Demyansk Pocket

The Demyansk Pocket (German: Festung Demjansk or Ahlefeldt, commander of the 2nd Army Corps.
Kessel von Demjansk; Russian: ) was
the name given to the pocket of German troops encircled by the Red Army around Demyansk (Demjansk), 2 Northwestern Front oensives
south of Leningrad, during World War II on the Eastern Front. The pocket existed mainly from 8 February21 April 1942. A much smaller pocket was simultaneously surrounded in Kholm, about 100 km (62 mi) to the
southwest. These both resulted from the German retreat
following their defeat during the Battle of Moscow.
The successful defence of Demyansk, achieved through
the use of an airbridge, was a signicant development in
modern warfare. The pocket demanded an inordinate response on the part of the Soviets, stalling oensive actions elsewhere. Its success was a major contributor to
the decision to try the same tactic during the Battle of
Stalingrad.
Oensive of the Red Army south of Lake Ilmen
7 January21 February 1942.

Encirclement

The intent of the Northwestern Front oensive was to

encircle the entire northern ank of the 16th Armys
forces, of which the 2nd Army Corps was only a small
part, and the Soviet command was desperate to keep the
Front moving even after this success. The rst thrust
was made by the 11th Army, 1st Shock Army and the
1st and 2nd Guards Rie Corps released for the operation from Stavka reserve. A second thrust was executed
on 12 February by the 3rd and 4th Shock Armies of the
Kalinin Front, with the additional plan of directly attacking the encircled German forces by inserting two airborne
brigades to support the advance of the 34th Army.[4]:359
The front soon settled as the Soviet oensive petered out
due to dicult terrain and bad weather.

The encirclement began as the Demyansk Oensive Operation, the rst phase being carried out from 7 January20 May 1942 on the initiative of General Lieutenant Pavel
Kurochkin, commander of Northwestern Front. The intention was to sever the link between the German Demyansk positions, and the Staraya Russa railway that
formed the lines of communication of the German 16.
Armee. However, owing to the very dicult wooded and
swampy terrain, and heavy snow cover, the initial advance
by the Front was very modest against stubborn opposition.
On 8 January, a new oensive called the Rzhev-Vyazma
Strategic Oensive Operation started. This incorporated
the previous Fronts planning into the Toropets-Kholm
Oensive Operation between 9 January and 6 February
1942 which formed the southern pincer of the attack that,
beginning the second phase of the northern pincer Demyansk Oensive Operation between 7 January and 20
May, which encircled the German 16th Armys (Generaloberst Ernst Busch) IInd, and parts of the Xth Army
Corps (General der Artillerie Christian Hansen) during
winter 1941/1942.

After being assured that the pocket could be supplied with

its daily requirement of 270 short tons (240 t) of supplies by Luftotte 1, Hitler ordered that the surrounded
divisions hold their positions until relieved. The pocket
contained two fairly capable airelds at Demyansk and
Peski. From the middle of February, the weather improved signicantly, and while there was still considerable snow on the ground at this time, resupply operations
were generally very successful due to weakness of the Red
Trapped in the pocket were the 12th, 30th, 32nd, Air Forces in the area. However the operation did use up
123rd and 290th infantry divisions, and the SS-Division all of the Luftwae 's transport capability, as well as eleTotenkopf, as well as RAD, Police, Todt organization and ments of their bomber force.
other auxiliary units, for a total of about 90,000 German The Northwestern Front grew increasingly desperate to
troops and around 10,000 auxiliaries. Their commander wipe out the pocket, and over the winter and spring,
was General der Infanterie Walter Graf von Brockdor- launched a number of assaults on the Ramushevo corri1

2
dor that formed the tenuous link between Demyansk and
Staraya Russa through the Ramushevo village that were
repeatedly repulsed. In total, ve Soviet Armies composed of 18 rie divisions and three brigades were tied
up for four months.

REFERENCES

Obergruppenfhrer Theodor Eicke was the 88th person

to be awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knights Cross on
20 May 1942.

