Black September
September 1941, saw the fighting on the Eastern Front step up a gear, and also saw the bloodiest month of the war so far. Over 75,000 German soldiers were killed, the largest loss thus far, bringing the total wartime losses to over half a million men. In addition an entire division was captured. Meanwhile, the estimates for Soviet losses, in terms of killed, topped 300,000 by the end of this bloody month although the Soviet casualty figure was closer to 450,000 due to the number of men taken prisoner including a haul of nearly 30,000 during September.
The month, however, did start off well. By the 5th, most of the undefended rear area of the Soviet northern army group had been overrun pushing the Soviet troops into a small pocket mostly within the old borders of Lithuania. As a result, while not entirely geographically accurate, the pocket took on the name of that old country: the 'Lithuania pocket'. The Red Army troops in Riga, laying outside the pocket, had repulsed the initial attacks by the panzer divisions, but the Soviets were not able to put this bastion of hope to good use. Besieged on all sides by the panzergrenadier regiments of five divisions, the city – the only pocket of resistance outside the main Lithuanian pocket - fell on 8 September netting 12,000 prisoners. Unfortunately, the Soviet fleet was able to leave port before they could be boarded. Supported by level-bombers, the fleet was able to break through the Kriegsmarine blockade of the city sinking a destroyer, damaging another, and destroying the
KMS Karlsruhe in the process resulting in the loss of 1,500 sailors. Regardless, the panzer attack was pressed home fragmenting the 'Lithuanian pocket' into several smaller ones. Yet the spirit of these trapped Soviet troops – at least 100 miles, at the narrowest point, from the frontline and reinforcements – did not dwindle and they launched a number of counterattacks to weave the pockets back together. Resistance intensified resulting in bloody battles to push the communist troops south mile by mile. With the southern flank mostly open, or weakly held, Soviet troops were able to run amok. The only reserve left, several divisions still forming within the Reich, were rushed forward to halt the marauding Soviets and to help crush the pocket. By months end the Soviets had been halted from expanding their position and several bloody assaults had been launched that had reduced the size of the pocket, but it was far from defeated.
An abandoned Soviet tank, in Riga, following the fall of the city.
Throughout the month, the main frontline, stretching from positions north of Riga to the west of Smolensk were subjected to continuous attacks. After heavy fighting, the bridgeheads over the Daugava River had to be given up although Soviet positions along its western bank were finally eliminated. The centre line was forced to pull back close to 100 miles. The infantry of Army Group Centre were now completely exhausted and subjected to daily attacks, they were unable to hold their positions. By the end of the month the most battered formations were ordered to pull further back and establish themselves amongst the Stalin Line and ready it for defence from attacks from the east. The rest of the frontline forces were ordered to hold the Soviets at bay for as long as possible before also retreating.
Besiged infantry of Army Group Centre
Late on the 5th, the Battle of Stanislawow came to an end cracking the final stronghold of the Dniester pocket. Over 6,000 landser were killed during the battle, but estimates suggested that the equivalent of an entire Soviet division had been wiped out. Army Group South redeployed around the pocket and prepared itself for the final assault. Due a number of reasons it had to be delayed for several days. But on the 18th, under the cover of over 1,000 bombers attacking and an almighty artillery barrage, the final attack was launched. An estimated 200,000 Soviet soldiers had been trapped, and at least 100,000 killed during the previous battles. By the end of the month, the final position of the pocket was still holding out, but coming under intense pressure. Additional troops were ordered into the battle, and it was of such ferocity that an entire engineer unit was shattered and had to be reformed, in Berlin, from a cadre of men already wounded and on sick leave.
Infantry moving forward after the the Battle of Stanislawow, preparing for the final attack.
The rest of the southern front was not passive, the panzer divisions had to relinquish the ground they had captured as Soviet numbers mounted in that area while across the front numerous attacks were launched. In several areas the Soviets were able to push back our forces as after months of none-stop fighting their ability to resist was wearing thin. Local counterattacks were launched to retake every position lost, but on the whole this proved to be in vain. On the border of Army Groups Centre and South, an extremely thinly held sector of the line, the Soviets launched a number of attacks and breached the line with little in the way of stopping them pouring more men through. Every garrison division in Poland was ordered forward to reinforce the various weak points of the line. Thankfully, by the end of the month the Soviets had not took advantage of this breakthrough.
The end of September thus saw the entire frontline under heavy pressure, and the possibility of it cracking in many places. The infantry had been worn down through heavy combat and constant fighting. With so many troops committed to destroying the Dniester and Lithuanian pockets, there was little in the way of reserves other than a few garrison divisions protecting ports and the army in France and these were desperately needed to keep the British at bay. The strategic picture at the end of September was bleak. The prospect of launching a decisive battle to capture Kiev and eliminate the bulge in the frontline, before the onset of winter, now looked like a pipedream. Eliminating the two pockets and then being forced to sit on the defensive now looked to be the best possible outcome. Muttering amongst the officer corps, by this point, proclaimed Operation Barbarossa to be a complete failure. The only real success saw during the month was the sinking over 165,000 tonnes of Allied shipping for the loss of just four boats (previously over the course of several months, less than 130,000 tonnes had been sunk and for the loss of 11 boats).
The frontline at the end of Black September
Our Italian allies were also experiencing mixed results. During August, they had reached the outskirts of Athens and throughout September launched repeated assaults on the city. All failed. The Greeks, also holding a pocket to the northwest, were making their final stand. Intel reports suggested the Greeks had at least one armour brigade operating in and around the city leading to the assumption that the British had reinforced the Greeks. In East Africa, the Italian positions were steadily being taken one by one, resulting in the opinion that the 300,000 strong East African Army was a complete write off. In North Africa, however, the Italians had launched a counterattack. The Italians had stemmed the tide of the British advance, and were slowly pushing them back towards Egypt. As long as the Italians keep the British busy, it seems our southern and western flanks will be secure.