World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAs the German attack on Moscow, Russia was thwarted, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin called for a major counteroffensive. His closest advisers disagreed and urged for a more defensive posture, thus Stalin held back his demands, only calling for local offensives rather than attacks on the entire front. In mid-Mar 1942, Soviet commanders introduced preliminary plans for an offensive toward the Ukrainian city of Kharkov to be led by Marshal Semyon Timoshenko. Troops began to build up in the region for this attack through the beginning of May 1942, and by 11 May, six armies supported by various independent rifle, tank, and cavalry units gathered. The Soviet strength for the offensive was about 640,000 men, supported by 1,500 tanks and 1,000 aircraft. Poor management by front line officers, however, failed to maintain the necessary degree of secrecy, and German intelligence was able to determine that a Soviet offensive was being planned.

ww2dbaseTo their west, the German 6th Army under General Friedrich Paulus had also been preparing for an offensive south of Kharkov code named Operation Fridericus; the order for the offensive was given on 30 Apr 1942, calling for the operation to begin around 18 May. Due to the intelligence of a possible Soviet offensive, troops were readied in nearby regions for support should an attack take place. German strength in the general area was about 300,000 men, supported by 1,000 tanks and 1,500 aircraft.

ww2dbaseOn 12 May, the Russians struck first. At 0630 hours, an hour of artillery bombardment began, with the final 20 minutes joined by aircraft. At 0730 hours, the ground offensive began, meeting tough German defense from the start. By the end of the first day, the deepest penetration achieved by Soviet troops was merely 10 kilometers. Soviet generals realized that poor intelligence prior to operation led them to misjudge German strength in the region, which was twice as strong as they originally expected; part of that German advantage was possibly due to the Germans detected a possible Soviet attack, thus had bolstered strength at strategic locations. By the end of 14 May, both sides had suffered serious casualties. On the German side, the German 6th Army saw 16 of its battalions nearly wiped out, while the Soviet troops were so battered that the field generals determined that they must switch to a defensive posture for several hours to regroup.

ww2dbaseOn 15 and 16 May, Russian offensives restarted, meeting the same stiff resistance that had frustrated them in the first few days of the offensive. To the south, however, Soviet troops were able to penetrate deeper into German lines, but poor decisions by some units limited the Soviets' ability to exploit the situation effectively.

ww2dbaseOn 17 May, the German 3rd Panzer Corps and XXXXIV Army Corps under the command of Fedor von Bock, supported by aircraft, arrived, enabling the Germans to launch Operation Fridericus, pushing back the Soviet Barvenkovo bridgehead to the south. On 18 May, Timoshenko requested permission to fall back, but Stalin rejected the request. On 19 May, Paulus launched a general offensive to the north as Bock's troops advanced in the south, thus attempting to surround the Soviets in the Izium salient. Realizing the risk of having entire armies surrounded, Stalin authorized the withdraw, but by that time the Soviet forces were already started to be closed in. On 20 May, the nearly surrounded Soviet forces mounted counteroffensives, but none of the attempts were successful in breaking through the German lines. The Soviets achieved some small victories on 21 and 22 May, but by 24 May, they were surrounded near Kharkov.

ww2dbaseOn 25 May 1942, Soviet troops mounted a major attempt to break the encirclement, causing casualties on both sides but mostly maintained the status quo. On 26 May, the Soviet troops found themselves enclosed in a small area about 15 square kilometers in size as German troops pressed on. On 28 May, Timoshenko called a halt to all offensive actions in the Kharkov area, which ended the Second Battle of Kharkov as coined by German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel. Soviet troops continued to attempt to break out until 30 May, but by that time the Germans had already won.

ww2dbaseThe Second Battle of Kharkov resulted in an extremely costly loss to the Soviets, which saw 207,000 men killed, wounded, or captured; some estimates put the number as high as 240,000. Over 1,000 Soviet tanks were destroyed during this battle, as well as the loss of 57,000 horses. German losses were much smaller than the Soviets, with over 20,000 killed, wounded, or captured. Soviet General Georgy Zhukov later blamed this major defeat on Stalin, who underestimated German strength in the region and failed to prepare an adequate reserve force to counter the arrival of the German reinforcement that turned the tide.

Photographs

Second Battle of Kharkov Timeline

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