The success of the Luftwae convinced Reichsmarschall

Hermann Gring and Hitler that they could conduct efHowever, by the end of May, the Stavka reconsidered the fective airlift operations on the Eastern front.[6] Gring
overall situation and decided to shift its attention to the later proposed a similar solution to supply the 6. Armee
Moscow sector, where a new German oensive was ex- when it was surrounded in Stalingrad. In theory, the outpected in the summer.
come could be equally advantageous; with the 6. Armee
trapped, but still in ghting condition, the Soviet army
would have to use up much of its strength to keep the
pocket contained. This could allow other German forces
3 Breakout
to re-group and mount a counterattack. However, the
scale of the forces trapped in the two operations differed greatly. While a single corps (about of an army)
with about six divisions was encircled in Demyansk, in
Stalingrad, an entire and greatly reinforced army was
trapped. Whereas the Demyansk and Kholm pockets together needed around 265 t (292 short tons) of supplies
per day, the 6. Armee required an estimated daily minimum of 800 t (880 short tons), delivered over a muchlonger distance and faced by a much better organised
Red Air Force. The air transport force had already suffered heavy losses, and was much further away from good
infrastructure. The Luftwae simply did not have the resources needed to supply Stalingrad.
German forces near Demyansk, 21 March 1942.

On 21 March 1942, German forces under the command

of Generalleutnant Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach attempted to leave through the Ramushevo corridor. Soviet resistance on the Lovat River delayed II Corps attack until April 14. Over the next several weeks, this
corridor was widened. A battle group was able to break
the siege on 22 April, but the ghting had taken a heavy
toll.[5] Out of the approximately 100,000 men trapped,
there were 3,335 lost and over 10,000 wounded. However, their strong resistance had tied up numerous Soviet
units at a critical moment, units that could have been used
elsewhere.
Between the forming of the pocket in early February to
the virtual abandonment of Demyansk in May, the two
pockets (including Kholm) received 65,000 short tons
(59,000 t) of supplies (both through ground and aerial delivery), 31,000 replacement troops, and 36,000 wounded
were evacuated. However, the cost was signicant. The
Luftwae lost 265 aircraft, including 106 Junkers Ju 52,
17 Heinkel He 111 and two Junkers Ju 86 aircraft. In
addition, 387 airmen were lost.[6]
The Soviet Air Forces lost 408 aircraft, including 243
ghters, in a bid to crush the pocket.
Fighting in the area continued until 28 February 1943.
The Soviets did not liberate Demyansk until 1 March
1943, with the retreat of the German troops. For his
excellence in command and the particularly erce ghting of his elite unit, 3. SS Division Totenkopf, SS-

4 References
[1] J.Erickson, The road to Stalingrad, p. 302-303.
[2] http://ww2stats.com/cas_ger_okh_dec42.html
[3] http://lib.ru/MEMUARY/1939-1945/KRIWOSHEEW/
poteri.txt
[4] Rutherford, Je (2008). Life and Death in the Demiansk Pocket: The 123rd Infantry Division in Combat
and Occupation. Central European History 41 (3).
doi:10.1017/S0008938908000551.
[5] Rutherford 2008, p. 365.
[6] Bergstrom 2007, p. 23.

Bergstrom, Christer (2007). Stalingrad - The Air

Battle: November 1942 - February 1943. London:
Chervron/Ian Allen. ISBN 978-1-85780-276-4.
Kurowski, Franz (2001). Demjansk Der Kessel im
Eis. Wlfersheim-Berstadt: PODZUN-PALLAS.
ISBN 3-7909-0718-9.
http://victory.mil.ru/lib/books/h/nwf/index.html
.
-
.: , 1969 (
, ,
)
;
-

3
- . . ;
c
, , . .
; -
. . .
Group of authors, A collection. On the NorthWestern Front, Moscow, Science (pub.), 1969 (Second World War in research, memoirs, documents),
Institute of military history of Ministry of Defence
of USSR, edited and with forward by membercorrespondent AN SSR, General-lieutenant P.A.
Zhilin; compiled and prepared for publication by
candidate of military sciences, dozent, Colonel F.N.
Utenkov, scientic-technical work undertaken by
Sub-colonel V.S. Kislinsky
Rutherford, Je (2008). Life and Death in the
Demiansk Pocket: The 123rd Infantry Division in
Combat and Occupation. Central European History
41 (3). doi:10.1017/S0008938908000551.

Further reading
Forczyk, Robert (2012). Demyansk 1942-43; The
frozen fortress. Osprey Campaign Series #245. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1849085526

External links
Media related to Battle of Demiansk at Wikimedia
Commons

Coordinates:
32.4667E

573900N 322800E / 57.6500N

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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Demyansk Pocket Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demyansk_Pocket?oldid=669118027 Contributors: Maury Markowitz, Leandrod, Bob O'Bob, Oberiko, Ezhiki, Irpen, Kostja, Pavel Vozenilek, Hohum, Tabletop, GregorB, Josh Parris, Rjwilmsi, Ansbachdragoner,
Brandmeister (old), RussBot, Welsh, Resigua, Bdmcmahon, Malte Zorn~enwiki, Abune, Tvarnoe~enwiki, Janmad, SmackBot, WikiuserNI,
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