Germany & Italy in WWII: The Eastern Front and the Russian Campaign

Germany and Italy in World War II

Introduction to Germany and Italy in World War II

The Russian Campaign, 1942

Russian Winter Offensive. The Soviets' success in stopping the Germans before Moscow encouraged them to stay on the offensive in early 1942. The Germans were ill equipped for cold weather, and the forward lines were so far from Germany that supplying the troops became increasingly difficult. The Soviets attacked to the north and south of Moscow, hoping to encircle and isolate the German army that faced the city. The Soviets met with unexpected success and retook much ground, but suffered such heavy losses that the offensive eventually stalled. German losses were also heavy, in part because Hitler refused to allow his troops to fall back to defensible positions, An offensive was also begun from the besieged city of Leningrad, but the Soviets made little progress there. The Russian offensive ended in late February, and both sides made plans for spring operations.

Armored vehicles were important to every army.

German Spring Offensive

The German campaign opened in May. The main effort was made in the Caucasus, with the capture of its oil fields as a major objective. Sevastopol, in the Crimea, fell on July 1, after a long siege. A major attack that was opened on June 28 soon was extended along a 200-mile (320-km) front between the Don and Donets rivers. After reaching the vicinity of Voronezh, the armies turned south. Maikop, deep in the Caucasus, was reached on August 9. The Germans had outrun their supplies, however, and made little further progress.

Battle of Stalingrad

Meanwhile, the German armies sweeping down the Don River ran into unexpected trouble at Stalingrad (now called Volgograd). Stalingrad was a strategically important city because of its industrial plants and because of its location near the oil-rich Caucasus. Also, because the city had been named after Stalin, it had great symbolic importance to both the Germans and the Soviets.

The attack began on August 20 as the Germans crossed the Don and gained a foothold in Stalingrad's suburbs. Stalingrad was a long, narrow city extending some 20 miles (32 km) along the Volga River. The Germans planned to break through to the river in several places, cutting the city into small, easily conquerable sections. Massive bombing raids pounded the city into rubble in preparation for the final attack.

As the Germans entered Stalingrad, they met heavy resistance. Civilians had erected barriers, and Soviet troops took advantage of the protection offered by the rubble of bombed buildings to wage tenacious house-to-house fighting. The Germans were unable to bring their tanks, the key to so much of their previous success, into the city, and were forced into a grueling street battle with infantry. The fighting was particularly violent at Mamayev hill, where thousands died as control of that strategic landmark passed back and forth. The fighting continued through September and October, but despite heavy losses and a deteriorating position, Hitler refused to allow his troops to withdraw and regroup.

As the battle raged in the streets of Stalingrad, the Soviets drew all available troops and equipment into the area in preparation for a massive counterattack. On November 19, the Soviets launched a two-pronged drive to the north and south of the city. Advancing rapidly through the enemy lines, the Soviets linked up near Kalach, surrounding the German Sixth Army. The Germans tried futilely to supply the Sixth Army by air, but thousands starved or froze to death. On February 2, 1943, Field Marshal General Friedrich von Paulus surrendered the Sixth Army to the Soviets.

The Soviets' dogged defense of Stalingrad and their eventual victory was one of the major turning points of the war. From this time on, the Germans were on the defensive on the Eastern Front.

Allied Aid

Guns, tanks, trucks, planes, and food sent by the Western Allies contributed greatly to the Russian successes. Some of this aid was brought into the Persian Gulf and then carried through the mountains of Iran to the Soviet Union. Another route was entirely by water, running up the coast of Norway to the Arctic port of Murmansk, Russia. Foul weather and frequent submarine and airplane attacks caused many sinkings; since no one could live more than a few minutes in the icy waters, there were few survivors from sinkings.

North African Campaign, 1942

British Relief of Tobruk

On November 18, 1941, General Sir Claude Auchinleck launched a drive to relieve the besieged garrison of Tobruk. After heavy fighting around Sidi Rezegh and El Duda, Auchinleck succeeded. Rommel began a withdrawal on December 13, reaching El Agheila on January 8, 1942. Again events in another field affected British strength in Africa when the Australian division was removed to be sent to Singapore, which was under attack by the Japanese.

German Offensive

Rommel struck back on January 21. His troops took Agedabia, Msus, and Benghazi, but were halted early in February at El Gazala and Bir Hacheim. His forces renewed the attack on May 26 and fighting raged about a road junction called Knightsbridge by the British troops, and a mined area called "The Cauldron." Bir Hacheim fell on June 10, and the British attempted to stop Rommel's offensive by a heavy tank attack on June 13. Rommel laid an ambush and the Germans destroyed 230 of the 300 British tanks. A tank assault took Tobruk on June 21. This time the British forces were shattered and fell back to El Alamein in Egypt, which they reached on June 30. This retreat marked the low point in Allied fortunes in the war against Germany.

