ToropetsKholm Oensive

The ToropetsKholm Oensive was a military operation conducted south of Lake Ilmen by the Red Army
during World War II, from 9 January-6 February 1942.
The operation contributed to the formation of the Kholm
Pocket, the encirclement of the Wehrmacht's II Army
Corps in the Demyansk Pocket, and the destruction of
the German Wehrmachts 189th Infantry Regiment near
Andreapol.

the capture of signicant amounts of German supply

stores at Toropets.
The tank support for such an operation was very weak
on the Soviet side, especially compared to the requirements of the doctrine of Deep operations, and the practice later in the war, showing the dearth of resources in
the Soviet arsenal at this low point of Soviet fortunes in
the war. Yeremenkos 4th Shock Army had only two
tank battalions, the 117th Tank Battalion with 12 LendLease Matilda IIs, nine Valentines, and 10 T-60s, and the
141st Tank Battalion had four KV-1s, six T-34s, and 20
T-60s.[3]

Context

The drive of the Soviet forces was so strong that the

defending German formation123rd Infantry Division,
which was covering a line of 30 km (19 mi)had its
forward two regiments overrun. The regiments were so
thinly spread in their strongpoints that they could not
cover each other, allowing the Soviet assault forces to
simply walk through between them. The strongpoints
were later reduced, with signicant casualties for the Germans. A German reserve formationthe 81st Infantry
Divisionwas brought in by rail during the last days of
December. Its rst regimentthe 189th Infantry under
Colonel Hohmeyer together with the 2nd Battalion of Artillery Regiment 181 and the 3rd Company of the Engineer Battalion 181was immediately ordered to detrain
at Toropets and Andreapol. From there, it advanced to
Okhvat where it was encircled and completely destroyed
on 14 January. 1,100 dead were later found in a forest
near Okhvat, including the regimental commander who
was posthumously promoted to Major General. A total
of 40 survivors from the artillery battalion made it back
to the German lines. The move into action and collapse
was so swift that the regiment was not even identied on
German situation maps.

Following the successful Moscow counter-oensive of

December 1941, the Stavka of the Red Army decided to
conduct a broad-front oensive with the aim of destroying the invading German forces in the Soviet Union. The
Wehrmacht did not expect the Red Army to be capable of
such a wide-ranging oensive, and therefore was caught
o guard by attacks in areas that it supposed to be quiet,
such as the region south of Lake Ilmen.

Aim

The Soviet North-Western Frontunder General Pavel

Kurochkinwas given two tasks to be executed from its
position south of Lake Ilmen. The rst was a western
thrust through Staraya Russa, to split German 18th Army
and 16th Army, and support the eort of Volkhov Front
and Leningrad Front in breaking the siege of Leningrad.
The second was a south-western thrust toward Vitebsk.
This attack was to be conducted by three armies, 33rd,
3rd and 4th Shock, the latter two having just recently been
renamed. Its ultimate aim was to become the northern
pincer of a deep envelopment of German Army Group
Center.

4 Outcome
3

The battle
The Soviet aim of encircling Army Group Center was
not achieved, but the attack by the two Shock Armies
created a deep bend in the German frontline that was
to become a major concern for the German army group
commands during 1942, until the Rzhev Salient, of which
this bend formed the northern border, was evacuated in
March 1943.

The initial penetration of the 3rd and 4th Shock Armies

was very successful. German forces in the sector were
overrun with heavy losses. The failure to predict this
attackcoupled with multiple demands on the German
reservesgave the Soviet Front command an opening
which it exploited to the utmost, driving deep into the
German rear. While the Soviet forces had few supplies at The Soviet attack also created the Kholm Pocket, and the
the start of the oensive, they could keep going through southern shoulder of the Demyansk Pocket.
1

Forces involved

5.1

Soviet

REFERENCES

6.2 Specic
[1] http://war1960.narod.ru/sww/toropez.html
[2] Glantz & House (1995), p. 295

North-Western Front (elements of with a strength of

122,100)
3rd Shock Army
4th Shock Army
249th Rie Division

5.2

German

Army Group North (elements of with unknown

strength)
German Sixteenth Army
II. Army Corps
123rd Infantry Division
416th Infantry Regiment
418th Infantry Regiment
81st Infantry Division
189th Infantry Regiment
SS Cavalry Brigade

References

6.1

General

Haupt, W. 'Army Group North'

MGFA (ed.) 'Generalfeldmarshall Ritter von Leeb'.
Vilinov, M.A. 'Features of the Toropets-Kholm Operation' VIZH 1988 Issue 1, English translation
Ziemke, E.F. 'Moscow to Stalingrad'
Info on the Kholm part of the Operation
Map of 3rd Shock Army Operations during the operation Jan 9-21 1942
Map of 4th Shock Army Operations during the operation Jan 9-21 1942
Map of 4th Shock Army Operations during the operation Jan 23-31 1942
Glantz, David M. & House, Jonathan (1995), When
Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler,
Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas,
ISBN 0-7006-0899-0.

[3] Ericsson, J. 'The Road to Stalingrad'

Coordinates: 5709N 3111E / 57.150N 31.183E

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

ToropetsKholm Oensive Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toropets%E2%80%93Kholm_Offensive?oldid=669678374 Contributors: Maury Markowitz, Dimadick, Humus sapiens, DS1953, Russ3Z, Ghirlandajo, BD2412, Ketiltrout, Ian Lancaster, MoRsE, Modify,
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7.3

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