th Army in the south to the disintegrating front of the 8th Army, while also mobilizing the Romanian 4th Army, which consisted of eight divisions and one brigade, with another seven Romanian divisions and two Romanian brigades being incorporated directly into the German 8th Army.[19]
This was the only operation in which the Red Army crossed six major rivers – the
– one after another.Operational scope and goals
The operation was conducted by the forces of 2nd Ukrainian Front from 5 March to 17 April 1944.
Planning
The Stavka concept of the operation was to destroy the 8th Army, bisect the front of Army Group South, and cut off withdrawal routes of the 1st Panzer Army in the southern direction, contributing to 1st Ukrainian Front's objective of its defeat.
The main offensive effort was to be delivered from the
The offensive
The operation began on 5 March on a 175-kilometre (109 mi) sector of the front between
In order to maintain a high rate of advance during the offensive, the Soviet 6th Tank Army was introduced after the Southern Bug crossing. At this point, the tank armies continued to advance towards the Dniester. On 17 March, advance units of the right wing of the Front took bridgeheads on the right bank south of Mohyliv-Podilsky (Mogilev-Podolskiy) area.
Soviet units had then entered the territory of Romania. As a result of the offensive, the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts, split the German Army Group South in two. The 8th German Army was cut off from the 1st Panzer Army and was assigned to Army Group A. The main effort of the 2nd Ukrainian Front was now transferred against this army group, which Soviet troops deeply enveloped from the south. An opportunity arose for the 2nd Ukrainian Front to attack in the southern direction to cut off withdrawal routes of the German army group beyond the Dniester and destroy it in cooperation with the 3rd Ukrainian Front.
The 40th Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, that advanced along the east bank of the Dniester, was given the task of cutting off withdrawal routes to the south to the 1st Panzer Army, by collaborating with troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in eliminating 1st Ukrainian Front encirclement of German troops at
On the night of 28 March the Front's forces, while pursuing the retreating enemy, conducted another assault river crossing on the move of river Prut, transferring combat actions onto Romanian territory. Towards the middle of April, their right wing reached the
Hoping to save the southern wing of its front from complete disintegration, the German command moved 18 divisions and 3 brigades, its last strategic reserve in the southern sector, to this part of the front. Troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, encountering increasing resistance, in the middle of April was forced to go on the defensive at the reached positions of Dubăsari (Dubossary), north of Iași, and some 60-kilometre (37 mi) south of Botoșani.
Outcome
As a result of the Uman–Botoshany offensive, Army Group South was split in two. The northern portion was regrouped as
During the offensive, the towns of Uman, Vapniarka, Pervomaisk, Novoukrainka were liberated. The offensive was the first in which three tank armies were used simultaneously as the main breakthrough force on a narrow sector of the front, all while being conducted under the conditions of spring floods and rasputitsa ("roadlessness"). Soviet units had moreover conducted consecutive assault crossings over six major rivers without pausing fully at any of them: Gorniy Tikach, Southern Bug, Dniester, Răut, Prut, and Siret, harassing and on occasion routing the German withdrawal from eastern and central Ukraine.
Analysis
The operation demonstrated increased mobility of Soviet arms, and a clear desire to drive deep into enemy rear areas to create disruption and envelopment of German forces. The operation was characterised by flexible control, the quick response of command to changes in the situation and by the clear organisation of cooperation between the armies and the aviation of a front. Soviet troops showed they had gained a high degree of military skill in the conduct of operations, particularly in assault river crossings.
Notes
- ^ Алексей Исаев. "Котёл" Хубе. Проскуровско-Черновицкая Операция 1944 года. Яуза, 2017, p. 15.
- ^ Anlagenband zum Kriegstagebuch, Armee-Oberkommando 8, Oberquartiermeister, 1.1.44.- 31.3.44. Betr.: Verpflegungsstärke am 29.2.44. NARA T312, R63, F7580547.
- ^ H Gr. A/Südukraine 64801/8. Anlage 1159 zum Kriegstagebuch Nr. 7 d. Oberkdos. d. H. Gr. Süd/O.Qu. Wirtschaftsverhandlungen Rumänien. Verpflegungsstärken (am 7 April 1944), Raum I (8. Armee). NARA T312, R64, F7195911.