At El Alamein the coastal corridor narrows to 40 miles (64 km) between the sea and the Qattara depression, an impassable area of soft sand. Rommel's advance in North Africa was finally halted at this line by Auchinleck, who with new reserves fought off German assaults during July.

British Counteroffensive

General Sir Bernard Montgomery replaced Auchinleck in August as commander of the Eighth Army, the British army in North Africa. Although inheriting forces already stronger than the enemy, Montgomery delayed attacking until he made his army even more formidable. American aid, brought in by way of the Red Sea, was making itself felt. Allied air attacks on German shipping reduced the flow of supplies to Rommel, and with insufficient gasoline he could not use his tanks effectively.

On October 23 the British began a ferocious artillery barrage, accompanied by heavy air bombardment. Sappers (army engineers) opened paths through German mine fields. Progress was made from the start, but it was not until November 2 that a decisive breakthrough was achieved.

Most of the Italian forces were cut off and surrendered. The German armored force, in a desperate retreat, was able to escape, but did not halt until it reached El Agheila. This time the Libyan seesaw fighting had ended. American and British forces had landed behind the German forces in northwest Africa. The Battle of El Alamein, like Stalingrad, was a turning point in the war.

Siege of Malta

The island of Malta, a British possession in the Mediterranean between Sicily and North Africa, was used by the British to stage air attacks on Axis shipping to and from North Africa. Its fine harbor at Valletta was also an important base for British warships. In June, 1940, German and Italian planes began an air assault on the island that was to last for two years. Malta suffered thousands of raids, but continued to be a valuable base for the Allies. In April, 1942, King George VI of England awarded the George Cross collectively to the people of Malta for their valor. As Axis fortunes waned in North Africa and the Mediterranean, the attacks decreased, and by November, 1942, they had ended.

African Invasion, 1942-43

Preparations

The first major offensive of the United States against Germany was planned as a joint British-American invasion of French-occupied Morocco and Algeria. It was timed to coincide with Montgomery's offensive at El Alamein. The United States had built up considerable forces in the British Isles under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was given command of the joint operation, called Operation Torch.

Preparations for the landing were complicated by uncertainty over how the French troops would respond to the invasion. Although some of the French were sympathetic to the Allies, other were expected to feel compelled to uphold the policy of the Vichy government and try to repel the invaders. Secret negotiations between the Allies and pro-Allied French officers indicated that some of the French defenders would surrender after token resistance if convinced by a prestigious French officer that this was the patriotic course of action. It was suggested that General Henri Giraud, who had escaped from German captivity in both World Wars, be brought to North Africa to lead the French troops in revolt against the Vichy government.

It was also learned that the French, still bitter over the British attack on the French fleet at Oran, would resist less strenuously if the invading forces were American rather than British. Plans were accordingly made to use mostly American troops in the invasion.

The invasion was to the largest amphibious operation attempted up to that time. It required coordinating the combined operation of ground, naval, and air forces of both the United States and England. It also involved two separate expeditionsa British-American one from Britain, and an American one direct from the United States.

Strategic decisions were made by the Combined Chiefs of Staff, composed of the heads of the British and United States armed forces. American members of the Combined Chiefs were Admiral William D. Leahy, chief of staff to President Roosevelt; Admiral Ernest L. King, chief of naval operations; General George C. Marshall, chief of staff of the Army; and Lieutenant General Henry H. Arnold, head of the Army Air Forces. British members were Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, chief of the Imperial General Staff; Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, First Lord of the Admiralty; and Air Marshal Sir Charles Portal, chief of the Air Staff.

Invasion

The expedition direct from the United States landed near Casablanca, Morocco, and the British-American expedition landed in Algeria at Oran and Algiers simultaneously on November 8. French forces, ignoring Giraud's appeal to join the Allies, resisted, and there was severe fighting, particularly at Oran and Casablanca. At Algiers, Admiral Jean Francois Darlan, commander in chief of all Vichy forces, ordered the local commander to surrender his troops after only a few hours of fighting. Darlan agreed to cooperate with the Allies and on November 10 issued a general cease-fire for all of French-occupied North Africa. Fighting ended the next day.

