Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Table of contents
- List of illustrations
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Wehrmacht and German society
- 2 Preparations for war
- 3 “Attack with a ruthless offensive spirit and … a firestorm of destruction”
- 4 “Will the continuation of this attackbe worth it?”
- 5 “It is only a question of where, not if, civilians will starve”
- 6 The failure of Operation Barbarossa
- 7 The Soviet winter offensive, 1942
- 8 “The population … shouted out to the interpreter that one would rather be shot instead of being left to starve”
- 9 “From one mess to another”
- 10 “We need to fight to the end, so oder so”
- 11 A more rational occupation?
- 12 “As miserable representatives of themiserable twentieth century, we burnedall of the villages”
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
9 - “From one mess to another”
War of attrition in northwest Russia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2014
- Frontmatter
- Table of contents
- List of illustrations
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The Wehrmacht and German society
- 2 Preparations for war
- 3 “Attack with a ruthless offensive spirit and … a firestorm of destruction”
- 4 “Will the continuation of this attackbe worth it?”
- 5 “It is only a question of where, not if, civilians will starve”
- 6 The failure of Operation Barbarossa
- 7 The Soviet winter offensive, 1942
- 8 “The population … shouted out to the interpreter that one would rather be shot instead of being left to starve”
- 9 “From one mess to another”
- 10 “We need to fight to the end, so oder so”
- 11 A more rational occupation?
- 12 “As miserable representatives of themiserable twentieth century, we burnedall of the villages”
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
Combat in late 1942: the 126th and 121st Infantry Divisions
During the remainder of 1942, Red Army pressure on the exterior of the pocket continued. Between July and September, the Northwest Front launched three major assaults on German positions. Though none of these operations affected the 123rd ID in any significant way, the grim logic of attrition led to a general decrease in available German manpower within the Demiansk position, forcing Army Group North to transfer more units into the pocket. One of these units was the 126th ID, which took up a position on the southern side of the land bridge, next to the 123rd ID.
After bearing the full brunt of the Soviet attack on the Volkhov river in January and then participating in the prolonged struggle to destroy the trapped Red Army forces during the spring, the 126th ID was pulled out of the line in early July for what it believed was a long and hard-earned period of rest and refitting. Following a little more than two-week break, however, the division was ordered to deploy in the Demiansk land bridge. The division found this “completely surprising” and complained that “the full combat strength of the division was in no way restored [and] the combat value of the division was accordingly limited.” Army Group North’s manpower crunch, however, was such that even mauled divisions were needed in the lines. One soldier wrote,
unfortunately the war still isn’t over. But we are hoping for the best, that it will soon be over … we will be moved out from here in the next few days and deployed somewhere else. From one mess to another.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Combat and Genocide on the Eastern FrontThe German Infantry's War, 1941–1944, pp. 280 - 304Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014