- ^ H Gr. A/Südukraine 64801/8. Anlage 1159 zum Kriegstagebuch Nr. 7 d. Oberkdos. d. H. Gr. Süd/O.Qu. Wirtschaftsverhandlungen Rumänien. Betr.: Verpflegungsstärken: A.O.K. 8 (lt. Fernschr. Meldung v. 23.4.44.). NARA T312, R64, F7195921-22.
- ^ Armoured vehicles (Panzer and StuG) status for all units belonging to the A.O.K. 8, as of 1 March 1944. Compilation based on several primary sources:
1. Anlageband I zum Kriegstagebuch Nr. 9 der Führungs-Abteilung des Gen. Kdo. XXXXVII. Pz. Korps. 1.1.44-12.3.44. Panzer- und Sturmgeschütz- Lage 1.3.1944. NARA T314, R1132, F000724-5.
2. Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland, Ia Nr. 30/44 g. Kdos. II. Ang. Betr.: Zustandsbericht. Stand: 1 März 1944. An Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen. Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv (BA-MA) RH 10/209, fol. 40.
3. 3. SS-Pz. Div. Totenkopf, Ia Tgb. Nr. 325/44 geh./D. Betr.: Zustandsbericht. Stand: 1 März 1944. An Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen. Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv (BA-MA) RH 10/314, fol. 28.
4. Anlagen zum Kriegstagebuch Nr. 7 der Führungs-Abteilung (Ia) XXXX. Pz. Korps. 27.2.44-11.4.44. Tagesmeldung an A.O.K. 8 am 1.3.1944. NARA T314, R973, F000753. - ^ Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Heeresgruppe A. 1.3.-31.3.1944. Band 3, Teil 6. Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv (BA-MA) RH 19-V/25, fol. 226.
- ^ Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Heeresgruppe Südukraine. 1.4.-30.4.1944. Band 3, Teil 17. Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv (BA-MA) RH 19-V/26, fol. 94.
- ^ Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Heeresgruppe Südukraine. 1.4.-30.4.1944. Band 3, Teil 17. Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv (BA-MA) RH 19-V/26, fol. 217.
- ^ Glantz, D. Red Storm over the Balkans: The Failed Soviet Invasion of Romania, Spring 1944. University Press of Kansas, 2007, p. 45.
- ^ Gregory Liedtke (2015). Lost in the Mud: The (Nearly) Forgotten Collapse of the German Army in the Western Ukraine, March and April 1944. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, p. 229.
- ^ Gregory Liedtke (2015). Lost in the Mud: The (Nearly) Forgotten Collapse of the German Army in the Western Ukraine, March and April 1944. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, p. 230.
- ^ Донесение о потерях личного состава в войсках 2 УкрФ с 1 марта по 31 марта 1944 года. Описывает период с 01.03.1944 по 31.03.1944 г. Дата создания документа: 14.04.1944 г. Архив: ЦАМО, Фонд: 240, Опись: 2779, Дело: 1140, Лист начала документа в деле: 97. Page 1.
- ^ Выписка из журнала боевых действий 2 УкрФ за апрель месяц 1944 г. Описывает период с 01.04.1944 по 30.04.1944 г. Журналы боевых действий. Дата создания документа: 20.06.1944 г. Архив: ЦАМО, Фонд: 240, Опись: 2779, Дело: 1155, Лист начала документа в деле: 1. Page 170.
- ^ Geheim. Geschlossene Stellungsnahme des Oberbefehlshabers der Armeegruppe Wöhler zu den monatlichen Zustandsberichten, Stand 1.4.44. NARA T312, R64, F7582815-6.
- ^ "Near Uman about 300 tanks fell into enemy hands." (Bei Uman fielen etwa 300 Panzer in Feindeshand.)
- from the report of General Guderian to Hitler on 27 March 1944.
Geheime Kommandosache. Der Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen, 810/44 g.Kdos. Führervortrag am 27.3.44 (Teil B). Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv (BA-MA) RH 10/89, fol. 60. - ^ a b Tsouras, p. 244
- ^ Glantz, p. 7
- ^ Грылев А.Н. Днепр-Карпаты-Крым. Освобождение Правобережной Украины и Крыма в 1944 году. Москва: Наука, 1970, p. 176.
- ^ Грылев А.Н. Днепр-Карпаты-Крым. Освобождение Правобережной Украины и Крыма в 1944 году. Москва: Наука, 1970, p. 175.
- ^ Crofoot, p. 151
References
- ISBN 978-0-7006-1465-3.
- Crofoot, Craig (2004). Armies of the Bear. Takoma Park, MD: Tiger Lily Publications. OCLC 229362686.