As a reward for his cooperation, Darlan was made chief of state for French North and West Africa; Giraud was made commander of the French armed forces in the region. The appointment of Darlan, who had been a leading collaborator with the Axis and an admirer of the German armed forces, was bitterly criticized by many Allied leaders, especially by Charles de Gaulle, the Free French leader. Darlan was assassinated by a Free French sympathizer on December 24, and he was succeeded by Giraud.

Roosevelt and Churchill met at the Casablanca Conference, which opened on January 14. There they decided upon future plans and announced a policy of "unconditional surrender." The declaration, which meant that Germany could not negotiate a surrender, was later criticized by many historians for needlessly prolonging Germany's resistance near the war's end.

The Tunisian Campaign, 1942-43

As soon as bases in Morocco and Algeria were secured, British and American forces started a dash for Tunis, which they hoped to reach before German reinforcements arrived. The Germans sent reinforcements by air, and forced the Allies to retreat. The British First Army and the American II Corps were able to form a defensive line based on Medjez-el-Bab.

Meanwhile, Rommel's forces were retreating through Tripolitania, slowing down the British Eighth Army with heavy use of land mines. Tripoli was given up on January 23, 1943. Rommel halted behind the Mareth Line (a defensive line in southern Tunisia) in February, ending a retreat of 1,400 miles (2,250 km) in four months.

Rommel launched a series of attacks in February to prevent the Allies from cutting him off from General Jrgen von Arnim's forces centered on Bizerte and Tunis. The capture of the Kasserine Pass by the Germans on February 20 was a serious setback for American forces, but the pass was retaken and Rommel was halted short of Tebessa. He turned his forces to attack the British Eighth Army on the Mareth Line March 6, but the British held.

Ten days later, while the American II Corps threatened the German rear at El Guettar, Montgomery's forces attacked the Mareth Line. A wide flanking move through the desert was successful, and the Germans gave up the line on March 28, falling back 50 miles (80 km). Continued pressure by the Eighth Army freed the American II Corps on its flank. General Omar N. Bradley ably directed a shift of the American force north, past the rear of the British First Army, for an attack on Bizerte. The final assault began May 5. Two days later the British took Tunis while the Americans captured Bizerte. On May 12 the 275,000 Germans and Italians still in Africa surrendered. On June 11 Italy's island base of Pantelleria surrendered after an intense air and naval attack.

Invasion of Sicily

On July 10 a landing was made on Sicily by Montgomery's Eighth Army and the United States Seventh Army, commanded by General George S. Patton, Jr. While Montgomery battered the strong defenses of Catania until August 5, Patton's forces struck across the island and took Palermo on July 22. They then began a series of attacks along the northern coast, some of them preceded by amphibious landings behind enemy lines. The American and British armies converged on Messina, which was taken on August 17. It had been hoped to capture Messina before the German troops in Sicily could escape across the narrow Strait of Messina to the Italian mainland. The Germans, however, were able to flee under cover of darkness, although they were forced to abandon much of their equipment.Important dates in Europe and northern Africa: 1943-1945

Italian Campaign, 1943

The long succession of Italian disasters, such as the rout in North Africa and the loss of Sicily, resulted in the overthrow of Mussolini on July 25. Italian morale was low and Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who now assumed power, was eager to take Italy out of the war. Terms of surrender were accepted, but news of the action was withheld until after Allied troops began to land on the Italian mainland in the hope that the German forces could be driven out of the country. However, the Germans rallied and fighting continued in Italy until the close of the war. Italy joined the Allies on October 13, 1943.

British, American, and Canadian forces crossed from Sicily to land near Reggio Calabria on the Italian mainland on September 3. As the Eighth Army marched northward, the Fifth United States Army under General Mark W. Clark landed near Salerno on September 9. A strong German force backed by air power opposed the landing. Not until September 15 were the beaches secured by seizing the heights behind them. The next day contact was made between the Fifth and Eighth armies, and the Americans moved on Naples, while the British attacked the German air base at Foggia. Both fell on October 1 and troops of Field Marshal General Albert Kesselring fell back to a line along the Volturno River.

The Volturno line was broken by an attack on October 12 and 13, and the Germans took up a winter line along the Garigliano and Sangro rivers near Cassino. Allied attacks from November to January made small gains. On December 24 General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson succeeded Eisenhower as supreme commander in the area, and Montgomery was replaced by Lieutenant General Sir Oliver W. H. Leese.

Russian Campaign, 1943-44

German Retreat From the Caucasus

The surrender of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad on February 2, 1943, left Hitler's forces in the Caucasus in a perilous situation. Field Marshal General Paul Ludwig von Kleist conducted a successful retreat while Field Marshal Erich von Mannstein held a corridor open for him at Rostov. The Russians then launched an offensive from Voronezh toward the Ukraine, and captured Kursk on February 8. Rostov fell to the Russians on February 14 and Kharkov on February 16. However, efforts to continue the advance into the Ukraine were repulsed by German counterattacks, and the Germans recaptured Kharkov on March 14.

Battle of Kursk

The Battle of Kursk was the culmination of what was to be the last great German offensive against the Soviet Union. The German plan was to attack the north side of the Soviet salient around Kursk with Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge's Ninth Army, and simultaneously push against the southern side of the salient with the Fourth Panzer Army, led by Mannstein. These two armies would then link up and destroy the trapped Soviets. German delays gave the Soviets time to prepare powerful defenses within the salient and to bring in more troops and equipment. The Soviet plan was to allow the Germans to batter themselves against the Soviet defenses until exhausted, and then strike back. The two sides committed a total of 6,000 tanks, 4,000 aircraft, and 2,000,000 men.

The German attack began on July 5. Gains were small and costly, as the Soviet defenses were well prepared and the Soviets possessed air superiority. The German troops in the north advanced only about six miles (10 km) before they were stopped; those in the south gained only 20 miles (32 km) in an entire week of hard fighting. The Battle of Kursk was the largest tank battle of the war, with as many as 3,000 tanks engaged at once. The Germans lost some 2,000 tanks in the course of the battle, a blow from which the once dreaded panzer armies never completely recovered. The Soviets' losses were nearly as high, but their tank production was sufficient to compensate for the losses.

Russian Offensive

On July 12, the Soviets struck back, attacking the German salient around Orel, but Soviet progress was slow. On August 3, Soviet troops struck in the south, advancing against Belgorod. Belgorod was taken on August 5, the same day that Orel was liberated. Kharkov was retaken for the last time on August 23. It had changed hands four times and was in ruins.

By September, Soviet armies under Generals Ivan S. Konev, Rodion Y. Malinovsky, and Fedor I. Tolbukhin were attacking all along the Dnieper River. On November 6, after heavy fighting at Dnepropetrovsk and Melitopol, the Germans were pushed back across the river. Kiev, capital of the Ukraine, was also recaptured on November 6. On the central front the Germans were driven out of Smolensk on September 25, but the Russian drive could not be sustained, grinding to a halt some 100 miles (160 km) east of Minsk.

On January 15, 1944, the Soviets launched a major offensive in the north. Soviet troops struck south in two prongs from besieged Leningrad, and at the same time attacked near Novgorod. The Soviet advance continued steadily and German casualties were high. By early March, the German armies had been forced back to Estonia and Latvia.

On March 4, 1944, a new Soviet offensive opened in the Ukraine. A series of thrusts soon left the Germans with only an uncertain foothold in the Soviet Union. Konev's army reached the Romanian frontier before the end of the month, and Zhukov's troops were at the border of Czechoslovakia on April 8. After the fall of Odessa two days later the Germans had little hope of holding any part of the Ukraine. A Soviet drive into the Crimea resulted in the liberation of Sevastopol on May 9.

Battle of the Atlantic, 1942-45

From the time the United States entered the war, its primary objective was an attack on Germany, presumably by invading France. To do this, control of the sea was essential. Germany opened a U-boat offensive, and in the first four months of 1942 U-boats operating off the east coast of the United States sank 87 ships.

Particularly heavy was the loss in tankers, which carried gasoline from Gulf Coast refineries to cities along the Atlantic coast of the United States. Now the tankers were needed to supply the armed forces as well, and the situation became critical. One solution was the construction of new pipelines to release the tankers for overseas duty. Another was rationing of gasoline in the United States.

To curb the sinkings, the Navy began with sub-chasers, motorboats, and yachts, supplemented by a growing air patrol. Then it added new weapons such as escort carriers, destroyer escorts, and frigates. Submarine detection devices such as radar and sonar were improved. In the first six months of 1942 the number of merchant ships in the Atlantic had declined 12 per cent despite new construction. By October the number remained constant. By the end of the year there was an increase of 5 per cent. The turning point came in the spring of 1943 when escort carriers, destroyer escorts, and long-range patrol bombers became available for convoy operations.

During the last half of 1943 the Germans lost a submarine for every ship they sank. The great invasions of Africa and Europe proved that the Allies had won control of the seas; between May and September of 1943, 62 convoys with more than 3,500 ships crossed between the United States and Great Britain with no losses.